Travels of St. Thomas

My family first got interested in staying a week on the island of St. Thomas when we took a Royal Caribbean Cruise. We all fell in love with the island so two years later we decided to spend a week there since our RCI timeshare points were about to expire. Everything was falling into place. We got the hotel with our timeshare points, and found a direct flight in the Caribbean, which is nearly impossible. As life goes, all good things come to an end. The hotel was away from everything, it was fifty dollars a cab ride anywhere, there was no one in sight, and the hotel was under renovation.  This is how the trip started.

The first priority was to rent a car. So Sunday morning my parents went to Budget to get the car, and the best part was in St. Thomas they drive on the left side of the road, and my poor mother, who has never driven on the left in her life, was in for a treat. All the roads have a slope of about ninety degrees with extremely sharp turns every fifty feet. It was hilarious watching her freak out every time a car drove next to her, it looked like we were about to go over the cliff into a turn. To a 17 year old it was funny seeing Mom freak out, but I was sure glad I wasn’t at the steering wheel, me just learning to drive. After the trip she told me it was the most “unnerving experience of her life, over the cliff scary literally.”  Though after the ride, we would all laugh it was something we never experienced before. Me navigating while rubbing my bother Chris’ stomach since all the turning had him woozy, and my dad soaking in all the views, and taking pictures of the mountains, beaches, and downtown, Mom yelling “Do I turn at 28 or 32.” But at the end we all kiss the ground yelling “LAND” and no one wants to go home in the car.

Fool Rush In featuring Matthew Perry, and Salma Hayek, we looked like Matthew Perry when he is in the truck with twenty Mexicans.It was the same experience, packed, going up hills, getting out to make room for others, but the best part is when some lady forgot to pay and the driver had to chase her down the street into the restaurant. It was an experience.

Through the whole trip we all found little things we liked to make it worthwhile. I think that is how you turn a bad situation into a good one. For example, the day my dad threw up before a catamaran ride so that we couldn’t go, we found this great restaurant the Greenhouse. There we had Piña Coladas, the best fried shrimp, crunchy, and moist, and the most amazing sandwiches our lips had ever pressed against. Then, we went to the local stores, and found a great pair of sunglasses for Chris and an amazing sundress for my mom that fitted like to was sewn for her. Later that week we got to go on the catamaran ride that we had missed. It turned out to be one of our most memorable vacation we have ever been, and will never forget. Wish we could always find the little things that make us happy, from a tasty fried shrimp to a tan on a beach.