St. Thomas (Friday, March 15th, 2019)

I never get tired of the Caribbean, or it's beautiful beaches, but after several days of sun and sand, we all decided that it would be good to take a day off, and this was the perfect location.  The town was mere steps from our cruise ship port, and it had plenty of fun to offer.

The six of us cousins decided to visit the Pirates Treasure shipwreck and pirate museum.

Of course Stacey had a drink in her hand!  She's really enjoying her vacation! 😂

Pirate Dan!!!

In the gift shop of this museum they had some of the most beautiful local art.

The museum is incredibly informational, with very knowledgeable staff.  One of the staff members is actually a treasure hunter who has recovered many of the artifacts found in this museum.  UNESCO estimates that there are over 3 million ship wrecks world wide.  Some of the artifacts are restored to pristine condition and others a left as they were found with remnants of the sea still visible.

They had a hurricane simulation machine that Steve decided to try.  He said the force of the wind is unbelievable.

We also had a chance to try Zeus, the machine that is used for recovering underwater treasures.

Steve also tried a virtual reality treasure recovery.

We learned knot tying.

and tried some rum!

Toward the end of our museum experience, the treasure hunter opened up his bottle cabinet and began showing the contents one at a time, allowing us to hold them and look at them up close.  It was an amazing collection of bottles that had been recovered after hundreds of years under water.

When we finished at the ship wreck and pirate museum, we headed to a little marina restaurant called the Fat Turtle.  It was in the perfect location near the cruise ship terminal.

Just over the rail from our table was an iguana enjoying an afternoon soak and lots of beautiful reef fish.

Prices at this little place were good for the Caribbean, and they had a nice food menu as well.

Conch fritters and beer.  Now that's hard to beat.

The view from our table.

We were all pleasantly surprised by the Pirates Treasure.  It was a great way to spend our morning in St. Thomas.  I also highly recommend the Fat Turtle.  It was a great day with Steve's family!

And then we had a great sail away from this beautiful island!