Day 1: Jost Van Dyke to St Thomas
We ate cookies for breakfast, then went out front to Ali Baba’s to have coffee. We ended up talking to a Virginia Tech guy who was there. He said they call the University of Michigan “McChicken” because they won’t play them in football. (Have we mentioned we’re Michigan State fans?) We got to say goodbye and happy Easter to everyone. We didn’t see a taxi, but Baba brought our bags over to the ferry in his truck while we walked. We had originally planned to take a ferry direct from Jost to St Thomas but it wasn’t running due to the hurricane. So we once again ferried to West End Tortola, traversed Tortola by taxi to Road Town, and got a ferry from there to St Thomas. At least we saved ourselves a long ferry ride on St Thomas, since the Road Town ferry goes to Charlotte Amalie where we were staying. (The Jost ferry goes to Red Hook.)
Our ferry had to wait for a parking space at the West End before it could dock. Everyone else coming off the ferry in Tortola had someone to meet them. There wasn’t a taxi at the dock – one of the guys on the ferry said there was usually one there; things may have been different since it was Easter. Steve asked one of the port authority people who talked to a woman who called us a cab. While we stood around clueless. The cab also picked up three women at Nanny Cay who seemed to be associated with the regatta that was going on. We got to see some of the regatta on our ferry to St Thomas. We had to pay cash for our ferry tickets but got to use the credit card for our $20 per person exit tax. Our ferry got started around 25 minutes late.
We arrived at St Thomas right next to where our seaplane from St Croix landed. We shared a taxi with several people, one of them a guy who had just moved to Virgin Gorda as a project manager working construction. He said they need lots of workers but only want to pay carpenters $10-15 per hour.
Our room at Lindbergh Bay was ready. The room was a little hard to find, but they upgraded us to a villa. It was a nice room with comfy chairs and a sofa. Too bad the little plunge pool outside wasn’t working.
We were really hungry so we quickly changed clothes and got the free shuttle to the sister resort for lunch. We lucked into an Easter buffet with fish, jerk chicken, beef, ham, mac and cheese, sweet potatoes, salad, slaw, potato salad, rice and peas, plantains, johnnycake, juice, and dessert. Just what we needed! It looked like there were lots of locals there enjoying brunch after Easter services. At least they were dressed for church! Then we sat on the nice sandy beach with clear water.
We asked at the desk for a store nearby. We never found the Happy View market she gave us directions to, but we did stumble on a Pueblo market, where we bought Coors Light because it was easy to carry, plus water, rum, and passionfruit juice. We declined a taxi ride back. It was a hot, sweaty slog back, but not terrible. Maybe we should have splurged on the taxi! We made dinner of kettle chips and Coors since we weren’t that hungry, then sat on the balcony until the mosquitos drove us indoors. It was nice to be able to sit indoors away from bugs in the AC and put my feet up.
I got hit with a ton of bug bites on this trip. They didn’t hurt or itch horribly, but they did look awful! Aloe seemed to help. I believe they’re sand fleas or sand flies. (Note: The bites took WEEKS to fade away.) There are lots of cats around here and a few lizards. And an office chair below the balcony. And a freighter off the coast that hasn’t moved since we got here.
Day 2: A Last Day at the Beach
A lazy day on our last day. We had chips and cookies for breakfast, then headed to the sister resort around 10:00 AM to hang out on the beach and have lunch. We found shade under some trees, then moved to a palapa once one was free. We had three St John Summer Ales down on the beach and got in the water. There were lots of people around.
Then we had lunch: burger and a shrimp po’boy, and Bushwackers. The Bushwackers and two beers ended up being free. Back at our room we had rum drinks and followed the NCAA basketball championship on Google. We couldn’t get the TV to work; we only got snow. We went back to the sister resort for a pizza dinner.
Day 3: St Thomas to Home
We had a leisurely morning drinking coffee and watching puffy lizards and boats. We couldn’t plug the microwave in because the cord wouldn’t reach the outlet so we sat our leftover pizza box in the sun to warm it up a bit. One of the reasons we chose this hotel was because we could walk to the airport. That’s a first! It was a nice stroll around the corner to the airport. No wait to check in for security or TSA. No duty-free at the airport, or at least no rum. Maybe when we get to Miami? At any rate, we’re on our way home.
Essentials
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Lodging
We chose the Lindbergh Bay for its location near the airport and a beach, and the price, despite mixed reviews. (For two nights we can put up with almost anything.) It ended up being just fine and we had the novel experience of walking to the airport, which is literally just around the corner.
Dining
Transportation
We positioned ourselves so we could walk where we needed to, other than taking a taxi from the ferry. Taxis seemed to be a common mode of transportation.