Location: Admiralty Bay, Bequia

I’ve never been one to wake up early but watching the sunrise over the mountains, and the beautiful blue water sure is a good reason to get up at 6:00… that and my obligatory anchor watch. The chefs today prepared us some fluffy pancakes for breakfast. During breakfast, everyone was last-minute studying for our first oceanography exam. We were all eager to get our exam and leadership class over with (Grady gave a fantastic presentation on groups, teams, and conflict-exciting stuff) because today we had a shore day! After just a small taste of Bequia from yesterday’s swim to the beach, we were all more than excited to have some more shore time today. We took the dingy over to the dock, split up into smaller groups, and set off to explore the little island town.

Keaton wanted to go into every store that we passed, so that’s exactly what we did. After spending much more money than we should’ve, we started to get hungry. We all agreed to meet up at Mac’s, a local’s recommendation, for lunch. Cleo, the restaurant dog, gave us a warm welcome in exchange for some of our food. Our first meal ashore has been highly anticipated and much talked about for the past week, so our expectations were high. Mac’s did not disappoint with some of the best milkshakes and pizza we’ve ever had. After feeling more full than we have in weeks, we walked down the boardwalk to a secluded beach and hung out. Some of us went swimming, some napped on the beach, and others took a quick hike up a cliffside trail. Johnny spotted a baby sea turtle that we named Crush.

The chefs selflessly returned to the boat early to start dinner, which was spaghetti and meatballs. Everyone came back back to the boat, excited to share their stories from their day on land. We have done so much today that it has felt like it’s been a week-long, but it’s not over yet! After everyone is done cleaning up, dive group one is going on the first night dive of the voyage! We have been promised flashlights that look like lightsabers underwater- so the expectations are high.

-Hi Paxton, Mom, and Dad, I miss u guys; tell the dogs I said hi. <3

Pic 1: the sunrise
Pic 2: Max and Ash matching outfits
Pic 3: Me and Erin
Pic 4: the main street we walked down
Pic 5: Erin and Keaton outside the Garden Boutique, where everything was extremely overpriced
Pic 6: Celia and Meg in their new outfits
Pic 7: Me and Keaton
Pic 8: Keaton and Celia with their pizza from Mac’s
Pic 9: Me and Max petting one of the many stray dogs we met
Pic 10: Celia and Meg just excited to be here
Pic 11: ice cream time
Pic 12: Katie, Celia, and Meg
Pic 13: Meg and Keaton finally getting their ice cream
Pic 14: Everyone showing off the dead starfishes they found
Pic 15: Celia and Max also enjoying their ice cream
Pics 16 and 17: Celia and Keaton getting excited over every dog she sees
Pic 18: Lunch at Mac’s featuring the beautiful view
Pic 19: Excited to finally have time onshore
Pic 20: Johnny showing off his sea urchin
Pic 21: Meg still excited just to be here
Pics 22 and 23: The cliffside hike
Pic 24; Johnny doing his second backflip because I accidentally missed the first time