Eventually, G met up with me in the IC, and we went together for a light breakfast (cereal and fruit) with Larry from the Philippines and Milos from Serbia in the DaVinci Dining Room. We then walked off the ship with just a towel and water bottles in my backpack and took a few minutes to use wifi courtesy of a friend who manages a store at Pointe Seraphine. I must take a moment to thank everyone who has emailed me, but one in particular whose message I really needed today (and who I'll mention again before I close tonight). Then we stopped to talk with Cornelius at the water tours desk in the greeting center at Pointe Seraphine. He sells what we consider to be the best tour on St. Lucia, the one that we did last February 9th.
http://www.maximumchilloutslandandseatours.com
We asked Cornelius what the local news was about the recent murder of a British sailor and the attack on his wife during a robbery gone bad on his sailboat off Vieux Fort, on the southern tip of St. Lucia. Let's just say that those involved (who were immediately turned in by family and friends) had better hope Cornelius and anyone else involved in the tourism industry on St. Lucia is not on the jury during their trial. As he said, that sort of thing takes money away from all of them. Finally, an hour after we left the Emerald Princess, we started on our walk.
Vigie Beach is a long stretch of beach that lies on the other side of the small, commuter airport near Pointe Seraphine (aka the good dock). To get to it, one must walk around the commuter airport runway. It's not far, but it's also not a particularly fun walk, what with walking down the side of the road while cars rush by. People on St. Lucia drive like bats out of hell, though why anyone on a small island needs to rush is a mystery to me. But today, being Sunday, was quite a bit better than a weekday, and we successfully walked around the runway and down to the little airport terminal. We'd never stopped there before. While all international flights arrive and depart from Vieux Fort on the southern end of St. Lucia, a few commuter airlines operate flights out of the airport close to where the ship docks.
We then crossed the road and onto gorgeous Vigie beach. G was ready for a beer by then, and bought a Piton beer at the Blue Waters, a tiny bar and restaurant right on the beach. There were such good smells coming from that small shack that we felt compelled to stop for awhile and have some of the chicken being prepared in there for $2 a piece.
As we sat there, a man on horseback came galloping down the beach:
The views in all directions were beautiful:
Eventually, we made our way down the beach to the Rendezvous Resort, an all inclusive beach resort that caters to Brits. Though we couldn't walk through the resort, the beaches on St. Lucia are all public, and anyone can use them.
Guests of this resort can lie on a beach and just plant a flag in the sand when they want a drink. It's a good thing. ;-)
This being a Sunday, the non-resort end of the beach was quickly filling up with locals, and a pick up soccer game was underway.
The narrow shoulder on this side of the street won out over crossing the street to get to a sidewalk on the other side.
A typical trip hazard with the opportunity for disaster:
By the time we returned to the ship, we were starving. After no lunch yesterday, a rather small dinner last night and a light breakfast his morning, those pieces of chicken on the beach didn't go far. First though, we had to do a serious wash up, first hands, then sandals, then hands, then feet, then face, then hands, then hands and hands. Something about St. Lucia just always leaves me feeling gritty.
We did a mix of pizza (G) and buffet (me); today's buffet had cioppino as an option, and that's my favorite. Once fed, we returned to the cabin for a rest. G napped; I didn't. I think I've finally caught up on my sleep; frankly, I'm happy our party obligations are completed for this cruise. Two parties in two nights almost finished me off. Instead, I started this blog post (yay!) before 10pm at night.
We showered, long showers in hot, hot water. That's been a little hit and miss lately, and while I can handle one lukewarm shower (we're on a ship, after all), two in a row make me cranky. But there was plenty of hot water for everyone tonight, and we certainly enjoyed it after long walks and the beach on St. Lucia.
We went directly to Dinner with Darko. It was finally Italian night, which is a welcome thing after a day on a beach. Franciscan Merlot, penne arribiata with chicken breast and broccoli, and a cheese plate for dessert made for a very happy me. We had a few minutes afterwards to sit in the Piazza and listen to cello and violin duo Playthoven perform. Anca and Radu are returning to Romania after this cruise, and we will miss them.
Also leaving soon: the production show singers and dancers. The new team comes on board on February 27th (I think), and will perform two of the four production shows next cruise while costumes are being altered. That means that two of the four shows this cruise are being performed by the singers and dancers for the final time. I have no way of knowing which ones they're performing for the last time, but they were all certainly *ON* during tonight's performance of Disco: Blame it on the Boogie. We enjoyed it more than ever.
If we had even a little more energy, we would go to the 10pm showing of Captain Phillips on the big screen (Movies Under the Stars, or MUTS). It's certainly a perfect night for it up on the open decks. But I'm not certain we'll make it...
Two things that I need to mention before I close:
First, we entered a souvenir shop for G to buy a postcard stamp and mail a postcard (the post office in Barbados had closed yesterday by the time we'd returned from the beach). While he was handling that transaction, I spotted this sign. For us, it says it all:
We've given the Los Angeles to Los Angeles world cruise next January a lot of thought, but we simply aren't world cruisers. We'd like to someday cruise from Singapore to Cape Town, or Singapore through the Suez Canal, the only portion of a world cruise we're missing, and I'm sure we will. But, for now, we simply can't handle the sea days that are inherent on a world cruise. Maybe someday (but I doubt it). So this plaque hit just the right note at the right time.
And, finally, another right note at the right time...
I received an email today that bolstered my spirits and renewed my determination to continue to blog for every remaining day of our winter at sea. You see, I've been at this for four months (counting the posts at home), and, except for those posts at home, have two-fingered typed every word on my little iPhone 4S. I had been considering saying "Ditto" from here on out, but this email from Patty changed everything. I hope she doesn't mind me sharing this with you:
First, nice stuff, nice stuff, nice stuff that makes me blush and then "... your life with G sounds so happy. I look forward to your continuing updates; however long that may be."
Patty, thank you for your very kind thoughts. Between you and I, my life with G in 160 sq. ft. sometimes hasn't been all sunshine and romance. In fact, the most frequently heard comments in our cabin have nothing to do with proclamations of love, and everything to do with the fact that we share one tiny bathroom. ("Don't go in there for awhile" and "Do NOT stand between me and a toilet right now", and I'll leave out the assignation of each to the appropriate person). But, yes, I know how fortunate I am to share these experiences with my best friend, and we are very content to be spending our winters this way. Though not everything we do is fun, there is fun in every single day. And I will keep typing every night, until I'm finally typing in our own bed again.
Our own bed.
Our own pillows.
Our own TV with our own DVR.
And high speed Internet.
And a big bathtub.
And a shower big enough to bend over to shave my legs but with a ledge so I don't have to.
And a toilet for each of us with more to spare.
Life is good wherever we are.