Let me first start off by saying what a great deal I got from cheapcaribbean.com. For $249.00, I got 4 nights (we could only use 3 due to work) at the Marriott Frenchman's Reef Resort on Morningstar Beach and a RT ticket from LAX to St. Thomas. So if you are looking at going to the Caribbean, check out the site for awesome deals.
Day 1
My friend Lisa was unable to go on the trip due to medical issues that she is having (such a bummer, I was totally missing my partner in crime!). I bought my mom a ticket instead. It cost $1,200 for her ticket for the same flight. I was so pissed but my mom really needed a vaca and I just wanted to go because I had never been to the Caribbean. So we flew the red eye and finally arrived in St. Thomas at 3pm the next day. I reserved a Jeep Wrangler a while back and didn't realize that it didn't come with windows. Now keep in mind, Tropical Storm Erika just passed 3 hours before and it was still a tad bit wet. The Budget lady said she would down grade me to a Jeep Liberty for less money. Woohoo. It was actually bigger and the windows were a big help. We got in the car and started driving. Now in St. Thomas they drive on the left and the steering wheel is on the left (eye roll), so it took about 10 seconds for me to adjust and then it was no problem. Mom was freaking out though...lol...so then we were driving down the main highway (single lane and packed). Natives drive fast and wild, tourists drive slow and tend to stop for no reason. We got half way through downtown and there was the first accident. A tourist went on the wrong side of the road and had a head-on with a native. Both cars were totaled. Glad it wasn't me. We arrived at the Marriott about 5 minutes later and we checked in. We received our free ocean room upgrade and a gift certificate for $50 at any restaurant in town (thanks cheapcaribbean.com!). We took a shower and a quick nap and then went to dinner at the hotel. We had a total 180 view of the harbour and had a wonderful meal. We stopped at Rumbar on the way back to our room and had a delicious pina colada. Yum yum yum.
Day 2
On day 2 the last bit of tropical storm Erika passed through (dumped about 6" of rain in a hour) so mom and I decided to go and get some food (no lunch, since we slept in until 11am). We ate again at the hotel while the storm passed through. We jumped in the car and drove down to Kmart. There was a rumor in the hotel that the next day was going to be sunny and warm (definitely a beach day) so we went to Kmart to get a foam cooler and some towels. I brought my US Diver gear with me so no need to purchase that. It started to clear up a little and we continued our adventure around the island. We arrived at Magen's Bay, a beach that was rated in the top 10 by numerous travel mags. The nice gentleman at the gate let us in free because the rental shack and restaurant were closed because of the rain (which completely disappeared at that time). Mom and I looked around and we were the only two on beach. It was calm and peaceful. So I disconnected my line, put on my Aquaguard, got on my snorkel gear an dove in. I say a baby octopus, numerous yellow tail, and a few eels. There was also a white fish that kept digging itself in the sand every time we got closer to it. It was amazing. When I got out of the water, mack was there. He totally surprised me and flew in (he was at Atlanta for business and flew in that morning). Mom got to relax on the beach while we snorkeled. We then visited a ice cream shack and had the most amazing Rum Raisin Ice Cream. We went to Coki beach next, which was rated the top snorkeling spot on St. Thomas. I would definitely agree!! A little boy was feeding the fish Pringles and we decided to get in on the action. The fish were jumping out of the water to get them. Bob, with a Jamaican accent of course, was there making $4 drinks with fresh fruit. They were wonderful. We went back to the hotel for dinner and then back to the bar for happy hour. Mom went back to her room while Mack and I enjoyed a Mojito and played Wii with others at the bar.
Day 3
On day 3 we drove over to St. John. The storm had finally passed, we boarded the ferry and arrived in St. John 20 minutes later. We decided to go to Trunk Bay first because we were told it gets busy as more people make their way over there. Trunk Bay has a underwater trail that you follow that describes the fish and plant life in the bay. We did the trail while mom relaxed on the beach and then we continued on. We visited the old sugar plantation, and visited a half dozen other beaches. We took the ferry back to St. Thomas and went back to Magen's Bay. This time the beach was packed. Parties of hundreds were there of locales. We could barely find any space on the beach. We hung out for a while and then decided to go back to the hotel to chill out. Mack had to leave that night (tear) but it was an awesome surprise to have him there. Mom and I went and got dinner and turned in night because we had to get up early for out 8am flight. On day 4 we woke up at 5:30am (ugh) and made it to the airport at 7am. We turned in the rental car and went through immigration. We were lucky enough to upgrade to bulkhead on both flights home (thank you AAdvantage card). We got home around 6pm (our flight was delayed a half hour due to a broken screw on the door latch in Miami). I have such bad luck with planes. We picked up mom's car at The Parking Spot at LAX (the best deal ever...print a coupon off online and you can valet your car for $13.95 a day). They had the car pulled up when we arrived so I jetted home in 26 minutes (I beat dad's record of 38 minutes...hahaha). We had the next day off from work which was a blessing. It allowed my sunburn to cool down a tad before returning back! Overall, we had a wonderful trip and it was well worth the small amount of money that I actually paid. Best of all, I earned 5,200 mileage points. So close to that free flight!!
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