I arrive at the St. John ferry dock located in Cruz Bay. So excited!! Once again, free rum shots at the dock as everyone makes their way through the gate entrance to town.
As the sun sets I am struck right away by the sheer beauty of the beach front! It’s only early evening yet I can hear a local band playing and see people listening and dancing on the beach.
I make my way to the street entrance to find my daughter, Michelle, waiting for me with a special drink in her hand—shots now this? I am going to get quite drunk! I guess it’s customary to greet your new arrivals with a tropical drink since you are allowed to walk or drive with an open container of alcohol.😆 Island ways! Luckily, no one can drive more than 20 miles an hour on these steep and curvy roads.
Michelle has to go to work to take care of a few things before we go to her place so she walks me over to Cruz Bay Landing ( the first restaurant you will see straight across from the ferry dock) and parks me at the bar next to her “good friend, Rich” , asks him to “please sit/take care of my mom til I get back” . With all this drinking, I probably did need babysitting 🥴.
Rich is such a nice guy! He regales me with stories of what St. John was like back in the 70’s and 80’s. I come to find out that he and his wife, Chris, are the owners of Lime Inn—one of the oldest restaurants on St. John. Cool!
Michelle finally comes back to retrieve me and so we make our way down the road toward Michelle‘s place. She doesn’t have a car on island so as we’re walking, one person after another we come across says “Michelle!! Who’s this? Your mom??!! Welcome!!!” After introductions ,comes hugs and promises to get together and celebrate my arrival. I am not kidding when I say about 10 different people or groups of people stop us along the way! I’m so surprised at the genuine friendliness and openness of the people I meet. Also pretty shocked my daughter would know so many people in such a short time but she does work at two of the best restaurants in town so I figure she’s getting to know quite a few “locals”.
We make it to the driveway of her apartment and I look up at almost a 90° incline. No joke! We start climbing and I literally have to lean forward for fear of falling backwards😅 I collapse into bed after the long day of traveling and drinks. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!!!
Traveling Rose in St. John 