Sunday, Day 1: Despite a somewhat frantic start, we got to the airport in Wilmington on time for our flight and in time to quickly catch up with Jimmy's uncle Rob, also catching an early flight out that morning. After quick stops in Charlotte and Miami, we arrived in St. Thomas where we were greeted by rum shot samples and reggae music. Shortly after our first taste of the USVI famous Bushwhacker frozen concoction - a highly rum saturated chocolate milkshake essentially - we got on a ferry and then off to St. John!
We arrived at the Westin just before sunset giving us our first glimpse at the spectacular view from our oceanfront room. Running off very little sleep, we hit the hay and got ready for the official relaxation portion of our honeymoon
Monday, Day 2: After a good sleep, we got up and went to breakfast at the Westin's open air restaurant overlooking the beach there, Great Cruz Bay. In the furry of our wedding weekend, I managed to forget to pack 1) flip flops 2) sunglasses 3) a book to read on the beautiful beaches. Yikes! All beach vacation musts. First things first, we decided to walk what was probably only one mile but seemed like ten because of the super hilly terrain, so I could get a book at the only bookstore on the island. I bit the bullet and bought into the whole Twilight craze and now am totally obsessed with teenage vampires. I digress. A couple hours of swimming, jumping on the trampolines in the ocean at the Westin and sunbathing followed. At about 3pm, we went to the spa at the Westin for massages. Ahhh it was great! Finally, we had our first great dinner of the trip, absolutely amazing tuna at a place called Rhumb Lines. We also met a couple people on a taxi ride who were going out on a chartered catamaran the next day for their annual trip to Jost Van Dyke in the BVIs and invited us to come along. So Jost the next morning it is! Realization from day 2, drinking on the streets, in cabs, etc is really fun.
Tuesday, Day 3: We met the crew of Calypso at the docks off the Westin and set sail for the BVIs by 8:15 am. Breakfast of fresh fruit and mango coconut bread was served. Bloody mary's and mimosas were immediately offered, but we decided to hold off until after our snorkeling stop at Whistling Cay. While snorkeling we saw a lot of cool fish, but perhaps the coolest was a couple juvenile nurse sharks. Despite this variety of sharks being glorified catfish, we decided the spotting was enough to commence the drinking for the day. We had a couple painkillers, the local rum punch specialty, under our belt by the time we pulled into British customs at Jost Van Dyke. The place that has made Jost perhaps the most famous, a great bar called Foxy's, was closed because it is considered the slow season there. This place has been around for a long time. In fact, my parents, Holly and Scott, were hanging out at Foxy's during their stint in the Virgin Islands, circa 1977, when Ted Kennedy rolled up with a woman that wasn't his wife. Very interesting. Knowing the reputation of Foxy's, we had to check it out even if it was closed. Much to our surprise, Foxy himself was there hanging out, enjoying his bar without all the crowds. He sang to us, showed the guys the boat he's building and taught me what makes his dog, can't remember his name, an "island" dog, not a black lab as I so quickly assumed... 1) it's black 2) it sits on it's ass all day 3) it doesn't have any idea who it's daddy is. Jimmy and I are pictured with Foxy below. He looks like a bum, but he's just a super happy millionaire. Next up was lunch at Gertrudes and a stop into the also famous Soggy Dollar Bar. We further took advantage of the open bar included with our trip on our way back to St. John. Finally, we had dinner at Uncle Joes, a great ribs shack, hung around town a little more and then headed back to the Westin tired from a long day of fun and sun.
