Where to Begin

I'm glad to see you two made it back alright and I presume you had a lovely time.  As for our little hoo-rah, I shall start from the very beginning.

I was abruptly awoken at 4am by Mom, who simply opened my door and said, "Get up." Somehow, I found this offensive, but nevertheless, we were preparing for an adventure!  As I cheerfully zipped up my suitcase Ellen stormed in, angry at me because she didn't like the outfit she had picked out to wear to the airport. I did not see how this was my problem and became irritated at the less than chipper attitudes of my traveling companions.  Ellen searched my closet for an alternative ensemble while Mom scurried up and down the stairs frantically and Dad remained in bed.
As we hurled our luggage into the car, Mom scolded me for waiting last minute to find my headphones and Ellen continued sulking about her clothes. Once en route to Carolyn's, I took it upon myself to let those two know that they had greatly offended me and I felt none of it was necessary.  After all, it was a trip we were headed for and Mom is never crabby.  Once Carolyn joined us our moods lifted and the ride to the Myrtle Beach airport wasn't so bad.
After two flights, expensive magazines, and overpriced airport sandwiches, we arrived in St. Thomas! The open airport was humid but brimming with excited newcomers and red, peeling departing tourists. We were greeted by an island girl holding a tray of rum shots to which Ellen took to immediately. We met up with Kim in baggage claim and then waited for our rental car. We waited and waited. After 2 and half hours and once all the people had cleared out (including some employees), there we stood with 3 other people, still waiting. After receiving much sass from the Hertz woman we got our car and followed Ray, our rental homeowner, to our tropical residence.

 

Though it was rainy, the Villa Margarita caused much giggling and excitment from the four of us. Especially during our "tour" given by Ray and his wife who kindly greeted us with fruity drinks upon our arrival. Ray was very thorough in his tour, opening each and every cabinet door and drawer and even pointing out light switches. We get it already!!

 

The house sat on a cliff on the Atlantic side of the island with views of St. John and Tortola as well as Hans Lolik, which Carolyn referred to as Hans Solo. Though the pool was level with the driveway, the house itself could only be reached by descending a number of wooden stairs that were crawling with big and small lizards.

 

Once we settled in, Carolyn and Kim made the treacherous trek to the Cost U-Less, the nearest grocery store, to grab a few things.  It got dark quickly and because of the windy roads, switchback curves, and left-side driving, Mom became very panicked that they would not find their way home in the dark. She waited nervously, wishing they had not gone, especially after we noticed they left their map in the house.  Mom also feared they would be angry upon their return for having had so much trouble finding our hidden villa.  Shortly though, they turned up with big smiles and arms full of groceries.  They had no trouble finding the house and were giggling incessantly at their own silliness.  We thawed some frozen pizzas and after a quick visit from Jared, we all went straight to sleep.