Hoped to be more eloquent..but oh well..here it is..lol

Ok...where to start....Will do my best to recall what turned into a trip that I doubt words will adequately convey.
9 friends from Texas, Arkansas, and South Carolina met up on Dec 26th in San Juan, Puerto Rico before our morning flights to Beef Island..No problems at the airport in PR...Everything went smoothly.
Met up at Lupi's Mexican Grill around 10pm...Great place for drinks and to hang out with friends...Got the party started...drank too much... <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" /> then headed to our hotels to get ready for our morning flights...
**Won't try to tag each day because frankly...I can't remember every detail as I seemed to lose track of days...after all..we were on ilon time...
....We each caught our flights to Tortola...Some on Cape Air, some on Air Sunshine, and some on American Eagle...Everyone had good flights with no problems...
Ok...now I am not a fan of flying but I must say...the cab driver who hauled the 9 of us to our villa on the West End had this girl more scared than I was on my flights...... ; )
Nonetheless...he got us safely to our villa...Whoo hoo!!!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />
We stayed at the Spyglass Villa and Sabor Caribe...owned by Antonio Companys...There were 3 villas on his property....5 of us stayed in the 4 br villa, and 4 of us stayed in the 2 br villa...Antonio was on island at this time and he and his friend Trish were in the upstairs 1 br...I highly recommend this property..We had views of St.John and JVD..a private pool, very nice amenities, and maid service..Antonio and Trish were available but unintrusive...Very nice people and very warm..They made us dinner one evening..
Ok...so we had to get groceries, etc...Went to the grocery store and got all that done...Took a while with 9 people...lol
1st beach we went to was Smuggler's Cove, and I must say it is my favorite on Tortola..The guys played some football in the water and drank too much beer (that will be a running theme this week...lol) The girls played in the water and caught some rays...Truly a wonderful place...
Went to Quito's...caught him and his band..they were great..Had the Mahi Mahi and let me tell you it was wonderful!!!!!!!!! HIGHLY recommend.... <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />
We went to Quito's again later in the week for some more pie and drinks and caught him acoustic so that was cool too and actually like that a lot! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />
We spent lots of time exploring Tortola with the music turned up, the breeze blowing our hair crazy, and taking in the beauty and sunshine...Just taking it all in..Amazing!
We rented a power boat one day from King Charters...It was windy but we decided to go ahead and go...Had beer, sandwhiches, etc, water with us and headed across the Channel to Norman Island...Let me tell you that was one heck of a ride in that power boat..The waves were really choppy so it was pretty rough..but thankfully it didn't take too long and we got over to the Wille T. They weren't open yet so we went to the Pirates gift shop and got some cute tshirts, etc...Willie T opened at noon and we got some drinks...and several of our party jumped off the back of the ship (clothes ON-lol)..Wrapped it up there and headed over to the Caves for some snorkeling...Some of our group went and had a ball..others layed out on the boat and soaked up the sun....
Onward we went across the channel and went to Sandy Cay...Anchored too far out...figured we would just swimt to shore..no problem,right?? Wrong..Whooped my [censored]...
I guess the current, etc...Eventually we all made it but it was a hard swim...Spent time on the shore taking pics etc and then made the dreaded swim back to our boat...Dreaded is not quite strong enough word...but we all made it back safely. The sun was starting to set so we headed by JVD just to take a peek..It was the 30th so the Harbour was very full....Got back to the marina by dark and turned in the boat...Great day....Spent the evening at the villa with too many mixed drinks...lots of dancing out by the pool and just having a great time...
The 31st is what I will refer to as hell day...Went to Brewer's this am....started not feeling well....Dizzy, tingling arms and legs, chest tightness, etc... <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cloud.gif" alt="" /> Ahh heck.Had my friends take me to Peebles Hospital..Figured they could check me out tell me I was fine and that would be that...Um...no. Ended up spending 7 hours there. Got IV fluids (dehydration)...2 EKG's, 2 series of blood draws, etc....I will say that the Dr. was great..I am an RN...and she was very thorough and ordered everything that I hoped she would just to make sure to cover all bases...NOW-let me tell you the negatives...1st the orderly came in to take me for an xray. I questioned him..and come to find out..he had the wrong pt...Hmmm, ya think? About 30 min. later the nurse came in with a big syringe of IV medication...I questioned what it was for, etc...Turns out...yep not for me either...Ok..by this time..I just want the heck out of that place.....(Bonus-cost was $76 for what would have easily cost over $500 in the states) Finally around 9pm they reran my EKG, reran some more lab work and cleared me to go home ( I was leaving either way)...So the other 7 of my friends are at Foxy's partying on NYE and I was in the hospital...sucked! My husband and I got to the villa around 11:30...I waited up til midnight..told him Happy New Year and went to bed...
Happy New Year!!! I spend the first half of today resting and trying to feel better....After some help from Trish with some relaxation techniques etc..and some Zantac I started to feel well enough to venture out..We went out to Bomba's and hung out a while and took some pics,etc....
Jan 2nd we took the 6:45 ferry to St. John...this was one of my favorite days for many reasons....I had been looking forward to seeing St.John so I was on cloud 9 that I was well enough to go. Once we got there we arranged a deal with a cabbie and he was ours for the day at a set fee. He took us to Trunk Bay, Cinnamon Bay, etc..anywhere we wanted to go..It is truly beautiful there and I think Trunk is one of my fav's there...He took us to Caneel to eat breakfast...$29 per person buffet...Most of us skipped it, as we were not THAT hungry...I will say that Caneel's grounds are truly beautiful...If I had the money, I certainly wouldn't hesitate to stay there...But we are modest people and that probably won't happen...We went to Woody's for happy hour..who can pass up $1 beer..??? Did some shopping then it was time to catch the ferry...Where does the time go??? We took the late ferry which took us to St. Thomas then back to Tortola...
Went to Bomba's for the last night to hang out a while and listen to the waves crash, etc...
Headed back to start packing, etc...Tears fell...goodbyes were said.....6 of us headed out before sunrise and the 3 others soon followed....All to our respective home states taking with us a little sun, lots of love, and tons of memories that words will never convey....
I hope we can make it down there again soon...I am missing it all so badly already..........the friends, the smiles, the sun, the good times..... <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" />
Any questions..feel free to pm me..Will attach pics as well...
http://community.webshots.com/user/bnsilly?vhost=community

~~~Pam~~~

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