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Saturday my Daughter and her family’s flight didn’t leave out until 4:00 in the afternoon and they wanted to make the most of the day…… so we had us some breakfast, they got some laundry done, and got in some pool time all by noon~ish…. Everybody wanted to get in a little more beach time and I hadn’t got to show my Daughter one of the sites yet she had been wanting to see, so I figured out a way to “kill two birds with one stone”…… We loaded up in the bus and headed for North shore road – where one of the last scenes of the movie The Shawshank Redemption was filmed. Our whole family are fans of the movie. It is the scene where Andy (movie main character) is shown driving a long a stretch of road looking out at what is supposed to be the Pacific Ocean. In actuality, it is the Caribbean Sea filmed here on our gorgeous island. The final scene of the movie was also filmed here, at a place called Sandy Point Wild Life refuge – but the whole area is closed down for the next couple of months for turtle nesting season and the beaches are closed to the public.

As we slowed for pictures and videos along that stretch, we quoted some lines from the movie and talked about the movie a little bit. That road leads to one of the nicest beaches on the island (besides Sandy Point) – so we continued on until we got to Cane Bay. We managed to find us a place to park and secured a spot of shade on the beach and soon everybody was back out in that gorgeous water. Alas~ all good things must come to an end – and it was soon time to load up and head back to the condo so they could get packed up for their flight back to the main land.

We got everybody loaded up and back to the airport in what we thought was plenty of time, only to find out the airlines wanted to leave early and their flight was actually boarding when we got there. To top that off, we found out the kids needed a copy of their birth certificate or a passport to go back to the mainland~!  First I have heard of that~! I have never seen that in any of the brochures for the U.S. Virgin Islands. “Come see us, no passports needed” Well, I guess technically it’s true if you don’t leave the island. What a load of crap~! Apparently airport security people got about half  $hitty about it as well. Really put an ugly end to what was otherwise a wonderful vacation for my family. But – they finally got loaded and onto their plane and are now comfortably and safely back in Indiana. It sure was great having them here, the laughter, the smiles, hugs and kisses….. The condo seems almost empty now….. albeit blissfully quiet… 😉

We have another Daughter and her family coming this weekend and the fun will start all over again……. we can’t wait~!

Good night ya’ll —- Thankx for stopping by~!

 

 

Sorry [again] about missin’ last night – but you’ll have that every now again with the life we are livin’…….  😉

We started the day out Friday nice and easy, with a little bit of swimming in the pool in the morning, then all loaded up to head for the West end of the island again for an afternoon of riding 4 wheelers through the rain forest and up into the mountains. The ATV’s were big and noisy, but they ran good and everyone had a good time. Made several stops for photo op’s and to listen to our guide tell us about some of the local wildlife, flora and surrounding areas. We spent almost 2 hours on the tour and loved it. The ATV tour ended at Rhythm’s Bar on Rainbow beach. We had all worked up a big appetite and thirst riding the dusty trails, so we headed over to the bar to quench our thirst and get a bite to eat. There were fresh lobster ‘bites’ and Fresh Mahi sammiches (and tacos) – some burgers, hotdogs and lots of fries for all (and of course – cold refreshing beverages). A wonderful way to wrap up our ATV adventure.

Every body brought swim gear and we had the snorkel gear in the ‘bus’…. so we headed over to the beach (next to the bar) and enjoyed an hour or so of that fabulous blue water. A really, really great way to end the day~! Gonna leave it here and put up some more pictures….. you’ve only seen small portions of the pictures I took, so I will probably mix some of them up – just to make sure I eventually get them all up.

Good night ya’ll —- Thankx for stopping in~!

 

SOOOOOooooo much to tell you about and TONS of pictures–but– went out to dinner with friends this evening, whose primary intention [I think] was to get us  F**ked up….. mission accomplished Sir~!

On that note – I’m gonna go fall in bed, because I have to be up ‘early’ to go help friend on project in the morning — and I can’t hardly keep my eyes open…

So – Good night ya’ll….. thankx for stopping in….. I’ll catch ya up tomorrow~!

