Until Next Time, St. T!!!!

Well, we have been making our last few days here a little bit of fun and a little bit of tying up loose ends. St. Thomas has decided to make our departure a bit easier by being mostly rainy 7 out of the past 8 days, but we’ve still managed to catch a few rays and enjoy our last days on the island. We haven’t done anything too exciting, just sitting on our patio and trying to finish up the last of our Presidentes and margarita fixin’s. I run to the sun when it graces us with its presence and have snagged a couple of good hours. Today, it’s mostly wrapping up household things, since it is overcast again. If I get enough done today, hopefully I can make it to the beach one last time tomorrow.

For a final blog, I wanted to post the latest and greatest of our newly, mostly painted condo. Chris finished his painting sometime last week and finally felt like he deserved to cash in the gift certificate for a massage that I gave him 5 MONTHS AGO. Even with all the hard work he’s done, he wouldn’t let himself use it until he finished his condo goals.

I think that’s it for now! I look forward to catching up face to face with all of you from here on out! Tune in around fall of next year for more caribbean encounters...XOXOXO....


Our new, actually working, sliding doors


Tile finished on the patio


Chris hard at work, as usual. Loves his new island map and it does seem to go with the colors! Win/Win!


Notice something missing? No more crazy safari portrait. Whew!


Our two toned condo...

Happy Birthday, Chris! Happy Healing, Mom!

The Birthday Boy


We're thinking of you and wishing for a speedy recovery mom!!

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This has been an exciting week. First, my mom had her big knee replacement operation on Thursday (all went well and now it will be, hopefully, a quick road to recovery) and then today is Chris’ birthday. Woo-hoo!

This weekend we are staying close to home. It is Carnival here and we might just brave the masses to get a taste of the celebrations. As for the big 34th birthday, I started it with Chris’ favorite breakfast, pancakes, and tried to hold out on giving him his presents, but I am not very good at that. So, by 9:30am, I already gave him both. His “small” gift was just a t-shirt he’s been eyeing. If you knew the state of most of his t-shirts and his pickiness in finding ones he likes, you would understand why I jumped at the chance to get this one.

His main gift was a framed “accurately portrayed” map of the Virgin Islands. He’s been wanting one for when “we” finish painting the living room, but it had to be “accurate”. Which, no biggee, right? Wouldn’t maps be accurate, you say? Answer: No. Most ones we ran across were more for show and, for some reason, that means taking artistic license in portraying the sizes and placements of the islands. Now, I’ll let you in on a secret. Chris doesn’t know this (well, unless he reads this), that what makes this gift even more special is that there were a gazillion “inaccurate maps” that would go PERFECTLY with our colors here and would match everything and looked really cool. But this “accurate” map that he had at one point mentioned was exactly the kind he wanted, does not go with the color scheme and that practically kills me. But it is so worth it because he was very happy when he opened it this morning and declared it the “perfect map”.

As for the rest of the day, Chris is painting right now. I need to go make him stop. I told him no housework on his bday, but he overruled me by saying that since it’s his birthday, he gets to do what he wants. But he promised only a little. Soooo, I am off now to rip that brush out of his hand and insist he relax. Wish me luck. As for birthday dinner, tonight, I cook him oscar-style filet, and it sounds like he’s excited.

If we make it to Carnival, I promise photos sometime this week!!! Only a couple of more posts and I’ll be able to keep you up to date in person. Until then, much love and hugs!!!!!

Finally- Virgin Gorda

Last Saturday, we went to the Baths at Virgin Gorda. This was a trip that we had been intending to go on the whole time here, but we never quite made it. This, we both think, is a must-do if you are ever in the islands for more than a few days. A little info on the Baths- “The name "baths" comes from the warm sheltered pools of water in and around the rocks which flood at high tide. Large caves and a huge tunnel through one of the boulders is a result of erosion. These features can be explored by visitors clambering inside and underneath the massive granite boulders. The oldest rocks were thrown together as a result of volcanic eruptions. Newly formed volcanic larva on the seabed over 70 million years ago eventually turned to granite and around 20 million years ago a fault occurred on the seabed and the rocks which we see today were lifted up. The boulders would have been much larger and worn down and rounded by millions of years of erosion from rain, wind and the sea.” Long story short- very cool and BEAUTIFUL.


