Charlotte Amalie for the Afternoon

Only 2 weeks left... Starting to feel nostalgic, had a BEAUTIFUL day, so I thought I would take my last set of "town" pictures...

Even the alleys are beautiful, and convenient rum bars everywhere!

Meeting the needs of pirates for over 500 years.

Here's the bargains, including T-shirts 4 for $10 (just buy them at least a size or two bigger, they will shrink)

All the cool kids get at least one beaded braid in their hair while they are here.

And the tink tink tink of the steel drum band carries for blocks!

Over 200 jewelry stores... And duty free Booze!

It's flowering season for the trees

Don't know what kind of trees these are, but they sure make the island pretty!

the Palm Trees get a Trim

Here's the befores (durings actually)

And here's the after...  I think they took a little too much off the top, but it'll grow out

Blackbeard's Castle

Not much history, but nicely restored, and there are big bronze statues of pirates everywhere...

And the star is this 20 foot tall Blackbeard himself!

And look at these beautiful blue skies finally... After over a week of rain.

A Million Dollar White Castle - I Wonder if He Knows?

Sure, up close, it has an amazing  view of the Caribbean Sea, it is beach front and the porch is as big as my house back in Kansas...

But at some point the architect should have said something.

Is it just me, or is this the same look of a White Castle hamburger joint?

Barracuda infested waters

This is my favorite photo...

Didn't take long to get out of the water with this guy floating around...

About 5 feet long, 4 feet of which are teeth.

Coki Beach and Coral World

There has been some unfortunate activity at one of the beaches here.  I'll let others do the commentary on the fall out (short version, a gang shooting, and an innocent girl was shot and killed by the random gun shots).

Just the day before the shooting, I took my Mother there to see the beauty of the beach and the tourist attraction of  Coral World...

Here's Mom and my step-Daddy watching the shark feeding...

They have a great way for non-swimmers to see the fishies... Well worth the trip.

MOJO's... Second best bar in a parking lot

Located in the parking lot of Havensight Mall (the place where most of the cruise ships dock)...

A great place to have that Pina Colada before getting back on the ship (or bus)...

Look close, swings for seats at the bar ...

And if you look real close, in the background, you see the BIG GREEN EGG that fills the parking lot with the smell of BBQ Chicken!

Easy to find by the smell

Will he fit in my carry on???

The gift shop is going out of business... they are even selling the landmark sign... Anyone want a 10 foot iguana?

Rains of Biblical Proportions

Here it is at 9 AM

And here it is at Noon

And it kept raining all day and night!

I am getting very tired of this

Rain... everyday for a week now.  This was taken at noon.

And it's supposed to rain for a few MORE days.

Sigh

Pirate Statues at Blackbeard's Castle

All Bronze, and several of them...

I do like this one, if you look close, you can see the governor's Mansion in the background just above this pirate's wrist.

Step daddy Harley, a pipe smoker himself, related to this guy...

Me, while I don't know much about art, I was partial to the less than hidden meanings behind this pose of the only female pirate in the gallery.

Iguana Close Up

Look... Up in the sky

Rising Stars

Rising Stars is the local Concert Band for the high schools.

But no flute or tuba, everyone plays steel drums.  And maintains an honor role GPA.

Provide a great background sound for island living.

Feeding time for the Iguanas

Views from the overlook

Mom gets the grand tour from Our favorite tour guide, Cornell

And the Local Economy gets another Shot in the Arm

Mom Visits... Mom Shops... Mom Buys

But she buys earrings so complicated two people have to help her into them.  They promised that if she loses these, she will have lost an ear (screwbacks, something new every day).

Something is wrong, Mom gets new diamonds, and my step-daddy gets a hat.

The STARS of the Show

Poor little 4 legged buddy...

And the all too rare STARfish of DAVID