From the moment I stepped into my cabin, I have had either the theme from The Love Boat or Billy Ocean's "Caribbean Queen" stuck in my larger-than-normal-size head. I supposed it could be worse. I could be humming the song from Gilligan's Island. Ooops, wait, now I am.
We woke up to torrential rains so our exploration of St. Lucia was delayed somewhat. Eventually the skies cleared so we walked to the Castries Central Market. Since it was Christmas Eve, the place was packed with St. Lucians buying bread, meat and, inexplicably, large amounts of parsley. We made our way over to the touristy section to purchase Christmas ornaments and a hat that wouldn't blow off my head.
Even though it was only mid-morning, we popped into a place which sold intoxicating liquor for the local Piton beer, named after the spectacular Piton mountains. These bars were more like open-air storefronts and could only accommodate a handful of people at a time. Luckily you can drink on the sidewalk.
Of course, if it's Christmas Eve and you're stinking of alcohol there's no better place to go than a Catholic Church. After donating to the restoration fund, we took in the beautiful artwork as church members decorated the altar for midnight mass. One of the nuns was gracious enough to pose for pictures when asked by some of our fellow gawkers. I never would have thought to make such a request. She's a nun, after all, not a Disney character.
On the way to the beach the skies opened up again and my little travel umbrella only managed to keep our heads dry. Every other part of us was soaked. But it was worth the hike. The beaches on St. Lucia are stunning. This one also happened to be private. The friendly, but stern, security guard from the Rendevous Adults Only Resort (sounds a little creepy) led us to the only patch that was open to the public then gave us directions to a cheap bar.
As we sipped our Pitons, I was insanely jealous of the other patrons who, unlike us, had helf off eating lunch and were now consuming heaping plates of Creole food. If we ever go back to St. Lucia, this little beach shack will be my first stop.
At night, we put on our formal wear and dined in Reflections, ship's main restaurant, for the first time all week. The onboard photographer took a picture of us in our finery but, when my husband returned to the display to possible buy the photo, it was gone. Did somebody want a picture of the comedian as a souvenir? Was it bought by mistake? Either way, it's kind of weird.
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