Look out baby, cuz here we come! Rick, Debra and I flew to Miami yesterday and spent the night. Unfortunately our luggage was somehow not designated to be delivered to us until we reached St. Thomas. We had the option of waiting four hours for our luggage. Since it was after 8 PM we decided to go to the hotel with just our carry-on luggage. Yes, next time, we travel we will include a toothbrush in our carry-on luggage.
We touched down in St. Thomas at 11:08 AM. As any St. Thomas traveler knows, the complimentary Cruzan Rum samples are just a few steps from your airplane. Today’s catch of the day was coconut flavored! Debra said it was very tasty.
Jason and Chris flew direct from Dulles and landed at 11:50 AM. We found them loitering at the Cruzan Rum Welcome Station. It’s a tradition.
Since we had several hours until our hotel check-in, Debra took the opportunity to stop at her favorite jewelry store - Renaissance Jewelry. Rick, Chris, and Jason took the opportunity to stop at their favorite brew pub, The Taphus. Everyone was very happy. My wife found the perfect custom ring set and the band found the perfect beer!
We then headed to Side Street Pub. Their legendary fish tacos has become our traditional first island meal. It was as good as we remembered. It was wonderful to be together as a band, sharing a meal in this magical place. No one stopped smiling.
Chris, Rick, and I drove to the Mafolie Hotel to check in while Debra and body guard, Jason, waited on the fitting of her custom jewelry. We reserved hotel rooms since our VBRO rental was not available for the first night of our trip. Chris and I remembered the Mafolie Hotel from our original visit in 1989. It has a spectacular view overlooking Charlotte Amalie. I thought it would be a wonderful place to celebrate the first day of our Caribbean tour. I was right.
Renaissance Jewelers knows how to make my wife sparkle
Meanwhile back at the Jewelry store….
While Debra and Jason were waiting for her rings, the jewelry store offered Jason beer. As soon as the beer was in hand, the rings arrived. Jason asked if he was allowed to carry the open bottle of beer to the car. “Yes you can, Jason” said my wife. Jason was shocked that there was not an open container law in St. Thomas like there is in downtown Baltimore. After some reassurance that he wouldn’t get arrested for walking out the door with an open beer, he proudly strolled by a policeman on his way to the rental car he said “take my picture!” I think this was the exact moment Jason considered moving to St. Thomas.
Jason’s face says it all.
Jason and Debra made it to the hotel and joined us on the balcony of our suite. We celebrated the view and how lucky we were to have made it back to this beautiful island after two years.
We decided to have dinner at the Mafolie Restaurant. It was only steps away from our room, and it offered the same wonderful view. It took some time to get our food. No one complained. We were together. We were smiling. We were laughing. We were a band that just arrived in paradise.
Jaguar has finally arrived