Tuesday morning, I awoke to a warm room with no buzz from the air conditioner. I turned on my computer, and alas, there was no internet. No internet automatically puts me into a panic, but when I went to brush my teeth, no water dispensed from the faucet. Oh. Dear. God.
"No water. But why is the rum gone?"
At first, I thought the utility bill was not paid properly. But when I heard the loud buzz from the generator at the Ritz-Carlton, I felt a slight wave of relief that it wasn’t just us. I put on my bathing suit and denim skirt and headed out the door to Coki Beach for work.
When I arrived at Coki, it seemed as though none of the stands had power either. This could possibly be a disaster, as beer needed to be kept cold, food couldn’t be cooked and the blenders couldn’t blend without power. I spoke with my boss, Peter, who informed me it was the entire island that was without power. Yep. Thirty-two square miles without power or water indefinitely. Fan-friggen-tastic.
A few stands had small generators they could use so profits wouldn’t be at a total loss for the day. This was fantastic, as it was one of the busiest days I had on the beach. Thank goodness Boise could work those blenders, because the orders for Bushwackers just kept coming in. No power or water meant lots of drinking on the beach!
Rumors circulated throughout the day about the lack of power and water on this 32-square-mile rock. First, I heard there was an explosion at WAPA (Water and Power Authority). Then I heard a fire raged throughout the building. And finally, as rumors kept circulating, the lack of information turned into, “There was a terrorist attack at WAPA.” I guess that’s the world we live in today; if are without water and power for 3 hours, we automatically assume some radical from the Middle East has sabotaged our lives.
After the day ended at work (around 4:30 – I stayed an hour later because it was so busy), I headed into Red Hook because the power was still not back on. I ended up at Island Time, the outdoor bar at American Yacht Harbor with a view of the harbor and St. John. It was unbelievably busy for being only five o’clock. The sun was just setting, and it was getting more and more difficult to see without the assistance of light.
Liberty and Josh brought out little lanterns so us island villagers could see our drinks (just to make sure we were drinking our own drinks.) Unfortuntely, Island Time had to close at around 7, so we made our way over to Saloon, where the entire restaurant was filled with hungry people. Saloon had a generator and was able to make a select few things on the menu; however, serving a restaurant full of hungry people all at the same time is a bit of a feat. We all waited for our food as patiently as possible.
Now, what is there to do on an island where there is no power and no water? Go to the bar and drink. So we all had a great time, even if we were squinting from the lack of light in the bar. One by one, most everyone left, hoping for the power to return eventually. This left Doug and Dave Holst, CJ (a Tuesday and Friday night regular at the bar), and myself.
Doug started to tell me of a time where CJ took him on an adventure throughout the island. He ended up at a tiny little roach coach drinking Spider Rum – a jug of rum with bitters and a tarantula fermenting in the bottom. While Dave and I were aghast, CJ made a suggestion to Doug that we go on a final adventure before Doug left island.
Though I was hesitant at first (as I believe anyone would have been), I knew I trusted these guys more than anything. So I told them I was game and ready to go. The four of us paid our bar tabs and we left Saloon.
We jumped into CJ’s SUV, and I placed my bag underneath the seat, only to place a twenty in my back pocket. Doug and Dave sat in the back, and since I was the only female, I automatically got shotgun. I was psyched for the adventure, and pretty sure it was going to be a wild night.
We made our first stop at a little roach coach, where CJ attempted to order four special drinks he had been craving – gin and coconut milk. Unfortunately, the coconut milk was unavailable, so we made it three gin and cokes and one gin and cranberry. Note to self: gin and cranberry tastes like Christmas in a plastic silo cup; while this may be to your liking, having the taste of spruce needles and cranberry in my mouth was not all that pleasant. Dave and Doug proclaimed that the gin and cokes were fantastic, although I wasn’t sure if they were being sarcastic or not. Doug made friends with some hefty St. Thomian before saying some alcohol-induced, ridiculously-phrased farewell.
We made our way in the pitch black (the night only lit by the abundant stars and the occasional battery-powered light) back to CJ’s car and continued on our adventure. We were bound and determined to raise some hell, so CJ turned up Willie Nelson as loud as Willie could sing on those Bose speakers as we cruised throughout the island. You want to find trouble, you play Willie Nelson. It's that simple.
The thing is, there are only a few main roads in St. Thomas, and as long as you see water you really can’t get lost. So CJ drove us around every main road (and some back roads) he could think of, bringing us through some of the shadiest places on island. However, even the shadiest of places were deserted due to the pitch black of the night. We followed every road everyone could possibly think of; Doug kept spouting off random disreputable places he kept a record of in the back of his mind. Each one we came to proved to be a disappointment due to the lack of electricity and patrons.
About twenty minutes after we first sipped our gin concoctions, Dave finally realized that gin and Coke really had a quite unpleasant taste in reality. (Duh, Dave. Really.) CJ’s drink had been long gone, so he decided that the remainder of my usual Cruzan coconut and pineapple drink was fair game. After one sip, he proclaimed my drink tasted like suntan oil, but kept drinking anyway. (Yes, we were still on the road. No, there is no no-open-container law in the Virgin Islands. You can literally drink and drive. However, you cannot be intoxicated while you drive. Brilliant, huh? Welcome to the islands.)
After many unsuccessful attempts at finding the most trouble we could possibly get into, we finally decided our best bet was to head back to Caribbean Saloon. What a letdown! These guys were telling me tales of island mobsters, fermented tarantula rum and general insaneness, and here my adventure consisted of going for a ride around the island in CJ’s SUV before heading back to the bar I frequent half of every week.
CJ ended up heading home, leaving us three hoodlums at the bar for another three hours. The power amazingly came back on, and immediately, Doug hopped on the Video Crack (video poker machines) and ended up winning a couple hundred bucks. Of course, in an attempt to make sure he did not gamble all of it away, Dave held Doug’s winnings for the night. When Doug ran out of his gambling allotment, he turned to Dave and yelled, “Give me twenty of my money!” repeatedly. This sent us into hysterics.
Eventually, we all returned home… the next morning (or same morning, just a few hours later) was not too much fun for any of the three of us. But when we awoke, it was a bright, sunny day... and the power and water was still back, which was the most pleasant surprise. While we didn't get into any trouble and didn't end up raising any hell, it was one of the most fun nights I've had.
"It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves - in finding themselves." - Andre Gide
*And those who need adventure, they can sail the seven seas
And those who search for treasure, they must live on grander dreams
And if I've seen his face since then it's only been in dreams my friend
Since I came to the end of my pirate days...*
You know you love me.
XOXO,
- Island Girl
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