Turkey & Pineapple: An island-style Thanksgiving Day 6

It was a beautiful morning to give thanks. No rainbows this morning, but the clouds reflected in the water were a nice touch.

And it was Thanksgiving! I started thinking of all the things I was thankful for. Of course, I was thankful for my wonderful husband, sweet parents, my dogs (on days when Bella hasn't shredded a roll of toilet paper on my bed and I'm not running after the puppy trying to get a piece of dog poo out of her mouth), my job (at least on Friday afternoons), great family and friends, my health....... but on this particular day there were so many extra things to be thankful for:

• I was thankful that I hadn't ordered that last plate of all-you-can-eat shrimp the night before.

• I was thankful that Matt hadn't decided we needed to bring running shoes on this vacation.

• I was thankful that, as much as I love them, my dogs were with my mom and I didn't have to pick up one single dog turd all week.

• I was thankful for turkey. And for the fact that I am not one.

• I was thankful that I didn't have to cook a turkey because Sam and Jack's Deli was doing it for me.

• I was thankful that I was stuck on an island so that I wouldn't feel compelled to go out at 2:00 a.m. in my PJ pants & Uggs with no bra so that I could fight all the other women for $5 scarves at the Old Navy Black Friday sale.

• I was thankful for RUM. (and Advil)

• I was thankful for pumpkin pie. And thankful that I didn't feel a compulsory urge to Google "How Many Calories Are In a Typical Thanksgiving Meal?" Seriously. Who cares?

• And Maho Beach! This morning I was thankful for Maho!

We dropped the ladies off at Annaberg and we headed to Francis Beach. I decided I was also thankful for Francis Beach.

And a couple of hours alone with Matt!

Francis was lovely. And not just because we didn't have to tote 4 beach chairs up and down the sand. It was just a perfect day. It was early, so there weren't many people on the beach.

We had a "let's try to eat all the leftover food since we are leaving tomorrow" picnic at the beach. I think my favorites were the bastardized deviled eggs I made with spinach dip and cream cheese because there wasn't any mayo.

Before long, it was time to collect Elaine and the MIL from Annaberg. The views across the water were spectacular.

We stopped for more photos at the Trunk Bay overlook, because I only had about 986 Trunk Bay overlook shots so far on this trip and everyone knows you can never have enough photos of the Trunk Bay overlook.

Then it was on to Sam and Jack's to pick up our Thanksgiving feast. We had ordered the traditional Thanksgiving dinner for 4 and when she brought out the food, I was sure there was a mistake. It was enough food to feed a family of 20.

We dropped the food off at the house and left the ladies to rest while we decided to take advantage of our last beach day and hit Cinnamon Bay until the sun sank low in the sky.

Still not ready to give it up, we made a quick stop at Gibney / Oppenheimer. It was my last beach day, after all.

Enjoying some alone time, we headed to Caneel Bay Beach Terrace for a cocktail before calling it a day.

It was getting late, and I had a Thanksgiving affair to put on, so we headed back to Azul Peter Bay so that I could rummage around in the kitchen to see what sort of Thanksgiving table I could set.

It wasn't too shabby.

The food was RIDICULOUS. It was enough to feed an army and it was outrageously delicious: Red Bliss Mashed Potatoes with Roasted Garlic, Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots with Tarragon, Green Beans with Crispy Fried Onions, Ciabatta Stuffing with Caramelized Onions, Apples, and Sage, Rosemary Cranberry Relish, Garlic Buttered Rolls, an Herb Roasted Turkey with gravy, and a Pumpkin Pie. We also had a dish of plantains that Elaine had cooked up using some plantains the landscaping crew had whacked out of a tree and left laying outside.

As the sun set on our Thanksgiving and our last night on St. John, I WAS thankful.

I was thankful that I could be here and spend this week with family. I was thankful for my sweet husband who loved his mother enough to make her this promise. And keep it. I was thankful for a MIL that loves me and accepts me as her daughter and is a delight to have in my life. I was thankful for sweet Elaine who had been a joy all week.

I was also thankful that I had brought a pair of elastic waist pants.