Jn 13 - St Thomas

The ship docked at 8, but we did not get off the ship until closer to 10, as we heard the night before that Gerry’s bro Joe was not expected to make it thru the night. He has been in the hospital for about a month and we learned today that he has had a brain stem stroke and his body is starting to shut down. We call and email family members to get updated, and find that Joe has rallied and Julie, Kevin, Brenda and Michelle and families are with him. Our thoughts & prayers are with them.

We look for info on hiking, but find there is none to speak of nearby, so get a taxi to Magen’s Bay where there is a short hike, then we walk the long while sand beach, but still feel like we need a longer walk, so we start to walk back to town, over the steep hill on very narrow roads. Here their cars are just like ours, but they drive on the opposite side of the road, so the drivers are always on the ditch side….very strange! It is a cloudy day, thank goodness as we are really on a challenging hike, when the cars and taxis (trucks with the back replaced by tram-like seating) are going both ways we have to hug the bushes or guardrail to be sure they can pass. After 1 hr we have made it over the hill and on the way down traffic is going faster and it seems narrower so we get in a taxi. They were constantly stopping to see if we wanted a ride…
Back in town we find lunch at Cuzzins Restaurant. G has conch fritters and I have veggie platter which is sweet potato (white), green banana (cooked), rice and beans and fungi (pronounced foonjy), which is ochre and cornmeal, quite yummy, mashed and cooked. I had to try it! We check out the stores, sooooo many diamond and jewellery stores on all the islands, don’t know how they all survive. Lots of duty free liquor, electronics and souvenirs of course.
Gerry walks on the track on deck 3, I shop awhile longer and then walk back to the ship, by now it is hot and is a long walk, so in the bath it is before dinner. Tonight in the dining room we sit with a large table of 10, 3 Australians, 1 gent from Montreal, a couple from Toronto and 2 ladies from California. It is noisy here at the front of the ship, so conversation is limited to those close by. Gerry has the Cornish hen and I have the cheese risotto, both are yummy. However, G’s tummy is not so good today, so he heads back to the room after dinner and I go to see the comedian Lee Bayliss in the lounge. He is very funny and most of his act is about this, his first cruise, with the small rooms, etc. After all our walking today we are toast by 10 pm.