WOW! That pretty well sums it up.


OK,OK, the details:

Part 1 – the travel portion of the trip
7/6 We left home in Carson City to catch the 7:00pm plane from Reno to LAX. We parked the car at the son’s house since he was going with us and got a ride to the airport from a friend (thanks Kyle). The flight to LAX was on time and we had an overnight at the Four Seasons at LAX. The shuttle scene at LAX is a mad house for the uninitiated but we got our ride to the hotel and got settled about 10:00pm. Pretty much a basic hotel but it was clean and quiet.
7/7 A 4:30am wake up to make the 7:10am flight to Miami was the order of the morning so we could meet the other half of our crew. The oldest daughter, husband and 2 grandkids met us in Miami from El Paso, TX via Chicago. (short explanation, they were all going back to ChiTown after the trip) We all made the 5:55 flight from Miami to STT and it finally felt like we were on vacation. We arrived in STT a few minutes early and made our way over to the BW Carib. Contrary to the experiences of some TTOL members, we had 2 very delightful rooms overlooking Lindbergh Bay (some of the hotel is under demolition/renovation but the renovated rooms are just fine). We opted for dinner at the hotel restaurant where Paolo, the bartender/chef, stayed open late just for us. We had a dinner that was very much appreciated by 7 hungry peeps. Some pool time and we called it a day.
7/8 An early wake up to catch the 8:30am ferry from Charlotte Amalie to West End. We visited the Petite Pump Room and had a nice breakfast and we were off the WE. The ride in the Bomba Charger was very rough due to high seas but everyone made it without hurling breakfast. Through C&I in short order and a call to Jerry’s Rentals (a TTOL sponsor) had our vehicle delivered. We drove along the south shore of Tortola to the Fort Burt Hotel, just above the TMM docks where the boat, Caribbean Spirit, awaited us the next day. We had this planned to give us some time to see Road Town and take the grandkids to the Dolphin Experience. I understand some folks’ stance on this place but the grandkids had a great experience. Later we ate a late lunch at Pussers and walked over to TMM to get a first-hand look at the boat. She is a Fountaine Pajot 40’ Cat and beautiful. We stayed at the Fort Burt, enjoyed the pool until late and got some take-out from Bobby’s market for a light dinner. It feels like all we have done is eat!

Part 2 – the sailing portion of the trip to follow