Airport insecurity

Airport insecurity, originally uploaded by captainjay.

I forgot to do this post last week. Its pretty funny. A friend of ours flew out last Friday for a visit back home. She had a 9am flight so she arrived 2 hours before like they suggest which should be plenty of time for that time of day. She was flying American so she tried using the self service kiosk to check in and print boarding passes. She tried several times and could not get checked in. So she had to stand in line at the ticket counter which by now had gotten pretty long. It took an hour and a half to get up to the counter! There was only one person and they were taking their sweet time. So by this time the plane was already pre- boarding so they would not let her check her bag because it was too close to take off time. After much debate she finally gave up and agreed to take her bag as carryon. Since it was over sized for a carryone they told her she would have to check it at the gate. So she goes through security but gets stopped and questioned. They wanted to know why she was so late getting to the airport and why she has such a big bag for a carryon. She had to explain the situation but they still went through the bag. She had all kinds of gifts for family and they removed everything that was over the 3 oz rule. There were a lot of items under 3 oz but they yelled at her for them not being in a zip lock bag. Again she explained that she hadn't planned on this bag being a carryon so she wasn't prepared for the 3 oz and ziplock bag rules. They were going to throw away her gifts that were over 3 oz but she at least convinced them to bag the items and put my name on them so that I could come pick them up. So she rushes to the gate, checks her bag, gets on the plane and calls me to ask if I would please come to the airport to pick up her gifts that were confiscated. Of course I did. When she got to Puerto Rico for her connecting flight, they checked the bag no problem. She was pretty upset about the whole thing, understandably. It still doesn't make sense why they wouldn't check the bag when she had to check it at the gate so it went to the same place as the other checked bags but had to be subjected to the carryon rules. Crazy.

Happy Humpday

Happy Humpday, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Not a whole lot going on. Just thought I'd share this pretty sunset
from last night.

New hours for the STT to STX ferry

According to an article in the VI Daily News, the times for the St. Thomas-St. Croix ferry will be changed to make it easier to go over to St. Croix for the day. On Friday and Saturday, you will leave St. Thomas at 7:30 am and return at 6:15 pm. I don't know if the fare has changed, but the original fare was $90 round trip. The terminal is right next to the Sea Plane terminal in Charlotte Amalie, right outside of Frenchtown.

The new schedule starts Oct. 1.

Friday and Saturday


St. Thomas to St. Croix: 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m.

St. Croix to St. Thomas: 9:45 a.m. and 6:15 p.m.

Sunday

St. Thomas to St. Croix: 3:45 p.m.

St. Croix to St. Thomas: 5:45 p.m.

Monday St. Thomas to St. Croix: 8 a.m.

St. Croix to St. Thomas: 4:30 p.m.

Sunday at Magen's Bay

Sunday at Magen's Bay, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Absolutely beautiful day. There isn't much of a crowd either.
Jay

Lucky Lindy's Eggs

Lucky Lindy's Eggs, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Unfortunately the eggs, laid by Lindy the Leather Back turtle, on Linbergh Beach didn't develop. They are past there due date so the researchers are digging them up to try to determine what happened. The
eggs never developed past the yolk stage, there is no sign of embryonic development. That said the eggs are here which makes the beach a breading ground for an endangered species.

Article in the VI Daily News

CA view

CA view, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Finally got out of the house and the views are beautiful today. It's
so clear. You can see St. Croix, Vieques and Culebra. I've been told
that when it's clear it makes us more likely to get a storm, when it's
hazy it holds the storms off. Right now there is a storm way east of
us but it's predicted to turn north. Hopefully the prediction is
right. But for now it's beautiful!!

BBC with a view

Finished with the chores and cost-u-more trip so we thought we would treat ourselves with a refreshing cocktail. :-)

BBC (Banana Bailey Colada) is a wonderful island drink. Equal parts baileys, rum, coco lopez and fresh bananas. Blender with ice and Top with fresh nutmeg. We had a bunch of bananas from a tree in our yard earlier in the year so we peeled, chopped and froze a whole bag. Which makes it easy to chop of a chunck and throw them in the blender.
Enjoy!!

Soooo Clear

Soooo Clear, originally uploaded by captainjay.

It's soooo clear out today. We need to go out driving and get some
pics. Absolutely beautiful. :-)

Friday Beach Picture

Sunset at Trunk Bay from the VIOL Photo Album
So Deb and I are back and trying to settle back into our normal routine. We need to go to the store and restock the fridge. We also need to take care of the huge pile of mail that stacked up while we were gone as well. So nothing real exciting to post right now.
Jay

Home Sweet Home

Well we made it through our first day back to work and having our first after work cocktail at our favorite watering hole, Hook Line Sinker. :-)

Gate D5 CLT

Gate D5 CLT, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Well we got up at 3:20AM this morning finished packing, the big suitecase had 4 pounds to spare, and got to The Charles Yeager International Airport at 4:30 for our 5:30 flight. So now after the hurry up and wait we get to spend three hours in the Charlotte Airport. We have had a good trip to WV, we got to see lots of friends and got some work done as well, but we are ready to go home.

Jay

Fat Ride last day in WV

So here is the second rental car we have had since we got here. The first one was a Ford Fusion that we rented from enterprise for the first part of the trip. We only had it rented through wensday since we were doing the boat trip for four days. So when I asked them about a car for Monday and Tuesday the jacked up the rate on me from 45 a day to 65 a day so I chose not to go that route. I got on Hotwire and got a Cadilac CTS from avis for 32. So yesterday and today we have been running errands. Tonight it's dinner at The Barge at Trojan Landing then a 5:30am flight tommorow.

Fall On The Lower Kanawha

Well we have had great weather all weekend near 80 during the day and no rain. A little cooler today and overcast feels like fall. Just a few sprinkles.

