Our Favorite Day

This was our day in St. Thomas USVI.  We've done sailing trips 2 other times when we've visited the island and it's always the best time.  We booked with Simplicity Charters again.  Charlie, the captain and his first mate, Josh are awesome.  We enjoy spending the day with them.  This experience by far beats going on a cattlemoran (as they call it) with 50 people and cheap booze for only a couple hours.

Our sail started at noon

Charlie (captain) 

Josh (first mate)

Henkley - boat dog

We stopped first to snorkel.  Josh came with us.  He has a marine biology degree so he's able to tell us what everything under there is.  We saw a sting ray during our swim and then a sea turtle right after we got back on the boat.

This is the punch that inspired the infamous Powell Punch.  We had this punch back in 2008 when we first went on the Simplicity.  It's still a staple on their boat.

They made us lunch, grilled right on the back of the boat.

We hung on our water noodles for a bit...

then decided to sail around some.

Charlie took us to this beautiful area with the most gorgeous water.  There wasn't another boat around.  That's what I love about this experience.  A cattlemoran wouldn't take you to a place like this.

We rode the dingy over to the beach and explored a bit.

6 hours later we sailed back as the sun was started to set.  It was the most perfect day.  If you ever visit St. Thomas look them up!

Flow Rider

The back of the ship had a surfing simulator.  You can boogie board/knee board or surf.  We tried the boogie boarding.  It was hilarious to say the least. The pictures speak for themselves.

This is what kids look like on this thing....graceful show offs!

Jason managed to get to his knees!

Heath was the best of all of us.

But the bust at the end is always the funniest!  It shoots you back to the top.

Sarah looking good!

And me.... trying to get to my knees and....

BAM!

Rockclimbing - A First

I'm kind of surprised that I've never rock climbed before.  Sarah, Jason, and I decided we would try it out.  Heath took pictures. Notice here that Sarah is climbing in the shade... important tid bit there.

That's me...not in the shade.

Sarah and me

  And Jason.....also not in the shade.

So, those rocks you grab onto were SO hot.  I almost let go, but the guy wouldn't let me.  He told me to climb faster... jerk!  This is what my hand looked like afterward.  I should have taken a picture of Jason's because he had 3 blisters immediately form on his pinky finger right after.  Aside from that, it was fun.  I used way too much upper body... should have used more legs.  I was pretty sore the next couple of days.

Gotta get a balcony.

We never cruise without getting a balcony.  It's always nice to be able to hang out on it while we're pulling into or out of a port.  

That's Jason and Sarah waving from their balcony way down from ours.

Yumminess

By far, the hardest working people on a cruise ship are the wait staff and the room attendants.  They work hard and they work a lot.  The food on this boat was better than I remember last time.  I didn't have a bad meal the entire week.  The specialty steak house is always our favorite and it's work the extra money to go.  We went twice this time.

I not one to normally eat snails, but this escargot was SO good.  I ordered for my appetizer 5 of the 7 nights!

crab cake

 stuffed shrimp...they were HUGE!

red velvet cake

chocolate mud pie

goat cheese soufflé

ahí tuna

short rib

One of the little perks on a cruise is coming in for the night to find a new towel animal.

Cruise - Random Pics

Just a warning, but there will be a lot of cruise posts.  This one is just going to be random stuff.

So, we went on a NO KIDS 7-day Caribbean cruise with Jason and Sarah.  7 whole days of sleeping until I wanted and not cooking a single meal.  It was lovely to say the least.

We had just gotten on the boat still docked in Port Canaveral.

Formal Night self portrait

Sarah and Jason took this pic.  We missed the rainbow, but they said it was the brightest one they'd ever seen.

This is how Heath hangs out at the pool with me.... watching movies on the iPad...under a towel so there's no glare.

I always enjoy watching the ship activities.  This was the "World's Sexiest Man" competition.  This guy thought he could win by wearing pink stilettos and a women's hat.  He actually second, shockingly.

Muster Station drills are boring and hot.

 

More to come!