St. Thomas - Day 7

This was a day we had been waiting for, not because it was our last day, that made us way sad. We were excited because we were going on an excursion to the Virgin Islands. All week we went back and forth on how we wanted to see some other islands - do we take a ferry, do we rent a boat or do we do an excursion??  I'm so glad we did this! It was our BEST DAY!

We hopped aboard Bad Kitty and set out for the British Virgin Islands. Our first stop was The Baths. Here we had to anchor out in the ocean and swim to shore to take advantage of this beautiful place. We purchased a waterproof bag (about the size of a body bag) so we could take my camera. I would have been PeeO'd if I didn't have it.

The Baths is an area of Virgin Gorda, BVI with pools surrounded by boulders pushed up from the earth by the earth's shift. It was absolutely and my pictures do not do it justice. They do several photo shoots in these caves for Victoria Secret and other magazines. It was absolutely beautiful. I've always had a thing for rocks in the ocean. It's so pretty and I love the sound of the waves crashing against them.

Next stop was Cooper Island for lunch.

Then we stopped to snorkel in the caves. I'm not a huge snorkeler so I did for a bit and hopped back on the boat where several people were jumping off the top deck into the ocean. For the first time in my life I acted like a wuss and didn't jump. It really ate at me but it was probably for the best given my track record.

Our last stop was Jost Van Dyke and the Soggy Dollar Bar. This is voted one of the best beaches in the world. I would have to agree. Here we anchored in the ocean again and swam to shore. The Soggy Dollar Bar is home of the original Painkiller. It was such a beautiful place!

Now this photo below is one I am most proud of. I didn't realize how good this was until we got home and I was going through all of pictures. This one took my breath away. I couldn't believe the perfection of the colors of the water and sky. Ohh, I just love it!

The excursion was a perfect end to a wonderful vacation. We're already planning a trip back - it was certainly one of the best vacations yet! It was nice to  take a break, be so removed from everyday life (but still keep up with my bestie having a baby in the states while I was away) and spend some good QT with my man!

St. Thomas - Day 6

And repeat.....same as Day 5!

Tonight we went to dinner at Coco Blue. I was VERY disappointed here. I had been craving sushi. We made a reservation but when we walk in we stand there for about 7 minutes waiting on someone to acknowledge us. We finally had a seat at the bar and waited about 40 minutes until our table was finally ready. The sushi was crazy things I had never heard of so I went with our North Carolina waitress recommendations - NOT GOOD. You know my meat and potatoes man was planning on having a steak, well they were OUT so he had to settle for something else. Service was only ok and the food was yuck. We will not visit again. I like my Tennessee sushi just fine, thank you.

St. Thomas - Day 5

Hmmm, another day by the pool................sun, fruity drinks, music, nap...........that about sums it up! Today we did take a double kayak out into the bay, that was fun but didn't last long. We were very lazy.

We were craving some great pizza so our pool server recommended the Island Time Pub and boy was he right!! It was absolutely delicious and the view was nice looking over the American Yacht Harbor. Runs a close race with the best pizza I've ever had.

St. Thomas - Day 4

Today we planned to hit Magan's Bay on St. Thomas. We'd heard several great things about this bay and it was definitely on our to-do list while here. We were NOT disappointed! It's was certainly one of our favorite days. The bay was beautiful and so quiet. Fortunately, we visited on a day when there were no cruise ships coming in. The beach was probably 30 feet deep and a mile long with still crystal clear blue water.  We took our blankets, radio, floats, cooler and lunch and spent the day there. Oh it was so nice!! That's one thing we have loved about this vacation is being able to venture off the island and see more than the resort pool (which don't get me wrong is very nice).

On the way back we stopped by a dairy, which we had passed on our way, Udder Delight (funny name, right? I love it!), to get a milkshake. Very tasty!

We did nap by the pool upon return to the hotel. Then it was dinner time again...

Tonight we had dinner at Pesce. Mark had the best fettuccini alfredo EVER. You know that's a pretty big deal as he holds Olive Garden to a very high standard. My pasta was ok but the bread was well worth the trip.

St. Thomas - Day 3

Today was a bit overcast so we decided to go into town and check that off our list. We started our day off with a great breakfast at Molly Molone's. Breakfast is Mark's favorite meal of the day and boy was he happy to get an omelet and bacon! We brought poptarts and breakfast bars for the other days so this was a real treat. :)  This place had iguanas just roaming through the restaurant, it was cool and creepy at the same time.

We had an interesting cab ride into town that probably took an hour because of so many pickups and drop offs BUT it did only cost $8. Score! We went into several shops, near where all the cruise ships port. We could not get over all the jewelry stores. But here they don't have a sales tax so I'm sure many people take advantage of that.

I had read about the Step Streets and wanted to see those for sure. So we made our way up the 99 steps and had a photo shoot along the way.

I had also read about Zora's. She makes custom sandals, which are super cute but the pair I wanted cost $250. Really!?!?!  For a pair of sandals?!?!  Mark said I better wear them everyday and run in them for that. Ha - I opted NOT to get a pair. I do already dread it because they were SO comfortable. I'll start saving my allowance to get a pair when we come back. Funny we ran into a couple from Nolensville and Franklin while in the store, too.

Before heading to the hotel we stopped at the grocery store and purchased sandwich meat, bread, snacks and drinks. This was a VERY good decision on our part.

We came back to the hotel and spent some time at the pool before dinner. Dinner - man, what an experience! I had also read about the Old Stone Farmhouse. I was looking forward to this dinner as the trip advisor reviews were great and the menu looked fan-tastic. We got a tour of the kitchen, had kangaroo, a delicious fillet and shrimp pad Thai. Oh it was so delicious! I would highly recommend this if you visit St. Thomas.

St. Thomas - Day 2

We spent our entire second day by the pool. This was our view few for the day...........not too shabby.

It's an awesome place to people watch, tan, take a dip and even an afternoon nap......and that's exactly what we did!

Since it was July 4th and we are on a U.S. Virgin Island they did celebrate, which I was thankful for. It was fun to see everyone in their red, white and blue swim suite and clothes. It wouldn't be July 4th without fireworks so we decided to go over to St. John's to see them.

We had dinner at Woody's, which was recommended by Kenny Chesney (we're big buds, ya know). I hear he frequents there and often sings. The place was so dang tiny I'm not sure where but then again it's not like he would need a lot of gear, everyone would hear him fine. :) 

We watched the fireworks from the beach and then took the ferry back to St. Thomas.

St. Thomas - Day 1

We arrived in Paradise for a much needed vacation full of relaxation! Our flight was uneventful, which is just the way we like it! We took a shared taxi ride to the resort and found out very quickly that everything is on a hill and the roads are very curvy.

We pulled up to the Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas and knew right off we had made a good decision. The staff if very accommodating, as usual, and the views, pool and room were wonderful. It was so nice to arrive in the open-air lobby and feel the breeze coming in off the ocean.

We couldn't wait to put our stuff down and hit the pool, so we did just that. We grabbed a quick but expensive lunch and found the perfect spot on the beach. Later we made our way to the pool where we finished the day before dinner. Since it was a travel day and we were exhausted from getting up at 4am we opted for a very casual dinner. We ate at Big Bamboo, it was only ok. The atmosphere was cool but not sure I would go back for a meal.