Paul James Doeffinger

Paul James Doeffinger, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Singing Country Roads to close out the Festival.

Pomeroy Fireworks

Pomeroy Fireworks, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Friday Beach Picture

Friday Beach Picture, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Well not exactly the Caribbean Beach scene that everyone is used to.
This is the Levee in Pomeroy Ohio. We came down river yesterday with
some good friends on their boat.
Jay

Pomeroy Sternwheel Festival

Pomeroy Sternwheel Festival, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Finally made it to Pomeroy OH to the Sternwheel Festival. It was a
great trip down river. Water color is a little different from VI but
it was great being on the river. There is a really good turnout this
year, probably more sternwheelers then any other festival. Sooo nice.

Live from the Coleman's Boat Bar

Live from the Coleman's Boat Bar, originally uploaded by captainjay.

We are having cocktails at the boat bar then heading to Casa Garcia
for Mexican Food. Then it's off to Pomeroy tommorow for the boat trip.
It's been a busy few days, we got the house rented to the new Tennants
yesterday and took care of some maitenance at the duplex. I still have
some work to do over there on Monday but the next few days will be all
play.

The Land of Plenty

The Land of Plenty, originally uploaded by captainjay.

I would be embarassed to tell you how much we spent at WalMart today.
Provision for the boat, some shorts from the clearance racks for work
and a bunch of Health and beauty aids and over the counter drugs.

Real tomato

Real tomato, originally uploaded by captainjay.

It's fall in WV and these are real vine ripened tomatos. For those of
you that have been to a produce department in de islands and paid six
bucks a pound for red rubber hot house tomatos you know what these
would be worth on de island.

Last Meal on the Beach

Last Meal on the Beach, originally uploaded by captainjay.

So we are having lunch at Emerald Beach then off to the big old jet
liner.

To shutter or not to shutter

To shutter or not to shutter, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Trying to decide if the shutters should be put up before we take off.
There aren't any storms in the forecast but that could change over the
next 10 days. If we put them up then it's obvious we're not home which
I don't like. If we don't put them up and a storm is forecasted to
come here then someone needs to put them up. The landlord is off
island so that's not an option. Our friends will be busy taking care
of their own place or gettin the heck out of dodge. Luckily our
neighbors will be in town and they said they'd take care of it. So
we're not going to put them up and just hope for no storms. :-)

Heading to WV For a Visit

So we are heading back to the "Mainland" for a visit with friends and family. We also have boat trip planned to Pomeroy Ohio for their fall festival. Should be fun. We also have some "work" to do. We have a new tenant in one of our apartments that we haven't even met yet and we are looking for a new tenant for our house as the current ones are leaving the first of the month. We have a few potential leads on that. I included a video from our YouTube account that I made a few years ago from a previous trip to Pomeroy. Fun soon come. :)

Friday Beach Picture

This is a borrowed picture from Virgin Islands On Line they have a new section for user photos you can view it by clicking here. This shot is of a sunset taken from the water at Francis Bay.
Jay

Winward Passage Hotel

Winward Passage Hotel, originally uploaded by captainjay.

We went to the Winward Passage Hotel last night to hear a friend play
guitar. This is formerly the Holiday Inn but recently dropped the
Holiday Inn franchise so they are now just the Winward Passage Hotel.
Don't know the story there but it's probably a good one.

I didn't see any differences on the surface since the change and I
really liked the atmosphere. The courtyard area is very nice and the
wait staff very friendly. Nice bar area and good drinks.

The menu had a decent selection but they're getting ready to update it
during the next two weeks. Most dinners were in the $16 to $20 price
range. We wanted something small to split so we got the fish and
chips.....terrible. Two square fish patties and shoestring fries. We
ate it but I nicely told the manager that they needed to remove that
item from their new menu. He understood my reasoning and gave me a
free drink. :-). Our friends that go there said other items on the
menu are good so we may give it another try but I think I'll wait
until the new menu comes out.

Hurricane Fred

Well, there is another hurricane out in the atlantic, Hurricane Fred. It's projected to go north and not come anywere near here. I probably wouldn't have even mentioned it but it's my dad's name, so I thought it was pretty funny. Hopefully he'll follow the predictions and march northward without interacting with anyone. :-)

Edible Arts

Edible Arts, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Enjoying some desserts prepared by Edible Arts in Frenchtown for co-workers birthdays. They are soooo yummy. Ed does wonderful work. He does a lot of the desserts you find in the local restaurants and plus now selling to individuals as well. So if you're interested in desserts, cakes, pies, etc give Ed a call 340-626-5432

Labor Day Pizza

Labor Day Pizza, originally uploaded by captainjay.

So after some serious beach time today. It's Pie Whole pizza for dinner.

Mojo's

The girls went out yesterday to celebrate a friends birthday. We went several places but I think the coolest one was Mojo's. It's an open air bar in the parking lot at Havensight. Thatch roof, bar swings instead of bar stools, good music and good drinks. You should check it out.

Not Our Normal View

Not Our Normal View, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Erika is almost history but we do have some rain and clouds.

Friday Beach Pic

Friday Beach Pic, originally uploaded by captainjay.

This is another shotof Botany Bay St Thomas taken last weekend.

Downgraded to Topical Depression

Downgraded to Topical Depression, originally uploaded by captainjay.

WooHoo! Just got the word that Erika has been downgraded to a tropical
depression and it's headed west. Whew! It's sunny and light breeze
right now, no signs of a storm. :-)

Erika is out there

So Hurricane Season rolls on. There is another storm out there bouncing around and right now it's looking a little to close for comfort. The current tracks show it coming either right across the island or a little south. I suspect it will continue to slide and we will likely just see heavy rains and some wind so keep your fingers crossed.

Jay