St Thomas

March 18, 2013
 I couldn’t help myself I woke up before dawn to catch the sun rise. We were passing by islands with the lights of pockets of civilization sparkling in the early morning. The sky was just getting warmed in the area I figured the sun would come up. Was a bit cloudy and the son snuck up behind the clouds and warmed the sky in a orangey yellow glow. I caught a great snapshot of a cruise ship silhouetted in the early morning glow. I could tell it would be the start of another fabulous day. Unable to sleep anymore I put on my jogging gear and headed to the upper deck. It was already busy with people walking in the jogging path. It was soon evident the suggestion of one lane for running and one for walking was ignored by most people. But those of us that were running managed getting around those that were chatting as they walked. It was then back for breakfast and getting ready to get off the boat. Corinne had a few things to do so we decided not to disembark till 10 o’clock. Just as we got off the ship it started to rain and people were heading for cover. Remembering our umbrella of the suitcase we headed back inside to quickly grab it. Back outside it was almost s sunny and we began to walk in the direction we figured town was. Of course there are many little shops along the way to catch our attention and in one Corinne from the skirt she really liked but it was definitely too early to purchase. We walked along past housing projects that were probably for the poor people. There were chickens in the front of the houses and no fenced yards. It was a colourful site with beautiful flowering bushes, laundry hanging from lines and people coming and going.
Of course we  had many taxi offers but had refused them believing we would just walk into town but not sure where town was. As we went along we began to realize we may not want to walk the whole distance. As we were trying to make a decision a taxi stopped at a light and called out to us. We ask him how much for a drive around the island to show us the sites, he told us $25per person or four dollars per person for a trip into town. We said will take the trip into town as 25 was more than we wanted to spend. He was a handsome older black man and very cheerful. He told us his name was Percy. He chatted and told us history of things that we passed and told us what he would show us if he did take us around the island the things he would take us to. After a few minutes we realized perhaps that was what we wanted to do and told him we would take his $25 offer. It was a great choice he was pleasant, humorous and full of knowledge of the islands. He told us he had lived on St.Thomas for 42 years. He asked us where from and when we told him that some of us were from Canada he was so excited. As a young man he had worked as a herdsman for Abbott Farms in Ontario. They had raised show Herford’s and he has gone often two different places to show cattle. He said he had a nephew in Alberta. He also told us all the wonderful things Canada had done in the Caribbean with the Peace Corps and with helping build schools and provide other help. We had noticed many of the banks were Canadian banks and he explained that  was why Canada had a large presence in the Caribbean. The little island of St. Thomas was beautiful. The houses are brightly painted and like all places in the Caribbean you can find beautiful new houses next to abandoned ruins. We drove past the government house where the offices of the governor were and on up the hill where we had a breathtaking view of the bay where the cruise ships were parked. He then took us where we could see the other side of the island .On this side we could see the Atlantic Ocean. The British Virgin Islands were in the distance and made me think of Marvin. We could see the beautiful Megan’s Bay which St. Thomas is known for. It was most beautiful turquoise with white sandy beaches. We all said next time we come will go spend time at that beach. At one of the stops Percy showed us an island that was shaped as a sailing schooner. He told us how in the fog during the war the English had fired upon the island believing it was a sailboat. He shared many such fun anecdotes. He was such a darling man we enjoyed our time with him immensely. What a great choice to go with him to see the island. After our tour he dropped Corinne and I at the Kmart as we wanted to do a little looking around and took the guys back to the boat as they didn’t want to do a little looking around at shops. As he let Corinne and I  off he hugged us both and told us to have an enjoyable time and remember “ Percy” when we heard Oh Canada. I had written on a pass along card with a picture of the Salt Lake Temple a thank you and put our names and told him this spoke of precious truths that were important to us. I hope it can touch his life.
 I bought a pretty coral top at the Kmart and Corinne bought a couple of tops that would match the skirt she had seen then we headed back to purchase that skirt. We made our  way back to the cruise ship just in time for a quite late lunch as it was almost 3 o’clock.
We napped after lunch then got ready for the formal evening. Was such a pleasant night in the fancy dining room all dressed up in our duds. The other couple at the table are from New York. The moment he opened his we knew he was from the Bronx. Their names are Steve and Sylvia. He’s a big tall guy and she is a petite gal from Ecuador. After wonderful supper we invited them to meet us at the Lyric theatre for the show. It was a show of dancing and singing and was excellently done. The choreography was amazing and the back drops so first class.. We figured we still weren’t ready for bed so we went to watch a game show at one of the bars for a while which is really fun.It was Finish the Lyric. Rex and I then went to see if we could get hooked up to the internet ant used up 20 minutes of our time just trying to post a bit and read mail. Sorry if we will just be doing the bare minimum to get you pics etc.
Great day!