Day four found us with our second land day of SQL Cruise Miami 2012.  As a group we decided to take the lead from someone who had been to St. Thomas a half-dozen times in the past…

We decided to not go to St. Thomas.

Yes, we hailed a taxi – all thirteen of us – and made our way to the opposite side of the island from the cruise ship docks and the host of trinket and jewelry shops for a ship of a different kind; one that would take us to St. John for our final destination: Trunk Bay.  This may have been my favorite stop on all of the SQL Cruises so far though it’s a close vote with our snorkeling trip in Ketchikan, Alaska last year.  Odd how both these trips involve snorkeling and 5,000 miles in opposite directions.  Brent Ozar was our tour guide on this stop of SQL Cruise Miami 2012.  We made our way from St. Thomas via ferry service to St. John then hailed a second taxi to the U.S. Virgin Islands National Park and Trunk Bay where we were able to take in the white sand beaches, warm breezes, and the aforementioned snorkeling.

I had never seen water as blue as I saw in Trunk Bay.  I doubt I ever will see that trumped.

It was a nice break from the classroom that we would be returning to on Day 5 when we would have Brent, Kevin, and Aaron all presenting.

After returning to the ship we met up for consulting and networking time at our SQL Cruise Cocktail Party.  Topics covered were resume building and interviewing horror stories along with all the technical trappings that come with being a DBA.  We also took the opportunity to celebrate Aaron Betrand’s birthday.  Happy Birthday Aaron.  Hopefully it was a memorable one!