December 16, 2016. Swim, snorkel, music and boat parade!

 

LOCATION:  Charlotte Amalie St. Thomas, Virgin Islands

WEATHER:  Sunny and hot. Car temp 102 in the sun.

 

What a great day here in St. Thomas!  After taking care of little Teddy, our dog, we headed out for a day on the water.  We caught a "ferry" to nearby Water Island.  This is the ferry.....

Water Island is a small island across the bay from Charlotte Amalie.  It is a favorite spot for locals as there are some great beaches.  Once there, we jumped on a safari that took us to a beach with free beach chairs.  There are chickens all over St. Thomas, and here as well.  Here, they were hoping people would feed them scraps from their lunches.  We inadvertently did, as part of our fish sandwich fell on the ground.  They quickly came to retrieve it. 

We swam and snorkeled.  There is a bar anchored a few feet from shore.  Here I am enjoying a drink in the beautiful water. 

I snorkeled and saw quite a few fish.  I went out farther and spotted a sea turtle.  I ended up returning three times, each time watching a solitary turtle. Most of the time, it crawled along the bottom.  I followed one while he surfaced for air.  Cool!

We took the ferry back to St. Thomas where a huge cruise ship was docked right by our ferry dock.

After cleaning up at home, and taking care of Teddy, we drove back downtown for the town's annual Christmas party.  We had to park quite a ways away and walk to the downtown area as there were lots of people.

Main Street, with all its jewelry shops, was packed with people.  Steel bands played Caribbean-style Christmas music.

There were steel  bands on every street corner.  Some were young kids, others teens, and others adults.  It was really fun and vibrant.  Down by the water, we watched a boat parade with boats all decorated with Christmas decorations.  

DINNER:  We returned home for a late dinner.  I made pasta with chicken in a cheesy sauce.