St. Barts was our first port of call. This toney Caribbean island is not on the usual cruise ship routes. St. Barts does not have a large pier, so passengers have to tender ashore, which discourages larger ships from visiting the island. Ronnie and I decided to rent a car, which was a good decison. We drove around most of St. Barts, stopping to admire the vistas, beautiful beaches, and famous airport. The St. Barts International Airport is famous because planes skirt a ridge crossed by a main road before dropping down to the runway. If you are on the ridge, the planes pass only about 20 feet overhead! It's exciting on the ground--I can't imagine how it must feel to the passengers on the plane.
Since St. Barts is only about eight square miles in size, it can easily be seen in a day, if you can resist stopping at all of its 20 lovely beaches. It was a gorgeous day, and that evening we had a fun barbecue outside on the deck.
We sailed at 9:00 pm, continuing south towards Dominica.
