Joy's Visit - Pirate's Week

On Friday night, we headed to George Town for the Pirate's Week festivities. We got there early and were surprised by how empty it seemed. We secured a spot in front of the water and watched the crowds flock in. It was tough work saving room for Jenn and Nate, but we held our ground.


I'm embarrassed at the amount of firework pictures I took, but decided not to bore you with more than two. It was a good show!


After fireworks, the five of us explored the food vendors and ended up at our favorite, Stingray Kisses Donuts. Donuts have become a Pirate's Week tradition!


We left George Town and headed to Jeremy and Sheena's for an 11.11.11 party. Brent had the idea to celebrate the date with a get together, but with Joy here I didn't want to organize anything. Luckily Sheena stepped up to co-host, and they threw a great party! We had mozzarella sticks, licorice, pretzel sticks, beef jerky (all stick foods to look like the number "1"). Brent created an awesome trivia game where all the questions related to the number one or eleven. Then we did a little countdown to 11:11 pm. It was a lot of fun, and a good chance to show Joy what great friends we have.

The next day, Joy, Brent and I went back to George Town a few hours before the parade to explore and get lunch. "It's Sugar" is quickly becoming one of my favorite stores. I don't ever plan to buy anything there, but it's so colorful and fun!


Brent was in awe of the "world's largest gummy bear." It was surprisingly heavy! They also had the world's largest gummy worm...$48 each!


We went to Beaches by the Bay for lunch. I stopped and asked if I could get a picture with these two friendly pirates.


Lunch was fun, but the crowds and heat made the parade a little less enjoyable. They do some a show where the governor gets captured by pirates, which I thought would be entertaining, but it was SO long and drawn out! We were ready to leave before the parade even started! Luckily we moved to a shaded, less crowded spot and enjoyed the first part of the parade from there. But I recommend skipping the preshow and just going to the parade for future attendees.

On Sunday we went to Spotts beach and on Monday afternoon we did a stingray city boat tour. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera for either of these events. You'll just have to check out Joy's facebook pictures for those adventures. But I did remember to bring my camera for our last dinner together. We went to Casanova, which is a restaurant right on the water in George Town. It was mine and Brent's first time there, and we really enjoyed it. Great food, atmosphere, view...and of course, company!


Check out that sunset!


I had a blast hanging out with my little sis all week. When we were in Cincinnati, Joy would come over for dinner once a week, and I really miss those evenings together. Joy was such an easy-to-please, laid back guest. I'm so happy we got to share a piece of our island adventure with her.

Before the visit I was thrilled that Joy would be here 10 days rather than just a week, but it still went by so fast! The apartment felt very empty without her on Tuesday. At least we get to see her and the rest of the family in a month at Christmas!

We love you, Joycerina! Thanks for coming to see us!