Nature hike and history lesson

Day 7
Wednesday November 19th, 2008

Grace and I started our day on a beach walk with a National Park guide in Leinster bay. There were only two other people on the walk- we waded in the sea grass gardens along the shore and we found sea stars, urchins, anemones, conch, puffer fish and we even had a stingray swim by! At one point we were wading in thigh-high water- which for Grace meant up to her belly- but she was a trooper and didn't mind that her dress got wet (I know, I should have put her in a suit)..

After we finished our walk we checked out the Annaberg sugar mill ruins. The Annaberg sugar mill ruins are part of the Virgin Islands National Park. The sugar mill was built between 1797-1805- and the sugar was used to make rum and molasses. They had a woman demonstrating how to cook traditional Dumb Bread. We got to sample the bread and also got to sample fresh sugar cane (we were instructed to "chew but don't swallow").

Then it started raining so our original plans for the beach had to be changed.. Becky picked us up -luckily she came for us early since we were getting wet and were told by a different park employee that we shouldn't be standing under the trees in the rain because they drip caustic substances that would cause a skin rash).

So we went and had a bite to eat at Skinny Legs (yes, there's been a bit of eating on this trip!)- Becky had chili, I ordered a BLT, and Grace had a hotdog but it turned out she wasn't really hungry (typical). Then I bought her a new pink dress that has palm trees painted on it and I got a t-shirt with a donkey on it that says 'Bad' (get it? they also have shirts with donkeys that say 'Nice', 'Phat' and 'Smart'). We chilled out at the house for a bit, then the sun came out again. We went back to Maho Bay and watched the pelicans diving for their dinner, and Becky swam with Grace while I was bit by tiny 'no see ems'. Then we headed to the 'Donkey Diner' for wood-fired pizza- they only make pizza twice a week so we have been looking forward to it all week. We shared a pineapple/pepperoni pizza and ate 'donkey balls' and listened to 80's music. Definitely a fun place with good atmosphere and great food. I let Grace drink the smallest amount of regular Coke and now she is on a sugar high! On the drive home we drove past 5 wild donkeys grazing along Centerline road, not too far from our villa.
Tomorrow we had planned to take the Reef Bay Trail Hike while Becky goes scuba diving but because of the rain I decided to cancel it- they say it's not the best hike for kids- it's 3 miles, all downhill.. I started imagining slick steep muddy trails and a miserable 'almost 5' year old. So instead we will have the day to do laundry, mail postcards and check out the playground at the Westin (a tip from Laurel our Ranger guide)..Grace will like that better I think. She also told us there are quite a few iguana hanging out at the Westin..we are still looking for that elusive iguana!