St. Thomas - Afternoon Beach Trip

We purchased an excursion to our favorite St Thomas beach for today and were instructed to meet our group at the end of the dock at 10:45am.   We got ready and made sure everyone had their Seapass cards before we took the elevator down to the disembarkation deck.   As we were about to be cleared to go off the ship, Grandma Trudy realized that she did not actually have her Seapass card, and thus would not be allowed off the ship.  She had layed it down on the counter when she ran back into the room for a minute after we double checked to make sure we had everything.  Oops! 

It was getting close to departure time Zoé we decided that Sweet Pea and I would take all of our bags and go ahead to our meeting spot while Ross ran back up to the room to find the missing card.  Grandma Trudy waited by the exit.  

Amelia and I found the excursion group and boarded our bus without catching sight of Ross or Grandma.   At the last minute, through the bus window, I spotted Ross running around looking for us.  He didn’t have his tickets for the excursion because I’d taken all the bags.   I had to hand his backpack to him through the window.  There were no seats left on our bus, but there was some space left on another one. It was all very exciting.  

Our bus stopped for a few minutes  at a beautiful scenic overlook. There were a few vendors around and one man really wanted Amelia to take a ride on a little burro he was leading around, but she declined.   I had handed Ross the backpack containing my phone in so I didn’t have it with me to take any pictures at the overlook.  You could see that about 40-50% of the buildings had tarps on the roofs or showed other signs of damage from hurricane Irma last summer.   

Eventually we made it to the beach and met our old friend Kareem, who sets up lounge chairs and provides everyone with drinks.   He always makes sure to lets us know several times that he doesn’t get paid but just “ works for tips”.  

Ross and Grandma Trudy’s bus was still no where to be found so Amelia and I just left our stuff by our chairs and got in the calm, clear aquamarine water.   It was cold but we were able to get used to it after a bit.  What a lovely beach!

After about 30 minutes, Ross and Trudy’s bus finally arrived. Both of them got in the water, but Trudy thought it was too rough for her back so she got right back out again.  

Our excursion went over lunch time but did not come with food so we ate granola bars for lunch.  

Ross and I pulled a chair into the shade while Sweet Pea played. Grandma Trudy did some shell collecting. 

When it was time to go, Sweet Pea and I reboarded our bus. It was a bumpy ride back to the ship because the hurricane had left the roads in bad shape.