Disclosure: I exchanged photographic work for a 5-day stay at the Island Cottage mentioned in the following blog posts. Blog entries or any other social media amplification were not included in the exchange. I was and am free to say and show anything I want about the trip. All opinions are my own. _____________________

Sunrise and Frankenstein

We were told that St. John has about 3 days a year that are overcast all day. Yesterday was one of those days. It didn’t ruin anything but we were excited to see the sun shine and get to the beach. But first I did my usual early morning time alone as Linda slept in. First I spent time photographing the cottage and I found a secret area I had not explored. This is a little retreat area in back, secluded and peaceful. Great for reading, writing, or just daydreaming. Plus there is a very cool island mermaid mural to contemplate, who could ask for more!   I also spent some time reading the final chapters of a book I had been reading since January that was very hard to get through. The book? Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. What a bizarre and compelling book. Nothing at all like the movie versions, not even the same story in many ways. Worth reading but not your present day summer reading, that is for sure. I left it at the cottage for someone else to pick up and read. ____________________

Tracey’s Studio

First thing we did this morning was go visit Tracey Keating, the person who is the on-island host for the Island Cottage. She preps the cottage for each guest’s arrival, including supplying groceries, breakfast, and any other number of things for them if they want. It’s a pretty sweet deal to have her nearby. She also happens to know everything there is to know about where to go, what to look for, watch out for, and enjoy. She is also an artist/craftsman, specializing in leather goods. I wanted to see her workspace and she was kind enough to allow it. She built her own home and studio here on the island and it’s a fantastic artist’s hideaway.   The land is definitely not kind to gardens at this end of the island but her BF made a raised bed garden for her so they could grow some much needed veggies.   Tracey makes leather goods of all sorts and sells them at various outlets on the Island. She made me an awesome belt.   She has a website as well where you can order items. Check it out at Awl Made Here.   _________________

A Clean Beach, Dirty Women and the Epic Salt Pond Suck Down

After our time with Tracey we finally made it to our first real Caribbean beach.  Salt Pond Bay is a classic island beach; beautiful sand leading to bright blue waters in a curving protected bay.  It was hot but there was a nice breeze and we found a picnic table in the shade to drop our stuff. But as soon as we were in the water I had to get out to take a photo.  What of you ask?  What else but dirty women in bikinis of course. And I mean that literally. They were covered head to toe in mud and I couldn’t resist taking their pic.     Turns out Salt Pond Bay is named after Salt Pond, and Salt Pond is a mud filled pond about 20 yards away. These women had been in the mud pond before and said it was fun, the water was about 100 degrees, it felt great and was wonderful for your skin.  So, after taking their pic and seeing how easy it washed off Linda and I decided to take the little walk over the hump and do the same.  Not pretty but what mud pond is, right?   So, two things happened that we did not expect from this mud bath.  One, I got stuck. I walked in a bit farther than Linda did and got sucked down to just below my knee. That would have been fine but I had my sandals on and I could NOT for the life of me pull my legs out of the mud with them on. I was in quicksand and going down quick!  I had to pull my feet out of the sandals, then reach down into the mud and pull the sandals up separately.   It probably took 5 minutes but man, was it hard to do! The second thing that happened was that the mud, while feeling good, also stripped off all our sunscreen.  Oops.  Linda and I didn’t get badly burnt but it definitely made a difference. You can see why in the photo below. I am as white as it comes!     After I got out I spotted a young couple following something in the water, I never did find out what it was but it was most likely a tropical fish from the nearby small reef where people were snorkeling.  I loved how crystal clear the water was, seeing everything that came by.     Meanwhile, this guy was not impressed.     ______________________________

A Different World

We had been told that if we continued on the trail past the notorious Salt Pond we would come to Drunk Bay, which we just had to see.  It is not a soft sandy beach in a protected cove, but an open rock and coral beach facing the Atlantic. It was as if in 1/4 mile we walked from the Caribbean to Maine.  The waves were crashing, the wind was blowing and the water was dark.  A pretty amazing transformation.  It was much less colorful but much more textured.   But was even more astounding was the ‘Coral People’.  Among all the rocks people had arranged coral and rocks to resemble people.  Some included messages to loved ones, some just by themselves.     Linda made a romantic arrangement for us, then we made messages for our daughters.  I was taking pics with my iPhone so we could post them right away and knowing daughter Connie is off the grid and never online I didn’t make one for her. I regret that now, I should have made it anyway.  Hi Connie!         Finally, we debated if more men or women came to Drunk Bay because there were more Coral People with penises than boobs.  I thought that meant more women came over since wouldn’t most men make their sculptures with breasts not penises?  Linda thought the opposite because men are adolescent idiots and penises are funnier to put on a stone person than a breasts.  She was not referring to me, I am sure.  What do you think?   __________________________ Shipwreck Landing The best meal of the entire trip was at a restaurant called ‘Shipwreck Landing’ on the road back from Salt Pond Bay.  I love scallops, getting most any time I see them on the menu.  The scallop dish I had here was probably the best I have ever had.  The waitress said the secret was in making sure the scallops were very dry when you started the sear.  I will try to remember that because it really paid off.   While we were eating we met another of many people from the northeast US who had moved down here. In this case they had retired after making their fortune in stock algorhythms of some sort.  They still did occasional webinars and consultations but did them all from the comfort of their island home, with very little traveling needed.  It seemed like a pretty sweet set up.     The waitress was willing to pose briefly for me so I could get her into the edge of my napkin I had been drawing.  Turns out she had been working there 17 years, as had the bartender, after coming down to the islands and falling in love with the place.     Here is the napkin from our time at the restaurant.     ________________________

The Spider

And finally, late at night, right as we were about to go to sleep, Linda discovered a monster.   If you ask her, it was BIG, if you ask me, it was just big.  We found out later they are very common and are harmless. And no, they aren’t really pink. __________________ Part 1 – St. Thomas Part 2 – The Island Cottage Part 3 – Exploring Coral Bay Part 4 – Clean Beaches and Dirty Pictures Part 5 – Hiking Above, Snorkeling Below Part 6 – Kayaks and Mermaids Part 7 – The End – the Native and the Screamer   Tomorrow I hike, we snorkel, we continue to have great meals and we have an easy day of it.