Sonya and I were on breakfast duty this morning, since dinner turned out so well. I made smoothies for everyone, and she made steak and eggs with the leftover steak from last night.
We left the house a little after 10, and headed in to Cruz Bay (St. John) to catch the ferry to Charlotte Amalie (St. Thomas). There were people everywhere down there, and instead of waiting in the long line for the big, nice ferry, someone got sold by the hustler to take the smaller, cheaper, faster ferry.
It looked super sketchy (and small) and I was a little skeptical, but our bags were already on there, so we boarded. I mean, the guy wrote names down on a piece of paper and called us up one by one. Not so official, but whatever.
The boat was PACKED. Stephen, Sonya and I tried to sit on the floor outside, but the captain said no way. We had to sit in a seat. Stephen had to go down inside and Sonya and I split up and squished on the hard metal rows in the back.
Once we started going, the waves started spraying up and soaked a lot of us. Awesome. At least they handed out paper towels...
It was a quick boat ride, maybe 20 minutes, and the port in Charlotte Amalie was beautiful. There were several big cruise ships in port. I wonder what it would be like to be on one of those huge ships??
As soon as we got off and found our bags, we went straight for lunch. It didn't take us long to wander around and end up at a little Mexican restaurant down an alley near downtown. We all had the fish tacos and we were all happy with that decision. They were delicious!
Stephen, Dave, and Jeff all had to get to the airport after lunch, and Sonya tagged along with them. She was flying out later but had some flight issues to work out. So I was on my own again!
My couch surfing host, Jackson, was supposed to get off work at 2, but he messaged me and said it was going to be 5. I was planning on hanging out with him today, but that was out now. So I tried to find somewhere to leave my suitcase for the afternoon rather than drag 50 pounds around, but didn't want to waste too much time. I just took it with me and hopped on a big open air bus headed for Magen's Bay. It's supposed to be "one of the worlds most beautiful beaches" so of course I had to see it!
And I wasn't the only one that "had to see it." I should have known with so many cruise ships in today that it would be packed! There was hardly anywhere to even go. I did manage to sweet talk an old man in to letting me keep my suitcase in the ticket office, so that was nice!
I managed to find a spot between two trees to set up the hammock -- squeezed between two picnic tables full of overweight cruise ship passengers. The bay was beautiful, I'll give it that. But man -- the people. It was a bit much for me!
Jackson was supposed to get off work at 5, so I hopped back on a taxi to downtown to meet him. He picked me up back at the same Mexican restaurant I had lunch at, and I got him a margarita to go. Every place in town closes at 5 - it's the strangest thing! I guess that's when everybody gets back on the cruise ship, so there isn't much business left in town.
Anyways, Jackson got me. Super nice guy from Colorado. Living down here and training to be a pilot! He has a great apartment with a fantastic view of Magen's Bay. It was crazy to see it now - completely empty. When 4 hours ago it was packed to the max.
My couch for the night: big and soft and actually really comfy! Even got clean sheets, too!
Jackson's other roommates: a dog named Apollo and an actual human named Jason - from Austin, TX. Oh and a cat, but I don't remember his name...
Jackson had a dodgeball game that night, and he let me come with him. On the way in to town, we just happened to be following his mom! So he called her and they talked while driving side by side, ha. So funny. She and her husband got married here in St. Thomas and have lived here a couple of years now!
Dodgeball was at this awesome beach side bar/restaurant called Iggie's.
We ordered food at the bar: conch fritters and grilled fish for dinner. I was hungry and it was delicious! And then the main event. Dodgeball. I mean when was the last time you played dodgeball? Grade school?
It was so entertaining, and man they took it serious! Jackson was really athletic and actually saved the team one of the games. He was the only one left vs like 5 on the other side and he somehow got them all out! Really, it was a fun night, and once again I was so happy to have an awesome couch surfer to show me around and take me in!
When we got back to the house, his roommate was watching adventure movies on this giant projector on the wall. And the funny thing was the cat was really in to them, too. He's on the stand in the picture below. Every now and then he would jump up and try and get something on the wall! Ha - too funny!
The dog was more interested in me and less so in the movie. Look at that face! Such a cutie!
Thankfully the dog went to bed with Jason and the cat with Jackson, so I got the couch all to myself for a good nights sleep! Oh, and the wifi was good (finally) so I got to upload some pictures. I was up until midnight doing that, but it had to be done! Otherwise my pictures take up all the space on my phone.
Anyways, late night and going to a be an early morning. Jackson has to leave at 7:30 and I have to go with him...
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