Tuesday, April 05, 2005

Back from Paradise

What a week away from reality! We had a fabulous vacation in St. Thomas at one of the loveliest spots I have seen. The house in which we stayed was a three level Mediterranean-style home with 7 well-appointed bedrooms and a great open style living/dining/kitchen which was conducive to a reconnecting family of 8 adults and 6 children. Off of the lowest level was a deck the width of the house with a nice sized pool, hot tub and built-in grill. The best part about the house however was the location. The house was set into the side of a hill that looked West across Magen’s Bay. The deck of the house, with a gazebo for the hot afternoon sun, was set far enough above our private white-sand beach we could watch the sea turtles and rays swim in the waters just below. The color of the bay ranged from cerulean to turquoise bleeding into sapphire near the center of the bay while the white sand bottom created an ethereal translucent quality to the water.

In addition to the tranquil surroundings, we had many fun outings and events, including…..

Meeting friends from NYC for pool-side libations at their hotel, the Ritz-Carlton, who were coincidently visiting St.Thomas at the same time
A pair of jet-skis which we had for a full day to speed around our bay. They were delivered right to our beach! We had an inner-tube to tow the kids, although a few adults took a turn.
Snorkeling right from our beach. I don’t think anything will ever quite compare to snorkeling in the Red Sea, but we did see a few pretty fish and many sea cucumbers!
A boat trip over to St. John for a bit of touring and lunch.
Tour of the historic Fort Christian which was begun in 1672. It was actually used as the local jail until 1983!!!
A little bit of shopping around Charlotte Amalie – it was less quaint and local than we like, although they had lots of great name-brand deals. (no duty or taxes on items and almost everything can be bargained down from the US retail price)
Several great restaurants including the Blue Moon Café which was looking over a small bay on the east side of the island, The Old Stone Farmhouse for an adult evening out, and Cuzzins, an island-inspired Caribbean cuisine, my personal favorite.
And of course, many hours relaxing by the pool and the beach!!