2014 Caribbean Cruise Day Two: St. Thomas

Sunday, February 2

After a great day in Puerto Rico, we woke up excited to head to St. Thomas. Ben Forstner had rented a couple cars for us so he, Manina, and I took off early on foot to go get the cars. After completing the paperwork we walked back to the ship and met up with the Denneys and Bergerons who would be riding with Manina and me in the minivan.

The six of us decided to try to make it to church at the St. Thomas branch, which started at 10am. Mike Bergeron navigated and we got to church a few minutes before the service started. We were a little under dressed since we were planning on meeting up with the Forstners and Francises after sacrament meeting, but we were made to feel welcome.

Seeing a small branch reminded me a lot of my mission, but there were some obvious stalwarts there. It was a fast and testimony meeting, so it was fun to hear from the local members. A few visitors also contributed, but one in particular drove me nuts. He mentioned several times how quaint and humble the St. Thomas branch was, and mentioned the size of the stake centers back home. I’m sure he meant well, but it’s those kinds of Utah Mormons that drive me nuts.

The Utah Mormon kept going on and on about the “humble circumstances” of the St. Thomas members, but instead of jabbing a thumb into my left eye, I decided to distract myself by playing with a young boy who had started being a little rambunctious for his mom. He was captivated by my iPhone. I showed him how to play the matching game, but he didn’t quite get it. He kept saying, “perro” (dog in Spanish) and tapping the card with the dog.

When I showed him how my phone could take pictures too (by snapping this photo of him), he put down his backpack, took my iPhone to his chair by his mom, sat down and hugged it to his chest. He was keeping it. I grabbed his backpack and sippy cup and hugged it to my chest and he seemed to understand that if he was keeping the iPhone, I was going to keep his stuff. He quickly thought his sippy cup was more important, so he came back over and we worked out a trade. And much to my relief, because that trade would not have been in my favor.

When we left church, Ben had left me a text to come find them at Coki beach. So, we got in the minivan and I drove us there. In St. Thomas they drive on the left-hand side of the road, but the car setup is American rather than British. So, it was a little confusing. But, we make it to Coki beach without incident.

We rented a chair and some snorkel gear and set ourselves up for the next few hours to chill at the beach.

I grabbed the GoPro camera I borrowed from my dad (thanks, Pops!) and went out to snorkel. After a while Manina came out to join me and look at some fish and coral. Back on the beach, we ordered some smoothies and food, Manina read, and I went out to swim and snorkel some more. Coki beach was a very cool spot; definitely worth it.

Mid-afternoon we packed up into the cars and went to find Drake’s Seat. We stopped at Walgreens to get Manina some hair spray on the way over, and eventually found a nice overlook where we took some photos. We had a few navigational issues, and I don’t think we stopped at the actual location known as Drake’s Seat, but it was a pretty view nonetheless.

When we got back on board the Jewel of the Seas, we got ready for dinner. I managed to talk Manina into coming out on deck with me to watch some of the sunset and take a couple pictures. Our dinner time started at 6:00pm and sunset was at about 6:15pm, so we were a little late. Manina doesn’t like being late, nor does she like what the humidity and wind do to her hairdo, so it was a small miracle I talked her into joining me. However, we got some good shots out of it.

We enjoyed ourselves at dinner. We started a tradition of ordering two starters, two main courses, and two desserts — the triple-double! But, we didn’t drink sodas or have any rolls or breads, so it wasn’t like we were totally gorging ourselves.

 

That night was the Super Bowl, so after dinner the on-board activities all centered around the game. We walked to the front of the ship with the Denneys and the Bergerons and chatted for a bit before trying to find everyone else. When we joined everyone else for the game, it was pretty much over already. The Seahawks blew out the Broncos; it wasn’t ever close. So, we sat around and talked and Manina left with some of the girls to go grab a hot chocolate and shop around. We called it a night.