Baking In St. Lucia

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I decided to make St. Lucia a beach day. The next time we’re here will be my birthday and I’ll do some sort of exciting excursion that day. Today I just wanted to relax. Many people at home have commented to me about how great it must be to get to lie on the beach all the time. But it hasn’t happened as much as I would have thought, considering how long I’ve been down here. And for some reason, it’s never really felt relaxing. It’s more been just what I was doing when there wasn’t something else to do.

Today was like the best days of any vacation where you lie on the beach. St. Lucia is gorgeous. The beach reminded me of the Dominican - brown sand, pebbly, brownish water by the shore. But lining the entire beach were big, full, lush trees and scattered among them were tall palm trees. In the distance were the rolling hills of the island, all covered in the lush vegetation. Beautiful. We went to a beach called “The Wharf”, just outside of the city of Castries. It was so quiet, almost no people. Completely peaceful.

I remember one day when I was in the Dominican for Kristi & Dave’s wedding, I was swimming with Dave and admiring the scenery. I said to him I couldn’t believe that the Caribbean backdrop would soon be part of my daily life. Swimming today made me think of that. I was just so calm and peaceful.

But wow was the sun hot! I have some burns where I apparently missed with my sunscreen - random patches on my back only a few inches wide but so pink and swollen and sore! Tomorrow I’ll be sure to cover up.

I really needed today. My first few weeks here were really overwhelming for me. Then the last week or so I’ve been getting rather caught up in ship life drama. But today, the beauty of the beach, the warmth of the sun and the constant lapping of the waves provided me with the mental space and calm that I’ve been needing to sort through everything that’s been happening on the ship.

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