Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2003. I personally think this photo was a riot. Which is why I probably captured this moment in time when I saw it! Mattie loved the bathtub. Well not originally, but he came to love it because it was another place he could play! Mattie did not limit bath time to just regular bath toys either. He would dump all sorts of toys into the tub, wash them, and make up all sorts of play schemes with them!


Quote of the day: The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Today we visited St. Thomas. Given that we have been doing organized tours for the past four days, we ventured into St. Thomas on our own. Organized tours can be wonderful, but they force you to move and see things at a certain pace. Which can be challenging and also exhausting. We have visited St. Thomas many times before and it is easy to tour on one's own. 

While the prehistoric Ciboney people from South America lived in St. Thomas as early as 1500 BC, St. Thomas was discovered by Columbus on his second voyage and was established as a trading post by the Dutch West India Company in 1657. Seizing the opportunity to establish a trade route in the Americas, agents of the Dutch West India Company founded the first settlement in 1672. 

Reminders of Dutch colonization are peppered across the island. In the 17^th century, the islands were divided into two territorial units, one English and the other Danish. In 1917, the US purchased the Danish half. 

This is the wonderful sight you see when you pull into the port of St. Thomas! Yachts are everywhere, which was a first for us. Since all the other islands we visited on this cruise didn't have these luxuries in port. 

To me this looks just like a postcard. If I did not take this photo myself, I would think the colors were doctored. But this is what the waters and mountains in the background truly look like. 

This is the port town of Havensight, where cruise ships dock. It is quite a committee filled with shopping and restaurants. In port with us today were FOUR other ships. It is amazing the number of people these ships bring to the island in just one day. 

This is Charlotte Amalie, the capitol of St. Thomas. Specifically this is Main Street of Charlotte Amalie, which is known for its incredible shopping! 

This is another photo of Main Street. It was filled with lots of people and cars, but the architecture was lovely, well preserved, and colorful. 

My mom and I went shopping here and I came home with a lovely pendant in the shape of a Mattie Moon! 

This is Emancipation Square in the middle of Charlotte Amalie. Here a memorial has been erected to pay tribute to the slaves on the island and their emancipation. 

Sailing out of St. Thomas is beautiful given its terrain, boats in the water, and the dotting of houses and buildings in the background.

As we left port, we passed a Carnival Cruise ship and it began to rain. Tomorrow we are at sea for the entire day until we land in the Bahamas on Friday.