Feeding time for the Iguanas

Where I Walk - Part 3 - "Vessup Beach"

Vessup Beach, The "green" part of my walk.  Vessup Beach is one of the few remaining undeveloped natural beach fronts on St Thomas.  Affectionately called the local's beach, Jackie and I enjoy the solitude you usually find here (especially early in the morning, when I walk).

There are areas of the beach that has easy drive up access.  Especially on holiday weekends, people like to camp here.  Sometimes with very elaborate set-ups.  Their camp site may include more than one cooking tent, large speakers for the constant music, gaming area (poker and dominoes for the adults, football (really soccer) for the kids).  Portable showers, generators for power to run the big screen TV (really).

I have seen lots of things on the beach, including the already shown horse swims...

More than a few religious experiences...

All Creatures, great and small hang out at the beach...

Even deer, on a tropical island... Who knew???

Even on days when god's creatures are hiding, the scenery along the mile long beach is still worth looking at...

At a few spots, you have to find a path through the woods to get over the rocks...

But at the end of the beach is Latitude 18... (named for how far above the equator we are... 18 degrees of latitude).

Locals, boaters and occasionally walkers stop for a beer or two on a hot day.

And then we leave the beach for a short walk up a dirt road to...

The Hole in the Fence!

And despite the US Property, No Trespassing sign, everyone does.

But you will have to come back tomorrow to see what is behind the fence!

the kids are growing up too fast

Do you remember this photo I posted way back in April???

Well, the kids have managed to escape the rotisserie rack so far...

Well, most of em anyway.

Everyone loves a dip in the Ocean

Always fun to watch.

Sapphire Beach - Best Snorkeling day yet Part Southern Stingray

Sapphire Beach - Best Snorkeling day yet Part OCTOPUS

Look close, they are VERY hard to see, but there he is.

Only the second one we have seen.  Unlike the movies, they are very passive.  Not aggressive at all.  Once they know they are spotted by something bigger, they freeze and do not move.  SO, I have no pictures of his tentacles out, but they are there...

Sapphire Beach - Best Snorkeling day yet Part TURTLE TURTLE TURTLE

The hanger on is a REMORA or SHARKSUCKER.

A remora breaths under the water, while a sea turtle must surface every once in awhile to breath air.  The Sharksucker moves to the bottom of his host when the turtle surfaces...

Once the turtle takes a breath, he drops to the ocean floor to eat more grass (the sucker eats the leftovers), and it all repeats...

He doesn't seem to mind.

Sapphire Beach - Best Snorkeling day yet Part SQUID

Squids in Parade...

Places to go other squids to see

We had a new visitor on our deck

For some reason, my wife is afraid of frogs...

He was politely asked to leave, and then kicked off the deck.

A nicer photo of a Pelican

Been seeing some sad photos of Pelicans lately from the Gulf Coast...

We have them here, looking like a pelican should...

Makes you appreciate 'em seeing them all oil covered on the news...

That's jackie giving a wave to her feathered friend.

Muskrat Love - Island Style

Go ahead, hit play...

The single greatest song of all time...

The Tango of love...

Look close... You may need to count the legs and tails to see what is happening...

And I especially like the satisfied look on his face as he walks away.

Lizards on the Deck

Little Lizards (2 or 3 inches long) on the deck most of the time.  We like em, they eat bugs.

We don't bother them, they don't bother us, but they will give you "the look".

Jackie makes plans

 You've seen this before...

The horses that run races are taken for a swim in the mornings.

They swim them about 100 yards from the shore, and about 1/4 mile down the beach... Takes 20 to 30 minutes...

A very friendly group of guys do the work...

And here's a preview maybe... Those nice guys offered to let Jackie go swim with the horses next weekend... stay tuned, we will see...