 

Hi sports fans, friends and neighbors….. obviously didn’t get post up last night as our internet decided to take a dump…. Dammit Emmit~! Not a lot we can do about it and one of the prices you pay to live in paradise…… and I’m good with that. Just hate there is not way for me to give you a heads up – so I really do appreciate ya’ll coming back and checking in on our adventures.

We did make it out to the west end for my Son-in-Law (Grant) and my Grand Daughter ( Charlotte…AKA Sugar Pop) to make a SCUBA dive~! The morning started out with some pretty intense rain, but by the time we got to the dive shop we had our pretty blue skies back again. They both sat through the class and before we knew it, we were in the Caribbean Sea SCUBA diving~! My Sugar Pop did such a good job – so very proud of that young lady~!!!!   It was so cool to have them diving with me……. I have made a sky dive with Grant and I know Charlotte wanted to make a skydive with me, but that’s probably not gonna happen any more – so this was kinda the next best thing~!!  LOTS of pictures to share with you…… it was great~!!!!! We got to see lot’s of fishes and explore the underwater life around the Frederiksted pier. I have tons of pictures to show you and a couple of video’s, except doubtful that I can get the video loaded – you may have to resort to FB if you want to watch them.

After the dive, we came home and showered up and everybody was in the mood for some Blues – so we loaded up and went to Blues for dinner and to watch and listen to my personal favorite performer, Jason Jones. Seriously people, this guy does a spot on Johnny Cash that you have to hear to believe. We stayed and enjoyed his show until he finished, then packed up and headed for the condo. Back at the condo we looked at the pictures for the day – finished cleaning up and settled in for the night. Big day planned for the next day – but will wait for probably tomorrow to talk about it – riding 4 wheelers up a mountain through a rain forest~!

I’m gonna stop here and call it a night and try and get some pictures put up for ya’ll…… Good night ya’ll —- Thankx for stopping in~!

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Today started out like most others…. sleeping in a little bitty bit, a nice breakfast whipped up by Oma and lounging a bit to let food settle. Kids romped a bit on the beach before we all finally loaded up the ‘bus’ with swim gear – and we headed out for Point Udall. The Eastern most point of the United States. We spent probably 30 minutes admiring the view and taking pictures. That is just a gorgeous wonderful place to spend some time. It soothes the soul a bit to stand up there and look out at all that gorgeous blue water. We finally loaded back into the ‘bus’ and headed back down the mountain still enjoying those almost breath taking views. At the bottom of the mountain is a small park that was mostly wiped out by hurricane Maria, but still a nice little park with an awesome beach. We found a spot in the shade to park and unloaded out gear under a tree on one of the prettiest beaches you want to look at. We spent the next 2 hours swimming, snorkeling, boogie boarding, throwing a ball and just enjoying each others company. All underneath a brilliant blue sky with Buck Island as a backdrop. Finally decided we had had all the sun everybody needed for the day – we begrudgingly packed all our gear up and came back to the condo to rinse off the salt and cool down for a bit.

All that swimming and sunshine can build up a serious appetite, so we loaded back up into the bus and headed for Blues – after all, it was Wing Wednesday~! We arrived to the most delicious smell you can imagine and soon ordered up the last of their wings….. heaven~! We filled out the rest of the meal with cheeseburgers, hamburgers, fish and turkey sammiches~!!  (and lots and LOTS of ICE cold beer) YUMMERS~!!!!  The band for the night cancelled due to equipment issues so we rounded out the evening with a spirited game of corn hole. My buddy Sam got the hang of the game and turned out to throw the winning points for his team~! Last call was made and as adults started packing up – the kids amused Mr. Jim with their games. Just a really great way to end the evening.

Came back to the condo for showers, some light snacks and now everybody is sitting watching Jumanji as I sit and type this. From what little bit I’ve seen and listened to – it seems like a fun movie.

