The Sea Witch Stole My Voice! Our Two Week Land and Sea Adventure! COMPLETE 4/12

I do wonder what you did with the rest of the afternoon. The St Johns tours are done by early afternoon. The ship is still pretty empty. So I predict maybe a short walk into town and then some pool time.
 


Hi Lessa!! I'm all caught up!! Your snorkeling excursion looked like fun and the weather was beautiful that day!! :goodvibes
 
I am enjoying your TR - tons o' fun!!!

Your Mom looks so young I honestly cannot be sure which is you and which is her!! I hope I can age so gracefully - wow!
 


Hi Lessa!! I'm all caught up!! Your snorkeling excursion looked like fun and the weather was beautiful that day!! :goodvibes

I was SO happy that it was finally sunny, well somewhat sunny. :laughing:

I am enjoying your TR - tons o' fun!!!

Your Mom looks so young I honestly cannot be sure which is you and which is her!! I hope I can age so gracefully - wow!

:laughing: She gets that all the time. She had me when she was twenty so she was a young mother.
 
Back on St Thomas we still had a few hours left until we needed to be back on the ship. First order of business was to get rid of the dirty towels. There was no pile on the dock like when we were in Tortola so we asked a nearby CM if there was a place designated for the towels. He reported there wasn't but that he would be more than willing to take them off our hands. We thanked him and handed them over. Disney always has such great customer service; just one of the many reasons we love it.

Our load lightened Mom and I made our way into town. In researching the cruise I found out about a sky ride you can take that is close to the port. It takes you high up to one of the peaks and you get a great view of the island. There is also a restaurant/bar up there along with some touristy shops and a bird show if you time your visit correctly.

Mom and I figured it would be pretty easy to find and we wanted to see a bit of the area. Well the area, by the dock at least, looked just like any other outdoor shopping area is the US or Canada. We saw a Radio Shack, Sunglass hut, Wendy's and lots more. It was a very different experience from Tortola which had a more "rustic" feel to it. If I didn't know better I would think I was back in Virginia Beach shopping at the strip mall and not in the Caribbean. :laughing: Now granted we only saw the area right next to where the cruise ships dock so I can't speak for the rest of the island. I am also not trying to make this sound like it was a bad thing, just very familiar, not the "island experience" you usually think of. Of course this familiarity is probably one of the reasons it is such a popular vacation destination. You get the exotic location with all the comforts of home.

I think it was a ten minute walk to the sky ride station. It was pretty pricey, around $20 per person but we coughed up the money anyways. It was not busy there at all, probably because of the time of day and the fact that we were the only cruise ship in port.

We purchased our tickets and then hopped on the next cab headed up the hill. I am not a huge fan of heights so I was a bit nervous going up and down hanging in a cab from a wire but the view was worth it.

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One of the first things we saw up there was one of the famous island lizards. It was pretty appropriate too as the mascots for Paradise Point skyride are lizards!

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Charlotte Amalie Harbour with the Disney Magic

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Something we learned on our excursion and I forgot to write about is the military and shipwreck history around the islands. A couple decades ago St Thomas was used as a naval base and they had a bunch of cargo ships that they used to house soldiers docked offshore. Well when the US military left the islands they decided to sink the ships; so scattered all around the entrance to the harbour are these sunken US military ships.

Also sunken in the harbour and surrounding it are many sunken ships from back in the 18th and 19th century. Scuba diving and scavenging is forbidden under law in this area so rumour has it that there are a bunch of ships down there with a bunch of "treasure" completely untouched.

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The bar/restaurant at Paradise Point is open air and overlooks the harbour. It is famous for its drink, the Bushwacker. Mom and I just had to try it so we each ordered one.

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IT WAS SO GOOD! Tasted just like a chocolate milkshake, you wouldn't even know it had all that alcohol in it. Probably why they call it the bushwacker, you don't taste the alcohol so you drink a bunch of them and find yourself in the bushes. :laughing:

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In case you couldn't read the sign it is made with Baileys, Amaretto, Kahlua, Vodka and Coconut Rum.

If you are ever in St Thomas get one, so yummy!

There is also a very pretty gazebo up there and a short nature hike. I didn't go on the hike as the heat and humidity were starting to get to Mom (she has MS and humidity can really make her nerves ache). She told me to go but I didn't want to leave her alone suffering in the heat.

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We were up there maybe an hour, would have been longer if the bird show had been going on. It was just so hot and so we decided to head back to the ship. The ride back down in the cab was scary (for me) once again but I dealt with it. I was glad to have my feet back on solid ground once again.

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The license plates were so pretty (I know I am a dork for taking a picture of this).

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I was wrong!

that view of the harbor is beautiful.

Where did you find out the info about the shipwrecks? Very interesting.
 
if there are treasures down there, i bet no law will keep the good divers out, they prob scuba in from far away and still scope them out, if they dont they should, at least that is what i would do,,, get me some treasure.
:banana:
 
if there are treasures down there, i bet no law will keep the good divers out, they prob scuba in from far away and still scope them out, if they dont they should, at least that is what i would do,,, get me some treasure.
:banana:

:laughing: I'm sure you are right, if somebody was really determined they could probably find a way to sneak down there.
 
Do you have any pics of the think that took you to the top of the island, didnt you say it was like a sky ride?
 
Do you have any pics of the think that took you to the top of the island, didnt you say it was like a sky ride?

I didn't take a picture of it but yeah it is a sky ride like you would find at a theme park. A cab suspended from wires basically. Here is a picture I borrowed from photobucket.

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Very good name for that drink. You'd certainly be bushwhacked after a few of those. :rotfl:
 

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