Never Say Never ...

I'm a nervous flyer. I cringe every time there's the least bit of turbulence or an unexpected sound, usually searching for a flight attendant to make sure I don't see any concern on his or her face. Since that's how I feel on large jets, I've always said that there is NO WAY I'm ever going to travel on a plane any smaller than one that, say, Southwest Airlines flies.

But now Bob is working on the island of St. Thomas. And it's the holiday season. And the company he's working with has a large office on St. Croix. And the company hosts 2 holiday parties, one on each of the big islands (employees on St. John take the ferry over to St. Thomas for the party here.) Bob's position requires that he attend both parties, and, naturally, spouses also attend.

And the company owns an 8-passenger King Air plane and employees 2 pilots who spend most of their flying time between St. Thomas and St. Croix. It's obvious how we were all supposed to move between the two islands last weekend for the St. Croix party ...

So, I did what I'd said I'd never do, and I got on this plane:

Bob & I sat in the rearmost seats, which actually face forward, across the small aisle from each other. I could stand up, but I don't think anyone else could. I didn't think to take a picture of the interior - but I'm hearing I'll have another chance ...

It really wasn't too bad, but then again the flight took only 12 minutes from the start of taxiing in St. Thomas until touchdown on St. Croix. Our return on Sunday was longer - 15 minutes :) We were blessed with good weather both days, so that eased my introduction into this type of flight.

I can't believe I'll ever be comfortable on the plane, but I admit I'm glad I was forced to try it. And I feel no apprehension whatsoever about this weekend's party here on St. Thomas!

Thanksgiving Weekend

After her aborted trip in September, we were very happy for Parker to finally get to come down for a long Thanksgiving weekend!

After picking her up at the airport, we stopped for a snack & to watch the cruise ships leave for their next ports. The local newspaper publishes information on the ships that are going to be in port each day, including their capacities and arrival & departure times. Well, either the published times are on "ship time" rather than local time, or both of these ships left late, because we got tired of waiting! So, we just took a couple of pictures and headed home.

We managed to go to different beaches each of the 4 full days Parker was here. On Thanksgiving Day, we just walked down to the beach nearest to our condo, since we were having a traditional dinner and had to have time to roast the turkey.

On Friday, we took the ferry to St. John (sorry, John, still no swimming deer), planning to go to Hull Bay. The parking lot was completely full, however, so we drove a little further along the coast road to the next beach, at Cinnamon Bay. We weren't disappointed at all!

On Saturday, we went to Lindquist Beach, which had been so empty when the Deans & I went there on a Tuesday. When we arrived mid-morning a few people were already there and more arrived as the day went on, so we felt completely comfortable.

We hadn't been at Lindquist long when Parker & Bob noticed a young woman in a wedding dress posing for a photographer. We (of course) watched, then noticed an older man wearing a tie and asked each other if he might be a minister. Apparently, he was, as he soon donned a robe and joined the bride and a young man at the edge of the sand. I zoomed in, because I definitely didn't want to intrude:

Finally, on Sunday we went to another "new to us" beach at Sapphire Bay. And, again, we found a place we sure won't mind going back to:

Sapphire did have an unusual feature: ducks! And while they aren't necessarily tame, they aren't shy around people, either:

No, we didn't spend ALL our time on the beaches! We shopped some (no sales tax in St. Thomas!), went to an arts & crafts festival, watched basketball at Paradise Jam, and just spent time relaxing together. We also watched the sunset one evening at the nearby Secret Harbor:

Needless to say, the weekend flew by and we all had a wonderful time!

And I know decorations like the one below are everywhere, but I just think they really look out of place down here!