teabear
01-24-2007, 10:58 AM
We had the most wonderful vacation and it seems we left at just the right time. The weather has been very cold here while we were gone. 4 days in NYC and 10 days in the Carribbean....bliss! The islands were beautiful and so warm and humid--not like Hawaii as I thought it would be. One of my favorite adventures was taking a boat ride out to a sunken submarine and shipwrecks to snorkel on St. Maarten. It was as close to scuba diving as I care to get and we had a guide who showed us everything as we snorkeled and told us the names of the many fish we saw. I've always wanted to see something like that...a dream come true!
We really liked Barbados and thought we'd like to go back there-so beautiful and such friendly people there. We hired a private tour guide/taxi driver there who told us so much about the island and it's people. They have 25 people there over 100 yrs. old and are very concerned about health, education, and fitness. The one and only McDonalds on the island closed because nobody ate there...love that! All education is paid for by the government and if a child does not wish to attend college, they must attend a trade school. Only 6% unemployment and those are the ones who don't want to work.
We saw alot of sea life and learned alot about the history of the islands. We went to a museum on Antigua and to a marine life park on Barbados and snorkeled on St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Alot of the other cruisers shopped the whole time....it was really pushed so much...even a shopping consultant on the cruise. Kyle bought alot of pirate stuff! I did buy a pretty garnet ring and my mom bought some pretty onyx earrings. I bought perfume for my mom as a thank you and cologne for DH's birthday today. That's all we shopped though. There was so much more to see and experience. I almost stepped on an iguana on St. Thomas....they are huge! Like small dogs or something...yikes!
I came home to a whole new wall of shelves holding my stamps that my DH put up for me while we were gone. It's fantastic! I'll share some pics later when I get some laundry done and catch up a bit. I missed chatting with you all...I'm sure I'll never catch up here. The best news is I didn't gain any weight there....lots of exercise, but I did enjoy all the good food in moderation.
We really liked Barbados and thought we'd like to go back there-so beautiful and such friendly people there. We hired a private tour guide/taxi driver there who told us so much about the island and it's people. They have 25 people there over 100 yrs. old and are very concerned about health, education, and fitness. The one and only McDonalds on the island closed because nobody ate there...love that! All education is paid for by the government and if a child does not wish to attend college, they must attend a trade school. Only 6% unemployment and those are the ones who don't want to work.
We saw alot of sea life and learned alot about the history of the islands. We went to a museum on Antigua and to a marine life park on Barbados and snorkeled on St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Alot of the other cruisers shopped the whole time....it was really pushed so much...even a shopping consultant on the cruise. Kyle bought alot of pirate stuff! I did buy a pretty garnet ring and my mom bought some pretty onyx earrings. I bought perfume for my mom as a thank you and cologne for DH's birthday today. That's all we shopped though. There was so much more to see and experience. I almost stepped on an iguana on St. Thomas....they are huge! Like small dogs or something...yikes!
I came home to a whole new wall of shelves holding my stamps that my DH put up for me while we were gone. It's fantastic! I'll share some pics later when I get some laundry done and catch up a bit. I missed chatting with you all...I'm sure I'll never catch up here. The best news is I didn't gain any weight there....lots of exercise, but I did enjoy all the good food in moderation.