Hi Ernest, Keith R. and Charles,
Happy New Year to all of you! Hope you had a great holiday.
Our vacation was superb! We did so much in 18 days - never made it to the DR as we had hoped to back in Sept., but went island hopping instead and also sailed the British Virgins for four days. We also spent time in French St. Martin (visited famous Orient beach and its famed...errrrrr...nudist colony). No one batted an eye at the COMPLETE nudity of folks down there. Yes, hubby and I kept our swim suits on, otherwise we would have been the laughing stock of the beach, he,he,he. Didn't spend too much time on St. Maarten, the Dutch side, though we met a Dominican lady there working at a boutique in Philipsburg. There is a growing number of Dominicans in St. Maarten apperently. We even saw ads of Presidente beer in Philipsburg!!!
Spent some time in the USVI, where I have family. St. Thomas was a "jungle" as usual, but St. Croix was alot of fun. Ate really good food there! Went snorkeling on Buck Island again, although each time feels like it is the first time to me. Its reef is just incredible. We also spent a day in St. John - the real gem of the USVI. Famous Trunk Bay beach on St. John was lovely as ever, but my favorite is Maho Bay since its calm waters remind me a bit of Boca Chica.
From the 29th to the 30th, we were in Old San Juan, PR. Hubby had never been to PR. We stayed at a small inn called Gallery Inn. VERY ecclectic kind of place! Since this inn was an art museum, everything, and I mean everything in the place was for sale, probably even the bed linens. We had continental breakfast with live parrots, statues, and a myriad of artifacts, along with other humans, of course. Like I said, very ecclectic kind of place ;-) And speaking of parrots, hubby and I ate dinner at a place called the Parrot Club. According to Caribbean Life and Travel mag, this place is the new "hot" spot in Old SJ. Well, the food was very good, but the best food we had was suprisingly at Villa Madeleine on St. Croix and Biras Creek in Virgin Gorda, which happen to be resorts! Old San Juan is kind of scary at night. Daytime isn't all that much better either. Hubby didn't feel too comfortable there for some reason, but we definitely enjoyed our stay. We welcomed the new year on St. Croix during midnight mass at St. Patrick's Catholic Church. It was lovely!
The highlight of our vacation was definitely sailing the BVI, strolling the narrow streets of French St. Martin's capital, Marigot - the food there was great! Oh and of course the shops. We didn't buy much, but we did some serious window shopping ;-)
Think I have covered all.
Regards,
Natasha