Loose Hair in a Portrait

On Wednesday our beloved Freedom of the Seas pulled in late morning to Saint Thomas, providing plenty of time for JoJo and Kelley to work out (and for JoJo to lose and locate her Sea Card) and for everyone to enjoy breakfast, complete with granola bar and yummy muffins, in the dining room. We disembarked and fond the Virgin Islands hot and sticky but beautiful.  We walked into town and up Synagogue Hill to the shul.  Established in the 1830s as a Sephardic community, the synagogue is now a small Reform congregation.  We admired the building, the sand floor and the amazing pieces in the gift shop.  Mina spent quite a bit of time with us talking shop. 

We headed back to main street and caught an open-air taxi to Magen’s Bay, reportedly one of the world's top ten beaches.  The ride was wonderful in and of itself, with great views and glimpses of our ship's life boat drill.  We arrived, picked out the perfect spot under a mangrove tree, rented lounge chairs and settled in to enjoy the truly spectacular view.  The bay is, well, a bay, surrounded on all sides by lush foliage.  The water is gorgeous, blue and clear, with a picturesque island floating in the middle.  It was refreshing and fun.  We ate pizza for lunch, talked to other tourists, made friends, took photos and had a really good time.  

When we returned to the ship, Morgan, Steven and Kelley headed out on deck to take photos.  We eventually found ourselves in the game room and played Loose Hair in what Steven accurately described as a portrait.  Following a French fry appetizer, we got dressed and headed to the odd magic show.  On our way home from dinner in the dining room, Kelley horrified the man by the elevator when she insisted everyone follow "The Rule."  (The Rule was you could only take the elevator if it was six or more flights, otherwise we took the stairs.)  The Gludts headed off to bed while the Salomon/Brown family went to a dance party, found Melody and played a hilarious game of Cranium, complete with Melody sawing herself in half.