Thursday, March 16, 2017

Antigua, BWI

Well, Chuck woke me at 6:30 to tell me he had found an excursion that I would really like – Stingray City! We were lucky enough to get on the trip, thanks to Chuck’s connection with the Shore Excursion crew. It was really great – took us to a part of the island that neither of us had visited before – off the beaten track of the yachting set. I had been to Stingray City before, in the Cayman Islands and this one was a bit different, but really good. The major difference was that Grand Cayman had a LOT more area and we were able to play with the stingrays more. Today, we were lined up for pix (see above) then cut loose to snorkel on the limited coral reef – but there were FISH to see! So I finally got my coral reef and brilliant marine life!

Back to the ship to change into dry clothes, then back into town for lunch and shopping. And to think, I could have slept my morning away!!

A good lunch at Hemingway’s. Funny that there wasn’t a single photo of old Ernie anywhere to be found. Lots of photos of Bob Marley and his kin. I asked the server if she thought Chuck looked like Ernest Hemingway & I don’t think she knew who he was!

Off to St Kitts – our last stop on this absolutely wonderful adventure!

Friday, March 17, 2017

Bassaterre, St Kitts

I’ve been looking forward to this morning’s excursion since we first signed up for it – Swimming with Dolphins!  Our large group was divided into smaller groups of ten and taken to rather large pools with two dolphins and their “ocean mammal experts”. Each group also had their own personal photographer recording the fun! We each had a turn at giving commands and enjoying the results. Among the activities were, cradleing, kissing, riding her flippers, being pushed by 2 dolphins at my feet while holding onto a swim board (I wasn’t totally successful with this one as those dolphins put a LOT of pressure on my very tender feet and not quite healed femur fracture) SO MUCH FUN!!!

After we were finished there (showering and shopping), Chuck and I left the organized tour and took a private tour around the island with a primary stop at the Carabelle Batik shop. It was interesting watching them making the batik but there was not a lot of original work going on and much of the product they offered was tie-died vs. batik. I’m not a huge fan of tie-die, especially those with 60s & 70s era psychedelic colors and Rastafarian colors. The shop was a bit like a Vera Bradley store – many different products all alike except for the different patterns. I wanted to get another sarong (got a great one in Martinique) but I wanted original batik and the ones they had on display were too short for my comfort. The sales person helping me said that length was all they had. As we were leaving, we saw some large pieces drying on clotheslines. A lot of the pieces were tie-died and the ones that were batik were the wrong colors (and only four patterns). On asking, we found out that these pieces were considered “fabric lengths” and sold in 2, 2.5 and 3 yard lengths. I finally found a pattern and color that I like!

After a rum punch, we were off to see the rest of the island. This was a re-visit for Chuck from about 20 years ago while he was working for his California clients. He was amazed at how much everything had changed since his last visit!

Back to the ship early afternoon and we set sail for Ft Lauderdale around 5pm. We have some adventures planned for tomorrow, but mostly need to think about packing up!