January 4, 2017 by coloradotravelingducks

A Day in St. Thomas with the Colorado Traveling Ducks

We love our ship. We are aboard Carnival’s Fascination. After dinner our first night, we found this in our room.

This was in my room

Soapy Smith Duck had one in his room. Bucket Duck also had one in his room. We feel like we are really on vacation now. Today our ship, the Fascination, is docked in St. Thomas. The capital, Charlotte Amalie, is a great shopping place and a major cruise ship destination in the Caribbean. This is one of the shopping streets.

Charlotte Amalie

There are also several open market areas.

Love outdoor markets

Soapy and I, Zeb, did a little shopping with our moms. Naturally we want to visit with this pirate.

Another new friend

This is a cute place for a snack.

Lunch? Refreshment?

The harbor area is home to many private sail boats.

Sail boats in harbor

We took the Skyride to Paradise Point.

Let’s go humans

The sky ride is like a gondola at our ski resorts. We go 700 feet above sea level. At the top, we pass through this doorway.

Welcome to Paradise

What a great place for lunch.

So many places to eat, drink and enjoy the views

That is our ship, Fascination.

Our ship in the harbor

We learned that it is rare for only one ship to be in this harbor. Tomorrow there are seven cruise ships scheduled to be be in St. Thomas. We are glad we are here today with less crowds. As the clouds arrive and the sun is lower in the sky, we enjoy the view.

The day is ending

Bucket Duck took a shore excursion with his parents today. Their excursion is Boss Underwater Adventure. BOSS means Breathing Observation Submersible Scooter. The humans went under water and came up into their helmets.

Underwater scooters

Wow! That is great! They took a 60 foot yacht to the dive site. They ride scooters about 8 feet under water.

Underwater scooters

The fish are right there with them. This is Bucket’s dad.

Bucket’s dad

Bucket was there, but they did not have a scooter small enough for him. St. Thomas is a beautiful island with many beautiful, small beaches.

Beach in St. Thomas

January 10, 2014 by coloradotravelingducks

Hermit Crab Races

I, Zeb the Duck, and my Alaska cousin are constantly surprised. At Bluebeards Beach Club in St. Thomas, we watched hermit crab races. It was fun and completely harmless to the crabs.

A round table was put near the bar. Then the guys scattered rocks on the table, for an obstacle course.

Preparing table

A container with 5 hermit crabs was brought out. Each crab had a different color on its back.

Hermit crabs waiting

The colors were red, orange, blue, green and yellow.

Five people each paid $5 to be represented by the crab. Of course mom and my Alaska uncle each paid $5. They each took a paper from another bowl. The color on their paper identified their lucky crab.

The crabs were placed in the center of the table with a pitcher over them. At the designated time the pitcher was removed and the crabs started moving.

Crabs begin moving

The first crab to reach the edge of the table (any direction) was the winner. Mom and Alaska did not win. But it was fun and a different thing to see.

The crabs rested about 15 minutes and then a second race started. Again we paid $5 each and again we did not win.

Another 15-minute rest and then the third and final race.

Yellow crab wins!

Paid $5 each and did not win. Surprising to us, the same girl won each race. It was also her first time and she was very happy.

The winner of each race received the entire $25. The resort does not keep anything. The crabs are well cared for. The crabs enjoy cat food. This was a fun, silly and safe evening for all.

January 8, 2014 by coloradotravelingducks

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI

Today we took cab into town. St. Thomas is a very popular stop for cruise ships, but today there was only one ship in the harbor. We discovered that many shops and businesses close if the ships are not in. Plenty, but not all were open today.

We walked along streets like this, stopping in many stores.

Charlotte Amalie

As our humans wandered, we found Emancipation Garden and Educators Park. We saw a smaller version of the Liberty Bell,

Smaller Liberty Bell and plaque for Virginia Settlers

with a plaque honoring the Virginia Settlers. The settlers stopped for three days in St. Thomas on their way to the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States.

Educators Park featured statues of famous early residents of St. Thomas. There is a statue honoring Edith Williams, an educator; another dedicated to Rothschild Francis, an educator and author

Statue honoring J. Antonio Jarvis

with a third statue recognizing J. Antonio Jarvis, a founder of The Daily News. Also enjoying the park, we admired this prancing rooster.

He has an attitude!

Shopping and wandering around Charlotte Amalie makes humans hungry and thirsty. We stopped at Blackbeard VI Brewing Co

Blackbeard Virgin Island Brewing Co

and at Big Kahuna Rum Shack.

Humans were energized so we visited this market.

We love markets

We saw the souvenirs and crafts of St. Thomas, but we saw a lot of Larimar. This is a blue stone, famous in the Caribbean. Larimar is a rare pectolite found only in one location in the Dominican Republic. Many pieces of beautiful jewelry were on display here.

