St. Thomas 2019 - Day 1

This winter's Seeking Warmth trip bring us to St. Thomas, in the US Virgin Islands. Lauren has graciously agreed to chaperone us, this year.

Our Sunday-morning flight was delayed, so we didn't end up taking off from Newark until after 10 AM.

Between the 3½ hour flight and the 1 hour time change, it was around 3 PM (AST) when we landed at the Cyril E. King Airport.

There were musicians playing steel drums and maracas inside the tiny airport arrivals area (as well as free Cruzan rum sampling), but it was quite chaotic and loud, so we rushed through without stopping.

After some initial confusion, we found the shuttle to the car rental office to pick up our sweet ride.

Our primary objective for today was to find the Airbnb rental, so we followed Google Maps, up and over the hills, to the north side of the island. We stopped at a scenic overlook to take in the view of the end of the runway.

After some adventurous driving, we located the rental house, unloaded, and changed into island apparel.

The view from the porch makes the difficult approach road worth it.

I believe this is Inner Brass island, close enough to see the white sand of the beach.

After exploring the accommodations, including the loft, and testing the hammock and some Adirondack chairs, we ventured forth to find some food.

This is how we have to lock up, when leaving. I'm digging that "barn" vibe.

We chose one of the closer options, and meandered through the hilltops over to the Mofalie restaurant.

The food was good, and the view was better.

We had a relaxing dinner while watching the sunset.

The drive back to the house was even more exciting in the dark.

As we were in for the night, we secured the facility from the inside, and settled in to listen to the sounds of the jungle.

I'm not sure what tomorrow entails, but I suspect it might involve one or more beaches.

Alaska 2018 - Day 12: Return home

Thankfully we had had the wisdom to stay near the train station, so it was an easy ride to the airport. 

We connected through Calgary, and it's only about a 90-minute flight between them. From there, on to Newark in another 5 hours or so.

We dropped Jason and Shannon off first, and then headed home. I think it was around midnight, with the timezone change, when we finally made it back.

Alaska 2018 - Day 11: Vancouver, Stanley Park

Sunday morning, we grabbed breakfast at Tim Horton's and then got on the Hop-On, Hop-Off tour bus.

We rode the bus around downtown for a bit, and then continued on foot once we got to Stanley Park.

It was overcast, with a chance of light rain all day.

As with almost every tourist attraction on this trip (seemingly), there is a totem pole collection in the park.

Farther along the seawall path, in the southeast corner of the park, we found the 9 O'Clock Gun. (Interesting bit of history there.)

In case anyone was wondering, the water in the harbor of an industrial port city isn't necessarily good to swim in. At least, not in Vancouver's harbor.

You can see the (infamous?) yellow sulfur pile in the background, top right.

Not much past the canon, we walked through the Brockton Point Lighthouse.

As we rounded Brockton Point, we were able to see the Lions Gate Bridge in the distance.

Other highlights along the seawall path include Girl in a Wetsuit...

A replica of the figurehead from the RMS Empress of Japan...

A machine to blow-dry your kids, after they get wet playing in the fountain...

And the Lions Gate Bridge.

Just after crossing under the bridge, we found ourselves at Prospect Point Lighthouse.

It was at this point that we realized there are no paths/stairs from the seawall up to Prospect Point, so we doubled back to a switchback trail leading up the side of the hill.

At the top of the hill, we saw the bridge from a different angle on the way to the Prospect Point lookout.

It hadn't rained at all during the 2+ hours we had already spent walking around the park, but of course it started raining as soon as we got to the lookout.

Having had enough walking for the foreseeable future, we got back on the Hop-On, Hop-Off bus and continued around the perimited of Stanley Park, getting off at The Teahouse Restaurant for a late lunch.

It was after 4 PM when we left The Tea House and got back on the tour bus.

We stayed on the bus for the next hour or so, touring around and seeing the highlights of Vancouver. This included English Bay (Beach),  the Museum of Vancouver, BC Place (home of the Whitecaps), Science World, Granville Island, and everything in between.

We finished the tour in Gastown, home of the (one of the only) steam-powered clock.

Of course, we had to wait until the top of the hour to experience the chime.song.

Since I was the only one who had had a Belgian waffle at 3 PM, we were just about ready for dinner after experiencing the steam clock, so we spent some time researching our options.

Not finding many choices in the immediate vicinity, we hoofed it back to where we had first got on the tour bus, on Robson Street.

We settled on Thai food, at a casual noodle restaurant.

After dinner, Jason and I set out in search of a dark beer; it took a few tries, but we eventually found a gastropub with a decent beer menu (shout out to Timber).

It was after 8 PM when we left Timber, and we walked back to the apartment. Side note: Vancouver doesn't (as of June 2018, anyway) have Lyft or Uber.

We'll be up early tomorrow to take the train to the airport; our flight leaves around noon, and it's going to be a long day of travel.