En route to the Baths


No descriptions necessary

Back to Nature

We don’t have too much excitement to report on our past weekend. We had a good mix of work and play. We are trying to fit in some trips that we’ve marked as “must dos” before we leave the island. We can’t believe we only have 3 weekends left. Yikes!

So, this weekend we decided to go hike the Reef Bay Trail in St. John (http://www.stjohnbeachguide.com/Reef%20Bay%20Trail.htm). It’s a hike I have wanted to do for a while. It starts as a 2.4 mile hike downhill, so that you have to hike uphill on the way back. Not my first choice in hiking, but no biggee. A short hike off of this trail also takes you to petroglyphs, which are ancient Taino rock carvings. We had a great hike and I look forward to getting some more hiking in over the summer. Some of the highlights, other than the petroglyphs, were seeing deer, bats, and wild pineapple (not yet edible, darn it). I can understand the desire to do 10 + miles hikes, since I felt it all ended too soon.

I hope everyone else had a lovely weekend and is enjoying the week. I will touch base next time I have something post-worthy.

XOXO until next time!


Petroglyphs! Can you see them? Some kind hikers had to point them out to us.


A big ol' nest of termites. I don't ever want to be within 700ft of one of those if falls...


Wild pineapple-yum


Bats! They are kind of cute upclose...


Bambi- who knew there were deer in St. John? That was news to us.

Tile Time!

In a decision that really could have gone either way (to re-tile or not to), we decided to bite the bullet and go through with updating the rest of the tile in the condo to match our bathroom.

With all the visitors, the time for tiling came faster than we ever expected. Our place has been in chaos ever since. It was not as terrible of a process as I’d anticipated, but we first had to live almost a week with all the stuff from our bedroom (including all clothes and misc. things in closets) piled in the living room. I couldn’t believe how much it all adds up! The second week was everything from the living room piled up into the bedroom. It gives me an inkling of how pack rats may live. I have no fear of ever becoming a pack rat, since my level of discomfort rises in direct relation to the clutter that surrounds me.

But, the good new is, we are in the home stretch! While we were pretty much homeless during the days when the tile workers were here, and homeless one night in order to get the tiles done quicker, we managed quite well. Now that everything is out of the living room area, though, Chris thinks it’s a great time (and it really is) to paint the ceilings and the walls. But first, we need to have an electrician look at some ghost switches that run to nowhere. Dad- thank your lucky stars we realize we needed to address this issue a few weeks ago! So, sounds like we might be living la vida loca for a week or more until we manage to snag an electrician that will come to his appointment (unlike the one that was supposed to be here last Thursday and then again last Friday). No fun photos on this one. But we’re moving right along…

Family Fun 2 continued!

Okay, here we go again!!! Now, where did I leave off? Oh, yea...

The fourth day in, my parent decided they had enough of us and went off on their own. Just kidding! We had to work and then I was off to pick up Chris' parents from the airport. My parents figured they would give us the night to catch up with Susan and Bruce and they'd have a little fun on their own. Once we got Susan and Bruce settled in at their hotel, we headed back to our place to watch the sunset and eat nearby at Iggy's. I know we lack creativity, as we did a similar night with my parents the first day, but why reinvent the wheel?

The next day, it was a family affair! After hearing about Bruce and Susan's unsettling account of a break-in at the place across from where they were sleeping, (no people were staying there, but a flat screen TV was taken) all of us headed over for a visit to St. John. We had some delicious lunch, toured the island and showed the parents some highlights. Susan and Bruce knew what to expect, as they have been there before, but it was new to Betty and Dave. All in all, it was a lovely day.

The following morning saw myself and the Padres on a tour of Blackbeard's castle. We learned some interesting tales of piratry (is that a word?) and tasted some new-to-us flavors of rum (pineapple and banana). Yum! The tour ended with a bit of history on amber (I know- a bit of a jump from pirates) and directly in a jewelry store. Bruce and Dave had more patience than I anticipated and gave us almost 7 minutes to look at jewelry before hinting to get the show on the road. It was a parting of the families at this juncture- the Walshes were heading to the airport and the Edwardses were going to canvas the town of Charlotte Amailie and take in a bit of scenary. After sharing one last delectable BBC with my parents, I bid them a fond farewell and promised I'd see them in just a few short weeks.

