A New Adventure – September 7, 2014

As with most trips, today started early; 5 a.m.!  Up and at ’em to go pick up Faye and Lanny by 6:15 a.m. and then on to the airport.  Our destination point is U.S. Virgin Islands, St Thomas.  Although we have been to St Kitts several times and dearly love it, we decided to explore something different this time.  St. Thomas is a U.S. territory and a lot easier to get to because it does not include the hassle of going through Customs and passport checks, etc.  It is also less expensive to fly to with more options for flights, departure days and times, and airlines.

Our plane left at 10:00 a.m. for Puerto Rico, and after a 2+ hour layover we arrived in St. Thomas around 4 p.m.  Just like in St. Kitts, you arrive at a relatively small airport and deplane down stairs to the tarmac and walk into the terminal which may have 5 or 10 gates.  Nothing like Orlando or Tampa airports.  There in the terminal they direct you to samples of rum as a welcome gesture and then onward to baggage claim.  Since those baggage carts don’t have to drive more then a few yards, the luggage arrives pretty quickly and then you head outside again for a taxi. We were asked where we were going and directed to a van already filled with people so we were the last four of eleven people riding in a 10 passenger van.  Lanny got to sit in the front passenger seat and Faye, Jim, and me in the back seat along with a man who was very protective of his space.  Laughing and joking was high on the agenda and the ride turned out to be the high point of the trip so far. We have a beautiful villa overlooking the beach and with a perfect view of the boat channel so we see all the cruise ships coming and going.

The Villas are built on the side of a mountain with a series of elevators to get you from the beach level to the street level with minimal impact on your knees.  Our first impression of St. Thomas is it is more of a party island than St. Kitts.  While we were eating dinner in the Sunset Grill at pool level, there was a band playing and couples dancing.

Picture of pool which overlooks beach

We were all exhausted and didn’t last long after dinner.  We have an appointment with a Marriott Trip Advisor in the morning to help us plan some things for the week which should help us make the most of our time here.