Chapter 27- USVI ans another stamp

Well Dear Readers, our first foray away from the RV life has come to a conclusion. And it ended with a National park Pass Stamp and a true travel adventure.

Knock on wood, we have a few more flights planned and we hope our excellent service continues. We landed in Miami on March 1, exactly as planned. Since we didn’t fly out until the next morning, we booked a night at the Miami International Hotel right in the concourse. Not a cheap stay, but you sure can’t knock the convenience. The room was surprisingly nice given the hallway looked very much like a remodeled army barracks, and unbelievably quiet. We heard nothing, except a couple of groups of young people who arrived late and were a bit over-served.

It certainly improves a travel day when all you need to do is roll out bed and go through security to your gate. Everything went smoothly and we landed in St Thomas at just about noon. And then the unexpected challenges began. 

Dale went immediately to the ATM and discovered his debit card had expired two days previously, while in London. Normally this would not be a big deal, everywhere we go runs on credit cards. Except the taxis in St Thomas. And we’d already decided that we weren’t going to rent a car because they drive like the British do. Fortunately, the airport taxi service has the ability to run a credit card so we found a ride to our hotel with little fuss. 

We arrived at the “hotel” and Dale whispered “I apologize in advance”, as he had chosen the place off Expedia, and it wasn’t quite what we had expected. Our driver dumped our bags on the sidewalk and drove off, probably with glee. We were on a mountaintop, looking at a rather dilapidated old house with some doors with numbers on them. No restaurant, no pool, and although the office was open, nobody there to check us in. And the phone number I kept calling we could hear ringing in the next room. After forty-five minutes of this we decided we were staying somewhere else. We dragged our bags down to the main road and realized we couldn’t just flag down a taxi since we had no cash. A few phone calls later we found the Bluebeard Castle resort had space at an affordable price, and it was just about a mile away….perfectly walkable, right? Turns out we were at the top of Raphune Road where there are no sidewalks, a VERY narrow walkway and a VERY twisty busy road. But we had no choice but to start walking. Within 50 yards, a saving angel of a taxi driver stopped, said he would take our credit card, and saved us from our folly. We joined a lovely young couple who were also staying where we were going, so we got a short tour of the island to drop them at the beach they were heading to and finally back to Bluebeards, with a big reception area, snack store, restaurant, bar and a pool. Thank goodness. The room we received had the most spectacular view and we knew we’d be comfortable for the next two days. 

We made this trip for one reason, to visit the Virgin Island National Park on St John’s Island. So we needed to plan for a taxi ride to the ferry terminal, tickets over, plan on walking to the park, and then taxi back. I was feeling more confident than Dale that if we found one driver who took our card, they must all have the ability, they just prefer cash. Dale grudgingly went along, because even if I could have worked something out with our bank, they were three hours behind us and we never would have left the hotel. (The view made that an option, but no darn it, we were getting a stamp!)

So the next morning we headed out early, wanting to stay ahead of the cruise ship crowd we could see was coming into dock, and even with the help of hotel reception calling, couldn’t find a taxi who would take our card. Before we could tip into full despair, Venmo came up. Well, hell ya I can do that! So the first taxi that came up was convinced to take us to the ferry, while I screwed around trying to Venmo his brother in law our fare. That taxi was feeling very warm as I started envisioning being yelled at by a taxi driver who just wanted cash. Fortunately technology prevailed and he got paid before we arrived and I was able to allow body temps to lower. 

We had been able to buy ferry tickets online and the breakfast restaurant took cards, so we didn’t starve and made it to St John’s. To our delight we found the visitor center very accessible from the terminal and a popular hiking trail in the park right there as well. So with my book stamped, and a couple bottle of water we set out on the Lind Point trails. I should point out that by now we are experiencing the typical Caribbean midday temps and humidity.   Dale seemed to be fine, I turned into miss tomato head. I was very happy to dip my feet on the Caribbean and find a beer in town. As far as I was concerned, “mission accomplished” and we could sit by the hotel pool until it was time to catch our flight. But first we needed to get there!

Dale found us a Mexican restaurant near the ferry terminal on the St Thomas side, so we delayed the taxi drama while enjoying a delicious lunch in a glorious air conditioned room. Then we went back to the terminal to find a taxi. Assuming the odds would be greater of finding one who uses Venmo. Between calling the drivers we had given us their card (closest one was 45 minutes away) and asking every driver who dropped someone off, we eventually prevailed. We joyfully jumped in his taxi, thanking him profusely for taking Venmo, and scared ourselves discovering there were other people on the bus! We got another great driving tour of the island as he delivered each to their destinations, and though they were all grateful to learn the Venmo was an option, they all had cash on hand to pay their fare.  By then we were both looking forward to being back in the “cashless” system we have grown accustomed to!

Our flight out was around dinner time the next day, so we spent the day walking around Charlotte Amalie and hanging at the pool bar before we called our taxi friends and scheduled a ride direct with them to the airport. One more Venmo later we were waiting to board. Again, we were blessed with an ontime flight back to Miami. This time tho, we had booked a stay at the Kompose Boutique Hotel. Clean and modern, it was definitely in the flight path and you KNEW you are near the airport. All Dale would say is “I’m not leaving a review of this place”. 

Fortunately we had time the next day before our flight to Seattle, so we had booked a Little Havana Food tour which was FABULOUS. Our guide was an absolute delight, we learned a bit about Cuba and Little Havana and ate some delicious food. It was an area of Miami I hadn’t heard of before, probably because I didn’t pay attention somewhere in my life, but we are both so happy we did the tour. Highly recommend it for anyone wanting something different while visiting Miami. 

And with that, we left for the airport, boarded a half-full plane to Seattle, and set off for a week of family visiting. While this chapter was not full of flawless travel experiences, we definitely learned a lot. We had fun, did what we set out to do, and survived it all. And with that Dear Readers, I close this chapter of our adventures. Hope the world finds you all healthy and happy. 

Until next time, yours, Lady Wanderingwise