St. Croix

St. Croix was a really neat place to visit. We went on an historic tour of a sugar plantation and the Laweatz family homestead. The Laweatz family settled St. Croix and made their living off the land. There are still family members alive and prominent in St. Croix, from a judge to a doctor. The house was really neat to see, and the pictures on the walls were so incredible - very old and fun to see the styles way back when.

After the plantation and Laweatz family home, we visited a small beach and I found a beautiful and huge conch shell washed up on the beach. Actually, my brother-in-law, Travis saw it first but he graciously told me I could have it. I was thrilled. I've always wanted to find a big, perfect shell from a beach far away and I finally did! Thanks Travis! It proudly sits on the bookshelf in our living room.

Sugarcane plantation ruins

After we loaded back on the bus, our driver stepped outside to a tree right by us and started picking fruit. Kristie, being the brave soul she is, walked out to him and asked him what it was and if she could have some. It tasted mildly sweet but also fuzzy. It was more of a seed that you just scraped the fruit off of in your mouth. There it is in between my teeth.

The Laweatz Family museum. Such a beautiful house.

Me and Althea, our tour guide. She was awesome. Don't mind the wet stain on my shirt. I found an "orange" in the yard and she said I could eat it. It looked like an orange but tasted like the cross between an orange and a lime, very tart but I thought it was great. As you can see from the remnants on my shirt. Keepin' it classy!

Hanging out at a beach on our way back to the ship.

We also went parasailing later in the day. I had never done this before and was super excited. It was a lot smoother and much more relaxing than I thought it would be, but awesome nonetheless. You wouldn't believe the color of the water from way up there. You could see the different color blues where the depths changed and the island was so beautiful.

On our way to the cruise ship after parasailing, we decided to jump off the pier. Our tour guide from parasailing, Dylan (he was from Colorado) told us it was okay to do, so we did. It was about a 15-20 foot drop into the water. I did a couple of back flips off the pier and everyone else jumped off and we'd climb the ladder nearby and do it all over again. Next thing we know, an officer approached us. I looked at Mike and said, "Do you think he's coming over here to stop us?" and he says, "Well, we might as well get one last jump out of it!" and we, along with Shannon, quickly jumped in again! The officer said, "You all trying to get me to do a lot of paper work?" We were a little confused what he meant by that until he said, "Well, there are too many of you to arrest...looks like you all just slipped..."! That was our run-in with the law, Caribbean-style.