Vacation - last installment!

I believe this will be the last in my vacation picture series! We really should be getting back to the whole flower theme of this here blog. Funny how a week away from one's normal life can be so distracting even upon returning to said "normal" life! The tan starts to fade after a while, but the vividness of the sights and sounds are still just right there!

Here are some pictures of the roiling surf in Tortola's Long Bay:



This is my husband body-surfing at Smuggler's Cove. The last two days we were there, the waves were really big!


You will not find any photos of me body-surfing. I had a terrible, terrifying incident the last time we visited Tortola. We visited the same place in Long Bay for our belated honeymoon in 2003. The waves were pretty big that year, as it was this year, but I had always been a very strong swimmer. During my childhood summers, you'd find me either in our pool, at the beach in Traverse City or in the trout stream that outlined our yard. I was a fish and have always deemed myself a very strong summer.

Well, let me just tell you about rip tides, my dears. They are scary. Scary scary. I swam out a ways, and couldn't get back in. The harder you try to get in, the more the undertow carries you out. Panic sets in and then you REALLY can't get anywhere! It is common knowledge that you are to swim parallel with the beach until you find a spot where the undertow is not as bad, but, seriously? When you cannot get back into the beach, the farthest thing from your mind is logic!

Luckily my husband, who is even more of a fish, saw the look of terror on my face and swam out to rescue me. He dragged me back in toward some shallows where we could get some footing. Unfortunately the sea urchins were plentiful in this spot and I stepped on one, and also managed to scrape up my legs pretty badly. It was a very upsetting event, not just because of the injuries, but also my ego! Crud! I no longer feel completely free in the water - especially if there are waves.

Anywho, that's my sad story...No body-surfing for me!

Ok. Back to prettinesss! This is a view on our way up to a high, high hilltop restaurant called the Bananakeet on the way to Cane Garden Bay. I believe this is Carrot Bay, below:


And this was the view from our table at a pretty, little restaurant on Carrot Bay. It's right across the street from a fancy-schmancy hotel and restaurant called The Sugar Mill. I had delicious fish tacos here!


Lastly, here are the shells we collected on this particular trip. Everywhere we go, we come home with a collection of neato shells...Maybe that can be another future post! Shells I have known and loved!