Leaping Lizards!

While we've been in St Thomas, I've made friends with this little guy.

 

 

I think he's an Anole lizard.  He comes by our patio just every time we are out here eating,

 

 

I gave him a little bit of fruit the first time we saw him so now when he sees me I get this look, like "C'mon lady, get me some food!"

 

 

He's not shy

 

 

and kind of smiles after he's done eating.

 

 

Even licking his lips!

 

 

He investigated the cat food that I had out for the feral kitties

 

 

but didn't eat any, just ate some of the ants circling around the bowl.

 

 

He even likes to show off a little bit, puffing out his neck...

 

 

and doing some little push ups. 

 I'm pretty sure he's looking for his lady lizard.

 

But, wait there's more lizards!

 

 

There are iguanas every where!

 

 

There's always a point when I'm dozing by the pool and wake up to find an iguana at by feet. 

That wakes me up in a hurry, it can be a little startling!

 

 

Not that he isn't a handsome guy...all scaly and prehistoric looking.  Who wouldn't want to be up close to this?

 

 

Or maybe his buddy here...he walks through the pool area like the lounge lizard he is.

Making friends with lizards everywhere!

 

 

 

Fishing in St Thomas

We're on vacation to the beautiful island of St Thomas and yesterday was the highlight of the vacation for my husband.  In fact, it's probably the biggest reason I can convince him to come down here (aside from the fact that he loves me, of course.)  We went out fishing on the Double Header with Captain Chris a.k.a. the best captain in the Caribbean.  It's what Clyde looks forward to most...forget the warm weather, the beautiful views, it's all about going fishing for Clyde.

  And even though it was blowing pretty hard (25 MPH) we decided to go out and fish.

 

Our first stop was this calm, beautiful little bay on St John.

 

 

Chris gathered up his net

 

 

and tossed it out

 

 

to catch our bait.

 

 

Two tosses of the net and we had all the bait we needed.

 

 

Then we headed out to actually start some fishing.  Remember how it was blowing hard?  Well, I tend to get seasick and even though I had doubled up on medicine before we went out...

 

 

this was me after an hour...ugghh....if only the boat would stop rocking.  Do not be fooled by the relatively flat water in the back ground, it was rough.

I considered it a personal triumph that I did not throw up but I was pretty useless. 

Although, I did manage to get some pictures of Clyde's fish.  It was "JULIE! Get your camera!"

Me lurching to the back of the boat...click, click, click..."Ok, I have to lay back down now."

 

 

We fished by this island that Johnny Depp owns. 

 

 

The first fish on board was this garfish.

 

 

Check out those teeth on this barracuda! 

And notice that Chris is wearing a special glove to handle it.

 

 

A Mahi Mahi was the next fish worthy of me getting upright for.

 

 

 

 Another big fish on!

 

 

Clyde brings it in close to the boat

 

 

and Chris grabs it with the gaff hook

 

 

bringing it on board

 

 

still fighting

 

 

and fighting.

 

 

It's another Mahi Mahi!

 

 

Chris makes it look easy.

 

 

There you go...

 

 

TahDah! Ready to pose for photo! 

 

 

As the sun was setting we headed back to the marina. 

(That got a smile out of me...we're going back!  Chris, "Are you going to throw up?" Me staggering to the back of the boat, "No, I just need to lay down again.")

 

 

Stretch, the egret, was hanging out waiting for the Double Header.  As soon as the boat pulled into the marina he landed on the back of the boat.  Chris flipped open the bait tank and Stretch had dinner.

 

 

 

Then along came Pete, the pelican, chasing Stretch away.

 

 

 

Pete dove into the bait

 

 

and gobbled up the rest of the fish.

 

So, that was our day fishing in St Thomas.  Clyde had a great time, caught lots of fish, and I had a bumpy nap.  However, I did really enjoy eating the fish for dinner...oh my, it was WONDERFUL! 

 It was even worth the sea sickness. 

Take a lesson from me, when you need a vacation in St Thomas all you need to do is bribe your husband with a fishing trip on the Double Header and be sure to ask for Captain Chris!

 

 

 

A day in Cozumel

Last month we were in Playa del Carmen Mexico for Jesse and Corinna's destination wedding (which was absolutely BEAUTIFUL and very sweet). While we were there we hopped the ferry over to Cozumel for the day.

The ferry was just a short walk down the beach from our hotel.

 

The ferry ride was about 45 minutes long and that is WAY too long to go without some sort of entertainment so naturally there was a live band on the ferry.

 

After we got to Cozumel all four of us crammed into a teeny taxi, Clyde in front and Justin, Sabrina and I in the back. (me to Sabrina "sorry I'm sweating on you").  I have a picture of that too but it's just not flattering so imagine that in your head.

 

 

 

We did some snorkeling... and I think we needed to work on coordinating our hand signals. 

 I'm giving the peace sign, Sabrina's waving and Justin is either doing rock on or hang loose, I always get those confused.

 

 

 

After most of the day in the water or by the pool we started to head back and saw cruise ship sailing out ahead of a rain cloud.

 

 

Walking back to the ferry we got distracted into doing some people watching along the boardwalk.

 

 

Can you believe this?  We were pretty amazed.  The whole family piled on a scooter.

 

 

And it seemed pretty normal, not to mention a quad driving down the street too.

 

 

Yep, no child safety seats here.  Not even helmets for most of the kids.

 

 

All you need is a baby carrier and you're good to go.

 

 

 And this guy just had a cool ice cream cart.

 

 

There was also a beautiful sunset to look at...

 

 

with the setting sun rays shooting up through the clouds...very pretty.

 

 

We even got treated to a lightning show across the water.  Of course I'm not a talented, world famous photographer like Justin (see justingraftonstudios.com to check him out) who was taking some awesome pictures of the lightning so I just took some photos of Justin taking photos of the lightning. 

You'll just have to imagine how cool the lightning was.

 

 

And then if that wasn't enough, here's a kid practicing his bike tricks.

 

So there you go, if you're ever in Cozumel for a day there is all kinds of cheap entertainment if you're easily amused like we are.