April 24 - Vacation recap

Well I really wanted to get a blog post done every day I was on vacation, I however failed miserably, lol. So let's recap by day:

Tuesday:

Woke up at an unGodly 6:30a...snoozed it until about 7a, and then went into rush-mode to ensure I had everything together. Put on massive amounts of sunscreen, smashed a bagel in my mouth, and ran down to the dock to ensure I got on the 7:30a catamaran. Ended up being myself, my sister, her friend, my mom and Ray. We boarded, went over to customs (the catamaran went from the US to the British side of the Virgin Islands, so we had to declare that), loaded up another 25 people, and then headed out.

The catamaran was pretty cool actually. For those that don't know (and I didn't either before getting on one) a catamaran is a two hull ship (see the pix). So we drove out for about 45 minutes and then anchored up for about an hour for some snorkeling. The water was pretty rough going against current (which of course you had to do to see things that were worthwhile)...but I managed. Saw some more awesome fish, another jellyfish (though no stings this time!) and another turtle. However this turtle did not seem very happy, so I left him alone. Boarded the boat again and started over to Foxy's (some bar/shop place). (I got lost looking for a bathroom and ended up behind a restaurant, and randomly ran into a donkey. I laughed so hard when I saw it (given the picture from the previous post) that I had to take some pix...donkeys are funny)

Did that for a half hour, re-loaded, and then took another 45min ride to a place called “The Soggy Dollar Bar”...well named actually because there are no docks so you have to park your boat and then swim about 30 yards to get to it...so your money is quite wet when you get in. I am very fortunate that I have learned to swim over the last year a bit better and I didn't struggle too badly getting in. It would have sucked if I couldn't swim in, lol

Grabbed a quick lunch (flying fish sandwich ftw), took an hour swim, and got back on the boat to head home. When stopping through customs I was actually embarrassed. The US customs agents there are just compete assholes. To think that that is the first thing someone entering the US might encounter is just disgraceful. So got back in, have some new stamps on my passport, and got a nice buzz from the all day open-bar on the trip.

Got back to the hotel, did dinner, and passed out pretty quickly. Now, I'm not sure if I have mentioned this before, but I often times wear a write brace for my carpal tunnel symptoms. So I put it on before I went to bed not even thinking that this could be bad.



Wednesday:

Wake up nice and late (10a), get a quick shower, and realize that my hand has turned a funny color (and I'm colorblind, so being able to see this color is impressive). Turns out when you mix mild sun-burn, salt water, and a hand brace, that your skin hates you. So my hand was in hellish pain and is like this bright purple while being swollen as hell. Damn skin!

So get some sunscreen on, get the family ready, and jump down to the dock to catch a boat over to St. Thomas (the “main” island from what I could tell) for shopping and lunch (the shopping is pretty cheap because of the duty-free stuff). So got to St. Thomas about 45min later, took a quick taxi over to the shopping center, and went nuts.

They have this huge section under a tent that has a whole bunch of local artists' work and crap like T-shirts. I ended up buying a picture I liked (I like supporting local art when given the chance to do so), some T-shirts, and then realized there were a ton of jewelry stores. So I spent the next 2 hours practicing my negotiation techniques (the best I got was 60% off a decent watch, but I didn't want it...I just wanted to negotiate, lol). Finally found a Rado dealer, and ended up buying a 20BI watch because I feel I can either flip it for a 10+BI profit, or enjoy the crap out of it. I'm an absolute watch whore, so I was very smitten with my purchase.

Did lunch (swordfish sandwich ftw) with my sister's friend's family who were down there for the day on a cruise. Then walked around a bit longer, the girls got their hair beaded, and we went back to the hotel on the 5:15p boat.

It was the 22nd, which is my brother's birthday, so we celebrated that (awkward to celebrate a passed sibling's birthday) with a dinner of his favorite foods and birthday cake. Everyone passed out pretty quickly afterwards and being that it was 10:30p I watched Oceans 12 and then the Jimmy Fallon show before passing out. Btw, I was amazed that Jimmy Fallon has a show. His opening monologue, besides being about 1/3rd the time of Jay Leno's, was horrendous. It reminded me of watching an awkward moments reel of The Office or something...minimal applause, and a whole lot of forced smiling just trying to get through it. I never liked him on SNL that much, and really just felt bad for his show.



Thursday:

Get up at 7:30a to go jet-skiing. Accidentally hit the snooze and sleep through it, and then get up finally at 9:30a. Get some breakfast in me, get a few screw drivers as well, and get to the airport at 11:30a for my 3p flight (the boat system isn't very convenient like that). So ended up finishing the paper I wanted to write for 2p2, read some more of my SEO book, and just relaxed. Get to Philly after a 4hr flight, grab a quick bite and wait for my 8:50p flight to Providence, RI. My stupid ass thought my ticket said gate A2, and I was very confused when at 8:20p there was no one sitting in that section. Turns out my lazy ass didn't see that it was A22...and I had to high-tail it across the airport to board just as it was finishing boarding. Uneventful flight to Providence, and all is well.

Went to my friend's that night, relaxed, and got back home this morning (now Friday). Just got a shower and shave, got my office set up again, and it feels good to be back. I did realize how badly I need to start traveling more. I am traveling cross country again next week, so maybe I can make better use of that...but I certainly want to do Europe in the next year for sure. I have actually gotten some offers from students who would be happy to put me up in various locations in Europe, so maybe I will take a Europe trip and spend a few days with each student...that could be dope =)

Alright, I'm off to proof-read my paper and maybe post it today. Hope all is well with everyone!

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