Big day tomorrow as me, my Sugar Pop and Grant are going out to the West end to make a SCUBA dive~! Promises to be a grand day. I intend to tag along on their dive and see if I can score some pictures of the big event~! Can’t wait to share the day with you. In the meantime – lots more pictures for you. I’ll see if I can get them to load while I join the group for the rest of the movie………

Good night ya’ll …… Thankx for stopping in~!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day started out bright and early for some of us while others slept in a little bit. Darn little. Oma whipped up Eggo waffles for the smaller folks. The rest of us had eggs, bacon, sausage and biscuits. After we finished up that hearty breakfast, we kind of lounged a little bit before it was time to load up and head back down to the board walk to board our sailing vessel, the Mile Marker. After a quick safety briefing, we set out for points unknown to see our beautiful island from the water and hopefully find us some pirates. The beauty of that water is almost indescribable, so I hope it comes through in the 100 or so pictures I took for you. It was a very pleasant tour of the Gallows Bay area…. we went out past Green Cay before we returned back and cruised past the big barrier reef outside of the boardwalk….. just absolutely beautiful~! We completed our boat trip – sadly no pirates, but we’ll still look around the island  😉

All that sailing on the water works up a pretty good appetite, so we decided to stop at the You are Here bar for some refreshing adult beverages while the kids worked on their cola’s, etc. This particular bar is noted for their ‘Shrimp Dawgs’. It is 3 skewered shrimp, dipped in a pretty decent batter ( I forgot to take a picture of the menu, so I can’t tell you what it was – guess I’ll just have to go back)  and deep fried like a corn dog. Definitely pretty tasty~! Each stick had 4 shrimp on them and you got 3 ‘Dawgs’ for $ 18.00. Not terrible for touristy island prices and I thought it was well worth it. I’ll definitely do it again ( and take pictures)  😉

Came back home for a romp in the pool, some snacks, showers and the kiddlies are just now heading for bed. I have been trying to get this in a tad earlier so I’m not sitting here at Midnight writing…… especially when we have a big day tomorrow. Plans are to load up in the ‘Bus’ and head for Point Udall and some sight seeing along the way — should be another fun day, with lots more pictures~! Going to wrap it up here and start loading pictures…… will try and load a few more than usual since I took so many the past couple of days….. I hope you enjoy them~!

Good Night ya’ll — Thankx for stopping in~!

  Tarpon – some up to 4′ long waiting for tidbits from folks passing by

 

  My Queen~ <3

  Hunting pirates can wear a guy out~!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to do the touristy thing today. We went into town to Toast Diner to start the day off with a scrumptious breakfast. We lucked out and found seating for all 7 of us (it is a VERY small establishment).  We had to sample the in-house Bloody Mary bar… and I think all “partakers” were happy with what they got. We had some hash brown casseroles (me and my Squirt) with various toppings ( I had 2 eggs, gravy and mushrooms on mine) and there were some eggs, pan cakes and various other goodies for a wonderful selection of breakfast for all~! After our appetites had been sated, we strolled along the board walk and checked out most of the local stores picking up a few trinkets as we went. We eventually found our selves at the fort at the end of the Boardwalk and went in for a tour. It was actually our (me & my bride’s) first time in the fort as well. Very neat self guided tour with a ton of history. I don’t think the fascination was quite as high for the kids, but still an interesting tour. I personally am looking forward to being able to go through it again….. There is a ton of history on this island and the fort was a big part of it, plus there are some awesome vantage points for picture taking…..

We came back home too suck up some conditioned air as the kids were starting to drag a bit. The sun, wind and temps here will take it out of you pretty quick, especially if you’re not used to it. Once everyone cooled down – most headed out to the pool for some more serious cooling off and then back to the unit and out to the beach for some crab hunting and romping in the surf.  Didn’t take much of that for appetites to build up and folks started drifting back inside looking for consumables…… We decided we would run up to Blues and check out their menu. The crowd put a pretty good dent in Blues’ food supply. There were a couple of Brisket sammiches…. a sloppy Jim, Italian Sausage, some hot dogs and Mahi-Mahi served up….. and course lots of liquid refreshments to help it all wash down. Everybody got to meet Mr. Jim and Mrs. Debbie and even a couple of pictures were drawn for them – which are now proudly displayed in the grill area. We shut the place down and even helped put up some of the bar stools for Mr. Jim.

