more st. croix

Gate to Shoy's beach.

Path towards the cottage coming in from the beach, and hermit crab highway.

Exploring Christiansted our first evening.

As good a boat name as any.

Boardwalk shadow.

Bleary-eyed travelers, Christiansted harbor.

Cottage interior. Just right for sea breezes.

Sandy Point, or as Scott and I kept whispering, "ZIHUATANEJO" - the 

beach where the last scene of the Shawshank Redemption was filmed. This was the 

first beach we visited, and the best. We felt like Andy and Red, freshly escaped/freed from prison. 

This place. Holy smokes. SO PRETTY.

THESE COLORS.

Cruise ship docked in Fredricksted, lucky for us since most of the town
is closed otherwise.

Scott loves canons.

Lunch stop.

More Fredricksted; a good tree.

Flowering explosion

There's some pretty ancient-looking architecture on St. Croix. 

Pyramid Point sunset.

A sweeping vista spotted early in our fateful tidal pools hike. We were lost at this point, but didn't know it.

2 or 3 hours later and there was no longer any doubt: we were lost.
In the forest. But what a cool tree!

Survival tip: do not follow me into the wilderness.

We eventually followed a stream to the shore with no tidal pools in sight, so we decided to retrace our steps.

Just our luck, it started to pour. 

On our way back we found an old mill - so neat! 
And scary. We didn't see this on our way here.

We eventually made it back to our car and promptly found the real trail.

WE FOUND IT! Five hours later: the beach with the tidal pools.

WORTH IT.

Mountain goat.

Tidal pools sculpture.

Pyramid Point sunrise.

Morning haze.

Sun shining through the main house dining room.

Cats; Tamarind Hotel.

Captain Carl on our snorkeling trip to Buck Island.

Scott asked to take his picture, and he pulled out his conch shell horn.
What a good sport.

Afternoon rain.

Driving exploration around the island.

Point Udall.

Shining sea.

Rainbow beach, Thanksgiving Day.

More roadside horses.

Road so close to the water!

There were a couple kayaks for us to use at Pyramid Point. We took a 

double to the little nearby island preserve, Green Cay one afternoon. 

Scott also paddled around solo. 

Lunch view at Cane Bay. Tourist photo op on horseback.

Free rangers all over the place. Scott tried to catch one.

More Christiansted.

Big fish swimming around the boardwalk.

Caribbean Christmas time.

See the plane? We watched a few land on the water - neat!

Last night in Christiansted. Thanks for a good vacation, St. Croix!

st. croix phone photos

Here are some of my iPhone photos from our trip. I'll post photos from my bigger camera soon, but fair warning, there's a pretty repetitive theme: Caribbean island vacations are dreamy and we had a great time.

Early morning flight through the sunrise, heading south. 

St. Croix airport: tropical breezes, sunshine, heat. Waiting for our rental Jeep.

Drive on the left side of the road and look out for wandering horses.

Horses everywhere!

Our cottage at the Pyramid Point. We were the only guests on the whole property for most of our stay, which was great but also a little spooky at night for city/suburb mice like us. 

View from the pool deck, a.k.a where our worries disappeared.

Even the rain is a picture-taking occasion. Come on.

We took so many pictures, you guys. 

View from the Mermaid, a beach-side restaurant at the Buccaneer Hotel.
We ate here after an epic 6 hour hike, during which we both thought we
were going to die (not metaphorically) at various points. More on that later.
Needless to say, what a sight for sore eyes.  

I told Scott I didn't want to golf. I was wrong. 

Our caddy on the 9th hole. He didn't budge. 

I took 18-20 photos of Scott cartwheeling into the pool. 

Sunrise from Pyramid Point. Also just 1 of 40 photos I took of a single view.

The Tamarind Hotel, a short walk from our cottage. 

We went on a Sea Thru Kayak tour in Salt River National Park where there is a bioluminescent bay!!
We paddled once it got dark, and it was magic.
Bright stars above and streaming dinoflagellates below.

This little one-eyed cat got a bite of fish taco, as requested.

Thanksgiving Day: Point Udall, the eastern-most point in the US. 

I just learned this from Wikipedia: Point Udall is the name of both the eastern-most and western-most (Guam) points in the U.S, so that "America's day would begin and end at a Point Udall."
No small honor for Mr. Udall, right?

Someone's dream home, I presume. 

Rainbow Beach, also on Thanksgiving Day.
Just to counter some of this incredible scenery, there was almost no food to be
found on the island because of the holiday.
Hungry bellies but full eyes at this point in the day.

Roadside scene in the rain forest on one of our mid-island driving explorations. 

The pyramid rooftops of Pyramid Point. 

More to come in the next post! 

fall leftovers

I'm about to post a thousand vacation photos, but here are a few unrelateds from the last couple months.

Sister duet.

Backyard colors.

Tree reflections on the Rabbit.

Living room fall light.

Sister time

My sisters, Kahlil, and my parents were in and out the last few days. The occasion: Laura visiting from Utah! 

Natalie and Kahlil surprised Laura by hiding in the trunk of Scott's car when we went to pick her up at the airport. They were fresh off a million mile bike ride from Harper's Ferry through DC to Northern Virginia, and hatched up this plan to startle Laura. She jumped in the car in the arrivals zone, and then a few moments later, Natalie's leg pushed through the back seat! Then Kahlil's face! 

Laura's reaction: "What is wrong with you?" We laughed for years.

There was plenty of good food, and a batch of cupcakes.

It has been frosty and fall-like. Ice on the car windows Saturday morning when we went for bagels.

Action shot of bagel tower collapsing. Note Scott's hand speeding in to save breakfast.

Natalie really got into the backpack vac. Thanks for cleaning!

Kahlil spent a few days working on a deck. He had helpers on the weekend, who seemed happy enough to duck away from sister talk. 

Sunday we snuck a peak in Natalie and Kahlil's soon-to-be new house in Luray - what a charmer!

 

Sunday Brunch

We were lucky to have these visitors for a few hours last Sunday.

Isla has lots of interesting things to say, such as where the elephant lives (the zoo), yes, she'd like bacon with her pancakes, and she was happy to read one of my bird watching books to her father: "Birds," page turn, "birds," page turn, "birds," etc.