St. John Day 12 - Waterlemon

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Each day feels like the greatest day here! I echo Maddie's words: this trip is truly a gift from God. To be here is a gift in itself, but to be here for three weeks is unthinkable! Maddie has already decided she wants her honeymoon here - at Caneel Bay. We were all in awe of it the day we hiked in and snorkeled. We visited last time, but we didn't know we were 'allowed' to use the beach, so this time we felt much more comfortable and enjoyed it. Jeff and I daydreamed about spending our 20th or 30th anniversary there... until we looked up the price of packages. Nevermind. ;-) Maddie said she'd start saving now. LOL. Then we reminded them that the most important thing about a honeymoon is WHO you're with, not WHERE you go. They both agreed. ;-) Today's trip to Leinster Bay and Waterlemon Cay was well-worth it and wonderful, but still a tiny bit of a disappointment. The idea is that you hike to Lienster Bay, snorkel along the rocky shore out to the point, then snorkel across a small channel to a tiny island called Waterlemon Cay. Then, if you're up for it, you can snorkel around the island before heading back. Last year, we snorkeled TO the island, but not around it. On the way out there, though, we saw literally HUNDREDS of starfish. I was so excited to have an underwater camera to catch them on film... and guess what? There was not a single starfish in sight!! Also, some folks last time told us that if you come in the morning, lots of sea turtles come in to the shallow bay to feed on the sea gras, so this time we went in the morning. Well, we must not have come early enough, because there also was not a sea turtle in sight. Thankfully, we've seen some at other teachers this trip, so that wasn't too terrible disappointing. :-) On the plus side, this was the prettiest snorkel we've done in terms of the coral and the reef formation. It was beautiful. We also saw a ray as we were coming back in. One thing this trip to Waterlemon had in common with last time: Matthew had goggle issues. After we got across the bay over to the rocky shore, his goggles were leaking beyond repair, so Jeff swam back to shore and got another pair. On his way, he saw a shark!! Close to the shore, right in front of our spot. I'm at the point now, I don't think I'd mind seeing one... I sure wish Jeff had had the camera! We figured the whole trip was a mile and half... and the kids did so great! Between the flippers and the salt water, most of the swimming was pretty effortless. We hit a strong current once we got around the island (we knew about it), but boy - that part was tough. We did it though (obviously!) We met some really nice folks from Indiana once we were back on shore (they were interested in the eel we spotted under a rock near the shore... a rock that Matthew couldn't resist picking up of course). We had a snack on the beach and saw several mongooses (I can't for the life of my figure out why it's not monGEESE but it's not!). Our ride home was complete with donkeys, goats and chicken. We see a lot of baby (TINY) goats and chickens. We came back home from snorkeling and played in the pool, played some games and relaxed. Then we showered and actually got dressed in REAL clothes for dinner out. My hair felt a hairdryer for the first time in two and a half weeks. :-) We headed out for dinner at one of our favorite places: Cafe Roma. DELICIOUS pizza. We ran a few errands before hand, and then we got some dessert after walking around Cruz Bay a bit. Matthew picked out some candy, but the rest of us had our hearts set on the ice-cream shop. Maddie and I had a root beer float (I wish I could say we shared one...) and Jeff had a delicious milk shake. Walking back to the car, Jeff spotted our friends at another of our favorite haunts - Margarita Phils. We knew they were here, and we've been emailing to set up a time to meet at a beach or something (it's a lady Jeff teaches with, and her husband was Maddie's softball coach - they're kids go to Wesleyan, and they're here with family). It was so cool to stumble upon them!! As for the folks we meet, we've met some really neat people along the way... and I love how you tend to run into folks you meet more than once!