Back at the house, showers were in order and even though there was protest afterward for heading to bed– the little ones were soon cutting ZZZZ’s in the bedroom. Even the most energetic ones crash after a day like today. Mom & Dad soon followed by Oma, which leaves me sitting here chatting with you, in this blissfully quiet little apartment now.  🙂     I’m gonna wrap it and load some pictures for you (I hope) and hit the hay here shortly too as we have a boat ride scheduled tomorrow to check out Gallows Bay and see if maybe we can spot some pirates~!

Good night ya’ll ……. Thankx for stopping in~!

 

Well our first full day of Grandbabies here is wrapping up. They are all worn out from a day of swimming, lot’s of hot brilliant sunshine and running on the beach. They are all sitting around in the living room now, watching a very loud [and annoying] show called The Greatest Showman on Earth. I have no desire to watch it (or listen to it – but don’t have a lot of options at this point) – as I absolutely detest musicals…….. for whatever reason, movies where people walk around and just bust out singing makes absolutely no friggin’ sense to me… (save Elvis movies but I don’t really consider them musical’s). So in an effort not to be sitting here at midnight again, I have opted out of watching the movie and getting caught up here – even though the musical is raping my ears…..

My Grand kids gave the swimming pool a healthy workout this morning – just to make sure it is still working. We finally headed back, to find Oma making everybody a nice big breakfast. She done good feeding that big ole crowd~! After meals settled a little bit and my Daughter got in a work out at a local gym (she is a weight lifter) her, hubby and kids all headed back up to the pool for a swim….. after an hour or so of snorkeling and swimming in the pool, little mouths were getting hungry. It was agreed we would jump in DD and head down to a local resort for dinner ‘out’. Fun afternoon spent at a pretty little beach there at the Palms Restaurant. There were burgers, shrimp, fish taco’s, and BLT’s abound, all rounded up with French fries and lots of cold drinks to wash it down. Finally wrapped it up and headed back to the condo for a relaxing afternoon on the porch as the sun set and kids rounded up any unfortunate hermit crabs that were unlucky enough to venture out of secure areas.

I did find out last nights issue with getting pictures loaded was apparently a different internet problem…. and not an overload of users on the internet…… so hopefully I can get some pictures up tonight. Haven’t been taking a lot of pictures yet, but will try to remedy that for the rest of the week. Well, since I REALLY don’t want to have to watch AND listen to that mess on TV…. I’m gonna get the pictures loaded and then ‘surf’ a bit and pretend I’m working on this  😉

Good night ya’ll — Thankx for stopping in~!

Me and my Sammer Jammer~!

 Me & Mouse

Today started out like most….. slept in a little bit, had a nice breakfast…… then we went grocery shopping in anticipation of the rapidly approaching visit of # 1 Daughter and her tribe……. Came home, unloaded Double D’s and sat down to enjoy what was sure to be our last hours of true peace and quiet for the next 6 days. Our quiet little place here was about to be filled with 4 adults and 3 VERY active Grandchildren.  Lit out for the airport about 3:00 for the big arrival….. it was a very fun surreal moment as we stood and waited for  loved familiar faces to come walking down the entry way…… wow, what a great feeling~! Then to have those [not so small] little people coming running through the crowd to jump into our arms…. what a wonderful, wonderful feeling~!!! We gathered up luggage and got everybody loaded into the [rented] bus for the 20 minute drive back to the condo (they wouldn’t all fit into Double D’s without strapping somebody down in the bed of the truck)…… Came home showing parts of the island as we went and listened to the most awesome constant stream of chatter I have heard in years. I Loved it~! My Queen drove Double D’s home, so she missed out on that part of it.

Got back to the condo, made up some drinks, and ‘caught up’ as the grandkids rampaged our back yard beach. It was freakin’ awesome~! Me and Grandkids walked up to check out the pool and made sure it was swimmable and then came back and watched a pretty sunset, finally came in for a bite of dinner and wound the evening up with a birthday cake celebration…. ((BTW – today was my Birthday)) — well, technically, still is my Birthday, but you get where I am going……… for reason’s I’ll probably never completely understand, my Grand Daughters decided the thing to do was to have me “wear” my birthday cake, and I got a plate full of chocolate cake right square in the kisser……., firmly smeared into my face, while my Squirt wickedly laughed while doing it…. she laughed that is until I picked up my plate and equally firmly smeared into HER face —- MuuuwaHHaHhahhaahaaa……. never laugh at Pa-Paw while you’re smearing his birthday cake in his face  😉  We all had a good laugh, cleaned up and headed inside……….

