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Friday,
November 24, 2000
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Left: Arrival in the morning shot from veranda. Right: Mike and I returning to ship prior to departure. Galaxy in background. |
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| The last port, and perhaps the best. It's absolutely beautiful, upscale, polite, classy, and a shopping paradise. | |||
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Denise Ferland Driver extraordinary, awesome for this island.She is a teacher of special Ed. and has been on the island for 30 years. She knows everything about the islands culture, history and current social science. She has an awesome sence of humor, is brutally frank and a great human. Mike and I really enjoyed our ride with her. |
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"Finding A Driver" : I left the ship early to figure out the routine on the dock. There was a broker, and I explained that we were "explorers" and wanted a really great driver. "Sure, no problem". When Mike and I came off 30 minutes later, I asked him if he remembered our conversation. "Yes, I have a driver for you". He directed us to a guy in a beat up van. When we talked to him it was obvious that this wasn't going to work. As we left he said, "I lost a fare talking to you". Yeah, right. We then got to the next cab to town, just happened to be Denise's Landcruiser. $2.50 later we arrived in town. After we were dropped off, I asked her if she wanted to offer a tour. She said, "You so busy yakking back there, you probably didn't hear that I offer one! Sure, I offer the best tour on the island, $20 each for an hour and a half." BINGO! (we tipped $10 each) Point is this, it's a matter of luck and perseverance. Don't give up. The time is worth both enjoying the destination and getting value for time. This is one of the reasons why I post my site, which is to pass on contacts that might make your experience more enjoyable. |
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Left: 3 ships at dock in harbor. Right: view to the right. (note: images adjusted in Photoshop, left cloud cover, right full sun) |
| Vista: Typical view from highest point
overlooking the harbor. Takes much longer on St.Thomas than St.Lucia to
get there. Serious pier, three cruise ships, Galaxy is on the end. Denise explained all kinds of things on this stop as we viewed the island below, and the outlaying in image right. Next cruise I will get a voice recorder to remember details! |
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Left: View of typical houses hanging on the hill. St. Thomas is extremely hilly, there is virtually no flat land (and no agriculture). Right: One of the shopping streets, mostly jewelry and electronics. The shops are very nice, all with AC and all inviting you in. There is no litter or open sewers, very clean environment. |
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Waterfront cafe - overlooking the bay Very enjoyable break after our tour with Denise. Good food and drinks. The Barkeep and his staff made our stay enjoyable. Prices reasonable. |
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Fort Christian Museum left: overlooking courtyard right: typical display, period furniture.
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| This was an enjoyable hour. It's right in town, near taxi stands. This is a simple museum to be sure, but if you want to take the time, you'll get a great overview of the islands history. There are many displays in each room with ample explaination. This isn't 21st century interactive, it's move from one display to the next and read-look. Free. All they ask for is a donation, I dropped in $5. | ||
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left: awesome rainbow shot from my veranda as we got ready to leave. Summary: St. Thomas is an awesome port of call. Compaired to the other carribbean islands, it's the most developed. It also has awesome fun. Just watching from my veranda, I saw day charter sailing boats come in, seaplanes taking off, PWC buzzing around, folks in rented zodiacs. I got the impression that, in addition to shopping which St.Thomas is famous for, there is much more to do. Mike and I choose to take a driver and explore. The wives shopped till they dropped. It appears that there is much more available here. It was sad to leave, next day was San Juan, and departure. |
| Feedback? Greg Miller, www.millerweb.com - greg@millerweb.com |