Day 4 - St. Johns, Antigua

We were up early again for breakfast and off the ship by 8 am so we could get to our destination....renting scooters for the day and touring the island ourselves.  We had a blast!!!  On Antigua, you could visit a different beach each day for a year and still have one more left to see (366 beaches total on this island of paradise).  It was first settled in the 1600s by English colonists, Antigua remained a British colony until its independent in 1981 when it joined the British Commonwealth.

We rented our scooters from Cheke's Scooter Rental.  We arrived and each rented one for the day.  Brandon and Jodi were smart and paid with the card that held their rental.  Nick and I paid cash and then ended up being charged on our credit card as well ... luckily they refunded it quickly.  I was also a little irritated when we got there and the guy told us that we would also need to purchase a 'temporary drivers license' for and additional $40 just in case we were pulled over by police (when previously on the phone he said all we would need is a valid US drivers license in order to drive). We told him we weren't going to pay.  His demeanor instantly changed but he let us go without the 'temporary permit.'  We put on our helmets, grabbed a map, and headed out for the islands.  We drove through town for a bit and then hit some beaches.  It was just fun being on the back of the scooter, wind in the hair, and seeing all their island.  We stopped at about 6 beaches and the last one, by far, was my favorite.  I think if I found that beach in the morning, I would have planted myself there for the day - it was the prettiest water I've ever seen/been in.  We didn't know how to describe it and our pictures just don't show the beauty of this water like I thought they would.  Brandon and Nick said that it was like swimming in melted blue otter pops.  It was a light, pretty blue water and beautiful white sand.  I could definitely go back and spend a week in Antigua.

We went to Carlisle Bay where we snorkeled, threw the football, and enjoyed the water for a little bit.  You are suppose to be members of the resort in order to 'play' at their beach.  Brandon drove in like he owned the place and said they had lunch plans with the Scotts.  The guard let us all in.  While Nick was snorkeling, he found a crab that had found a big shell that he was carrying on his back.  We had to get some pictures of him - it was captivating to watch him come in and out of his shell and walk with it on his back.  After we were done playing for a bit, then we packed up and continued on to find some more beautiful beaches.  

We visited Turner's Beach, Darkwood Beach, and a few others.  We ended up at the Jolly Harbour which was my ultimate favorite beach of our trip!!!  It had BEAUTIFUL water and white soft soft powder sugar sand.  

That night we went back and first went and got some ice cream and sat in the hot tub.  Then we went to three awesome shows (the best night for entertainment on the ship).  We watched an Ice Skating Show (there was a girl there - the vide we took was amazing - she did ice skating and acrobatic moves in a hula hoop suspended in the air.  We then went to a Love and Marriage Game Show (funny).  They had dancing at the pool along with a midnight buffet (not that we needed to eat any more on the cruise but we decided to go).  The presentation of food was fun with all the ice sculptures and fruit.