Everybody got their showers and dropped off into sleep —  like the flip of a switch, the place is now quiet as I sit and type this. We now have 5 people logged into our internet and I have seen it is really, really slow now – so not sure if I can get pictures to load now…. but will try. Not sure how often I’ll get on here this week, but will try to keep you up on the Smith Adventure in America’s Paradise….. I’m as tired as everybody else, so going to TRY and get a couple of pictures up before I drop for the night…..

Good night ya’ll — Thankx for stopping in~!

Well Sh*t Sherlock….. for whatever reason I can’t get my pictures to come up and entirely too tired to mess with it…. Bunches of pic’s on FB (that Daughter has put up) if you feel the urge….. hopefully have it figured out tomorrow….

B

 

 

As I sat finishing up my 3rd or 4th drink, my Queen finally arrived. I got her a drink and I was explaining what I had been doing while waiting on her (fairly simple tale… sitting there sucking up sunshine and getting slowly hammered) About that time we struck up a conversation with a young couple  who happened by, looking for a shady spot to have a cigarette. We offered them to join us and before long were chatting like old friends. Joe, Gail and Joe Jr. (JJ) Early to mid 40’s (except for Joes son JJ), from Coleman Alabama [ I refrained from making a Forrest Gump reference, and it wasn’t easy~!] Ordered several more rounds of drinks. We offered them a ride back to their condo, but before we knew it, we found our selves instead at our favorite hangout…. Blues Backyard BBQ~!  We discovered they were flying out Saturday morning and still hadn’t seen as much of our beautiful island as they would have liked, so trying to be neighborly and all… we offered to take them out to Point Udall the next day….. arguably one of the most famous places on the island, to which they happily agreed. We learned that the next day was Gail’s birthday, so we felt we needed to help her celebrate there at Blue’s… which <big  shock> involved more alcohol~!  Tequila shots started flowing…… woo-hooo~  Happy Birthday Gail~!  Gail was having a really good time~! It finally got late enough in the night, me and Joe decided it was time to wrap it up….. so we took them back to their condo for the night, agreeing to pick them up at 10:00 the next morning for an impromptu ‘local’ island tour.

We arrived promptly at 10 the next morning to meet our new friends…… they came down the stairs looking no worse for wear…. well, almost. Turns out Gail didn’t make it through the night as smooth as everybody else did….. I’m not going into details about what we heard about her night – but let’s just say it would have served her well if Joe would have duct taped her into the bed (or otherwise kept her confined to the bed)… you know how hard it is to stay on top of the bed when you’ve been doing Tequila shots  😉   Appropriately patched up…… we lit out for Point Udall….. a gorgeous place you’ve heard me lament a dozen times already. Got there and everybody OOh’ed and AAah’ed an appropriate amount of time before heading back to mid island.  We had some running to do, and our new friends said they’d like tag along if we didn’t mind. We zig-zagged back and forth between K-Marts showing off local landmarks as we went…….. FINALLY done with shopping, we stopped by our condo to show them our view and had a handful of drinks…..which eventually led us back to Blues, for more drinks and a bite to eat. They got to meet a lot of the regulars and I think they enjoyed themselves. A very unexpected downpour huddled everybody together under the bar section and the happiness continued. Gail had several shots provided as today was her birthday and the fun continued until last call. I’m happy to report that Gail was in MUCH better condition when we left tonight and I’d like to think she enjoyed her day. We dropped them all off at their condo with hugs and hand shakes and promises to get back together [hopefully] in the near future.

VERY nice, friendly, fun family — we wish them the best, safe travels and hope to be able to spend some more time with you on our beautiful island. Happy Birthday Gail ( and lay down in the middle of the bed this time)  😉

Good night ya’ll — thankx for stopping in~!

Tequila night at Blues Backyard BBQ  😉

My hair cut and shave… he took the ‘stache’ down a little closer than I like it, but not terrible

Our beautiful island

On the beach at sunset

‘JJ’, Gail & Joe