<b>Day One – Home -&gt; Charlotte -&gt; St. Thomas</b><br/>Wake up around 4:30am, get my stuff together, and head outside. Jessica’s Dad arrives around 5:30 ready to take us to the airport. A few minutes later, we’re at the airport, through security, and sitting around for our 8am flight. Without a hitch, we connect through Charlotte, NC, to Charlotte Amalie (main town in St. Thomas). <br/><br/>The moment we step off the plane we realize something, it is hot. Not just hot as in VA summer hot, but we just came from mid 60s to this sweltering humid place. It’s REAL hot. We head in to the terminal where we’re offered free rum drinks (Cruzan Distillery is in St. Croix so all rum is dirt cheap). We grab our bags, hail a taxi (not much hailing necessary as this is a huge source of revenue for the island) and we’re on our way to <a href=”http://www.bolongobay.com/” target=”_blank”>Bolongo Bay</a>. Aside from the heat, what really struck me is how awful the roads are! Giant hills, driving on the left, enormous potholes, very narrow streets, and people driving like maniacs. I’m glad we went the taxi route for this island!<br/><br/>We check in to our hotel around 1:30, we’re offered more free rum punch drinks (we accept of course) and head to our room. Once in the room we realize they must have done some pretty serious renovations on that single room that they had a picture of online. The room is somewhat dark and “cozy,” it’ll do for the few days that we’re there.<br/><br/>We had grand plans for seeing the main town and landmarks on this day, but we came to the conlusion that we were too tired to journey far from the resort/hotel and instead do some snorkeling and sunbathing. There wasn’t much too see off of this beach aside from an anchor point that had some bright fish and spiny sea urchins. After swimming around for a bit we head inside, shower off, and rot.<br/><br/>Around dinner time we decide to go out somewhere nice instead of hanging around our resort. Luckily we had the help of two guide books that I had purchased a few weeks beforehand. We choose to eat at the <a href=”http://www.agaveterrace.com/ag1.html” target=”_blank”>Agave Terrace</a> and are not disappointed. After another $20 cab ride we arrive at our destination, a restaraunt perched on the top of a cliff overlooking a bay and the ocean; beautiful. We had a lot of good meals on this trip so I may get the food a bit mixed up. If I err, hopefully Jessica will correct me. To start I have a Pinot Grigio and we order an appetizer consisting of coconut shrimp. After we finish that off in haste, we’re presented with a “compliments of the chef” thingie (I forget what it was, but it was good). For the main course Jessica got some money scallops and I got a pasta and seafood dish that was just OK. Regardless, we’re very pleased with the meal and head back to the hotel with smiles on our faces.<br/><br/>Back at the hotel we decide to check out the bar. We order up what’s called a Voodoo Bucket. Apparently this is supposed to be a killer and our bartender has the audacity to talk us out of getting two as one will “Get you pretty tanked or at least well on your way.” After we finish the first we’re hardly buzzed and could easily handle one or two more, but instead call it a night and head to the hammock on the beach where we just kinda hang. On our way out the bartender sees us not getting another and snickers “told ya so!.” I wanted to punch her, but she was kinda cute so I let it slide.<br/><br/>All in all, a good start to the trip.<br/><br/><br/><b>Day Two – St. Thomas</b><br/>This day started off with us picking up a cab ride to Coral World on the east coast of the island. Coral World turned out to be a miniature Sea World(tm). We were able to check out all kinds of aquariums; touch sea cucumbers, touch starfish, coral, etc. They also offer an underwater walk where you toss on a big funny looking helmet and walk around a little coral exhibit they have in the water. We ate here as well, just picking up a chicken wrap and a burger if I recall correctly.<br/><br/>After Coral World, we walked down to Coki Beach, which turned out to be probably the most beautiful beach we’d ever been to (at the time). Sand as white as clouds, water as blue and clear as I don’t know. It was awesome aside from the locals trying to rent us towels, chairs, and snorkeling gear, and the numerous tourists that were there.