Liz and I met back in 1996 (omg, is that right?!?) - Sigma Kappa sorority sisters at Bradley. Like with many friends after college you go your separate ways and lose touch, but thanks to Facebook, so many of us have re-connected. Similar to how Eisa (another SK) and I got back in touch, and I had the opportunity of a lifetime visiting her in New Zealand!
Liz is from St Louis and a fellow Cardinals fan. We started checking out each other's updates and pictures ... and all of a sudden realized we had been at several of the same baseball games! We are also both huge fans of the band Needtobreathe - both saw them in concert, met them in person, etc. So 15 years later, it was fun to see we still have lots in common. We realized we were both going to be at the Cubs/Cardinals game in Chicago, so we met up for 10 minutes in September and quickly caught up on life after Bradley. I told her I was getting ready to move to St. Croix and that she should visit ... and luckily she took me up on that =)
Liz arrived in the middle of my crazy work week. Luckily she just wanted to lay out at the beach, so I didn't feel too bad when I was stuck working ... just jealous =) She ended up tanner than me by the end of her vacation! Thank goodness we had our nights and the weekend to hang out and catch up.
Wednesday night we went to Blue Moon for an awesome dinner and live jazz. Liz ended up getting a phone number from Junie Bomba, the bongo player. He claimed that we were sisters and promised to have gifts for us and Kirby if we came to see him play on Friday. He did not disappoint, as he made the three of us necklaces from "chaney" (broken pieces of pottery you find on the island near sugar mills and old plantations - children of the 1800's used it for play money - and the term "chaney" is a combo of "china" and "money"). We were also entertained by a friend's cousin who happened to be on Liz's plane (nicknamed her Fifa, given her 'soccer' attire) ... and had been drinking for about 14 hours straight. I'll just say I've never had a guy try to show off his traps before =) Oh, I forgot ... Junie Bomba nicknamed Liz "bushwacker" and Kirby "big shot". What about me?!?
Thursday night was trivia at Rhythms ... another unsuccessful night for the BI's. But we stuck around and took some funny pictures - the most classic picture ever is of her and Tupac! Liz, I fully anticipate that being your next profile pic! Then turned it into a late night at the Lost Dog ... as Liz was foosball champ, and we met Charlie Tuna who caught a 200 pound fish with only a hand reel. An island legend!
Friday was supposed to be a vacation day, then it turned into a 1/2 day request, then after my last meeting, I was finally able to leave at 4:30. We headed over to Christiansted - first stop, Gallows Bay hardware store! Nothing like two girls all dressed up on a Friday night at the hardware store! Luckily I got the jumbo muffin pans I was looking for (baking update next!), then we walked through some of the shops (though it didn't seem that they were open late as advertised for the first Friday of the month), stopped in for a drink at Brew Pub (and I hadn't even noticed until Liz pointed out that Brew Pub may be the only place on island where they have beer on tap - everywhere else is bottles only). Had a "welcome back" dinner for Andy - he had been in Australia for almost three weeks - so had fun catching up with him and Kirby, met new friends, and talked to Rachel about her volleyball league ... not only are the games indoor, but they also have 2 3-hour practices per week ... um, not quite what I was thinking in the Caribbean. Sand volleyball anyone?? At dinner, everyone talked about the earthquake that hit the island ... and everyone else seemed to feel it, except for me and Liz! I guess it was felt more on the West end, and we were already in Christiansted by that point ... but it was a 4.6! Even talking to friends the next day, they even heard the rumble before the shake! Went back to Brew Pub after dinner and music by Kurt Schindler and Junie Bomba (complete with our necklaces), where Liz met a guy from St Louis ... and his friends just opened a bar/restaurant that is one of her favorites. Had we known the rules for shipping back rum, she was going to show up at the restaurant with a case of Cruzan Rum, courtesy of their friend in St Croix!
Luckily we took it easy on Saturday, since Friday night was a late one by my standards (especially given the hectic work schedule). Went for a nice long walk on Sandy Point, then went downtown Frederiksted for lunch at Polly's. A cruiseship was on island, so the streets were lined with vendors, and my friend Adrian was playing live music (and gave a few shout outs for my pumpkin bars that were being sold at Polly's!). After some shopping, Liz, my friend Eric's daughter Kara, and I went down to Coconuts. We hadn't planned on staying long, but you could tell by the sky that it was going to be a good sunset. The owners, Tommy and Grace, said that there had been a "green flash" the past three nights in a row ... and I'm still yet to see my first. So we were determined to see this (where a green spot is visible, usually for no more than a second or two, above the sun as it is setting). Unfortunately no green flash, but it was one of the most amazing sunsets I have ever seen in my entire life! I didn't have my camera with me, so hopefully my iPhone did it a little bit of justice! Went on to Off the Wall where Adrian was playing again, then dinner at Rowdy Joes. When Liz got off the plane days before, one of her first questions was had I been to Rowdy Joes. I guess people were talking about it on the plane. My answer was of course, and that it happened to be one of my favorite restaurants on island. And yet again, it did not disappoint! Fried edamame, bacon topped mac and cheese, and the blackened mahi tacos were out of this world! And the ice cream, of course the ice cream! All in all, it was a fun night ... though I do have my friend Eric to thank for saving us from creepy Mike!!!
Sunday funday ... wow, talk about non-stop. We picked up my friend Marie at 8:15 and the three of us did the Tan Tan jeep tour - awesome! Our "half day" tour didn't end until 3:30 ... of course we got started late and had a pitstop when the jeep got stuck (yeah, let's just say I won't be taking my jeep on those "roads"!) ... but it was a great way to see 1/2 the island. Included a hike to the tide pools, so I finally made it! And our guide talked about another mile of hiking around the rocks in the opposite direction, so will have to add that to my list of things to do! Needed to stop by Polly's to get my first official baking assignment, and since we were short on time, Liz and Marie dropped me off so they could pick up a few things before the second half of our adventure day, then they met me at Polly's, I dropped them off at the Lost Dog to order a pizza while I ran home to get some recipes, and then to the grocery store, finally had a break to sit down for a (really!) late lunch / early dinner, then off to the bio bay. Marie, Adrian, and another friend Ty are all kayak instructors who work at Salt River Marina. From the time I heard about the moonlight kayaking, I was definitely interested! We saw Adrian and Ty on Saturday, and they mentioned going out Sunday night, so we told them to count us in.
One of the coolest things I have ever seen - kayaking in the bioluminescent bay! We were out from about 8 - 11 ... so it was pitch black with the exception of the millions of stars in sight and the illuminated water. The kayak paddles and your hands and feet would glow when they hit the water - we even jumped in to swim, so you looked and felt like Tinkerbell floating through the water! It was a full and amazing day - pretty much by the time we got home and showered at 1am, we had been on the go since 8am, and my alarm was set for 5am to start baking!
Liz flew back on Monday already - her visit seemed to fly by! Had a great time catching up with her though, and luckily Monday was another perfect beach day, so after our action-packed Sunday, she had a chance to relax on her final day of vacation. She couldn't have had more perfect weather, as it has rained every day since. The weather has been a reflection of how the rest of my week went ... granted, I guess I'm glad it was dark and gloomy, otherwise I would have been really mad if I was stuck inside til all hours of the night working instead of being able to enjoy it. Thank you sun for coming back out today, and thank you Liz for such a fun visit!
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