It has been 31 years since I first visited the Caribbean. I was a brand new ensign in the Navy. At a stop at St. Thomas a group of older officers and I walked up a hill not far from the waterfront to a small bar on a porch that overlooked the harbor. A huge tree grew up through the center of the porch. It was right out of Treasure Island and I knew I had to come back.
Two years of sea duty later, I was OOD on the bridge one morning on the 0400-0800 watch. It was sunrise and I was taking the ship past Sail Rock between St. Thomas and Puerto Rico. The port look-out reported a sail. We gradually closed with a sloop as the sun came into view. Sometimes at sea it take forever for two vessels on similar, but closing courses to close enough to get a good look at each other. Here was this guy, an arm hung over the tiller, making a few lazy knots on a glassy sea, his beautiful sailing partner preparing to stretch out for her morning tan. I knew I'd be back, even though our destination was the Panama Canal and then Viet Nam for a year. It took me until 1987. I proposed to my wife on the balcony of a hillside house perched high on a cliff on the east end of St. Thomas. Two years later I married her there. And since... many trips, mostly to the BVI. How about you?
What was it that made you choose the Caribbean?
Recent Activity
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It's Excellent in the Exumas ~ A week on Staniel Cay (+ Atlantis)
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HONEYMOONERS on BUDGET...HELP
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How romantic Joel! The Caribbean has a certain charm that makes you want to return time and time again. I can't say that I have visited any Island that I didn't love. I think the laid back attitude is so different from what we are accustomed to here in North America we find ourselves seeking it time and time again.
I feel the same way, the attitudes of the people are just as warm as the sun.
The laid back feeling just grabs you. The sand and the water is so peacefull. I return to somewhere in the caribbean every Feb. I live right out of Chicago so I need someplace warm at that time of yr.
There are some who believe I have salt water in my veins or that I was a fish in a former life! Had family in Cuba as a little one, a tennis coach who wintered at Dorado as a teen, a brother who left the cold NE and opened a restuarant in Key West so quite possibly the love for the Caribb is genetic! The webbed toes support that theory!
... and since it gets cold here in the NE some months and having to wear mittens at DizzyWorld one Easter, it was inevitable that I found the Caribb!
Wasn't until the early 70's that I took my first, last and only cruise with a stop in St. Thomas. The next year, when at a convention at Dorado, we took the puddle jumper from Dorado to Caneel. I was hooked! From that point onward, it was at least twice a year to Little Dix and Caneel until I spread my wings and things changed.
Then it was the "hit list." And manipulating the budget to max out the time in the Caribb between October and April each year. I had the beach here to keep me happy in the summers. I definately needed a prescription for treatments in the Caribb for SAD but the doctors wouldn't cooperate, so I was on my own. And, luckily, I was very very good at it! And had a very patient better half!
I too was married in St. Thomas on Hugo Beach (a part of Cowpet that was left compliments of Hugo) and have seen the changes from the time when one dressed (yes, some women even wore their fur wraps) and bet on the Turtle Races on pool-cleaning nite, when L'Escargot was the ONLY place - followed, of course, by 1829 (very romantic) and Fiddleleaf. When Al Cohen could talk the legs off an iron pot (and still can!) today.
Supposed to be sitting on the beach there right now squeeking out some sun time between Iris and Jerry but my 88-year-old mother here was convinced bin Laden would be my seat mate on the plane and she just couldn't handle my leaving now. But, there will be more and hopefully soon. Hanging on to the hope that I will be on Anguilla in December for my second visit and I have many more islands to go!
Ok, here goes my story! I was married for about 23 yrs and things were not going so well. After raising 2 kids to adulthood and married one month out of high school you find you and your spouse
growing apart. Well thats went I decided I neeeded to do something to spice up our fizzling relationship. We had never taken a vacation alone since we were married and I found it was time to recapture what we had lost throught the years. I made reservations at Sandals resort in Negril Jamaica. Sandals advertise its for Lovers , so I thought what better place to go. It was the smartest move of my life. Not only did we recapture what we had long lost, but we found out new things about each other. Our relationship is the strongest it has ever been and we now take time out of our busy lives to spend time with each other. We celebrated out 25th Anniversary at the Sandals Resort in St. Lucia this last Feb. We return to the Caribbean ever Feb or March to spend time together! Our daughter was married in the Caribbean this past summer and now she wants to go every yr. I guess its contagious!
Great story Joe, I guess we all can relate to your story.
In geography class in 5th grade, we learned about some of the Caribbean islands and I thought how warm it would be there and how cold I was in Upstate New York just then. Like Joel, the Navy took me there. We've come back as often as we can since.