Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Parker's Paradise

After 9 days at sea, Parker dreamed of a cheeseburger. When the St. Thomas
yacht club had a TRIPLE cheeseburger on the menu for the evening, he begged
us to go with the Watts out to dinner. Of course, we relented and enjoyed
our last evening with the Watts. Seeing Angie, Chris, Meghan and Christina
at Cowpet Bay after 9 days a sea was a real treat. Though they don't see
each other often or communicate regularly, the kids fall easily into their
friendships. They had a ball swimming, kayaking and chatting.

Having just left the states, we had the fixings for a full Thanksgiving
dinner on board. A hot oven with 90 degree heat outside, why not? In NC,
Alyson took me shopping and we picked out a roaster in its own cooking bag
that would last in the refrigerator until Thanksgiving. After the fourth
day at sea, I realized the roaster was not a turkey but a chicken. Marc and
I decided not to mention this oversight to the kids, who loved the "turkey".

The biggest adventure of the trip was Chris and I going to Kmart for Black Friday. Since I (Angie) had little for the kids for Christmas or Sabrina's birthday, I thought it might be a fruitful adventure. Leaving the boat at 5:30 a.m. with my honey having to wake up and dingy in, I found Chris
waiting for me at the dock. He wanted to save on a new washer dryer for the
condo. The line at the store was already large with security guards trying
to control the line jumpers. We waited outside for 30 minutes, us and all
the locals. It was truly Black Friday. I tried to get a cart in but gave
up when I could not get it in the door. I guess now the stores open on
Thanksgiving day, taking families away from each other for shopping. With
the sale signs still up from the day before, I thought I was getting a
"deal" (still 40% higher than in the states) on games for the kids. After
waiting 45 minutes to check out a few bioncles, games and two pillows, I
realized no sale, full price today. Chris still had not been able to
purchase the washer dryers and almost gave up when they said, you have to
take it with you today. Inefficiency was in full force and the kindness of
the islands gave way to all out yelling for the precious washer dryers.
Never again I said. I believe I saved a whole $10. The Watts flew back to
Saratoga and the Johnsons fueled up and sailed to St. John.