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above the clouds

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Red Eyes & Rum: My Arrival to St. Thomas, USVI

April 17, 2016 by DaveLeave a Comment

USVI-St-Thomas (2) USVI-St-Thomas (1) From Jet Blue coach to Spirit Air coach I quickly discovered the differences in seating space. The flight I was on from the ‘lower 48’ had the most legroom of any standard coach seat I’ve ever sat in. Then it was on to a Spirit Air flight connection in Fort Lauderdale – down to St. Thomas, USVI.

I had slimmed down my normal light weight backpack to my camera and laptop and a few thin shorts and shirts. My plan was to wear all the shorts and shirts onto the plane and conceal my fairly large camera under one of my shirts as I boarded – thus leaving my already small backpack packed to the minimum. The reason for this needless paranoia was Spirit Air’s carry on baggage policy where they charge you to carry a piece of luggage on board.

Upon arriving at the airport I saw two metal cages – one sized for the free carry-ons and the other clearly marked as $100 if you pay at the gate – to carry on a larger piece. My backpack easily fit into the metal cage advertising free carry-on and I didn’t have to resort to drastic measures to carry my items on the plane free of charge.

USVI-St-Thomas (3) USVI-St-Thomas (6)While on board the Spirit Air flight one of the flight attendants ominously announced that their flight attendants had recently been voted the most rude and annoying on a recent online survey of many of the world’s airlines. As a result he made sure to tell us not to ring our call buttons as we probably would not get a response and in the unlikely event a flight attendant would come over to our seat it would probably not be a pleasant interaction!

I arrived at St. Thomas (having used only my drivers license to leave the lower 48) and was ‘greeted’ by the English language and the American dollar. I was also pleasantly surprised upon exiting the baggage claim to be handed a delicious peach rum and then another one to. This would be nice if every country/territory welcomed visitors this way.

I discovered (via AirBnB) a home perched on one of the hillsides not far from the airport in St. Thomas. Conveniently located to the small port side town of Frenchtown I had no shortage of bars and alcoholic drinks to choose from as well as fresh fish. I made a beeline down the mountain to a small bar called Rum Shandy, a Cabana Bar. Tempted to order my favorite cocktail, the Caipirihna, instead I let the name of the bar guide me and I reached for a Rum with a slice of orange on the rim.

By the time I wandered back up the hill the stresses of the recent red eye flight had melted into the recesses of my memory. I was calmed by the power of the rum, caressed by the warm breezes coming off the bay and eventually lulled into a sleepy state by the monotony of the crickets chirping … all as it should be during my first night back in the Caribbean.

USVI-St-Thomas (5)

USVI-St-Thomas (4)

Related posts:

A Sweet Stay on St. Thomas, #USVI Another Day of Caribbean Island Hopping Popondetta Arrival How I Got My Glow On in St. Thomas Toss the camera and open your eyes. Tales from Peru

Filed Under: Caribbean · Tagged: Airport, Caribbean, Drinking, Resort, Seafood

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