I've decided to break my Virgin Island experience down into different categories: Travel Tales, Sea Stories, and Wildlife Wonders.
Travel Tales: Airplanes
Going to the Virgin Islands doesn't take as long as going to Oahu, but with a 10 month old it seems like it. Not really. Kaleb did better than I ever thought he would. We flew out of Memphis, went to Atlanta, then headed to St.Thomas. Kaleb was so interested in the airplane that he didn't fuss at all. We, on the other hand, had some quiet ugly words. We had only a 50 minute layover once we got to Atlanta, so we needed our plane to leave on time. Well, of course that didn't happen. We boarded the plane all right, but then another connecting Delta flight was late so they decided to wait on them. It took about 30 minutes for them to get all boarded and the flight attendants to cross check and us to take off. That left 20 minutes to get to our next flight. Once we got to Atlanta and got the gate, the accordian looking thing was broken and wouldn't come to our plane. Of course! When it finally did and we got off the plane, we had to book it across the entire Atlanta airport to get to our terminal. We took off at different paces, Eric and Kaleb up front, me and the stroller about 50 feet behind, the in-laws another 50 to 70 feet behind me. I get to T10 and the plane is going to Chicago. Of course everyone's cell phones are still off from the flight so I have no idea where to go. I finally get in touch with Eric and they're all at gate T02...on the other side of the T terminal. I'm running as fast as my tired little legs will carry me, thinking I should have stretched first, glistening, watermelon red to the other end. While they were all there the flight attendant lady told them that I had 23 seconds to get there or they were leaving without me. I made it! Kaleb slept on the plane to St. Thomas and when he got fussy we gave him puffs. The end of the plane story TO St. Thomas.
On the way back to the South we had to fly from St. Thomas to ATL to Memphis. The check in portion of the airport at St. Thomas is outside...and hot. Then there's the customs section. Then the luggage section. Then the security section. The airplane is parked outside and we have to walk up the steps to get to it. It was right out of an old timey movie. The flight to Atlanta was pretty uneventful. Kaleb slept half of it and ate puffs the rest of the time. We had a 3 hour layover in Atlanta, which was nice because we didn't have to rush, we got to eat supper, I bought a new book (because I finished Gone with the Wind - yahoo!), and we headed to the gate for our 9:55 flight. Kaleb met another baby and they crawled to each other just like in a movie. Our flight was delayed because of "late arriving crew" so we didn't leave until 10:50. My sweet baby was asleep as soon as the plane's lights went off and stayed asleep until we got to the car.
Travel Tales: Cars
Let me preface this section by saying that people on St. John drive on the left side of the road, it is all mountains, and drivers there are nutty. Brad got us an Explorer for the week. The air didn't work well and we had to take Dramamine everytime we got in. Eric had to ride in the trunk section, backwards the first night because we couldn't get the back seat up. It wasn't as odd as I would have thought being on the left side of the road. There were gorgeous views from the mountains and the roads were really steep. Thankfully I didn't have to drive at all. And there were SO many Jeeps. If you weren't in an SUV or Jeep you weren't getting up those mountains. Plain and simple. I don't think I'll be getting an Explorer.
Travel Tales: Boats
We had to take a boat from St. Thomas to St. John. The one we took at 11:00 pm was rocky, and it was dark so we were a little on the naseaus side. The boat ride back was significantly better. It was daytime and we could see the amazing water, the beautiful surrounding islands, and feel WONDERFUL air conditioner. It takes a lot of work getting to and from St. John.
Travel Tales: Airplanes
Going to the Virgin Islands doesn't take as long as going to Oahu, but with a 10 month old it seems like it. Not really. Kaleb did better than I ever thought he would. We flew out of Memphis, went to Atlanta, then headed to St.Thomas. Kaleb was so interested in the airplane that he didn't fuss at all. We, on the other hand, had some quiet ugly words. We had only a 50 minute layover once we got to Atlanta, so we needed our plane to leave on time. Well, of course that didn't happen. We boarded the plane all right, but then another connecting Delta flight was late so they decided to wait on them. It took about 30 minutes for them to get all boarded and the flight attendants to cross check and us to take off. That left 20 minutes to get to our next flight. Once we got to Atlanta and got the gate, the accordian looking thing was broken and wouldn't come to our plane. Of course! When it finally did and we got off the plane, we had to book it across the entire Atlanta airport to get to our terminal. We took off at different paces, Eric and Kaleb up front, me and the stroller about 50 feet behind, the in-laws another 50 to 70 feet behind me. I get to T10 and the plane is going to Chicago. Of course everyone's cell phones are still off from the flight so I have no idea where to go. I finally get in touch with Eric and they're all at gate T02...on the other side of the T terminal. I'm running as fast as my tired little legs will carry me, thinking I should have stretched first, glistening, watermelon red to the other end. While they were all there the flight attendant lady told them that I had 23 seconds to get there or they were leaving without me. I made it! Kaleb slept on the plane to St. Thomas and when he got fussy we gave him puffs. The end of the plane story TO St. Thomas.
On the way back to the South we had to fly from St. Thomas to ATL to Memphis. The check in portion of the airport at St. Thomas is outside...and hot. Then there's the customs section. Then the luggage section. Then the security section. The airplane is parked outside and we have to walk up the steps to get to it. It was right out of an old timey movie. The flight to Atlanta was pretty uneventful. Kaleb slept half of it and ate puffs the rest of the time. We had a 3 hour layover in Atlanta, which was nice because we didn't have to rush, we got to eat supper, I bought a new book (because I finished Gone with the Wind - yahoo!), and we headed to the gate for our 9:55 flight. Kaleb met another baby and they crawled to each other just like in a movie. Our flight was delayed because of "late arriving crew" so we didn't leave until 10:50. My sweet baby was asleep as soon as the plane's lights went off and stayed asleep until we got to the car.
Travel Tales: Cars
Let me preface this section by saying that people on St. John drive on the left side of the road, it is all mountains, and drivers there are nutty. Brad got us an Explorer for the week. The air didn't work well and we had to take Dramamine everytime we got in. Eric had to ride in the trunk section, backwards the first night because we couldn't get the back seat up. It wasn't as odd as I would have thought being on the left side of the road. There were gorgeous views from the mountains and the roads were really steep. Thankfully I didn't have to drive at all. And there were SO many Jeeps. If you weren't in an SUV or Jeep you weren't getting up those mountains. Plain and simple. I don't think I'll be getting an Explorer.
Travel Tales: Boats
We had to take a boat from St. Thomas to St. John. The one we took at 11:00 pm was rocky, and it was dark so we were a little on the naseaus side. The boat ride back was significantly better. It was daytime and we could see the amazing water, the beautiful surrounding islands, and feel WONDERFUL air conditioner. It takes a lot of work getting to and from St. John.
1 comment:
Hey, I really like your red poppy background. It looks great. Sounds like you had quite an adventure just getting to and from St. John. I think its funny you used puffs to subdue Kaleb. Last time I was down there you and Eric were doing something and Kaleb got fussy, then I realized puffs kept him happy so that's what I gave him for a long while. I loved snorkeling in Australia and really hope I get to do it somewhere else, and with people I know. it is super scary though not being able to see really far off. talk about feeling paranoid
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