Friday, March 20, 2020

Charlotte Amalie, USVI
18.20.072N
64.55.483W

I know for those who are reading this and have never lived aboard a boat, its hard to imagine that doing some grocery shopping would take an entire day; but it does. 

We had our list, assembled our bags (2 Sam’s insulated bags each and a backpack each), made sure we had singles for the “safari bus,” lowered the dink, bounced across the harbor, nosed our way into the dinghy dock, walked a couple of  blocks to the bus stop and then climbed aboard.  Gerry and Nicky had sussed out this information previously, so there was no angst in making sure we were on the right bus and going in the right direction.  Once there, we all crossed the street, walked down the hill about a block and a half and while Nicky and I went towards the store, Dale and Gerry had to check out the Auto Zone along the way. 

When we arrived at the front door, Nicky and I were rather surprised to see a long waiting line to get in.  We suspected that this was due to the virus situation, so we grabbed our carts and got in line.  Within 10 minutes, we were surprised to see the police come in and move everyone back, I think they were trying to put 6’ between each person but were only able to get a cart length and a bit between each of us.  Everyone was accommodating and I didn’t hear any real complaining.  During this time Dale and Gerry caught back up to us (which was good as Gerry had the membership card to get us in.) Then we were held in line and only allowed in as people exited.  So there must have been a limit as to how many people could actually be in the store at one time.  Once we entered, our carts were sprayed with Lysol and off we went.  There were store workers who would only allow so many people in a particular aisle.  I went through as quickly as possible but still managed to load up my cart to the point where, first Dale, then Nicky and then Gerry all made a point to tell me that I still had to carry it all back in our bags.  So, I put back some Diet Coke; but the rest of it was going dang it! The fact that I found Dale’s favorite cereal was worth all of the aggravation.  Then we got in another line, with lines taped out on the floor to govern distance between each cart to check out.  Once we checked out, we moved outside where I divided up our purchases into the various bags trying to balance the weight among them.  Believe it or not, it all fit and no one bag was too heavy to carry.  We trudged back up the hill, caught the returning “safari bus” to the anchorage, back to the dinghies to load everything, pushed and shoved our way out of the dinghy dock, bounced back to the boat and put everything away. 

Now mind you, this was the bulk store.  We took time to grab a quick bite for lunch, then it was time to go to the regular store for smaller items like milk and bread, so once again, back in the dink, bounce across the harbor, nose our way into the dinghy dock, walk a couple of blocks to the Pueblo (which is actually right across the street from the original bus stop) for the smaller items on our mutual lists.  Gerry and Nicky finished first and sent Dale to see where I had gotten lost at.  I finished up, paid, loaded up the bags again, then hiked back to the dinghy dock, loaded everything into the dinghy, pushed and shoved our way back out, located a place to buy a bag of ice, dinghied to it (around many multimillion dollar yachts) to the fuel dock for them, to beg like Oliver Twist from sea level to a very high dock, please sir, may I have a bag of ice? Then bounce back across the harbor to the boat, unload and put everything away. 

It is now 3:30pm.  I’m hosting the BBQ this evening, so start making preps.  We have a pleasant evening, although I was disappointed to find out I didn’t have a copy of the movie Mauna (only the music CD) which I had promised to show Nicky as she had never seen it but we were able to show her another movie she hadn’t seen called Passengers.  About being stranded on a ship in space and not the trip you signed up for.  Just as unforgiving when things go wrong but with the right mindset, can be a life worthwhile.  Rather apropos I’d say. 

And that’s how you can spend an entire day, just grocery shopping.