Woke up early, internal clock doesn’t know vacation from a work day. The sound of heavy rain, the sight of trees bending and the coolness of gale force winds, well this isn’t exactly how we hoped to begin our vacation. I slipped up the stairs, through the rain, to the galley to get the coffee going. With this weather, I didn’t expect anyone for a couple hours and I was right. I settled down with a good book, my camera and my coffee. I love watching storms at home on the back porch and here with these great views, it was much better, even in a tropical storm. After about an hour, Jen ventures out in the weather and joins me. Rain blows in under the gazebo, but we aren’t going to get run off. We watch a small dinghy pound into Chocolate Hole, run up to a sailboat and check the boat one last time. Then as another squall approaches, probably the heaviest downpour of the day so far, the dinghy heads back out and around to I would guess Cruz Bay. That looked like one rough ride! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" />

View over Hart Bay. We’ve been able to see St. Croix every year from this vantage point. No such luck today.







Mid-morning, everyone is awake and something that has never happened before occurs. We have the TV turned on. We’re watching the Weather Channel and reports of TS Bertha. Photos and short videos from the islands fill the screen as we make our BIG breakfast in the galley. Lorne didn’t see any sign of Jim Cantore on the island, so he figured he could fill in, so out in the weather he went…..a live report from the pool, sent back to all in Tallahassee, so all could see what a great time we were having. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />



The heavy rains continue well past lunch and so far, no sounds of dogs barking or any cars on the road. Then the break we were hoping for…the sun trying to break through. We packed into the Explorer and headed into town. It appears nothing is open. The island is shut down and later we learned, nearly everything had closed for the “snow” day, except for a few restaurants and bars.



So we headed to the park, one of our favorite beaches, sort of following the signs.







The parking lot was empty and the beach was as well, a first for us. No waves or wind, very peaceful. The girls hoped to find some sea glass, but on the protected beach, there didn’t appear to be any good finds. Flat calm behind us.



After enjoying some quiet time walking the beaches, it was nearing dinner time. We headed into Mongoose Junction; everything was locked up, except for SJB, so we grabbed a roadie and walked down to the ferry dock. As we neared the dock, people were starting to hit the streets and a few of the bars were starting to pick up. The Beach Bar had a big ‘slip n slide’ setup and folks were letting loose, sliding into Cruz Bay. We soon grabbed a stool at High Tide and watched the sky light up just a bit as TS Bertha exited and night began to arrive.
Always the love the calmness of Cruz Bay at sunset.