<br/><br/>After Coki, we headed back to the hotel, showered up, and went in to town. We started off in <a href=”http://shopvi.com/” target=”_blank”>Havensight Mall</a>, which turned out to be a minor bummer as it catered to the cruise ship passengers whom docked just half a block away. We didn’t find many deals other than cologne and liquor, of which we both bought some things (I replaced a bottle of cologne I had lost and a bottle of Hypnotiq for that night). <br/><br/>Afterwards we took a short cab ride in to the main town, <a href=”http://www.virginislandsmap.com/stthomas/charlotteamalie/” target=”_blank”>Charlotte Amalie</a> which we timed perfectly. It was time for the cruise-ship passengers to leave! The population of St. Thomas was cut in half! Funny thing, the front page of the daily newspaper has a list of the ships coming in, where they are from, and how many passengers they have. Can you say tourism-based economy? Anyway, downtown was pretty nice since it was empty. Some very nice shops (upscale and local stuff), and a little market selling fake bags and other crafts at which we picked up some little bobbing head turtle thingies.<br/><br/>As we began to get hungry we decided to walk down to Frenchtown as the tourist book we had bought back at home said there were a few good places. The walk was a bit long, but it was all along the waterfront so we managed. We overshot Frenchtown a bit since it was only one road wide, but after asking some directions and walking through the ghettos we arrived at our destination <a href=”http://www.hooklineandsinkervi.com/” target=”_blank”>Hook, Line &amp; Sinker</a>. The drinks were strong and the food was good.<br/><br/>Back at the hotel we were exhausted so we watched some TV, guzzled some Hypnotiq and called it a night.<br/><br/><br/><b>Day Three – St. John</b><br/>We woke up pretty early in order to hop on the ferry over the the less-touristy island, St. John. everyone told us how nice this place was, but we really had no idea what we were in for.<br/><br/>After the 30 minute ferry ride, we take a short stroll through town (<a href=”http://www.jimemery.com/usvi/cruzbayH.jpg” target=”_blank”>Cruz Bay</a>), grab some bottles of water and fresh fruit from a local vendor (dirt cheap, btw), and relaize there really isn’t much to this “main town.” <br/><br/>We then head over to the taxi depot, tell them we’re interested in an island tour, and wait until the next group goes. Since we had wasted a good 20 minutes, nobody from our ferry was around and he had to wait for the next ferry group to come in. Luckily, only another friendly couple joined our tour and we were off!<br/><br/>We did a clockwise tour of the island, stopping at several scenic outlooks, the Anaberg Ruins, the highest point of the island, and finally back in Cruz Bay. The entire tour took a couple hours and was very reasonable. If you go to St. John, I’d highly recommend it.<br/><br/>On the tour, we had been able to get glimpses of all of the beaches. We chose the most popular beach, <a href=”http://www.stjohnbeachguide.com/information%20photos/Trunk%20Bay/Overlook.jpg” target=”_blank”>Trunk Bay</a>, and after a short taxi ride and paying admission ($5/ea) we were on the white sand beach. If you look in the picture, we set up our junk just above where the trees jut out a little toward the island. Unfortunately, the water was a bit rough and we weren’t able to rent snorkeling gear for the underwater trail they have around the island. Oh well, we still had a blast. In the middle of our stay some cruise ship passengers came who were incredibly loud and obnoxious, but they left after a few hours, leaving Jessica and I the entire beach to ourselves, which was almost surreal. We had this gorgeous, huge place, and had to share it with nobody! <br/><br/>We hopped on a cab ride back in to town, grabbed some delicious dinner, hit a few of the shops (mmmm cookies and smoothies) and finally had some late lunch/dinner at <a href=”http://www.rumstj.com/” target=”_blank”>Rumbalaya</a> although I really wanted to visit Hercules’ Pate. <br/><br/>On the ferry ride back to St. Thomas I realized that I had left my shoes somewhere :neutral:, thought about taking the ferry back, and finally decided it wasn’t worth my time and some local would gladly take care of them for me. We hopped off the ferry, taxi back to hotel, watched TV, packed, and passed out.<br/><br/><b>Day Four – Travel + St. Croix</b><br/>This day started early in the morning in St. Thomas. We woke up, finished our packing, and hopped on a taxi to the airport. We were told to arrive at the airport with two hours to spare and did so. <br/><br/>Since it was a local flight, though, this was unecessary. We were checked in and waiting for our flight in less than 15 minutes. After some long waiting/napping we’re escorted out to our plane (a Cessna) with 5 other passengers. Jessica was terrified, it was glorious. After packing our bags in the wings (and making sure each side weighed the same), we hopped on the plane to find someone actually got to ride shotgun! Awesome! The flight was pretty smooth except when it got windy and the entire plane just kind of drifted. Jessica put some serious claw marks in my arm and after 20 minutes we were in St. Croix.