{"id":91388,"date":"2025-09-29T13:29:28","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T20:29:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/?p=91388"},"modified":"2025-09-30T06:23:37","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T13:23:37","slug":"day-3-charlotte-amalie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/?p=91388","title":{"rendered":"Day 3 – Charlotte Amalie"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The morning greeted us at 6:30 am!<\/p><\/div>\n

Charlotte Amalie is a city and cruise ship port on the Caribbean island of St. Thomas.\u00a0 It is the capital of the US.\u00a0 Virgin Islands.\u00a0 Its Danish colonial architecture includes Blackbeard’s Castle, a 1600s watchtower.\u00a0 The 99 Steps ascend to the tower, which has panoramic views.\u00a0 The 17th-century Fort Christian is now a museum with art and artifacts.\u00a0 East of town, the Skyride aerial tram climbs to Paradise Point.<\/p>\n

We arrived right on time thanks to Mary’s naughty knowledge (oops, I mean nautical knowledge).\u00a0 \u00a0The captain wanted to come to the cabin and check her ship’s driver’s license, but we told him to go ahead and park the boat.<\/p>\n

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Mary helps the captain steer the boat to the dock.<\/p><\/div>\n

It was a little nerve-racking, so we decided to enjoy breakfast on the veranda.\u00a0 Mary ordered the meal last night, so I was surprised we didn’t get raw goat and buttermilk!\u00a0 Dancing requires a lot of fluid (we call it dancing juice).<\/p>\n

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That was tough, so we decided to have breakfast in our room!<\/p><\/div>\n

I was allowed to dine with Her Highness this morning and did not have to wear my butler’s uniform.<\/p>\n

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Good groceries!<\/p><\/div>\n

The “kids” headed into town, and we stayed on the ship.\u00a0 It rained, but since the temperature was in the high 80s, they did not get soaked.<\/p>\n

Time to be pretty!\u00a0 Mary selected a “seaweed delight” from their extensive menu of things to do to your body.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Mary ordered some special treatment to make me look better.\u00a0 I think if she had three glasses of wine, her plan would have worked just as well.\u00a0 \u00a0Before we got wrapped up, they smeared green seaweed all over us; I looked like a giant watermelon!<\/p>\n

We smelled like an open can of tuna left on the counter for three days in the heat.\u00a0 Pheeeew!<\/p>\n

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They rubbed us with seaweed and wrapped us up like two burritos!<\/p><\/div>\n

After 75 minutes of hand-to-hand fighting with two small Filipino operators, we escaped with our lives, smelling like seaweed and attracting a lot of fish as we walked along the railings.\u00a0 Oh, I forgot, we took a shower TOGETHER to get the green goo off.\u00a0 Together, we worked hard to get the magic exilir off places that at our age, we can’t reach alone!<\/p>\n

We made it to the hideaway on the 11th floor and had a drink.\u00a0 Mary did her needlepoint, and I read the last six chapters of my adventure book.\u00a0 I looked over my shoulder and saw three cats following us.\u00a0 The tuna smell had not gone away yet!<\/p>\n

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After the massage, we headed to the sky lounge for some quiet time.<\/p><\/div>\n

We were a bit hungry and dinner was four hours away, so we went to the trough, where Mary found a salad, and I devoured a great hamburger.\u00a0 Colleen and Mark joined us for a light snack before we went to our rooms to get ready for dinner.\u00a0 The photographers begin snapping shots at 5:30 pm.<\/p>\n

Tonight is “Dress You Best” night, so tuxes and gowns are the dress of the night.\u00a0 We pulled out of port exactly at 5:30 pm, heading to St. Croix, USS Virgin Islands.\u00a0 I had a problem getting dressed; I could NOT find my suspenders.\u00a0 I had forgotten that I had them on my bright pink thong from yesterday’s stroll around the deck!<\/p>\n

We departed for a drink, some photos, and a walk around the ship around 6:15 pm.\u00a0 \u00a0I must admit, we overachieved.\u00a0 \u00a0We had dinner at the steakhouse at 7:00 pm and want to see the show at 10:00 pm.<\/p>\n

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We returned to the steakhouse for a wonderful dinner.\u00a0 The kids were all dressed up (as dressed up as kids get).<\/p>\n

I was in the steakhouse when the waiter brought me my steak, holding it over\u00a0the plate with his thumb.\u00a0 I said, “Are you crazy? What’s with your thumb on my steak?”\u00a0 “Sorry,” answered the waiter, “but I don\u2019t want it to fall on the floor again.”<\/h3>\n
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Surf n’ Turf, here we come!<\/p><\/div>\n

The waiter asked Mark how he liked his steak. He said rare.\u00a0 The waiter replied, “You’re in luck, today’s special is panda”.<\/h3>\n
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Chops for dinner.<\/p><\/div>\n

After dinner, we went to the show!<\/p>\n

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Off to the show.<\/p><\/div>\n

The music and vocals were outstanding.\u00a0 The “Andrews Sisters” did their act.\u00a0 It was a show-stopper!<\/p>\n

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The Andrews Sisters never looked like this!<\/p><\/div>\n