The long awaited trip from San Juan to New York City has finally begun. We left home about 6:30 AM for our ride to ORD. After parking and checking in, we enjoyed breakfast at the Macaroni Grill in Terminal 3 before boarding our AA flight to San Juan. Everything started out without a hitch. After a long flight we landed at a partly cloudy, partly wet San Juan airport. All we wanted to do was get our luggage and head to the ship. When I saw the first two bags come out on the belt I thought to myself this is great....all is going so well. I turned to Peg, smiled, and jokingly said, well.....2 out of 3 ain't bad. Little did I know at the time, that it would be the only two bags we saw of ours on that day. After the belt stopped and the people were all gone, all I could think of is that I need to file a missing bag report (mine) with the AA baggage service counter.
We were told to go to the ship and report the problem to them as well. We boarded the ship and all I could think of is that I may never see this bag again (we were sailing one way to New York). I told the passesnger services desk of my dilema and they told me that when the bag arrives on the next flight, the AA people will coordinate the delivery of the bag to the next island (St. Thomas). Between the ship and the port agents and the AA people, my bag did arrive in our stateroom at about 4PM the next day. I was impressed and surprised. I was never really certain I would get the bag so I ended up having to go shopping in St. Thomas and pick up a number of things. Once the bag arrived, all my stress was gone and I was ready for vacation to begin...now with more clothes than I need.
Peg was just going to do some shopping in St. Thomas and possibly visit a local beach. I was determined to spend the afternoon sailing on a catamaran out to Buck Island for some snorkeling. The 45 minute ride out to the island cove was great. The water was crystal clear, there was a sunken drug runner boat to explore under water, and the fish were everywhere. I learned about Parrot Fish and how they eat rock particles. A single Parrot Fish can produce 1 metric ton of sand a year via their digestive system! After snorkeling for an hour or more, we sailed back to St. Thomas to the tunes of Bob Marley and thirst quenching rum punch. Seeing my suitcase outside the door of Baha B-226 sort of made my day.