<br/><br/>At the airport we grab our bags, find that the taxi situation really isn’t anything like on St. Thomas, attempt to rent a car, fail, and hop in a cab to the <a href=”http://www.carinabay.com/” target=”_blank”>Divi Carina Bay Resort</a>. Upon arrival, we check in, check out the room, and head out to the beach where we rent some snorkels and check out some intense reef probably a half mile off the beach. Afterwards, we lay on the beach a bit, eat, plan our next day, and finally head to the resort’s casino across the street where we play nickel games and get some great deals on food and drinks.<br/><br/><br/><b>Day Five – St. Croix</b><br/>This day starts pretty early as we hop on a cab to <a href=”http://www.stcroixtriathlon.com/images/chris-map.gif” target=”_blank”>Christiansted</a> for a day of walking around and snorkeling! We grab some food at a little hole in the wall called <a href=”http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgresults.cfm?destination=usvi@161&amp;cur_section=din&amp;property_id=390551″ target=”_blank”>The Avocado Pitt</a>, which is owned by a nice retired guy from Kentucky; I could definately see retiring there.<br/><br/>We then hopped on our “glass bottom boat” (had no glass on the bottom… Maybe fiberglass bottom?) towards <a href=”http://www.nps.gov/buis/” target=”_blank”>Buck Island</a>! We arrived after maybe a 30 minute trip, decided we should jump out with the “advanced” snorkel group (turned out to be a good idea since some of them even sucked – a european group all used their arms to swim) and plodded around a very awesome reef trail. After the time was up on the reef trail, we set sail for the Buck Island beach, which was inhabited only by some birds and white sand. After a short stroll along an entire coast of the island, I did some jumps off the boat in to the water, and we headed back to Christiansted.<br/><br/>Back in Christiansted, we debarked, tipped our crew, walked around the town, and loooked for some food. Luckily, one of the books we had had been right on the money with recommendations so we simply followed it, which lead us to <a href=”http://www.rumrunnersstcroix.com/” target=”_blank”>Rum Runner’s</a>. I had two amazing drinks and a great fried fish meal, but I forget what Ms. Jessica ordered. After our meal, we did some walking around the historical area and then it began to pour. We then hopped on our shuttle back to the resort, leaving Christiansted done for the most part.<br/><br/>Back at the resort we cleaned off while it continued to rain and then went out to sunbathe. Around 5pm a group came to the resort for hermet Crab racing, which turned out to be very entertaining (videos in gallery). Jessica and I bet on three crabs, named them “Alvin, Simon, Theodore” and were let down when none of them won a thing. I think over the course of the event 17 of 25 crabs won prizes. BIG LOSERS. We then retired to our room, got ready to go out, hit the casino, lost our winnings and then some at the casino, packed up, and passed out.<br/><br/><br/><b>Day Six – St. Croix -&gt; San Juan -&gt; Philly -&gt; Home</b><br/>Once again we started this day off with a ride to the airport, took a smallish, but bigger than a Cessna plane to San Juan, where we spent a few hours (note: everyone dresses like a skank and spanish is the official language); hopped a plane to Philly, where we grabbed some grub, did some shopping at the mall inside the airport, got my Dad some soft pretzels, and finally hopped on a plane home, where my Dad was waiting to pick us up.<br/><br/>All in all, a very good trip. Next time Jessica and I go we plan on spending 3 days in St. John, travel to St. Thomas for one of those 3 days merely for the shopping), and then spend 2 or 3 days in St. Croix, as it was much more relaxed than St. Thomas and had great diving and snorkeling.<br/><br/>Total price for the trip: $1500ish each with very few corners cut.<br/><br/>I’ll put the pics in some sort of meaningful order someday too (where taken, which day, etc); pics 1300-1400ish are on one camera and 1800+ are on another so they are only in chronological order within those sets.<br/><br/><center><a href=”http://www.iammike.org/gallery/?dir=vacations%2F2005_05_Virgin_Islands”><img src=”http://www.iammike.org/gallery/?preview=vacations%2F2005_05_Virgin_Islands%2FIMG_2186.JPG”/><br/>Click for gallery!</a></center>