DAY ONE: Saturday, 4
August 2012
Originally when I made the flight
arrangements, my flight out of Austin
was going to be at 6am. But Delta
decided to cancel all their Caribbean flights,
so my AAA travel advisor (Krista) had to find me new flights. Thus my “Austin
to Atlanta , Atlanta
to St. Croix” became “Austin to Atlanta ,
Atlanta to Miami ,
then Miami to St. Croix .” Not sure why Krista couldn’t just find me a
flight from Austin to Miami in the first place (if I was required
to go through that hellish airport). Now
instead of leaving nice and early, and getting to St.
Croix by 2pm, I now wouldn’t be getting there until close to 9pm.
I wasn’t happy about having to
spend all day in transit, nor having two layovers (as opposed to one), two
chances for the airlines to lose my luggage, and getting to an unfamiliar place
after dark, plus having to navigate my way to my hotel. If this was a trip to New York where I knew the area, it wouldn’t
be a big deal.
When I arrived at the airport, this
was the first time in years that I’d actually checked a bag. This will be a good reminder for the trip
back when I have a suitcase full of booze.
My suitcase (partially-filled) weighed 33 lbs, and much of that probably
came from the frame itself. I already
planned to pay the extra over-weight charge (excess of 50 lbs) on the way back.
As I had time to kill at the Austin airport, and I’d
be sitting most of the day, I took advantage of the time to walk around to get
some extra miles on my pedometer. I’ve
been behind on my daily goals, and this will either make up for that or what I
may not walk this week. Yesterday the
“blinking battery” light appeared on the pedometer to let me know it was time
to change it. I usually have a day or
two of charge left when that happens, and I already had an extra battery
ready. I hope the charge lasts through
today, as I had to put the battery in my checked bag only because of the tiny
screwdriver I’d need to use to change it probably wouldn’t be allowed past
security. Thank you, TSA!
During the walk around the Austin airport, I did some
people-watching. In addition to the
variety of people I saw, I made mental notes at the garb people chose to wear
for a flight. I noticed at least one
person had “pajama jeans” on, and the number of people who had “non-sensible
shoes” on. This was not strictly the
“fuck me” heels (although I did see a few of those), but those people who wore
uncomfortable-looking heels. How does
that not hurt your feet when walking though the airport?
One funny observation I made
happened when the passengers were disembarking the plane which would be my
flight. One young guy, who was probably
college-aged, came out with a box of cereal that he was pulling bits out
of. This was not the single-serve size
that you could purchase from an airport vending machine, but a full-size bright
green box of Apple Jacks. I guess that
counts as the one “personal item” which you’d bring along with your carry-on.
Once on the plane, and in the air
to Atlanta , it
was time for the cabin beverage service to come out. Any one who regularly hears about all the
plane trips I take knows how much I like to have my in-flight rum. I don’t care if it’s five or seven
bucks. I’ll pay for the novelty of
drinking at 30,000 feet. I can say this
time I chose not to do that. I figured I’d
be buying a lot of drinks when I get to St. Croix ,
so I didn’t need to drop any cash on regular drinks before that. Sure I like my high-altitude drinks a lot,
but I like my drinks on the tropical beach much more.
The flight from Atlanta
was slightly delayed coming into Miami ,
and I had to haul ass across the airport.
I came in H gate, and had to go to D gate. So I had to leave the secure area, go past
the other check-in stations, and then go through security again (but at a completely
different section). Following the signs
for “D1-60 this way,” I went through corridors, long wide corridors mind you,
that were completely devoid of people. I
found D30, and then had to take a tram to the lower-numbered gates. Once past D gate checkpoint, I didn’t go past
a place I was able to get any food. I
wasn’t going to stop for something if there was a chance I’d miss my
connection.
When I did reach gate D12, the
plane wasn’t even here yet. Nice that
the leader board was updated with that information. Still there weren’t any decent-looking places
to find food, so I ate another Cliff
Bar
In the lounge I chatted with a
couple people waiting for the same flight I was, but didn’t have any
connections made. I did call Ron Howard,
the person who contacted me via Couch Surfing.
Ron had said earlier that he would show me around the island, and even
offered a place to stay. I had let him
know then I’d already secured lodging.
You never go to someplace you don’t know without having a place to stay
arranged. I’d left a voicemail for Ron
letting him know I’d touch base with on Sunday.
