Happy Birthday to Me

Well it's finally here.. November 18th... the day I've been anticipating and dreading all year.. hard to believe that I am 39 years old today.. But I guess I just need to accept it. My plan to be far away from reality on my birthday has cushioned the blow a bit.. You can't be stressed out in St. John. If you've never been here you really should go..it's amazing. Beautiful, relaxing, tropical paradise.. I wanted to go for breakfast today at the 'Donkey Diner' but Bruce told us they were closed on Tuesdays.. he recommended that we go to the 'Big Belly Deli' instead.. And it was delicious.. We had french toast, bacon, scrambled eggs and toast (with Diet Coke of course).. And the restaurant was right next to two art galleries.. Inside one I found a birthday gift to myself- a little painting by a local artist (Liz Ford)- it's a painting of the water and mangroves.. And it will remind me of this trip. I told Becky that I don't buy jewelry/watches (which is what most people do in St. Thomas) or expensive bags/shoes/clothes.. but I do like art. And finding a special piece of art as a memory of my travels makes me happy..
After breakfast we made our way to Lameshur Bay- a beach that the locals like- on the tourist map the road to the bay says 'no rental cars'- I think they do that to discourage tourists from going.. Anyhow it was just beautiful- like our own private Blue Lagoon. We saw big angel fish, swam and snorkeled, and sunbathed (well I didn't because I am still burned).. We even saw a mongoose cross the road. Afterwards we made dinner reservations at Miss Lucy's, met some 'wild' goats and had conch fritters and coladas at 'Shipwreck Landing'. Now it's almost time to get ready for birthday dinner!