Tan Thursday

Thursday was an awesome way to end the vacation.  We booked a day visit-got a room for a day- at The Buccaneer, which is a swanky resort on the island; possibly the nicest one there.  It was twice the price of the place we stayed at, but visiting for a day and comparing the places was fun!  Martha Stewart and Joe Biden were both guests there in January.  As Mark said, though, even though Martha and Joe stayed there, the place we stayed was where Steve Irwin would have stayed if he was still alive.  Mark nailed that!  Where as The Buccaneer had beachside servers to bring you drinks at the waterfront, The Palms had no frills like that- so when I laid out by the waterfront there, I had complete solitude.  The Buccaneer was clean as a whistle- no seaweed or shells, or sea life of any kind, really.  The Palms wasn't the cleanest or fanciest place we've stayed at, but they try to keep things ecofriendly, and in doing so, the ocean and grounds are teeming with creatures of all kinds- folks go there for the snorkeling right off the beach there.

We had a blast spending the day there at the fancy Buccaneer, though.  Lots for the kids to do, and since it was in a majorly gated resort, the boys could be a bit further away from us (still within eyesight), playing on the beachside basketball court, or tetherball, or chess, or digging in the sand, or snorkeling; while Mark and I mostly laid in our chairs, relaxing and sipping yummy drinks.  :)

We absorbed the warm sun that last day- I couldn't get enough.  We went through multiple bottles of sunscreen this vacation and even still, my face is peeling!  But the weather there was just so divine- usually I do not love summer, because I get sweaty so easily, but it wasn't the case here on this island!  The breeze was gentle and the sun wasn't so hot that you felt like you were getting burned- just felt GOOD, and I felt like my bones needed it! Closing my eyes, hearing the gentle waves roll, and the palm branches swaying above me, feeling the sun warming my skin...it was so therapeutic.

Lunch was by the pool, called, "The Grotto," and we took advantage of the pool as well as another beach there, that Elijah and I snorkeled at for a few minutes (nothing too exciting to see).  We went to the gift shop for some souvenirs, and then back to Mermaid Beach, just a couple of minutes' walk back from lunch(the resort has 3 beaches and 2 pools), and stayed out there until the sun was almost setting.  We went back to the (AC cooled, spotless, lovely-viewed) room to shower and order yummy room service dinner, while watching the sunset from the patio.  It started raining right as we were getting ready to check out- we were so thankful that the weather was about perfect the entire time we were on vacation (and extra thankful that we all stayed healthy)! So many prayers answered in that regard!

We all loved our day-long visit to the Buccaneer, and to it's gentle Mermaid Beach, but if we ever return to St. Croix, The Palms at Pelican Cove it will be.  Nowhere else would you find a hotel that allows your family to borrow snorkel gear for free, for the entire vacation.  As well as offer complimentary snorkel lessons and snorkel trips out into the ocean, every day if desired!  As well as complimentary night snorkel- as the owner of the resort takes your family out in the water personally!  The customer service and family atmosphere there is out of control awesome.  Swanky? Not so much.  Naturally beautiful, friendly, family-friendly?  So much.  So thankful we got to experience both places! What a wonderful, relaxing way to end our first-ever winter vacation.

The view from our patio was lovely!

 Could look over and see The Grotto and one of the pools:

 I usually don't wear a 2 piece, but I'm so glad I brought this top along, as it felt SO GOOD to have sun on my belly and back.  I swear I could feel Vitamin D building up in my bloodstream!

 Lunch by the pool at The Grotto:

 Mark and the boys loved my new hat.  :)

 More tan than usual, and way more relaxed than usual.