Considering the lateness of the hour coming in, I mentioned I’d just
take the transfer to the hotel that AAA had arranged for me, and then figure
out my way back to the car rental place (at the airport Sunday morning) to get
my vehicle, thus the reason behind touching base with him on Sunday.
Once the flight was boarded and in
the air, it was after 7pm. I should’ve
been on the beach by now! That’s how
things are. Sitting next to me on the
plane, I met a lady named Angie Marsh.
She’s a dental hygienist who was returning home to St.
Croix . She said her office
wasn’t that far from where I would be staying.
We talked the entire flight. I
pumped her for information about the island.
Angie confirmed some things I’d read in the travel books, and let me
know about some other things about the island too. Angie moved here a couple years ago, pretty
much came down with nothing and solo, and she was able to find work. She did comment the economy was kind of poor there
now, with the recent close of the Hess plant.
I knew that, but was good to hear that from a local.
I did ask Angie if she had some
free time to show me around the area.
She said if she had time (considering on her work, as she was coming
back from a two-week holiday in Florida
to visit her son’s family) that she would like to. She would let me know circa Monday once she
saw what her work week looked like.
I told Angie about what my
game-plan was for coming to the island (trying to parlay my arbitration
experience into a mediation job or even legal office schmuck, if need be). She informed her landlord was an
attorney. She said she’d speak to him
about me, and have him contact me. I
commented that I tried to email a bunch of resumes to attorneys during the last
couple weeks, but never gotten any responses.
Angie noted what I’d said was “the way things were done in the states,
not the way things were done on the island.”
Her suggestion was to knock on the doors of the various attorneys and
personally introduce myself, let them know what I was trying to do, and then hand
over a resume. That sounded like a good
plan to try.
As we flew over the water it was
dark out, and I couldn’t see any of the islands we passed. The captain commented at one point the Turks
& Caicos Islands were to our left. I
was on that side of the plane, I took a quick look out the window, but all I
saw was blackness. It would’ve been nice
to see from the air the islands I’d previously visited. When we were coming over St.
Croix , all I could see were lots of little orange dots, which were
the lights from street lamps or houses.
There was a large concentration of lights near water, which I gathered
was Frederiksted (as it was the city on the western coast). Angie confirmed that was correct. Once we got closer to touch-down, I was able
to make out some individual streets or buildings, but I had no points of
reference to know what I was even looking at.
Angie and I left the airplane
together, and walked down the steps on to the tarmac. Just like in Turks & Caicos, I had to
walk across the open ground to enter into the airport terminal. The air was warm, but the breeze felt
nice. With the exterior lights of the
airport lighting up everything around, I couldn’t see anything but blackness
beyond the edge. I didn’t have any idea
of what the terrain was like.
It appeared we were the last flight
which had come in, as the airport was pretty much closed up. We didn’t have to go through any “customs
check-point,” but we passed a tourist kiosk, so I grabbed a bunch of
information that I could read it later.
We walked outside to the front of the airport (where people’s rides or
taxis were waiting for us), and then had to walk into another section to where
baggage claim was. Angie commented one
of her friends was picking her up, we waited together until our bags came out.
Once my luggage was picked up, I
bid Angie good-bye, and met Douglas, who was the transit driver. Since it was after 10pm, I took the transfer
to the hotel, instead of picking my rental at the airport and driving on
unfamiliar roads. Figure I’ll just get
the rental the next day when I can actually see.
As we left the airport, Douglas pointed out the new horse racing track which had
just been built last year. He didn’t
know if it was a harness track or a flat-track (as I recalled my Saratoga knowledge). Douglas motioned
towards the “rum factory” as we went past a large light-colored building off in
the distance. He commented that if I was
going to have a rental to be careful driving on the roads, as they drove on the
left down here. I said I’d driven on the
left when I was in Turks & Caicos, so there should be no difference here
(except having the steering wheel on the left-hand side of the vehicle like I
had at home). We went down a two-lane
divided highway, which had some occasional street lights. Except for the fact the traffic was on the
other side of the road than what I was use to, I could’ve been driving back
home as we went past a Home Depot, a McDonalds, a K-Mart, and then a
Wendy’s. Yes I was hungry, but didn’t want
to stop for any food at this point.
There were also some local establishments we passed, but I didn’t ask
for any recommendations. I figured I’d
just do that once I got to my hotel, and could learn what was close by.
