BEAUTIFUL BOTANICALS

January 10, 2019

We had a great excursion today.  Our bus drove us to the second highest mountain on St. Thomas – 1457 feet – for some spectacular views, but the highlight was spending 90 minutes in the Villa Botanical Gardens.  They’ve had some hurricane damage.  That is a duh!  Because Irma hit them from the Atlantic Ocean, and another female named hurricane whose moniker I cannot recall hit them from the Caribbean about a week apart.  Our guide told us that the houses we could see across the valley (and just below the highest mountain at 1550 feet) were previously hidden by trees and the hurricane took them all out.  He said he and his wife were without power for 90 days.  Someone asked what you do when a hurricane comes.  He said you just hunker down.  Wow!  But I took many great pictures of beautiful flowers, and some nice shots of the Caribbean and the Atlantic which I’ll post when we get home.

Tomorrow is Antigua – which Pat Sajak frequently mispronounces – and a two hour walking tour of historical St. John’s, the capital.  It features a complimentary bottle of water.

Brandi and Keith, with whom we ate three nights ago wanted to eat with us again tonight, and we had a pleasant meal.  You will remember she is the special ed teacher and he is the prison guard.  They hired a taxi and went to Trump Bay to swim (don’t know it’s relationship to our president) and Brandi looks like a lobster – at least her back does.  She allowed as how she put on two layers of 100 SPF lotion, but still got a good/bad burn.  She said at the beach tomorrow she is going to flip over and burn the other side.

After the juggler’s show – an entertainer we have 3 times, and enjoyed again – we went to a drawing in the shops.  Because Mom bought a purse she got 4 tickets and we went to take part.  They pulled a yellow ticket out of a sea of red tickets – ours is yellow – but it was not our number.  Next drawing is the evening after St. Lucia and our tickets roll over.  Oh, by the way, the juggler’s name is Edge.  That’s it, just Edge.  But he is not a former professional wrestler.

Speaking of the other Edge, I had a professional wrestling insider for Mike and Matt, but I have forgotten what it is.  It would have been funny.

Oh well.  It’s time for Blogging by Bonnie.

TTFN

Blogging by Bonnie as I consume some Christmas colored M&Ms.

Well, after a hearty breakfast we went out of the ship and discovered there were two huge Holland America ships docked in front of us. The Koningsdam (which we will do an Atlantic crossing in October) and their new ship the Nieuv (new) Amsterdam. So there were probably 10,000 people in port. WOW!  Our tour didn’t leave till 10:30 so we hung around the dock.  We were going to walk to find the post office but we were the ship parked the farthest out so we decided to wait till we got back. The tour bus was an open air bus which was really nice. Lots of fresh air and everybody had a great view of everything. We drove WAY UP into the top of the island and had some great sights. The roads are very narrow and winding and steep!! I was not on the edge. When we got to the Botanical garden the driver had to back the bus up the drive in order to get into the entrance. Wild! But he did a good job. I was surprised that we seemed to be the only tour that came to the garden. It was wonderful. There were paths to wander around like in a maze and all types of beautiful plants. We did manage to find our way out of the maze. We had an hour and a half to explore and we used almost all of it. The ride back DOWN the hill did not take quite as long.

The island does not have a major water source. There is a small island (called Water Island) located across from it where they get some of there water. The also have a desalination plant, but 5000 gallons of water cost from $500-600. The houses all have cisterns where they keep their water and depend a lot on rain water which they collect as run off from their homes roofs. We really don’t know how good we have it.

When we got back to the touristy shopping area where the ships were docked we got out and went in search of the post office. Since this is a US port I could mail my post cards which I had prepared last night. I even already had stamps. We were successful.  I will mail some more when we get to Puerto Rico but I will have to buy stamps. But I know right where the post office is in Puerto Rico.

After returning to the ship we had a small lunch and then headed to our cabin for a nap. I first had to clean my shoes, they were dirty and muddy from the garden. Then, we both napped to about 4:30. Then, it was dress and go to supper. The line was again very long but after they opened it only took  a few minutes before we were in and seated. The couple we sat with are very nice.

When I was sitting waiting for the show to begin someone behind me was from Maryland. They said Mt Airy Md had gotten 5 inches of snow and were supposed to get more tonight, that is close to Frederick and Damascus MD. We used to live near there.

 Well, it is bed time and tomorrow our tour is walking but it doesn’t start till 12:30. So there will be time to get up and have a leisurely breakfast. We may go out and shop before we take our tour.

Love you all
Mom, Granny and Bonnie