Thursday 11/23/06 - Arrival in St. Thomas, Thanksgiving with Marty, Carly, Sean, and Ann

After going to bed at 9:30 the previous night, we awoke at 3 am, showered, and were out of the house by 4. It was 38 degrees, so we were quite happy to be getting away. At least this year we hadn't had any snow yet. We got to the airport at 4:30. We parked in Central Parking (they actually had a $6/day discount over Thanksgiving weekend this year). The airport was a little busier at this time of the morning that in previous years. We had read on the internet that the TSA had instituted a "3-1-1" policy. Each passenger is allowed containers of liquids and gels of no more than 3 ounces, provided they are in a 1 quart Ziploc baggie, 1 baggie per person. We had each packed a Ziploc with our tiny travel-sized toiletries. (We checked a bag with the larger items, such as my contact lens solution).

While we were in the security line, TSA employees were questioning everyone as to whether they had any liquids or gels. If you did, and they weren't in one 1-quart Ziploc, they would send you further down the hall to get a Ziploc. Whether they gave them out free or sold them to you I don't know. As we went through the metal detector and collected our things, a woman in front of us was caught with make-up that wasn't in a baggie. The TSA guy gave her a hard time, and said that she would have to go back out through security to get a Ziploc bag and come back through again, or throw them away. Her boyfriend tried to get out of it by digging through his carry-on for a baggie. It was a no-go though, as it didn't zip shut. The guy tried to argue with the TSA guy, but it wasn't up for negotiation. In frustration, the woman's boyfriend stormed off and said "You know, all you're doing is costing me money, you know. This is $40 worth of make-up!" The TSA guy said, "Well, that's what happens when you have a girlfriend." We just laughed as the TSA guy waved us through and pointed out to the pissed off couple that we had packed our items correctly.

We had some time for breakfast, and stopped at Burger King for sausage and cheese Croissanwiches and hash browns. Airports are the only place where we ever eat fast food. We went to the gate and the flight started boarding at 5:50. Craig, Steve, and I all sat together. We realized we forgot our headphones, and we weren't about to pay 2 bucks each to watch "The Devil Wears Prada", so we chatted and dozed. We arrrived in San Juan at 11:20. We got a "deep dish Chicago-style" Domino's cheese pizza, and took it to the gate. The gate was downstairs, and there were so many gates in the same area that there wasn't room for planes to pull up. Buses parked at the gates and shuttled people out to the tarmac.

We sat at the gate and listened to a couple of Latino men writing music. One was jamming on a thumb piano, and the other was shaking a beaded gourd. They were playing very softly, but they were really into it, scatting and writing down the music. It made the wait for the flight very enjoyable, and we were getting into the island spirit. There were TV's showing CNN, and we saw a news story from home. Two nights before, I was awakened at 2:45 in the morning. I sat up in bed and thought I had heard a plane crash or something. Craig hadn't heard anything, so I had convinced myself that it was a dream. The next morning at work I found out that it had been an explosion in a chemical plant several miles away. The building was totally destroyed, as were neighboring homes, but thankfully nobody was killed. As we sat in the airport in San Juan we watched footage of the raging fire that followed the explosion. It is indeed a small world.

At 12:55, our flight began boarding. We got onto the bus and it drove us over to our propeller plane. It was a 2 and 2 configuration. Craig and I were on the left side and Steve was across the aisle from us. A mom and two little girls sat in front of us, and the dad was across the aisle from them. The girls were just adorable. The baby was one year old, and she peered back at us through the gap in the seats with a big smile, showing off her two bottom teeth. She was so giggly and cute. We smiled at her and she got even more excited. This got the attention of her 5 year old sister, who turned around and smiled at us too. We started chatting with her. She was very excited to be going to St Thomas. She said that they were from Virginia. Craig told her we were from Massachusetts. She didn't know where that was, so we showed her a map in the in-flight magazine. She took the magazine and started reading the names of the countries in South America. She was an excellent reader, and she was very tall. If I'd had to guess I would have said she was at least 7, maybe 8. Her mom wanted to look at the map and took the magazine from her. She turned back to Craig and said "I need another map, please. My mom took mine." She was so cute. She introduced herself as Caitlynne (spelled it for us and everything). She asked our names and our nicknames. She said that maybe she would see us at the beach, and if she saw people who looked like us she would ask their names.

The baby continued to giggle and screech with delight for the duration of the flight. The girls had us in stitches. They were just so cute. Caitlynne asked if we were married. When Craig said that we were, she giggled. She said, "When are you going to have a baby?" Craig said, "Do you think we should?" She shrugged. "Some people have none children." She wagged her index finger, "Nooooo children! Some people have one children, some people have two children..." and she proceeded to count to 20. She then said "SOme people have 100 children" and we all giggled. Her mom apologized for her chattiness but we really enjoyed her company. She was such a cutie. She pressed her face against the window and looked back at Craig and said "I have no eyes at all." This caught my attention, as it is a lyric from the rather obscure Throwing Muses song "Pearl."

The plane landed and Caitlynne and her sister continued to smile, giggle, and sing. We said goodbye and disembarked. As we walked through the airport we got our complimentary glasses of rum punch, and wished the woman a happy Thanksgiving. Craig got the keys to the rental car at Budget, and then we collected our checked luggage. As we exited the airport, we passed Caitlynne's family. Craig tapped Caitlynne on the shoulder and said "Is your name Caitlynne?" The mom laughed and said "See Caitlynne, you already have friends on the island!" We went to the rental car parking lot and found our car. It was a small scratched up red Kia Rio. We put the bags in the trunk and hopped in, trying deperately to get the thing to cool down a bit. There was a pine tree air freshener hanging from the rear-view, and it absolutely stunk. We stashed it in the glove box.

