Sunday = Beach

Happy Christmas Eve eve!

I'm sure you're all breathlessly gathered around your computers waiting for your Sunday beach photo.

What? You're not? You're in the midst of holiday travel? or have already reached your destination and are enjoying family and friends?

Makes perfect sense. If the Man and I were home we'd be doing the same thing, but we're here - and everyone pretty much ends up on the beach during the holidays - so we'll put on a brave face and do the same :)

Sunday on St. Thomas is a big beach day for locals. Most people go to Magens Bay and drive all the way down to the left side (if you're on a boat looking at the beach that would be the right). This is where the locals hang out, far away from the beach bar and the cruising tourists. We bring coolers, grills, food, booze, frisbees, water floaties...you name it. Our group wavers between 8 and 20, and we've had pork loin, fajitas, breakfast, salmon, burgers - if you can grill it you can bring it. And we will eat it.

Here's a shot from two Sundays ago:


Sunday beach day is one of my most favorite things about living down here; even if you haven't been in touch with people during the week you know you'll see them on Sunday. I don't know about you but for the Man and I that didn't happen back home, there was no one day where people gathered like clockwork to catch up and have a few drinks.

Sunday is also where we learned how to play Polish Horseshoes (as Polish people everywhere groan...). It's pretty simple, you get two poles about chest height and poke them in the sand so many feet apart. You then fill a soda can or water bottle with sand and balance it on top of your pole. Teams are two people, and the object is to knock off the other team's bottle with a frisbee toss. The game is played to 21, you can score in 1 of 3 ways: if you throw the frisbee and the other team doesn't catch it that's 1 point. If you hit the pole and both frisbee and bottle hit the sand that's 2 points. If you score a direct hit on the bottle and both bottle and frisbee hit the sand that's 3 points. Once a team is halfway to 21 you switch sides.

Here are the rules: A) If you're on the receiving team you can't reach in front of the pole to catch the frisbee, that's called a 'frontal' and the other team gets a free throw. B) If you have a poor frisbee toss and it lands in the sand in the middle of the poles the receiving team gets to draw a line in the sand where it fell and throw from there, which is a big advantage. C) You must be holding a beverage in one hand during the entire game (there are time outs for refills).

I'm happy to say that last year myself and another chick became the First Ever Girl's Polish Horseshoes Team, and while we haven't won yet (our high score is 11) we are getting better. My partner is well endowed and I keep telling her to take her top off as a distraction, she just hasn't been drunk enough yet. And no, the guys don't take it easy on us, they throw as hard as ever.

Here's a game in progress:

Beach Sunday usually wraps up around 4:30-5ish and people either head home, to Sibs bar (for football games), or to our house (if we're having a Pats game party). There are those Sundays where you get into good chats and just hang until 6, but as dusk rolls around there are sand gnats that will come out and find you, so we usually just pack it in beforehand.

It's almost 11AM here, time to change into my suit, pack the cooler with beers and head out the door.

Peace.