Eastern Caribbean Cruise

Yesterday we reluctantly returned from our long-awaited cruise. We had such a relaxing time, and the kids got terribly spoiled spending time with both sets of grandparents. For pictures of the fun they had, you'll have to check out Wes' blog. We really appreciate everyone who helped take such good care of the babies.
Due to Hurricane Ike, we missed our first stop in Nassau, Bahamas. The water was pretty choppy for the first couple of days. But we were able to make the other two stops in St, Thomas USVI and St. Maarten. We spent our time there sightseeing, shopping, and at the beach. I think St. Maarten was my favorite stop since it had the better beach (more waves).

This is our first "elegant night"...

At the dock in St. Thomas

St. Thomas' highest point (we are having their famous banana daquiri)

Magen's Bay Beach, ranked the #10 beach in the world by National Geographic

Here you can see our ship in the port below...

This place was literally a hole in the wall; it was kind of carved out in this little alley between the shops. We should have been bold enough to order conch fritters, but... I ended up with a chicken salad sandwich.

Here's a shot down one of the alleys, with the entrance to our restaurant in the foreground.

St. Thomas had seemingly thousands of upscale shops like this one.

This is St. Maarten on the French side. There is an open air market in the foreground, a pretty ritzy mall further back, and then a 300- year- old fort at the top of the hill. You can also see their many flags.

This is the port at St. Maarten, on the Dutch side.

Here's our monkey...

And here we are with our "table mates", Dwayne and Chrissy from the D.C. area.

We enlisted Chrissy professional photography services.

And here's Emma in her new dress from St. Maarten (she's holding a handmade doll from there as well).

And here's Morgan in his Virgin Islands T-shirt.