We had breakfast in the dining room (table for 6 set for 2, next to a window) and enjoyed seeing that there were two other cruise ships in port today, both of which we'd cruised on previously. We were on the Celebrity Summit from Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale through the Panama Canal, and Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas on a 7-night cruise out of San Juan. It's fun to look at the ships and reminisce about them and those cruises.
We laid out three options for today, ranging from relaxing to active, and, of course, chose the most active one. We returned to our cabin, packed for the beach (we tried to pack lightly, but, really, that's almost impossible) and walked over to the bus terminal next to the fish market in St. Johns, Antigua. Unlike the last time we were here, we were the last passengers to board a small bus and so waited only a minute or two before we left. With three cruise ships in town, cruise passengers outnumbered locals on the bus, about 7 to 5. I had a very nice conversation with a local lady who pointed out a beach we might want to try next time, and told me which bus to take to get there.
Today we were headed to Darkwood Beach, south of St. Johns on Antigua's western coast. We had been here once before, about three years ago, and were anxious to see what damage a recent hurricane had done. We had been told that the huge palm trees that used to frame the beach had been blown down, and they had been. Still, the beach was beautiful, and the waves huge but gentle. I had the best time playing in them!