The roads we went over were winding
as they went up and down hills, but not too bad. (Angie had mentioned that driving on St.
Croix would be much easier than on St.
Thomas , because the hills were less-extreme. She said St. Thomas had roads that went up nearly
vertical hills, made a hard left with a stop sign, and then went practically
straight downward.) I kept a mental note
of the route numbers, so I could find my way back to the airport. There were some very interesting switch-backs
on hills that I would’ve had difficulty with driving them for the first time in
the dark. I also tried to note specific
landmarks as we went past them (a red-colored gas station, private school with
a mural, et al). Finally after a number
of turns, we arrived at the Palms at Pelican Cove. Douglas was
a great driver, and was nice to talk to, so I made sure to give him a fiver.
After I got checked in, I learned
I’d be in Room 8. I’m used to getting a
room like “301,” where the first number in the sequence is what floor you’re
on. I generally don’t like ground-floor
rooms, because I feel like people would look in. At this point, I was at my destination, so I
wasn’t going to quibble. I was then
brought over in a golf cart to the villa where my room was. There were some lights along the path we
followed, so I could see an open area, and some small buildings here and there,
but I couldn’t really see how things looked.
I’d looked at the layout of this place on Google Maps, and saw pictures
on Trip Advisor, so I had a general idea.
I still wanted to see if reality matched what I saw online. You know, I could hear the waves hitting the
shore close by, and that was a very welcoming sound.
Keep in mind it was after 10pm and
I wanted to get to the bar for a drink as soon as possible. I didn’t even unpack my suitcase. I took a few quick pictures of what my room
looked like before I headed over.
The room was on the ground floor of
a two story building, and I had a patio that opened on to the beach. There wasn’t a lot of light in the area, so I
couldn’t exactly see how close I was to the water’s edge. That’d be something to explore tomorrow.
Waiting for me was a bottle of
Cruzan Rum (and two Cokes), as I’d been informed the place gives the first
drink free. I stowed some stuff in the
room safe, and headed straight to the bar.
The grill had closed at 10pm, so I
couldn’t get anything to eat. I did ask
the bartender, Willie, if he could make a rum punch (which he could). Willie said as I’d just arrived, this could
count as my complimentary drink (but I’d have to bring the bottle in my room
back to the front desk). That was okay,
I’d keep the bottle as the freebie. My
first drink on St. Croix was $6 for a glass of
goodness. It wasn’t as “punchy” as the
ones I got in Turks & Caicos, but that’s why those ones cost $8. Of course, I gave an extra $2 as tip. Since I had such a good experience dealing
with the bartender in T&C, I hoped if I tipped him well, I’d get that
treatment again.
Another group had just arrived at
the Palms also. I might’ve seen them at
the airport, but probably paid them no attention as I was trying to get my own
stuff figured out. Some how, they had
pizza waiting for them. I’m not sure how
that had been arranged, but I could’ve gone for a slice. They must’ve called from the airport when
they were waiting for their luggage in baggage claim. More than likely they’d been here before, so
knew where to obtain it.
I drank half of the rum punch in
the bar glass, and then asked Willie for it to be transferred to a “to go” cup,
so I could take it back to my room. I
only pulled a few basic necessities out of my bag, as the unpacking could
wait. I sat in the patio chairs outside
my room as I worked on the remainder of my drink.
The ocean breeze was cool and
comfortable. It was a full moon, but
with a halo of haze. On the edges of the
patio were various pieces of coral, conches, and sponges, which just added to
my pleasure. I would investigate this
more fully in the daylight. The lack of
sleep the night before, and the long day in travel, were taking their toll.
I tried to sleep, but the full moon
induced insomnia was in full-swing, and that was coupled by the lack of real
food. For some reason John Valby songs
were playing through my head. Don’t ask
me why, as that wasn’t even loaded into my iPod. Eventually I did drift off to sleep, but it
wasn’t that restful. I did wake up a few
times. The last was after 4am, but then
at least I slept until 7am.
For more information on the places visited or mentioned:
Couch
Surfing: www.couchsurfing.org
US Virgin Islands : http://www.visitusvi.com/stcroix/homepage?utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=GeneralTravel&gclid=CJqxkpvQ7rkCFbDm7Aod7GMA0Q
Palms at
Pelican Cove: http://www.palmspelicancove.com/
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