Our entertainment was provided by " The Black Elvis", Mr Michael Burnett, who was fantastic! I swear, if you closed your eyes, you'd swear HE'S "The King". Everyone enjoyed the southern seafood buffet with steamed shrimp and fried fish, complete with grits and beans.
We both had a wonderful time. Getting to see our families and friends all at once was terrific. Thank you to everyone; specifically our parents for helping us put this whole thing together and tend to the kids.
After spending our wedding night in a luxurious condo over-looking Big Lagoon we woke early the next morning and grabbed our bags for 5 fun filled, kid free, nights in St. John, USVI.
The honeymoon was action packed. We searched for Blue Marlin for 10 hours one day. Trolling teasers, ready to pitch a bait back to a hungry Blue..and didn't see a thing! Oh well, that's fishing!The bite had slowed over the previous few days and more than just our boat came home empty handed. Still, we had a great time; and I got to take a nap on-board, something I've missed for a very long time. Thanks again Capt. Don and Capt. Kevin.
One day we decided to take a cab to some of the local ruins..and found that most people "just walk" after all it's "not that far". Beware, in the islands, the term "not that far" has an entirely different meaning than it does to most of us non-long-distance-runners here on the mainland. We walked probably 2 miles , mostly downhill, at a pretty steep angle, to reach the ruins.
There we found a sign showing other ruins ahead another .25 miles; we figure , ok it'll be just around the bend...let's go see. Immediately we notice how beautiful the water was and elected to snorkel for a while. The first part of the swim was spectacular, huge amounts of life flourish around these beach-side reefs. The second part of the swim was directly against the 2 knot current, we got back to the beach and were on our way to being tired.
We took a break, ate an orange and had some water. Well it's not far now, surely, before we find those ruins. Sure enough, it was just around the bend and, what felt like straight up, for .24 miles. So we see these ruins, the one remaining room, and are ready to go back and see the first set of ruins.
These ruins at Annaberg were really cool. The skeleton of the wind mill, used for extracting the sugar from the cane, was built using many coral blocks along with the native rock and was stunning. There, in the center of the ruins, covered in brilliant red flowers, stood the largest Mimosa tree I'd ever seen. The scenery was gorgeous, over-looking the British VI to the north. We spent the better part of an hour walking around and taking pictures. Finally it's time for the walk, 2 mi, UP-HILL this time, back to the camp ground at Maho Bay.
Along the way we ran into Lance, an employee at Maho, who is from nearby Fort Walton Beach (small world) and we shared company on the walk back. It wasn't long into our journey back before Shawn and I were huffing and puffing at the climb. We must have stopped 6 or 8 times before we reached the bottom of the really steep section, and looked lovingly into one anothers eyes and told each other how much we really didn't think we were going to make it!
Fortune smiled on us and from around the corner appears a Jeep, ... A JEEP!, A JEEP! I think it was the forlorn look on our faces that actually made the driver stop. Whatever it was, he stopped and offered us a ride, finding his Jeep full before he could even finish his offer! Once back at the room we took quick showers and collapsed.
Later that evening we attended a glass blowing demonstration, offered twice a week at Maho Bay. The demo was awesome. Those guys stayed busy making intricate and colorful bowls, plates and vases, all from recycled glass used at the camp.
We spent a lot of time snorkeling around the bay and watching wildlife from our second story balcony. We had Iguanas walk by in the trees and birds that stayed around constantly, waiting for you to walk away from your food so they could swoop in for a bite.
The whole trip was excellent, we loved every minute of it, even the hikes.
Thank you again to everyone that was involved in this with us.
Capt. Josh
I've heard from numerous people that if they would have known, they would have come. I apologize to anyone who was not notified. We put this whole thing together in less than 2 weeks and weren't able to notify everyone that we would have liked to.
Maho Bay: http://www.maho.org/
Capt. Don "Blue Fin II": http://www.bluefin2.com/
Michael Burnett, "Black Evlis" : 2917 Selma St. Pensacola, Florida 32507 #(850) 456-5045
St. John USVI: http://www.usvitourism.vi/en/stjohn/sj_Home.html