We drove through Charlotte Amalie, past Dysfunction Junction, and ended up at KMart. We had considered going to the Food Center, the "real" grocery store was had discovered last year, but we weren't sure it was open on Thanksgiving Day. We decided to go with the safe (but slow) bet of KMart. We were by now old pro's at the KMart routine. I went to the clothing section to buy a sarong for the beach, while Craig and Steve went to the alcohol section to buy beer and Smirnoff Ice. I grabbed a shopping cart and headed down one floor in the elevator to get to the food aisles. Craig and Steve met me down there, and we picked out cereal, milk, snacks, etc. Once again, they didn't have eggs this year, so unless we stopped at another store our breakfast would be limited to cereal. That's ok...less work. All of the locals were buying Christmas trees and decorations. We got into line, and it was sweltering. We each grabbed a soda from the refrigerator and started swilling it while in line. The line went a little faster than previous years. We loaded the groceries into the car and drove to Secret Harbour in Red Hook.

It was now an hour after we had left the airport. Not too bad, considering the notorious "island time." Craig checked in while Steve and I waited in the car. We were on the third floor this year, in a one bedroom beachfront (number 332). We went to the room and it was quite a different configuration than the others we had stayed in. It looked like it had been recently remodeled. There were two bathrooms. One had a shower/whirlpool tub, sink, and toilet, and there was a weird little narrow hallway to get there. The second bathroom had a sink and a combination toilet/shower (Were we on a cruise ship? That was the only other place where we had seen a configuration that let you go to the bathroom while showering), plus some closet space. It was right next to the other bathroom, and the configuration made the room seem pretty tight. The kitchen had a double oven and stainless steel appliances. It had plenty of cabinet space but no drawers, and the flatware was stored on top of the microwave. There was a nice wooden dining table and chairs. The living room area had some wicker furniture and a murphy bed. There was a flat screen TV with cable and a TV/VCR combo. The bedroom had a TV mounted from the ceiling.

We each had a drink and unpacked our clothes. We called Marty and left a message telling him our room number. We watched a bit of Thanksgiving Day football, and then Marty showed up. We were so glad to see him. He had spent the day at his friend Carly's house, helping her with Thanksgiving dinner. Carly had generously invited us to Thanksgiving this year. She and her roommate Ann were new to the island. Carly was dating Marty's friend Sean (a Boston transplant) whom we had become friendly with on former trips. Marty was afraid that Carly's table would accommodate 7, so he tried to talk us into "borrowing" a table from our room. Just tie it onto the top of the Kia Rio. Not! Then he noticed a round glass tabletop on our patio, and suggested that maybe we could "borrow" that and transport it inside the car. We could just visualize getting into an accident and having a sheet of plate glass decapitate us, so we said no to this as well. We told him that we would gladly eat on the floor with our plates in our laps, just please leave the furniture where it was. He then suggested going back to his place to get a table. But there was no way we could tie anything to the top of our little car. We eventually convinced him.

Marty hopped onto his Honda motorcycle and we followed him to Carly's. We passed the "bridge to nowhere", a bridge which was constructed but doesn't actually link anything. There was a guy standing on it, peeing over the side. It's good to see that this bridge (constructed by the U.S. government) is of use to the locals. Carly lives at the end of a dead end near Bluebeard's Beach Club. The house has a gorgeous view of the cruise ships leaving the harbor. We met Carly and Ann, and greeted Sean. Sean lit the tiki torches and showed us the view from the porch. It was gorgeous. Carly brought out deviled eggs and veggies with dip. We sat out on the deck and visited, watching the lights from the cruise ships twinkle as they left the harbor and went out to sea. Everyone else was in and out of the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on dinner. We stayed out of their way, on the nice covered deck. Carly was wearing an apron decorated with Maine lobsters (not something you see every day in the Caribbean) and Marty was wearing a matching chef's hat.

Dinner was delicious. We had turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, candied yams, corn, stuffing, cranberry sauce, rolls, and green beans topped with French onions. All seven of us fit around the table without a problem. It was intimate and nice. While we were eating, a ship came back into harbor at a high speed. They speculated about why that might happen, and they settled on a medical emergency. Carly had made dessert from scratch, an apple pie and her signature coffee cake, with dulce de leche ice cream. Dulce de leche is a caramel-like concoction made of milk and sugar. We were introduced to a very similar condiment, known as manjar, in Chile. About an hour after the ship returned to harbor, it headed back out to sea, also at breakneck pace. Ann said that she would get the scoop at work tomorrow. We all had a lot of fun visiting, and hung out until around 10. We said our goodnights and headed back to the hotel, and Marty headed home. Although still stuffed from dinner, Craig , Steve, and I hung out on our balcony, eating M&M's, Pringles, and cashews. We were on vacation, after all. We went to bed at 12:30, after a very long but satisfying day.
Marty at Secret Harbour

Marty and Carly

View from Carly and Ann's Deck

Cruise Ship from Carly and Ann's Deck

Marty and carly

Thanksgiving Dinner

Marty, Sean, and Craig Filling Their Plates

Steve, Marty, Ann, carly, Sean, and Craig at the Dinner Table

Marty Enjoying Dessert



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