Glorious St. Thomas

This is what it looks like in St. Thomas at 7:50 am. Why in the world were we out so early?! Well, we had to get up and going for our trip to Turtle Cove, for a little snorkeling with the sea turtles!

As our group gathered and we soaked in the warmth (even in the early-ish morning), I just could not get over how big cruise ships are. Wow! That is our beautiful Ruby Princess! I would give just about anything to be standing on deck 7 looking over the edge at the water as the waves would crash against the boat and spray quite a way. AMAZING!

Wouldn't it be strange to live in a place where these roam freely?

Ry and I boarded the catamaran for our little journey out into the ocean and off another island. Catamarans are fun! I dare say that on the way back others might have been having more "fun" than we were. "Fun" in the form of Rum Punch. Oh my! When we asked for a virgin rum punch, Ry said they had no clue how to handle themselves! :)

Just thought this was sort of crazy! This boat was beached at some point and now it will just stay right there, half sunk, forever. Weird!

St. Thomas is an amazing place. It is in the U.S. Virgin Islands. I found it interesting and puzzling that the people that live here must abide by all U.S. laws, pay income and federal tax, and yet, they are unable to vote. Kind of strange. That aside...What a beautiful place!

Ry was telling people that this was our yacht. We were just loaning it out for the day. We are so nice! :)

Snorkeling was amazing! I swam along side a turtle for a bit. I was so close to it that if it had turned it's head we would have bumped heads! It was really amazing!

Ry and I broke off from the group and did a little exploring on our own. We found an amazing reef and snorkeled along it, around the cove.

The ocean is something that leaves me really in awe of the creation! It is like a whole other world exists on our world. Just below the surface there are hundreds and hundreds of species, all with a purpose, all with things to do. We know pretty little about most of it and there are somethings we will never see. How amazing is that?! It is beautiful! The ocean breathes energy into my soul. I need to find a way to live near it. It makes me happy AND as long as it is warm and beautiful, it makes Ry happy too! :)

When I said that things started getting crazy....I meant it!

Mr. Lindstrom even ended up with a Tattoo! Thank goodness they were only temporary! Some loud music, rum punch and a moment earlier that woman you can see behind Ryan ended up with a tat right on her forehead. NICE!

I even ended up with one!

Nice huh?! That was the name of our Catamaran. You know, free advertising! :)

When we got off the boat we were greeted by all these little buggers.

Left Ry thinking about the iguanas he had just before we got married. They weren't a part of the deal I was making, so they found a new home. Really, if there was going to be a line drawn...this was it! :)

After our morning/early afternoon adventure, we met up with a lot of the fam and headed to Blackbeard's castle for a tour.

It was a fun place and the Lindstrom boys were in their normal HILARIOUS mood. They play off each other and it is one of my favorite things EVER! We all laugh pretty hard!

Now, it wouldn't be a proper tour without a "how to" rum tutorial. It smelled like hairspray.

We all tease Lynne about her love for the rum flavor. It is pretty funny! She is not a drinker, but if it is rum cake, toffee, chocolate, whatever, she has automatic dibs on it! :)

When we saw this shirt we all had a good laugh! I could here her saying that! :)

We climbed to the top of the near 500 year old tower. WHAT A VIEW!

Then, to please my hubby, I took a picture with people in it. After all, it is worthless without people...or so he claims. That is his little sister Lacy, by the way.

SIGH!

That is the tower we were on top of. Why are all the colors SO much brighter in the Caribbean?! Doesn't that just look heavenly?!

There were all these statues talking about the pirates that used to live on or frequent this island. Did you know Jack Sparrow was a real pirate? Did you know that he really was the captain of the Black Pearl?

Did you know that his ultimate ambition was to achieve "immorality" and he wanted to sail the seas for eternity?

Kinda thinking that was meant to say "immorTality". I am sure immorality also played a role, but we all had a good laugh about it saved forever on a plaque.

And THIS made more sense that anything else the whole weekend! These girls are

T.R.O.U.B.L.E. :)

We got to walk through this great little house, while we were on the tour. I loved it! It was so wide open and had a beautiful view! A family lived here and raised their 9 children in this house. Crazy!

The colors are the original colors found in the home. LOVE IT!

Oh yes, I could live here....wait! Is that a bedpan under the bed?! Oh yeah, well there would need to be a few updates, say running water, before I would be willing to move all the way in. Bedpans....you would think someone would have figured out toilets MUCH earlier than they did. Hmm.