Catching up (Carnival Edition)...

Yes, it's been a while (too long) since our last blog entry. Leslie has been busy (as you'll soon see) and things are heating up a little on the leaving Florida behind front, But let's not get ahead of ourselves. First things first, let's get caught up. And with that, I now turn you over to our on island correspondent...

I have been slacking this month in terms of getting info to Steve for the blog so I am so sorry! I got a fire under my butt today while I was helping out at St John Kids/ Spice for our dear friend who needed a little extra help. A couple came in and said "you are EagleRayLover ( my name on a travel forum), I stalk you a little on line!"

So I apologize and will update on some of the craziness in this month of July!! 

Let’s start with Carnival- although we have been to St John many times we have not been during this time of year.  I decided to get up early and go down to town and see some of the prep for the parade! (Jouvert is the early morning - 4am walk that locals come to and walk the streets in their own type of parade! I went down to town around 7:00 so I saw the tail end of the fun people, who were definitely excited about the day's events! I just walked around, taking pics and visiting with some people in the parade. I actually helped one women stock her booth with food at the festival area! Around 10:30, I decided I needed to find the perfect spot to watch the parade. I decided I would try Quiet Mon, a bar that is on the second floor. You can imagine my surprise when I got front row seating at the balcony!!

I was met by two dear friends, Randy and Marcia, who were visiting from Maryland, and we were ready to go!! Parade was supposed to start at 11:00, but it was on island time and started at noon. It was so much fun watching the dance groups, music, the little kids, the princesses, and my favorite - the mocko jumbles!! 

What's a mocko jumbie you may ask? They are  people on stilts that dance and do acrobatic maneuvers! They wear vibrant costumes and love audience interaction. So being on the balcony, we were in the prime place to visit with them (by visit I mean give them a beer!)

 

Next we went to dinner at Rhumblines, where several of my favorite local peeps work. We had a party of nine and had a great dinner! Later we all went to Randy and Marcia's condo to watch the firework display and eat my homemade chocolate chunk cookies! Fireworks were fabulous and we may have had the best seat on the bay!!

I had a fun, fun day that I cannot wait to share with Steve and the boys next year, but I was exhausted by the end of it!!