One Last Sunny Day

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Dare I say that our last cruise day in St. Thomas was the very best?

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We found an amazing  beach to sun, play, and relax at.  There was even snorkeling – right off the sand!  A man gave Henry a few dog biscuits, which drew in tons of tropical fish that ate right out of my hand.  It was – in a word – perfection.

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All in all, my family had a much needed and highly relaxing vacation. It was a BLAST. I’m going to write a whole post about the cruise experience; for now, I’ll just summarize this perfect day in a fun way… in FOOD, but of course!

 

We had breakfast on the ship.

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Veggie omelet, melon, potatoes.

 

This is a view that I could get used to…

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When we got off the ship, we made a pit stop at a little butterfly garden, which Henry thought was too cool.

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And then we headed into town.

 

We had a few detours – our cab took us to the wrong spot at first.  But it worked out because we got to accidentally see more of the island.

 

We ate at a little cafe with lots of character.

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My fellow vegetarians can relate – it’s hard to find meals when traveling!  I have eaten a LOT of potatoes, French fries, and Rum Punches.  It’s a hard life. 😉

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I’m not going to complain about fried plantains!  YUM.

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We eventually made our way to the beach, where  the aforementioned Rum Punches (and Pina Coladas) were consumed.

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I dug a sandy pear out of the bottom of my backpack.  It was delicious.  Henry and I split a bag of chips, too.

 

When the clock struck 4:00, Kristien and I had to tear ourselves away from that beach.  We REALLY didn’t want to leave.  And Henry has become a total beach baby – I think his little heart will break when he doesn’t get to dig in the sand tomorrow…

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We got back on the ship with just a few minutes to spare, and then we hit up the cafeteria for salads and – YOU GUESSED IT! – French fries.  🙂

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I offered to stay in the room with Henry while Kristien and his mom enjoyed one last dinner out.  I had vegetable korma delivered in and man oh man – was it good.

 

Henry and I watched the sunset, and then I got to packing up our stuff.

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I don’t know about you, but by the end of most vacations, I’m ready to come home.  Know what I mean?  I miss my bed and my routine and my friends and our dogs and our normal life.  Heck, I even usually miss normal eating and exercise!  I hate to say this, but this time around, all I am missing is our family, our friends, and our puppies.  I would trade in our regular life for cruise life in a heartbeat!  We really, really enjoyed this trip – the time together, the boat itself, the beautiful Islands, all the amazing volunteers we met through the Cabot Community Celebrity program… It was grand.  I will keep the memories of this trip with me forever.

 

See you back in the States!  <3 <3 <3

{ 20 comments }

 

  • emily January 17, 2014, 8:25 pm

    I’m from St. Thomas! I’m going to guess… Coki Beach and Gladys’ Cafe?

    • Caitlin January 18, 2014, 6:36 pm

      YES!! I am so jealous that you were born there.

  • Sara @ LovingOnTheRun January 17, 2014, 9:01 pm

    What an amazing vacation! I don’t know I usually am never ready to come home. The only thing I usually look forward to is seeing my fur babies 🙂

  • Michelle @ A Healthy Mrs January 17, 2014, 9:10 pm

    Looks like an amazing day! Have a great weekend!

  • RunEatRepeat January 17, 2014, 9:12 pm

    LOVE vacation posts! I was in China while you were in a tropical paradise 🙂 Next time I’m going somewhere warm.

  • Beks January 17, 2014, 9:38 pm

    Cruises are amazing. We’re going on our third in five weeks! Disney Wonder to Cozumel and Grand Cayman, and we can’t get enough of them. I would totally live a cruise life. I even tried to get a job on a couple different cruise lines because I thought it would be an exciting life (Waking up in a new city? YES!), but I’ll take cruises any time to make up for the lack of a cruise job. I’m thinking one a year. 😉

  • Kathleen Ojo @ My Ojos January 17, 2014, 11:26 pm

    Beautiful! This was a great opportunity, glad to see you enjoyed yourselves!!

