Monthly Archives: December 2014

Thanksgiving (November 27-28, 2014)

[We’ve had almost no wi-fi since our arrival and had to shut off our US phones, hence the absence of posts. Or maybe you didn’t notice? Hmmm… that would be awkward. For me, not for you. Obviously. (insert uncomfortable pause here). After countless hours and trips to Digicel, I think we finally figured out an internet connection.]

IMG_6777We arrive the afternoon before Thanksgiving, eat dinner out and then go to bed. On Thanksgiving Day, we provision, shower at the marina and leave by 1 pm. We motor over to St. John which takes about an hour. We grab a mooring ball in Caneel Bay. It is beautiful – that crystal blue-green Caribbean water. Once the sun lessens, we go for a swim. Matt tells me he has some things for Thanksgiving dinner. I tell him I’m so tired that I’d prefer to celebrate by doing nothing. For dinner, we heat up cans of beef stew and green beans. The boys ask, “This is Thanksgiving dinner?”  “Yes,” I reply, “They do things differently in the islands.” There is no further pushback.

Matt and our tiny turkey

Matt and our tiny turkey

We celebrate on Friday instead of Thursday and Matt does the cooking. He found a tiny boneless turkey breast that actually fits in our doll-sized galley oven and makes sweet potatoes and fresh cranberry-orange relish. Once we are seated, Joshua looks around the table and says, “Just the four of us … back together again.” There is much for which to be grateful. Between Friday and Saturday, we see tons of tiny fish, two manta rays, IMG_6783and a flounder hiding half-covered in the sand. We dinghy into town at Cruz Bay to do laundry; a sea turtle quickly pokes up its head as we motor by.

Matt and Malachi trying to untangle lines from the mooring ball

Matt and Malachi trying to untangle lines from the mooring ball

We don’t have a firm plan but Matt’s sister and husband are arriving on St. John in early December so we’ll hang around to see them before heading over to the British Virgin Islands.