I'm seriously considering taking up a coworker's invite to stay at his and his ex's B&B for FREE...on St. Thomas...for a week toward the end of August. All I'd have to pay is air fare and some other incidentals. Of course he's being gracious and I would offer to help. This is the week they don't have guests anyway and he has invited...
I would have to forego Crowduck if I do this...which I don't want to do...but yet this is new and I've been to Crowduck many times and Dave now has a babysitter. I'm kinda torn but maybe after the kids come back from Crowduck with their dad and my family, they'd get to go to the Virgin Islands with me. If my coworker agrees on that. I can help my coworker put up hurricane guards, etc. This will so rawk. I will try to find the home page of this place and tell me YOU would pass this up.
It could be I could go to St. Thomas a few months later like April 2007 and go on to Crowduck this year, so we'll see. It may be a possibility.
posted by Ann @ 10:55 AM
20 comments
20 Comments:
Wake-up Ann, you have committed to crowduck, the cabin is already rented, if you try to bale-out now Mom & Dad will be pissed. Not to mention I don't think they would allow just the 3 of them to go, especially in light of recent events! All sarcasm aside, I can’t believe you would even consider this after all that Mom and Dad have been doing for you!
Dan
You mean Micah, STeve, and Nathanael? They have gone to Crowduck without me before and no one said anything and no one was pissed.
What recent events? Dave and Rachel? Maria is going with them. Anyway Nathanael and Micah are going ahead of time with Mom and Dad to pick up Ellen and visit Grinnell, Macalaster, and Carleton.
How many cabins are rented? Four? If they say it really makes a difference I won't bail but you have to realize that I am an adult and can decide on where I go.
I find it hard to believe this would affect Mom and Dad in any way. I haven't made any decisions but sometimes I do need vacations to OTHER places. Aren't they in Greece right now? THEY go to plenty of ohter places.
I only get 2 weeks a year and I don't want to spend a week and a half of those listening to how selfish I am and how I'm a moron for believing what I believe.
I like Crowduck a lot and it's Nathanael's favorite place. However, I do NOT like to be pigeonholed or labeled as some sort of traitor if I don't go. Several times I have not gone either because of work or because we have gone somewhere else (like the year we drove to AZ and Monterrey). If Mom and Dad say it seriously makes a difference, I will concede.
You would make a good travel agent, but I've decided to pass on your guilt trip.
first of all, you are anything but selfish or a moron. I don't pick on you for your beliefs, just the same way you don't pick on me. And recent events.... duh, you and Steve nearly splitting up three weeks ago! My point is, when you commit to something you should follow through. I'm sure mom and dad would feel as if they will be responsible for taking care of Micah and Nate while we are there without you. I'm surprised you can't see that. and with all the help they have provided you and dave lately, they don't want any additional responsibility when at Crowduck.
First of all, Steve and I didn't almost split up. I was prepared to leave and he quit getting drunk. But leaving doesn't mean splitting up the whole marriage. Anyway, that crisis came quickly and was over. But I can see that it was a cause for concern. Thanks.
Nathanael is almost an adult and is capable of supervising himself. Micah needs supervision but Steve is quite capable of that!
Dad announces the date well in advance and we all say we will do our best. Now a couple of times I have bowed out for one reason or another and no one was pissed. With the kids, either Steve or I always go so they are well-supervised.
A vacation isn't really a vacation if one feels "obligated" to go. If I go it is because I want to go. If not, I just feel stuck.
You forget too that Maria will be there and I'm glad she is going to be there. She is going to have a good time.
You concede a couple of points, but you still don't get it. I'm not going to bother arguing it anymore becasue it's not really my place to say, since afterall Tracy and I are also just invitees.
I do want to go but I don't want to feel obligated. Love the fish but fishing is not my passion...I like to do it but I don't live breathe eat fishing like you guys- I guess I just don't always "get" it and I probably never have or will...Nathanael and Micah do, and that's one reason I really do want to go. I like to see them be the guys they're meant to be.
I love:
1. beauty of the area.
2. good eats.
3. Nick and Bill.
4. Lise's family and other campers.
5. having other relatives come.
6. Deer.
7. Solitude and nature.
8. games: poker, hearts, scrabble.
9. Laughing and joking.
10. Kenora and the surrounding area.
I'm sick of:
1. being eaten alive: black flies, no see ums, mosquitoes.
2. watching too many people (no names) get loaded.
3. being a little TOO isolated from other people. I know that's a plus for you all but I LIKE to meet and know other people. Even if it were just a small town like Whiteshell.
4. This doesn't detract from Crowduck a lot, but even Mom and Dad take several other vacations a year. They get their fun and sun places in every year- Australia, Greece, Costa Rica, Italy, New Zealand...the world is bigger for THEM and it is bigger for me, too. Since I have limited time for vacation, sometimes I need to choose on or the other (if I even am lucky enough to have another choice, thank God I am lucky enough to have a trip to Canada for virtually no $ on my part- thanks to my parents)...since I can't have both. If I had longer vacations and lots of money like my millionaire boss, I'd be able to do it all, but I can't.
PS Sorry, but I hate that beach, too and I don't like swimming in lake water full of leeches. I didn't put this point down earlier because though I'm more of a Florida Key/Island/Caribbean/ Mediterranean/ tierra caliente/ Cartagena/ Melgar type of person, I also don't care to swim with sharks and jellyfish in the ocean. So- swimming in any beach to me is a minus.
When I said you still don't get it, i wasn't talking about the fishing. fishing isn't my passion either. I fish once a year! The point is that when someone invites you somewhere and you accept you shouldn't back out because something more attractive comes along. It's like the girl that wants to dump her friend that she accepted to go to the high school prom with because a more attractive guy asked her. If you don't want to go you should have said so in the begining. When you declined going previously it was because of an inability to get time off from work.
