Days 5-6 (November 11-12, 2024): One last dip and the journey home!

You plan a trip, you look forward to it for so long, and BAM - you wake up and it’s the day to return home. Oh well, that is how life works. 

We had planned to get up at 6, take a last beach walk before breakfast, and hit the beach for a few hours before checking out.  But when we peeked through the curtains, it was evident by the pouring rain that there would be no walk. So we took our time and had a leisurely breakfast.  The rain stopped briefly, and our hopes turned high.  But like a faucet being tuned on and off, the skies quickly opened again. By 9, we decided to sit on the beach under a cabana in spite of it. The wind whipped up, driving the rain sideways! It felt like a Newfoundland rain storm.  As you can see in the photo of Pam below, we found a sheltered spot on the pool deck and rigged up three layers of umbrellas.  At 10, the rain stopped, and we headed for the beach for one last hour, enjoying a wonderful swim in the warm Caribbean.

We pulled away from the hotel parking lot at 12:30, gassed up, returned the car at Avis, and took a shuttle to the airport.  Everything went so smoothly.  Then we learned our inbound flight from Miami was late, due to a mechanical issue.  Instead of leaving 3:40PM, we didn’t take off until 5:10PM.  Normally, that wouldn’t represent much of a problem, except this delay greatly jeopardized our connecting flight from Miami to Toronto.  When we landed in Miami, we parked on the tarmac for what seemed an eternity, awaiting a gate assignment.  The stress of so many passengers was palpable, as many people had connections that were down to the wire.

When we finally deplaned, we walked - along with literally hundreds of others - on a journey that made the Camino de Santiago look like a cake-walk! All the moving escalators were out of operation, as was half the Skytrain route to move people to the massive Passport Control area.  Miami Airport, which is gargantuan, was an absolute gong show.  Long story short, we eventually cleared immigration, re-cleared security and made it to the gate with just minutes to spare.  I am not exaggerating when I tell you we walked a well over 2KM in the ordeal, suitcases in tow. And through it all, the worry of missing our flight was terrible. Miami Airport is off our list of transit points for a long time to come.

We arrived in Toronto on time at midnight, walked to the nearby Elements Hotel, slept four hours, and walked back to Terminal 3 at 6AM.  After a quick breakfast in a lounge, we boarded a packed but on-time Flair Airlines flight, from where I am writing this closing entry prior to takeoff.  Pam has to leave for school as soon as we get in the door, so there is no time to spare.

How quickly a holiday weekend is terminated by the stark realities of everyday life.  But still, these short breaks give spice to life.  Thanks for your interest in following this blog!

We awoke at 7:00 to see heavy rain pouring down on the resort. 

Each morning, we were able to order four items from the breakfast menu. Oatmeal, Greek yogurt, scrambled eggs and a bagel with cream cheese were my daily choices. 

When the rain still hadn’t stopped after breakfast, we decided to go to the beach anyway. The entire pool deck and beach were deserted!  The wind had whipped up, so we found a shelter spot by the pool bar and layered on the umbrellas. The rain finally stopped at 10, so we headed to the beach. 

One last 30-minute dip to conclude our time in St. Kitts! The smiles were genuine and reflected the wonderful and restful time we had. 

Sorry for the fan being in the way of a full view, but I just wanted to share this fascinating item hanging behind the hotel’s front desk. It shows key facts about each of the 12 islands in the Eastern Caribbean. Of particular note is the comparative topographical display for each island. Notice how some are very mountainous? Look at Dominica (devastated by a hurricane a few years ago) - the most mountainous of them all. 

On the way to the car rental agency to return the car, we passed another snack bar, as mentioned in an early blog entry. This snack bar being all about popcorn! Islanders love their popcorn, and this shack sells all kinds of flavoured popcorn. 

One last view of Mount Liamuiga, with Basseterre at the base. 

The inbound American Airlines flight from

Miami was late getting in, so we didn’t depart until just after 5PM (1 hour, 30 minutes late). The Airbus 321-Neo (next generation) was quite comfortable. 

After a few hours of sleep in Toronto, the Flair Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 left right on time at 7:20 AM and arrived on time at 10:30 AM. From 29° in St. Kitts to 8° and fog in Halifax, it’s still good to be home.