The Naked Truth, Hot Stones, and Some Bling

A little bit to truth telling may be required at this point. I originally had a massage scheduled for Monday at 2:00, but after lunch on Monday, I “stumbled upon” the nude sunbathing deck and decided to take a little sun treatment. Since sitting in the sun is one of my favorite pass times, and doing it naked makes it even more enjoyable, I was delighted. Our friends Frank and Andre from Germany were already there, so I pulled up a lounge chair and joined them. Greg and Ken from Chicago soon joined us, followed by John and Jay.

John and I have been friends for 20 years now, but much like my brother and I, we are very modest in each other’s company. So once we were all grouped together, at first there was a bit of strategic draping going on, but soon all cares were blown away on the warm Caribbean breezes - actually very strong winds.

One of the things that I really like about nude sunbathing is that along with the removal of clothing, people seem to also remove their conversational inhibitions. We met several of the people around us and we were having such a great time, I completely forgot about my 2:00 appointment.  Luckily, I was able to reschedule. 

Good Morning St. Thomas

Now back to St. Thomas....

There were only early morning appointments available and I booked an 8:45 AM massage; however, at 8:00 AM the phone rang and it was the spa asking if I could come in even earlier. So I quickly cleaned up, put on my robe, and headed up to the spa for a hot stone massage.

I was delighted to see that my masseuse was a bit more substantial than the tiny Asian lady who last year struggled to get the deep pressure that I like during a massage. She was quite wonderful. Her pressure was just right and she was not afraid to pull, stretch, and twist me as I grunted in pleasure (and a little pain). 

Freshly pulled, steamed, and oiled, I joined the boys for breakfast. We then headed into St. Thomas for a day of retail therapy. We did not book any excursions for this trip; however, last night’s dinner was definitely a foodie excursion. So today’s shopping would be our other onshore excursion experience.

I have not previously been to St. Thomas, so I assumed the shopping would be the same old Little Switzerlands, Sunglass Huts, Margaritaville Cafes, Tee shirt shops, etc. Boy was I wrong. Apparently, St. Thomas is a duty free, jewelry purchasing destination. The entire shopping district is dedicated to bling – watches, gem stones, loose diamonds, gold, etc. 

After several abortive efforts to find something in my price range (i.e. one watch we looked at was $22,000 and included pieces of moon rock), we found a nice little shop called Artistic Jewelers. They had what we were looking for – all price ranges in styles that fit our lifestyles. I exceeded my budget on the first watch – the second one was much more reasonable. We actually spent so much money as a group during out visit, that they started pouring us drinks from their secret bar. Add to this bill a lovely new pair of designer Italian sunglasses and my bling budget was busted, but I sure feel fancy, and after a few rums on the rocks, I was feeling quite happy as we returned to the ship.

Afternoon in St. Thomas by the Pool

A little more tanning, an early dinner, a nap, and late night dance party by the pool under the stars finished up the day. Today, I realized that time has really flown by on this trip. We have only two more days at sea before returning to reality. How ever will we keep ourselves busy?

Days like this remind us all of why we work - good food, good friends, dancing and laughing together – and of course those things that make us more sparkly on the outside.