During the cruise aboard The Norwegian Epic, we made the stop at 3 different islands. After 2 days at sea we docked at St Maarten. Though The Epic is a enormous ship I was ready to get off the ship and walk around on real land. Tim, Josh, Barb and I rented a car and decided to explore the island on our own. The 4 of us piled into the car, map in hand, and explored the Dutch side as well as the French side. I like to think that I spent some time in France on this vacation since our car did drive through the French side. We made our first stop at Maho Beach which is located directly behind the Juliana Airport. The landing strip is across the road, so when planes land, their descent takes them over the beach. Tourist wait with cameras in hand for the next plane to come through. Sometimes if you are lucky, a plane will use that runway to take off, so if you stand by the fence you are blasted by the engine. Only a few small planes landed, nothing too exciting. But it was crazy to see how low the planes came, almost touchable.
After watching a few planes land, we loaded up back in the car and headed to Philisburg to walk around, shop and get some lunch. I enjoyed this day on the trip so much. We didn't spend a fortune on an excursion and we got to see St Maarten and enjoy it at our own speed.
The 2nd stop the ship made was to St Thomas. The four of us decided once again to do our own thing on the island. We spent some time walking around looking at the shops and then we headed across the street to The Sky Ride. This is a tramway that takes you up to Paradise Point 700 ft up the mountain. We enjoyed breathtaking vistas during the short ride. The pictures do not do it justice. I could feel my whole body let out a giant sigh of relaxation. It was beautiful. The ticket included a Ferris wheel ride. Sounded cool until you realize it it positioned at the edge of the mountain and it happens to be a rinky dinky street carnival Ferris wheel that looks like it has seen better days. So we skipped that part.
After another day at sea our final destination was The Bahamas. I had been here once before, but The Epic docked at a different port so I got to see a different area. Really, once you have seen one tropical touristy island, you have seen them all. Being married to a man who works in the travel industry does have its perks. He is no longer a travel agent as he was 10 years ago, Tim is now a Senior Supervisor of Operations, but the perks remain. We got a day pass to "Sandals Royal Bahamian" all inclusive resort and spa. We got to hang out at a gorgeous resort with drinks and food included and we weren't even staying the night. The weather was spotty with clouds and a bit of drizzling, but that did not damper my spirits. I sat in that hot tub with my 7&7 in hand and just soaked it all in.
No comments:
Post a Comment