Honeymoon

Rachael and I are finally back in Pittsburgh now after our Caribbean honeymoon.  It was very strange to arrive in Spanish-speaking San Juan after such a long flight and realize that we were still in US territory.  But we didn't look around there very much until later; first we got on the boat, which took us to St. Thomas (one of the US Virgin Islands), Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Martin (which is jointly held by the Netherlands and France), and then back to San Juan.  Here is an ebullient Rachael shortly after arriving in St. Thomas:

And here, for Mom and Dad, is a picture of a kind of bird that we saw hanging out all throughout the Caribbean:

We went for a little swim Magens Beach on St. Thomas, which "National Geographic" claims to be one of the 10 best beaches in the world, although we did not find it to be that great, mainly because it was raining.

Our next stop, Barbados, was particularly lovely.  The people of Barbados seemed very happy and proud of their small, beautiful and well-run country, and were very friendly to visitors.  We went on a tour of the island which took us to its highest point, picked up a nice coral necklace for Rachael, hung out on the beach, and then I started to assemble my trousseau.  Here is Rachael relaxing with a nice book on the beach in Barbados:

Our next stop was the island nation of St. Lucia, where we mainly just sunned ourselves for an hour or so and then had cocktails.  Then we went to St. Kitts, which was a bit less intensely touristy.  We went on a tour of the island that included a visit to a really amazing fort that the Spanish (via their slaves) built in the early 16th Century:

While we were on St. Kitts, we paid a visit to a large stone that the native inhabitants of the island before the Spanish arrived had regarded as a symbol of fertility.

Our next stop was St. Martin, where we mostly explored the French side of the island.  We found a nice bakery and had croissants and baguettes, and my trousseau made great progress in the shirt department.  Here we are in the bakery:

Finally we returned to San Juan in Puerto Rico, which is the oldest city on US territory.  We explored its beautiful old town, which is the most Europe-like place I've ever seen in America.  Rachael and I really liked the Pina Coladas:

The last few days of our honeymoon were mostly spent loafing around on Condado beach in San Juan, avoiding sunburn pretty well until the very last day.  Here's the lower two thirds of me on a very stylish towel on the beach in Condado:

Hope you all enjoy the pictures.  -Throckmorton.