Charlotte Amalie is big, so buses carry tourists to some locations.

Charlotte Amalie is big, so tourists can get rides

Our humans purchased a few souvenirs and then we went back to our resort. Something special was happening tonight. We will tell you about it in our next post.

Charlotte Amalie is a nice town with lots of shopping and eating, but you could find many other things to do. We decided to take advantage of our beach since in a few days we leave the Caribbean and return to Denver.

January 6, 2014 by coloradotravelingducks

St. Thomas Sunset Dinner Cruise

We are on another sailboat! My Alaska cousin, I, Zeb the Duck, my Alaska uncle and my mom are on a sailboat where we will see the sunset and have dinner.

On a sunset dinner cruise!

This is great! We love boats. This is New Horizons Dinner Cruise. It is good tonight.

Mark is the captain of this boat. Mark is nice, friendly and a great captain. He talks to all of us, explaining where we are going tonight and what we should and should not do. John is the second crewmember. John helps us leave the dock, and brings us drinks. The humans are drinking champagne with a strawberry! It looks so pretty.

We pass homes and many yachts as we leave Sapphire Marina. Everybody is happy and smiling. So wonderful. Some people are sitting on the back of the boat; several on the front of the boat and some are inside the boat. Captain Mark said we could sit on any blue cushion.

We sail toward St. John, but we are not going to dock there. St John is a beautiful island and part of the U.S. Virgin Islands. See our post about our day in St. Johns. This beautiful evening we sail past St. John. While we enjoy the gentle movement of the boat and the ocean greeting the mountains, John brings us more beverages and starters. First we have tomato and basil bruschetta, followed by smoked salmon and caviar over cream cheese rounds. The sun is setting now and the sky is gold.

Beautiful Caribbean sunset

We sailed to Christmas Cove for dinner. Anchoring in the calm water we enjoy the beautiful island scenery. Captain Mark gets the food ready for us.

Captain Mark

Our menu for tonight consists of fresh mahi mahi, island-style Caribbean chicken breast baked in a sweet and sour sauce,

Everything is fabulous, but we love chicken and mahi mahi best

Everything is fabulous, chicken and fruit here

and peel and eat shrimp. Yum! We also have classic Caesar salad with toasted croutons; green beans tossed with crumbled feta cheese, spices and Italian dressing, fresh cut fruit, and assorted fresh breads. For dessert they present fudge brownies and New York style cheesecake. We are offered fresh coffee, soft drinks or beverages from the open premium stocked bar. Captain Mark and John pamper us and we love it.

My Alaska cousin and I take a turn driving back to Sapphire Marina.

Ducks driving the sailboat!

We are not the only passengers that love this cruise. We talked to a couple that has taken this sunset dinner cruise from New Horizons four times. They said it was perfect every time. With a recommendation like that, you should check www.newhorizons.daysails.com On the left side, click on sunset dinner cruise. You will want to get on this boat. It is fantastic!

January 4, 2014 by coloradotravelingducks

St. John, USVI

We are on a ferry going to St. John.

We love this ferry

St. John, another U.S. Virgin Island, is about 3 miles from St. Thomas. 60% of St. John is a national park. I, Zeb the Duck, and my Alaska cousin love boats. We did not know how much fun they were until this vacation. Our humans love them too.

On St. John we hired a taxi to take us around the island. This taxi was a truck.

What a great taxi

We had so much room and we could see so much. Leaving Cruz Bay, we rode along the coast, stopping at beautiful beaches. This is Caneel Bay and beach.

Beautiful!

We saw the very exclusive beach resort. It is owned by Laurance Rockefeller. He also bought and donated much of the land for St. John National Park.

Virgin Islands National Park in St. John. Park is 60% of island

So glad he did. Now we all can see and enjoy this beautiful island.

Trunk Bay, white sand meeting the blue Caribbean water, is said to be the most beautiful beach on St. John.

Wow! Love these beaches

We thought it was beautiful! Continuing along the gorgeous coastline, we saw Annaberg Trail

Annaberg Trail

and restored ruins of the Annaberg sugarmill. The fork in a tree trunk held what appeared to be a large pile of mud. This is a termite hill or house.

Termites?

Always something new to see.

We acquired some additional passengers during our tour. One couple from the cruise ship in St. Thomas, took a ferry to St. John because they wanted to snorkel at their favorite reef. St. John’s beaches and reefs are perfect for snorkeling and diving.

On the way back to Cruz Bay we saw some wild donkeys.

Wild but friendly donkey

They were right next to us on the road. So nice to see them!

The town square in Cruz Bay had a gazebo, iguanas and chickens.

My favorite chicken

The people and animals all get along fine. They even like the Colorado Traveling Ducks.

After a little shopping, we stopped for beverages and coconut shrimp at the High Tide Seafood Bar and Grill.

