US Virgin Islands

Just before Thanksgiving we spent two weeks on St. John in the US Virgin Islands. We had an amazing trip, and while there were certain events we could have done without, overall it was just fantastic. Ellie is still talking about it daily, wondering when we can go snorkeling again.

Be warned that there are tons of pictures in this post. I thought I'd better make it worth the wait for them :)

Ellie at the beach for the first time.

Tim, Ellie, and Grandma W. at Maho Bay (Day 1)

The owner of our villa, Dr. Bob, was pruning the plants one day and gave Ellie this palm frond to play with. She was in heaven!

Ellie at the beach the first day.

View from Maho Bay.

In the ocean for the first time!

Ellie and Grandma W. at Trunk Bay.

We went out to dinner one night at "Miss Lucy's," a charming little place right on the beach. It also happened to be overrun by Miss Lucy's goats :) Ellie was thrilled. She fed them sea grapes and had a blast until a grumpy older goat got impatient and butted her, causing her to fall backwards, because she wasn't feeding him fast enough. A few tears were shed, but overall it was a nice evening.

Waterlemon Bay (yes, that is waterlemon, not watermelon). We saw lots of stingrays there, a couple of sea turtles, lots of fish and coral, and starfish. It was definitely the best snorkeling we had, although all of it was quite stunning.

Salt Pond Bay. This beach is at the end of a short trail. Ellie was pinched by a large hermit crab at the trail head. It was completely our fault, and we felt horrible about it. Having had hermit crabs as a child, I assured Ellie it was safe and fun to hold them. The first one she held was nice enough, but then I gave her a very large, old fellow. He was not so happy about being held and clamped on to the pad of her hand and held on for dear life (quite literally in his mind, I am sure). It took five minutes to convince him to let go. Ellie screamed the whole time, but was very cooperative about holding still so the crab would relax and let go. She had a couple of small lacerations on her hand and they finally just healed over a week or so ago.

After the crab pinching incident, but before she became covered with biting ants... Not the best beach experience for her, but the snorkeling was quite unique here with lots of colorful coral.

Vew from our villa.

The view.

Trunk Bay.

Trunk Bay.

Trunk Bay

Potentilla bush flowers.

A Very Large seed pod.

The best way to get sand off a two-year-old? Dunk her in the ocean naked.

The owners of our villa had this great raft that had a window in it so that Ellie could "snorkel" too. She saw lots of coral, fish, a stingray, and a turtle this way. She loved it!

Salt Pond Bay

Annaberg Sugar Mill ruins

Windmill ruins at Annaberg.