Paradise

Today was one of the most unique and memorable days of my life.

I could give a travelogue kind of account, but that would somewhat duplicate what you can read on Jesse Upchurch's blog, so I'd like to share my random and very personal thoughts of our day in St. Lucia.

Serenity was anchored off shore, so Crystal shuttled us to shore in their tenders. From the side of the ship we step onto the tender. It's harder than it looks. Each vessel is moving up and down in the water, and you have to time your steps just right.

St. Lucians have some tasty local favorites. Coconut water. They cut the side of a green coconut, carve out a little hole and stick a straw in it for us tourists. Our driver, Stewart, tossed his head back and drank his coconut water directly from the hole in the side. A small amount of the coconut fruit had already begun to form and we scooped out a little with a makeshift spoon cut from the edge of the coconut shell. Tastes like coconut, but has the texture of a very soft fruit.

Banana ketchup. Made from bananas (St. Lucia's second largest industry behind tourism). Yellow in color, but tastes like ketchup.

Cassava bread. Made from a root vegetable called cassava. It's cooked, dried, made into flour, then they cook the breads on a big flat cooking surface (there's a fire below the surface). Mine had some dried fruit mixed in and had a texture and density that reminded me of an English muffin.

All these things, and many more souvenirs and such are sold right on the side of the narrow roads that wind up and down the mountains and hillsides.

I made new friends in the Virtuoso "family". Stewart was our driver for the day and was the main reason the day was so amazing and enjoyable. We talked, we laughed, we compared the differences in our lives and homelands (he has never seen snow, we both hate snakes, St. Lucia is an independent country and so is Texas - we just choose to stay a state, bananas are a main export for St. Lucia but in Texas banana trees are poolside decorations, children call their parents Momma and Daddy in both our homelands, traffic is bad wherever it is, and daughters are the best).

Alison and I had emailed so many times that when I finally met her, it was like greeting an old friend. She waited a long time on the pier to personally greet us.

Holly and her dad, Ralph, who owns the resort where we enjoyed such a wonderful lunch, were gracious hosts and took the time to show us their fabulous resort. My wow moment came when I saw the suite with only 3 sides - the 4th side is totally open so you can see out over the lush mountainside and out to the twin Pitons (two volcano cones) that frame a beautiful view of the Caribbean.

An unforgettable day in paradise. And a perfect sunset as we set sail for Barbados.