St Thomas Day 4 - sun, some more sun and then night snorkeling

Oh.My.Gosh!

Really,  Just wait until I tell you about the night snorkeling.

But first.........

(PS - the site of the ships did make me crave another cruise)

Since there were 7 cruise ships in port, we decided that today would be a great day to chillax at the hotel.  Leisurely morning.....puttered around on the deck eating breakfast and watching the chickens and roosters.....just soaking the island in.

Momma with 7 chicks

Daddy who likes to make his presence known all.day.long.

About lunchtime, I headed up to the pool deck for some serious sun worshipping.  Tib joined me and we had ourselves a good ole fashioned chit chat.  She's not much of a sunning girl, so I had to learn her the art!  Proper time to flip, how to hold arms, adjust straps etc.  She's catching on.  Somehow though, I don't think she loves it like I do, so I credit her for sticking it out with me like any BFF would.

We frolicked in the pool, husbands joined us for lunch and more serious relaxing going on.

(this my friends, was the best wrap I've ever eaten.  Jamaican jerk chicken - spicy, flavorful and oh so good!)

At 5:30, we waited at the entrance for our tour guide Web.  Got some fun photos and then we were off to Secret Harbor.

Nigh snorkeling.  Oh.My.Freakin.Heck!  I may or may not have mentioned that this might be one of the coolest things I have ever done!

First the bad news.  We are pretty sure that Splenda Daddy ruptured his ear drums the first night in the pool, so being the ever cautious one, he has stayed out of the water.  No snorkeling for him.  SUCKS MONKEY BUTT!!

I almost decided I wouldn't go either and just stay on the beach with him, but my selfish side won out.   I will admit, it was with some anxiety and trepidation on my part.  See, I'm not THAT great of a snorkeler and NOT that at ease in the water like that.  So in the past, when we snorkel, Splenda lets me hold his hand and we stay together.  So, here I'm thinking......Mr and Mrs Erickson are serious water fish.  They LIVE for this shizzle and there would be no hand holding of me.  It would be a little awkward to ask Web the dive master to let me hold him, so I just had to pull up my big girl panties and wetsuit and tough it out.  Only a few minor panic attacks, one good gulp of seawater, and some mild shivering in the cold.

(checking out equipment and making sure everything is good to go)

All for the most awesome experience!

Grateful that Tib and Adam had their underwater camera.  Holy Smokes!

Adam was almost able to hold a cuddlefish.  They are actually called something else but if you get a young one, they will let you hold them.  This one was big, and too smart.  As soon as Adam or Web got close, he would ink us and dart off

That kids is and octopus!  I know right?!?  It was pretty brave and just wiggled all around us, watching us and feeling around for food.  So cool!

Mr. Octopus trying to blend in

Yes.  A stingray.  HOW COOL IS THIS?!?!

A conch shell.  Everything in the reef is protected so no taking home of the conch

Adam holding a...a.....now I forget what it's called.  Something spiny that I had no interest in holding.

But I DID hold a starfish!!

We saw so many different fish, and sea creatures!  A puffer fish, some centipede looking things and a whole lot of others that I will never remember what they are called but were so cool.  What a unique adventure.  On my list of things ONE MUST DO!

We headed back to the hotel and we were all starving.  The bar with the cheapest food was closed so our options were to venture out to town, order a pizza, or see what we could find in the more expensive restaurant.  Based on safety and immediate desire, we wandered down to the Banana Grill

It's an open air so we had the island breeze and a view of the harbor

Living large with a nice salad

Mixing it up for the pic!

Another most splendid day.  Really, this place is beautiful and so much to see and do or not if you just want to chillax and enjoy the sun!

As always, the sunsets are STUNNING!