I also like to go to new places; and do any time I can. but it is not a reasonable excuse in this case.
Dan Out
It's not that it's more attractive, actually. It's because it's different. It's somewhere I haven't been before. I may not get a chance again. I have been to Crowduck countless times in my life and if I keep living will go countless more times.
I do see your point. I never did say that I didn't want to go. I want to go to both. I may get to do just that. We will see. But just not both in August.
Is your coworker a single male if so with your current marital issues you may want to reconsider.
highly unlikly that going in April there won't be guest in the B&B. We went on our honeymoon in May and we were the tail end of tourist season.
St. Thomas is lovely but I am parial to the British Islands myself. From St. Thomas you can go to St Johns by ferry or Tortola or whatnot. On the islands it is hot and sticky but on the water it is lovely. We don't have any recolections of bug issues either. If you make it to the British side be sure to try a Pusser's Painkiller. Um, yum.
Snorkling there is great wether you stay on the island or go on a tour. Norman Island was GREAT snorkling. Everyone moves on "island time Mon" and the taxi drivers are flipping insane but punctual.
Given a choice I know where I would go. I would love to take Tom again and the boys... only if they were easier/older. I have been there twice and loved it both times. Sadly the Sir Frances Drake, our 3-mast tall ship we were on for our honeymoon has sunk. :-(
Sorry to hear of your ship sinking! yes, I am thinking of going...
The coworker is married...and his wife is former beauty queen...She was, I think first runner up Miss St. Thomas, or St Lucia. So- no one needs to even worry about that! :)
I just don't want to hurt feelings, while at the same time I realize I am being quite selfish here...yes...and then I also want the boys to be able to go to both places. Nathanael has expressed no interest in the Virgin Islands but that is because I don't think he realizes what he's missing. Micah is interested. He says he wants to go back to Florida but I told him, well this is kind of like the keys...similar weather...
Honestly whether he was married or not didn't cross my mind. So what if he was single?? Sheer foolishness there to worry about it.
Why is it selfish to think of yourself every now and then? Who else is qualified to think of your best interests?
I agree Toy- :) An anonymous poster had commented. Even if he and/or I weren't married, it wouldn't matter (to me)- I know who I'd be attracted to if I were single and he's not one.
You guys can have the islands down there. I've seen plenty of them and they aren't that great. Outside of walled off resorts and small sections of town, the rest of the caribbean is abject poverty, right down to goats grazing on the beach. The only place I haven't seen it was in the Caymans.
Oh, Bah Humbug to you!
The British Islands were lovely,Tom and I walked all over Tortola and it wasn't abject poverty. Poorer than the continental US but the folks were happy and very kind. I know that some islands are scary poor but not the Virgin Islands (that we saw and we weren't on a 'walled resort').
And what is the problem with the goats on the beach, guess I missed those. We had amazing white sand beaches, and crystal clear blue waters filled with colorful fish. Ahhhhh, I miss that trip. Good thing I still have the pictures. Great food, beautiful scenary, nice people. The humidity was more than I was used to being from the desert/mountains and all but I can deal.
I was surprised that it was so brown however. I always had thought that the Carribean would be greener. Oh well.
For someone who has never been I would still say it would be worth a visit at least once. You know, live a little, see someplace new, broaden a horizon.
-Have the curry, its yummy!
-Virgin Gorta is amazing with the rocks at the Baths.
-Norman Island (treasure island) has amazing snorkling) Like to see you snorkle in Crowduck ;-)
-There are great Steel Drum bands at the eateries on the beaches
-everyone has a zest for life even if they are poor.
Well you are right, I haven't been to the virgin islands. I guess I should expand on the places I have been to. St. Kitts which is just down the chain from the VI's, was as I described. 95% of the island was REALLY poor. Only felt safe at the resort and in a small section of the city. Drove around the whole island and it basically is a farm with beaches. Nice people but not a place you see in postcards. Jamaica was kind of a magnification of this. You really don't want to be out of the safer areas. Peurto Rico was one of the better places. Lots of hot hispanic culture there. Not safe in many areas but has a South America feel as opposed to a caribbean feel. Caymans were the most civilized, lots of upscale shopping and the Scuba divers holy grail. They are all fun places if you are willing to spend money to scuba dive, sail, jet-ski, or fish. If you don't like the beach then it's going to be a limited cultural experience. You also mentioned the keys. I just spent a few days in Key West. That place is a cultural experience in itself. Kind of has an end of the earth for lost souls feel. It really was a drag after awhile.
Guess I'm more of a northern guy. I once read that men go south and change it. When men go north it changes them.
North - Alaska, spent 3 weeks there with an ex and his parents. eek. But Alaska itself was magnificant!!! OH MY. I loved it there too. I want to take the boys there as well. Hiking, and the scenery. Ocean and mountains side by side. *sigh* Deep sea halibut fishing, glaciers, fjords, whales, wildlife out the wazoo! That's it, I NEED to win the powerball so I can travel again. Tom needs to be able to call in rich and thats that.
;-)
I HAVE been to Cartagena and Barranquilla, having lived in Colombia for a year. When in Cartagena (went twice) I went on a day cruise each time. Cartagena's beaches are quite South American and Caribbean at the same time. The bands on the beach, I remember.
I would like a chance to see the VI. If not this time coming up, then very soon. If not there, then PR.
I love Key Largo but we didn't have the time to go to Key West. Talking about it being a drag was funny because really if you're straight you're a little out of place there, I hear. :)
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