Coconut shrimp are tasty here. Relaxing by the Caribbean Sea is very nice!

Our kind of place

Soon it was time for our ferry back to St. Thomas.

Ferry is waiting for us

We loved St. John, but we enjoyed the boat ride back and our resort is beautiful also. You will love to visit St. John. We hope you go soon and enjoy the beach and maybe some snorkeling or diving. Visit www.visitusvi.com/stjohn/homepage for more information.

January 3, 2014 by coloradotravelingducks

Iguanas are our new best friends

Iguanas look strange but they liked my Alaska cousin and me, Zeb the Duck.

Zeb the Duck with Alaska cousin.

On St. Thomas we stayed at Bluebeard’s Beach Club. That is where our iguana friends live.

Our first day at Bluebeard’s Beach Club, we explored the grounds. We found iguanas. Mom and my Alaska uncle put us on the ground to see if the iguanas were curious.

Ducks first view of iguana

Yes they were! One iguana raced toward us.

This is really close

Getting closer. We were a little (OK, a lot) nervous. Oh!

Kissed by an iguana!

We were kissed by an iguana! Several seconds later, the iguana strutted away and we resumed breathing.

The iguana kisses and leaves

What an experience.

Our iguana friends patrolled the grassy areas, lounged by the pool and supervised the beach. They liked the pool bar area and sometimes the employees awarded the iguanas with bread.

One morning, eating breakfast at the pool bar, mom felt a nudge on her heel. Our iguana friend was begging. Mom is a push over for animals, so Mr. Iguana devoured most of her toast. Satisfied, he lumbered into the grass for a nap.

Often we would see our reptile friends climbing or descending a tree.

Iguanas like trees

They liked all trees. We watched them in palm trees and mango trees. Other human resort guests liked to watch the iguanas. We were glad they were at our resort, but please, no more kissing.

Kissed by this iguana

December 30, 2013 by coloradotravelingducks

Bluebeard’s Beach Club in St Thomas

Alaska cousin and I, Zeb the Duck rode on another airplane.

Zeb the Duck with Alaska cousin.

We left St. Maarten and soon landed in St. Thomas. We are now in the US Virgin Islands, so after landing we went through US immigration and customs. Then a taxi to Bluebeard’s Beach Club Resort.

Our new condo at Bluebeard’s Beach Club in St. Thomas is great. We are on the top floor and we have a bedroom upstairs in a loft. Great view of beach from here. We have a private beach. No other condos or hotels near us. So much room just for us. We really like this place. But there are lots of stairs to go everywhere.

We have a couple types of cranes here. Gray cranes

One of our cranes

and white cranes.

Our white crane

We also have lots of iguanas. But I will have an entire day dedicated to our iguanas. By this bridge, we have a protected crab village.

Our resort protects crabs

We like humans that care about animals.

Our pool has a snack bar and a swim up bar.

Our pool

We come here for breakfast every morning. Monday evenings an Italian buffet is brought in for us. We like spaghetti. Friday was BBQ day. Gina cooked hamburgers, fish and chicken until about 7:00 p.m. Mom really liked the chicken!

Near the pool, we have palm trees and cactus.

Palm tree with cacti

So tropical! Here is another palm tree, but it has red berries.

Palm tree with red seeds

They look like berries, but mom checked online and now she says they are not really berries, but seeds. They look pretty, but we are not to eat them!

We can play chess here. Alaska cousin and I, Zeb the Duck, need help moving the pieces.

Huge chess game

They are bigger than we are. This is so much fun. Walking around the grounds, we found this tree.

Great tree trunk for ducks

The tree trunk is twisted just for us.

Our resort is so pretty, that some couples come here to get married. Here is one of the happy couples.

Preparing for wedding on our beach

Looking at our beach, this is a great location for weddings.

Beach used for weddings

We could cook here, but Mom and Alaska uncle don’t cook on vacation.

Don’t cook us Mom

We try different restaurants. This hammock is really comfortable.

We are liking hammocks

If we feel energetic, we can go kayaking.

Ducks in a kayak

Or, maybe just sit on the lounge chair and enjoy the beach.

This is a vacation

That is our personal favorite.

The grounds are very scenic. We think this bridge looks really nice.

Pretty bridge–with stairs

From the back windows of our condo, we enjoy looking at these trees and cacti.

Backyard of our condo

So different from our Colorado scenery.

As the day ends, we appreciate the sight of setting sun behind the palm trees.

Beautiful end to wonderful day

You would like this resort. For information, visit www.Bluebeards-beachclub.com

	Carl on Tabernash, Colorado with The C…
	Cindy B on Tree Rock in Wyoming
	coloradotravelingduc… on Cathedral of the Plains in Vic…
	Dwan Newhall on Cathedral of the Plains in Vic…
	beautifulbarbadosblo… on Return to Calhan and the Paint…