The Virgin Islands

To say I am a bit jealous of my son Doug and my brother Les is more than an understatement. Both of them will be in the Virgin Islands a week from now.

Doug & Shelly are flying into St. Thomas where they have reserved a sailboat to spend four days sailing. Les & bride, Susan, will be on a honeymoon cruise. One of their stops is on St. Thomas.

It was 42 years ago this month that I spent 10 days sailing in those same blue waters. The Annaberg sugar mill ruins on St. John (pictured above) was one spot I remember liking. Caneel Bay was where we anchored to explore the 2/3's national park island of St. John.

Tortola, the largest of the British Virgin Islands was another stop. There I remember lunch on the patio of little bar and drinking my first Heineken beer (and approipriating a Heineken ashtray to bring home as a souvenir).

My favourite British Virgin Isle was Virgin Gorda where I explored The Baths. It was so cool to wade into the pools surrounded by giant boulders, to swim across areas too deep to wade, to wend my way further along the watery paths. Yellow is not my best color, but I still remember the yellow swimsuit I wore that day. (As with some of my other trips, I would like to go back to see how well the memories hold up to present reality.)

Christiansted, St. Croix was an evening stop. After a marvelous dinner of fresh seafood and conversing with a Danish tourist, I remember visiting a very old church where the only lighting was candles; impressive.

What I remember most about Charlotte Amelie, St. Thomas was the shopping (duty free), the steel drums, and a picnic at Mountain Top. It was where I first had Mateus Rose' wine which was to become a favourite of mine. On the beaches of St. Thomas was also where I had the absolute best Pina Coladas ever.

Oh, yeah. After today's continued snow, wind and cold, I am very jealous of my son and brother and their spouses. But I am also extremely happy for them - to get away to those incredible blue waters for a few days will be heavenly.