Lindquist Beach-Smiths Bay
We were staying on the island of St Thomas during this visit.
Lindquist is pretty much the next beach over from Sapphire. It's a 21 acre protected park that you have to pay to enter. There are no places there there sell food or drinks, so you have to pack your own. There are nice restroom facilities and showers and there are picnic tables in different places under the trees. The beach is pretty long so plenty of room to spread out. They also do have lifeguards there as well.
So we arrived, paid our admission of $5 per adult (kids are free) and were told we could drop off everyone and our items, but would have to come back up to the entrance to park and the driver walk back down. It's a bit of a haul for this driver so Billy and B decided they would drive back to park the van.
We picked out our spot under the trees that had 2 picnic tables and set up our area...which really consist of throwing our things down and heading to the water!
One of the trees we sat by had a cactus growing around it. I thought that was a little strange.
The beach was beautiful...just how I remembered it last time we were there. Kendra immediately looked for the tree she had carved Billys name in last time we were there. But we looked and looked and I mapped it out and the branch was no longer there. A lot of the trees in the area had branches cut off of them and I imagine that it was one of them with all the carvings in it that time that was cut off. She was sad because she wanted to show Billy it...but it was 2016 when she did it I believe. So, chances were slim that it was going to be there anyhow.
I asked Sakari if she wanted to head out snorkeling and she was more than eager to go. She morphed into a mermaid and led the way. Now snorkeling here is not the greatest. This place is known for it's beautiful sandy beaches. But there is some snorkeling to the right (if you are facing the beach). So that's the way we headed. Out and to the right. The water clarity was not the best.
Like I said, it's not the best snorkeling and I did discover that the further OUT you went was not as good as being closer to the shore. So, we spent a lot of time in that area instead.
At one point I came up and asked Sakari if she was ready to head back in. She said yes and we went back under and I immediately found something to take a picture of and looked back up and she was GONE! Like totally GONE! She was almost up to the shore back where we started from and I mean that was far! I couldn't believe how quickly she went back. That fin gives her some speed! Maybe she really IS a mermaid.
By the time I arrived the mermaids had multiplied!
The kids decided it was time to build sand RESORTS (well, at least that's what Kam did). She had the main building and hotel area, then up on the hill were the condo's and it had a pool as well...only the pool wouldn't hold water well. LOL
Sakari and B decided to start working on their own. Only...I think were digging their way to China instead.
I stayed along the shoreline in search of seaglass. I was successful and found a few pieces and was happy that I managed to find a few brown pieces instead of the normal green ones. I found a few nice shells worth keeping as well.
Everyone had worked up an appetite and we decided to break out lunch and eat under the trees. I think the sound of food woke Billy up, who immediately threw down a beach towel on the sand under the tree and took a nap as soon as we had arrived. I mean after all, I'm pretty sure had been for maybe...2 hours at this point? LOL
Of course you can't do anything with the birds automatically becoming your new best friend.
After eating lunch, the hubby and I decided to walk down the beach. I needed to work off some of this lunch I had just had and actually wanted to see the area that Kendra and I had walked down to last time. There was an area that started getting a little rocky, but you could still get in the water and it was deep enough to snorkel. Then if you followed that right out to the buoy ropes, there was pretty good snorkeling there as well. So, off we went.
We went pretty far down and around the corner and it didn't look anything like the last time we were there. Everything was definitely rocky, but no areas that you could go in the water and it was very shallow.
Once my foot couldn't take it anymore. We turned around. It is so hard to walk on the beach when it's slopping and one foot is lower than the other. I struggled to get back and took frequent breaks along the way. Taking pictures of everything is always my excuse to stop and rest.
When we made it back, there were seagulls surrounding Sakari and B. Only my child would take a bag of chips out into the water. Seagulls must be able to spot food a mile away with those keen eyes.
As soon as we arrived, I was greated by Miss Repeat "Mamaw, where you been? Mamaw, where you been? Mamaw where you been?" Then the subject changed to "Will you take a picture of me jumping like you did that one time?" I couldn't believe she remembered that. It's been awhile. But hey...I'm game for giving it a shot.
One, Two...(jumps) No, wait until 3 Kam. Ok, One, Two, Th...(jumps)wait, not yet. One, Two, Threeeeee (finally jumps when she is supposed to) Perfect!
Kendra was laughing and of course my reply was...let's see you do it! No really...I really mean it! Kendra's always up for a challenge so of course she did it with Kam. Now I'm pretty sure that Kendra thinks the wider her mouth is open, the higher she will jump. I didn't want to spoil it for her.
A little bit of cooling off for Kendra, Kam AND BILLY! Wait, what?!? He was in the water? And up to his neck? Something is bound to happen at this point. He don't get in the ocean for anything. We make fun of him constantly and the time he decided he would get in the water when we were in Bermuda....don't you know he came out of the water bleeding and saying a fish bit him??? Of all the luck and us trying for so many years to get him in the water and telling him the fish aren't going to hurt him and that happens! Well, it's been many years since that incidence and he was willing to try it again.
It was around 2:30pm and we decided to pack up and leave. As we were packing, Sakari and Kam were dancing. I don't know where they come up with these dances but all of the kids seem to know it. This was not a good example but it was at least funny to watch them.
They have a lot of fun together. Actually all Sakari's neices and nephews love Aunt Sakari. I'm so glad they are close to her. Sakari and B have become really close lately and he stays with us a lot and they have so much fun making up dances and hand shakes and the kind of "patty cake" hand slaps. They have an entire routine. LOL
