Saturday, August 8

The Baths, 1 of 2

Walked into town with our towels, light snacks, cameras, and masks. We tried to get coffee at the Deli Grotto, but were there too early. We instead got a coup at JJ's Texas Toast Cafe near the Park by the ferry dock. The captain, Toby, of Breakaway, met up with us and showed us where to hop on the boat.

Sip-a-mug's for our drinks all morning, afternoon, and evening. I had mimosas, painkillers, Shirley temples, water, more water, coke, another coke, probably more painkillers, and some other tasty drinks. Kevin also enjoyed more of the same. We had a nice tray of muffins, melons, and fruits to get the tummies full of delicious right away. Ordered our lunch and looked at the maps of where we'd be going for the day.

Pulled into Spanish Town on Virgin Gorda and then took a large taxi to the baths. I wish I had brought a crash pad and my climbing shoes. I did have my climbing shoes, but forgot them at home for the excursion (turned out to be ok for the trip I was on, since we had pretty limited time at The Baths). The bathaliscs are amazing and wonderful. A short hike brought us past our first few glimpses of the growing rock formations. I tasted something new, cactus candy. The turks cactus produces a raspberry-flavored fruit that is delicious. The shape is not too different from a small pepper, but it is sweet and tasty. The color is almost fluorescent magenta. Wendy, one of the crew and our trail guide, showed us where to find more cactus candy and also explained more about the boulders and how some of them are still growing. We splashed around, I jumped off a large boulder, Kevin crawled through a small enclosure, we both managed to scrape our backs on some boulders, and before we knew it, we were being herded back to the taxi to head back to the boat.

The Breakaway left port, with our passports clearing us through customs in the British Virgin Islands. We then headed off to Marina Cay, where we had already ordered lunch and the food was waiting for us. The distillery for Pusser's Rum is not a bad stop if you're in the neighborhood. I had a Jamaican Jerk Chicken Wrap and Kevin had the chicken roti, which I had recommended he definitely try while here. A visit to the Virgin Islands isn't complete without trying pate and roti.

We hung out at the restaurant in Marina Cay before boarding the boat once again. Our next stop was Diamond Reef. Legend has it someone lost their diamond ring on the reef and it has never been found. I sure didn't find it. We snorkeled around like some one horned butt fish (there's a actually a concessionaire with the park named onehornbuttfish!), and did some free diving to check out the sea life. Man! The visibility was incredible. 36 feet below, Kevin swam along the sandy bottom for a little while before heading back to the surface. We had hopped in the water first, as we did not need much of a tutorial to explain how to snorkel. We tried to be as close to last in getting back on the boat. After everyone was back on board, we set sail for Jost Van Dyke after we made a slight alteration to the itinerary. One of the crew left his ipod at Marina Cay. Wooops! No worries. We'd all rather have music and make an extra stop than the alternative. The trip to Jost Van Dyke was a bit on the longer side, but well worth it, as we passed over the northern side of Tortola, something I have not done before. We pulled into White Sand Bay and splashed over the side of the boat, making our swim for Soggy Dollar. Our dollars stayed mostly dry in the dry bag. The dry bag leaked a little, but nothing was too soaked. We played with the ring game, letting the string and ring go, trying to get the ring to hook around a large eye-hook sticking out of a plank of wood nailed to a palm tree. The sugary sand felt great beneath my toes. We relaxed in the plastic beach furniture, watched others enjoying their time at soggy dollar, caught some sun, and a painkiller later, it was time to get back on the boat. The swim was longer this time, as the boat had moved from its original spot, due to the tide and other boats getting a little too close to where they had been anchored initially. I saw several bumper stickers at Soggy Dollar with the letters “JVD” in an oval. I couldn't help but think of “Why would they have a sticker for Jugular Vein Distention on a sticker?” It took me a moment, but I ultimately realized it was a sticker for Jost Van Dyke! Still, every time I see the sticker, I think of JVD in an emergency medical context, not the island, painkillers, and beach that I love.

The ride back to St. John was short and ended with a pass through customs. Another stamp on my passport, yay! From the dock, we walked over to the dive shop to see if I was scheduled for work the next day. Not on the boat. I caught up with Ellen and filled out my paperwork to get started officially at Low Key. As an Independent Contractor, I'm in! Sweet! I learned more about the benefits, responsibilities, standards, etc. I'm excited!

I checked my phone and found a message from Russ, the same guy that had helped us book our cruise on the Breakaway. He was concerned we'd missed our trip, since two people from St. John never showed for the cruise. Rather than let him know we'd made the trip without any troubles, I thought the opportunity was ripe for a little bit of fun. We walked over to the kiosk and found Russ and then proceeded to tell him we'd waited an hour for the boat, never got to make our trip, etc. For several long moments, we had him thinking the worst. Fortunately, timing is everything and I let the cat out of the bag- triggering a hearty laugh from all of us.