Day Four: St Thomas

We woke up mid-morning to find we were still sailing at a pretty good clip.  We were scheduled to be in St Thomas around 1pm today.   Looks like a lazy morning for us until we get into port.  

I was packing my camera bag in our living space when I saw something quite large fly by our balcony.  It was a bird!    I had no idea what kind (other than black/dark gray body and white head and another type all white) and will have to Google it later.  In the meantime, I snapped several pictures and was able to catch one flying high.  They were all over the port side of our ship.  Some were diving for fish.  Lovely way to start the day.  

As we were sailing into St Thomas, there were places I could not identify.  I was used to seeing full palm trees either single ones lined up or groups of them and used them as landmarks along with the boats anchored in familiar areas.  Now I could see homes and building structures that I did not recall seeing in previous years when we visited this island.  That’s why I did not recognize Honeymoon Beach.  There were no boats anchored in that area.  

At some point it felt as if the ship was slowly gliding into port.  It was so quiet even on the port side of our ship.  Fellow cruisers were out in their balconies and we could hear some chatter, but it was really quiet.  Today, we were the first ship to dock at Havensight followed by a Carnival ship and it was 12:30pm.  A Royal Caribbean ship was already docked at Crown Bay.  

We could see green all over the island.  A few spots looked brown from what could be from a small mud slide or run off from the rains.  We could see lots of homes and buildings that we did not noticed before especially in the upper parts of the island and hill side.  There was only a handful of expensive yachts docked at Yacht Haven and a couple of boats anchored in the harbor.  Normally we would see lots of activity and lots of boats anchored here.  

Once we docked at Havensight, we could see some buildings and homes being worked on and hear some heavy equipment being used in the distance.  We could hear the traffic noise from the cars and taxi getting around the island.  

We had no excursions planned for this island.  We wanted to walk around and meet with a few locals and maybe purchase a few pieces of local artwork.     

We left our ship in the early afternoon.  After a quick walk around in the Havensight shopping area (most shops were open) we left port and headed to downtown Charlotte Amalie.  Along the way we passed Yacht Haven.  Their wrought iron fence that surrounds the shopping/business perimeter was propped up heavy wood beams.  We entered an area where the heavy gates used to be.  It was quiet here.  Some of the businesses were closed.  We walked out to the dock area and noticed the pier to the right of us was closed off.  They were fixing/replacing the lines that extend into each slip.  To the left it looked like recent work was completed and that’s where the expensive yachts were docked.  

We headed back out and continued walking towards town.  We followed along the sidewalk next to the road with long lines of cars and taxi.  When we made it into Charlotte Amalie, we were looking for a place to cross to the other side.  Hubby made a point of looking for a cross walk and then a light.  That’s when we noticed the lights were not working at any of the intersections.  We waited patiently and found a “space” between cars to cross.  

The main shopping area was bustling on what I would call Main Street.  It’s the narrow one way road with shops/buildings on either side.  We noticed a few storefronts that used to be shops, now had a Lease sign on the boarded up windows.  Another sign said “we’ve moved across the street”.  Most of the shops were open and welcoming our fellow cruisers.  

After chatting with a few shop owners, we found Glady’s Restaurant & Bar located on Royal Dane Mall area.  We had to walk down an alley and make a right into another alley between two narrow buildings and then a left down another alley.  I had the jerk chicken with rice and peas and plantains while Hubby had the curry chicken.  It was a nice Caribbean meal and a nice break from the ship’s food.  While we ate our lunch indoors, it started to rain cats and dogs outside.  It lasted for a few minutes and then the sun popped out again.  

We made a point to stop in Royal Caribbean shop to look for G, but we found out he no longer works there.  Hope he and his family are doing well.  

It is hot in St Thomas.  It’s taken some time for us to get used to the heat when we were used to the frigid cold back home.  We are thankful for the clouds that move around the island as it provides some relief for a few minutes.  

We walked into a few shops displaying art work and some crafts.  One shop owner (a fellow photographer) finally received electricity at her home two weeks ago.  She said she was tired of “camping” and well just plain tired.  For the last few weeks, she was able to get a weak cell signal until recently.  She assumed they were fixing or replacing the nearest cell tower.  A few days ago, trucks finally came and removed all the debris from her surrounding home as well as her neighbors.  She told me she was thankful for folks like us (cruisers) to come to the their island.  For now, we (cruisers) are the only tourist on the island.  Many of the hotels are closed due to damage as well as the resorts (along with their beaches) to tourists and many were housing the workers who were helping with the rebuild efforts.  We purchased some art work from her and thanked her for her time and for sharing her experience with us.  

We continued walking around for a bit and noticed how tired we were (not used to the bright sun) and decided to head back to the ship.   Walking back was not an option and we shared a taxi with another couple.  Good thing as it started to rain on our way back to the ship. More like a downpour.   

We heard from a fellow cruiser that Magen’s Bay was a beautiful beach and was very crowded with passengers from the three ships in port.  Magen’s Bay was the only open beach on the island.  

In the early evening, I spent a lot of time on our balcony enjoying the views and serenity of the island.  I took lots of pictures as the sun was setting and casting a warm glow around the island.  A catamaran was sailing back from an excursion.  I called this one the “party boat” and they were a lively bunch.  

When the sun started to set, I watched as the islanders began turning on their lights at the shops and at their homes around the island.  It was beautiful to see.  Several small boats were coming back into port.  They looked as though they were transporting folks from around the island. 

We were all aboard around 8:30pm and left the port before 9pm.  We were sad to leave St Thomas.  It still is a beautiful island.  They have a lot of rebuilding to do and it will take some time.  We will definitely be back.