We had one last full day of Susan and Bruce to ourselves, so we made it action packed! We started the day with an eco-tour that included kayaking, hiking and snorkeling. This kayak trip marked a milestone of the first one Chris and I ever went on where we shared the kayak and didn't question our relationship by the end. The weather was perfect and once we reached the small island that was our destination (after some valuable lessons on mangroves and the surrounding nature), we all participated in a hermit crab race. I am sorry to say that none of our crabs even made it close to winning. Snorkling was fun- Bruce pointed out some jouvenile baracuda, a puffer fish and other wonders of nature. We kayaked back after that and were on to our next adventure.

After quickly showering/rinsing off and some quick snacks, it was on to Coral World, the island's aquarium. In addition to checking out the cool exhibits, we were there for inspiration. Bruce is what you might call a carving wizard and has won 1st place awards and best in show after just one year of carving. He's got the bug and wants to study different species of fish to clean up house at next year's competition. We had a lot of up close encounters, so we hope he's got some ideas to run with.

Finally, we went back to our place for some famous Edwardian BBQ and, once we were all tuckered out, got Susan and Bruce back to their hotel.

Alas, all good things must come to an end and we had a farewell brunch with Susan and Bruce that next morning. After stuffing ourselves full of eggs and all other breakfast related things, we gave B&S a brief tour of the island and stopped at the best of the best scenic vistas. Once we had enough of beautiful views, we headed on over to the airport to send them off with hugs and promises of seeing them soon enough. It was a whirlwind week, but, for the second time that week, it was sad to see our parents go. But more to look forward to for next year!

Thank you, Moms and Dads, for our wonderful and fun-filled week! You were overly generous in not letting us pay for much (and with the only things we got away with paying for having to be done quite sneakily!). We love you very much and look forward to seeing you soon!

Many hugs and kisses!


Walshes and Edwardses' bonding over apps


Edwardses in Annaberg


Scary pirate!


Betty and Dave testing "spirits". Well, okay, rum.


Farewell family brunch!

Family Fun 2!!

What a fun and eventful week we had with our parents! It had been a long time since we saw their smiling faces and it was wonderful to have them here to get a taste of the island life. Bear with me- with so much action, this is a long post! Actually, I will split this up into two posts, as I am sure your attention span might waver a bit...

Upon picking my parents up at the airport, I took them to get settled in at their hotel and enjoyed some appetizers and a drink before heading out to Casa de Edwards to show my parents where we live. After a very early morning flight and a long day, we decided to go to dinner nearby at Mim’s (very yummy!) and get those two home for some much needed sleep.

The next day, while Chris had to slave away at the desk, I met up with my parents around 11am to take them snorkeling and beaching at the most recommended beach for snorkeling, Coki beach. They very much enjoyed having the early morning for some breakfast and pool time and this became the norm for the rest of their stay. This was lovely for them and great for me to have the morning for my own errands. The snorkeling was amazing!!! Since this beach is right next to the aquarium, there is an overflow of fish who get fed regularly with snuba and snorkeling offered by the aquarium. My dad was handed some bread to feed the fish by a generous bystander and we were quite entertained (and, admittedly, a little skittish) by the vast numbers of fish willing to swarm around you to get to the food. The beach, itself, was action packed and kind of busy- not recommended for relaxing, but great for people watching.

We then headed back to the Marriott for some pool time and to introduce my parents to a “BBC” (Baily’s, Banana Colada). It was a hit and a regular indulgence for the rest of the trip. Yum! After that and showering up, it was back to Casa de Edwards for some home BBQing and watching the sunset (never gets old).

Day 3 saw Chris playing hooky from work and joining us on the golf course. It was girls (Team Pink) vs. boys (Team Stripe) on a highly competitive, show-no-mercy 18 holes. Okay, well, maybe that’s an exaggeration. With Chris and I being very novice golf players, we were giving a lot of patience and encouragement. With the teams also splitting up Betty and Dave as teammates, the Bickersons did not join us for the day. :P

The game was fun and we thankfully switched to Best Ball by the 9th hole, to go a bit easy on the amateurs and to get the rather overbearing team behind us off our backs, even though we were keeping up with the people in front of us). We determined over dinner that evening that Team Pink may have won, but we may not have been terribly diligent in counting our scores. So, really, we determined a rematch was needed when we’re back home for the summer.

Okay, kiddos, that’s it for now. For the exciting conclusion of the parental visits, check in with me again tomorrow. :)


Action shot of dad after he had enough of those crazy fish


The happy couple on the golf course


Mother and daughter enjoying the sunset