The Looney Bien

We've spent the last three weeks here in St. Thomas and the last three Saturday nights at a tiny Mexican restaurant called The Looney Bien.  Owned and operated by a Val, the head "looney", we've enjoyed great margaritas and Mexican food there as well as the live music every Saturday night, provided by Pony Jarrett and Tommy Hegarty.  Pony has been great about letting Troy play, even though it's not an official open mic night.  In fact, due to scheduling conflicts for Pony and Tommy, Troy has been asked to fill in next weekend.  Since we are looking a some pretty heavy winds in our region right now, we figure this is a good reason to hang out here for another week so that Troy can play the gig on Saturday.

If you're ever in St. Thomas, be sure to stop by The Looney Bien in Frenchtown!

Fun times were had by all!

Pat earned some tips for the band

St. Thomas, USVI

Clouds on top of the mountain at Charlotte Amalie

We've spent the last few weeks (including Christmas and New Years) on St. Thomas.  We really didn't plan for that to happen, we thought we would be in the BVIs by now, but that's the way the cruising life seems to work. We have been enjoying our time here. Troy has played music a couple of times at a small Mexican restaurant - The Loony Bien - and we've learned to make good use of the public transportation system in order to get around on the island. The local buses (or Safaris) are trucks with covered, open air benches in the back and they are a cheap way to travel, with the highest price being $2.00.

We spent some time in Brewer's Bay, right next to the airport. Brewer's is a beautiful bay with a beautiful beach and clear blue water.  Troy loved watching all the airplanes take off and land and Luna loved the beach and learning about the kayaks and the dinghy.  She's gonna be a great boat dog.

Brewer's Bay and St. Thomas Airport

Rainbow on the beach at Brewer's Bay

St. Thomas is 31 square miles, 13 miles long and 4 miles wide. The island has quite a history. Christopher Columbus is said to have discovered the island on his 2nd voyage in 1493. It has been claimed by Indians, the Spanish, Pirates, the Danish and, finally, purchased by the US in 1917 for $25 million.  Now, the capital of the US Virgin Islands, Charlotte Amalie, is a major cruise ship port (can you say "duty free!").  We've seen as many a 6 ships here at one time. You can learn more about the history of St. Thomas at THIS LINK.

Storyville anchored with the cruise ships in Charlotte Amaile

We are thinking that we will be here for a few more days and then work our way over to St. John for a week or so before heading out to the BVIs.  This may be the last that Storyville sees of US waters for a long time.

We will spend a little exploring in the BVIs - they are too beautiful to rush through - and then cross over to St. Martin for a while.  We have boat projects and all kinds of things that we are planning to get done in St. Martin.  We're hoping to make it there by the end of February so that we can see the Heineken Regatta.

Luna's first trip to a park. So much to see and smell!

Merry Christmas from The Islands Mon!

Storyville at the end of the rainbow!

We will celebrate Christmas this year in St. Thomas.  We sailed over from Puerto Rico on an overnight crossing without any problems.  It was Luna’s first sail and she is a great sailor, if we could just get her to stand her watch instead of sleeping all night!

We are currently in Charlotte Amalie which is a very busy harbor.  I counted 6 cruise ships here yesterday!  We spent the last several days anchored in Brewers Bay which is a beautiful bay near the airport. We shared it with just a few other boats, the beach is beautiful, the water is clear and fish are jumping everywhere.  We decided yesterday after sailing into Charlotte Amalie that we would much rather spend Christmas in Brewers Bay so we will head back there tomorrow morning.  We just wanted to get a little Internet and some laundry and shopping done before hightailing it out of this busy harbor. 

I’m looking forward to my first beach Christmas.  I will definitely miss my family, but at least I got a get in a recent visit and got to celebrate Sismas with my girls.

 We are also happy that we finally met up with Steve on Alternate Latitude.  I’m not sure that we will be with them for Christmas but we have plans to meet up with them in the British Virgin Islands for a full moon party and to ring in the New Year.  We are really looking forward to spending some time with Steve and Deb and exploring some of the BVIs.

Life is good on Storyville, it will be a simple Christmas this year but one that I hope will remind us both of the real reason for the season!

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. Luke 2:11-12

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests. Luke 2:14

Luna won't wake up to take her watch