  • Elizabeth @ Positive Change January 18, 2014, 7:47 am

    Wow!! Such a beautiful looking place!! I am BEGGING my husband for our next vacation to be on a cruise! 🙂 I can’t wait for the full recap!
    Glad you enjoyed yourself so much!

  • Emilka January 18, 2014, 8:18 am

    Sounds like a great and relaxing vacation and the recognition of the “community celebrities” sounds like a wonderful theme. I would love to be immersed in an environment surrounded by such altruistic people. A couple of thoughts however: for as much thought and research as you put into which zoo to visit I was really surprised that you fed the fish dog biscuits. Feeding wild animals affects the natural food web and biosphere and teaching them to interact with humans in that way makes it easier for them to be caught by poachers, in this case for aquariums. I will not even feed ducks off a pier. The labor practices of cruise ships and all inclusive resorts are also worth noting. Like restaurant workers, their “salaries” are meant to factor in tips from guests but how often do you see the dish washer or the trash collector to even be able to offer a tip. Cruise ships make me especially nervous because there is no way to easily quit and walk away if you are being mistreated.

  • Elisabeth January 18, 2014, 10:44 am

    What an awesome opportunity! I soooo need to get myself on a cruise this year – I’ve never been 😉

  • Alex @ Kenzie Life January 18, 2014, 11:54 am

    I’m so glad you all got a vacation! Well, even if it did involve some work for you 🙂 You definitely deserved to have an awesome time in the sand and sun! I’ve never been on a cruise but I hope to go one day soon. I’m a total beach person though and I’ve been dying for a beach vacation. Also, I guess it’s a vegetarian thing but I always seem to end up relying on French Fries when I travel! A salad alone is just not that satisfying to me and french fries always seem like the only other veggie food that’s filling. I can’t even tell you how many I ate in Ireland and Scotland last summer (they’re not great about vegetarian food there) so by the end of that trip, I didn’t want a french fry for a long time! Hope you have a safe trip home!

  • Stephanie @ Whole Health Dork January 18, 2014, 3:47 pm

    It looks like you had a wonderful vacation with your family! Glad you had such a much-needed break!

  • Kelsey @ Ramblings of Change January 18, 2014, 5:15 pm

    I’m on vacation in Florida seeing my mom right now, and while I love spending time with her and having a heck of a lot of time to relax, I miss my schedule back home (and my love who is at our home in MN). But I won’t be complaining since the weather here is much more enjoyable than at home!

  • Amber K January 18, 2014, 8:04 pm

    Oh man, that sounds like so much fun!

  • Kris January 19, 2014, 8:12 am

    Worst thing about Coki beach is the fish are fed so much they won’t leave you alone. I had to snorkel with my fists closed because otherwise they would nibble at my fingers. And LOL, I’m sure Celebrity doesn’t want you to refer to the buffet line as a “cafeteria”. We love cruising, and to all the naysayers, it’s what you make it. I work out sometimes twice a day, eat healthy (and very diversely) and don’t go with the crowds. We do a lot of snorkeling, beach and touring on our own. And, if you have special needs (dietary, etc.), just ask for what you need and it usually will be available.

  • Aimee M January 19, 2014, 8:53 am

    That’s the same beach we went to on our cruise to St. Thomas in September! The snorkeling was awesome, the drinks were delicious, and the view was perfect. Although the cab ride was a little frightening and we were also taken to the wrong place first! So glad you had a great vacation.

  • Jackie January 19, 2014, 5:50 pm

    This post makes me want to go back to St. Thomas very badly! The beaches and abundance of rum punch are amazing!

  • Jacquelynn January 19, 2014, 9:44 pm

    Oh I love St. Thomas! And yes, fried plantains are the best, I was so happy when I discovered them 🙂 Have a safe trip home!

  • Sienna January 20, 2014, 7:30 am

    What a beautiful vacation. Pictures look stunning, looks like you all had a fantastic time 🙂

  • Alexandra January 22, 2014, 8:44 am

    While you were cruising with your family I was on vacation with my family in Jamaica! 🙂 I’m also a veggie and lucked out with food at the resort- tons of veggies, salads, beans. But I couldn’t resist those fried plantains and yams either- SO good

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