Last Days on the 2009 Trip

Saturday- we got up and had breakfast prepared by Leroy and Steve. After breakfast, we all packed and then Bonnie, Steve, and Rob snorkeled. It was the first time all week that we went off of the beach. On the south end of the beach we saw a number of tarpon which may have been the same ones going around us over and over again. Each unit made checked out with Nadine. Scott tried to cut the costs of their unit in half by letting Bonnie get by without paying.

The rest of the group was on the beach sunning. We packed for good and Leroy picked our luggage up.
We said goodbye to Leroy, Nadine, Robert and Jolene. The same guy that picked us up to bring us over took us back to West End. This time he has his wife, son, and daughter helping him. The daughter was with us the prior year and she danced on the way over so Bonnie got her to dance again. Everyone sat around and talked as we waited for the Ferry to St. John's. The Aanes’ and Johnson's went into Road Town to shop. They checked the menu at the lizard restaurant and decided to have dinner at Pusser's. Scott found and error on his credit card so called and checked with the credit card people and Rob only to find out later that Corsairs and Club Paradise are the same place for billing purposes. The St. John's taxi driver was Glenn Miller who didn’t do music but had served in Viet Nam and discussed his experiences there especially the fact that it was very difficult to make phone calls. We get to the five star Island Beachcomber. Bonnie claims that the rooms there could use some TLC. After we arrived, she entered her room and searched for the remote to turn on the TV. Usually a remote is located near the tv but there was no remote and all the drawers turned up empty. (Who wants to get out of bed to turn off the tv?!!!!) Bonnie ambled over to the front desk. She gave her another remote which was a Panasonic and the room tv was RCA. Bonnie ambled back. The lady at the front desk sent her husband who reprogrammed the Panasonic. All is well.

Rob and Bonnie dine at the Island Beachcomber and argue politics. Hammond is of the opinion that the food at the restaurant at the Island Beachcomber is better than Vic's. We return to our rooms. Bonnie has a guest; a Big, black worm….no panic, just racing to the bathroom for toilet paper, a couple of hesitant steps toward the worm, a sort of screech, and the worm is encased in toilet paper and disappearing down the toilet. Then Bonnie turns to the coffeemaker to get it ready for the morning. She sees sugar, creamer, stirrers, coffee, but can't seem to locate the coffee maker. Again, Bonnie ambles back to the front desk, which is closed, but after some banging on the door, she get a response. There is disbelief, of course, by the front desk that there is no coffee maker in the room. The lady at the front desk summons her husband who accompanies Bonnie back to the room. He can't find it either so he steals one from another room. Hopefully, Bonnie is finally happy. (Talk about high maintenance.)

Oh, one more thing from Bonnie. Her room has two closets instead of one so there is a minimum amount of wall space (probably 3 inches) between the toilet and wall. One cautionary note if you ever have this room. Do not bend forward as you sit on or get up from the toilet! The wall has a zillion dents from people who banged their head. Room should be reserved for guys. (Talk about high maintenance.)

Sunday - For anyone that cared, the first planes at St. John's leave the airport and take off over the Island Beachcomber at 5:30 a.m. so that no one needs an alarm. Our taxi driver is Al…good old reliable Al who can’t life but who is always on time. As warned by everyone else who had sat in the backseat earlier, Al really does smell of something like a combination of lots of garlic and numerous island herbs. The Aane's get their flight changed around so that they can fly back in one day only to get stranded in Atlanta where they are given a free room for their inconvenience. Bonnie and Rob's luggage don't show up in Minneapolis; Rob's was on the next flight and Bonnie's went to Graceland. No one is given free mileage for all of the miles that their luggage traveled. At least, we didn't have to drag it through the airports.