Welcome to St. George

Sara and I were sitting by a boarding gate at Miami International, waiting for our flight to St. George. We traveled between the States and St. George a great deal and had become friendly with many of the flight crews who worked this run. However, the flight attendant who picked up the PA microphone this morning was new to us. She was a pert blonde with a wide smile and what looked like what was probably a good body.

I nudged Sara. Nodding towards the flight attendant, I asked "Do we know her?"

"No," Sara replied, "she must be new."

"Huh," I said. "We don't see much change in the crews who work this flight."

"Maybe someone's sick or quit," Sara speculated.

Looking around, I noticed that the gate area had become reasonably crowded. We had about 45 minutes until scheduled departure. It looked like we'd have a pretty full flight. The people whom I took to be our fellow passengers were a pretty usual cross-section. There were, perhaps, more young couples than on a flight elsewhere. There was a sprinkling of older people and several whole families. In the corner by the window looking out onto the tarmac was a group of girls whom I guessed to be college students. Off on a Spring Break trip I assumed. Indeed, I assumed that most of the passengers were off on vacation. Sara and I were returning to what had become our primary home.

Just then, the new flight attendant was joined by a brunette whom I recognized, Joyce. The blonde picked up a typed sheet and started to read the pre-boarding announcement that was a staple of a flight to St. George. Although I had heard it a great many times, I still found it enjoyable.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Flight 2745 to the island of St. George. We will begin boarding in a few moments. First, we need to alert you to some special rules which apply to this flight. By the Act of the National Assembly of 17 January 2012, every person entering the nation of St. George must be nude. Nude is defined as the face, torso, limbs, breasts, buttocks, and genitalia being uncovered and completely visible. Footwear which leaves most of the top of the foot exposed is permitted. Persons who are not nude when they present at St. George customs and immigration will be denied admission and must leave the country within 12 hours. There are no exceptions." With this last sentence, the flight attendant's smile grew a bit wider and I thought that I saw a glint in her eye.

She continued, "You should also be aware that, by the Act of the National Assembly of 22 March 2014, the wearing of any clothing is prohibited at all times and all places in St. George. Waivers will be granted for demonstrated reasons of health or safety. Application for waiver must be made in person at the Ministry of Internal Affairs located in Chamberlain, St. George."

"Caribbean Airlines has no obligation to provide return transportation for, or to reimburse any expenses of, persons denied admission to St. George by reason of their failure to comply with the Acts of 17 January 2012 and 22 March 2014. Therefore, if anyone scheduled on our flight today is unwilling or unable to comply with these laws of the nation of St. George, we ask that you please see the agent at the desk in the center of this concourse immediately. The agent will be happy to make other arrangements for you. You are entitled to a full refund of your fare if you can demonstrate to the agent that you were unaware of these laws of St. George at the time you booked your ticket."

The flight attendant stopped reading from her sheet and looked around to see if anyone was leaving the gate to get off of our flight. After a couple of minutes, she keyed the microphone again.

"Good. I see that everyone is still planning to go to St. George. We will start boarding any passengers needing special assistance in a moment. I want to welcome you all on Flight 2745 to the island of St. George. We look forward to seeing more of you, and you seeing more of us, when we get to St. George."

The blonde and Joyce were smiling as the blonde placed the microphone back on the podium. The two flight attendants turned and walked down the jet way towards the plane. A gate agent replaced them at the podium and started the boarding announcements.

A lady sitting on my opposite side from Sara asked, "Why do they bring the flight attendants out for that announcement? Why can't the gate agent make it?"

I volunteered that "I think that the airline thinks it is better PR if that particular announcement is made by one of their employees who is going to St. George and will, him or herself, have to comply with the nudity laws."

Boarding happened a bit more quickly than a normal flight. Few people had huge carry-on bags that had to be forced into the overhead bins. To my pleasant surprise, we were airborne more quickly than was typical going out of Miami.

The flight to St. George took about two hours. The first hour and a quarter were much like any flight anywhere. The seatbelt light finally went off and several passengers got up to squeeze by the flight attendants with their drinks and snacks carts in the aisles. Sara dozed. I read the copy of The Economist I had bought at the airport.

About 45 minutes out from St. George things changed. Unless one was paying careful attention or was familiar with this flight, passengers probably did not notice that the flight attendants, five ladies and one man, had not been visible in the cabin for the last few minutes. What you could not fail to notice was the chief of the cabin crew, Jane, a friend of ours, walking up the aisle from the rear of the plane to First Class. You couldn't fail to notice because Jane was naked except for her shoes. Jane is also a very attractive lady, naked or clothed. I swore, and kidded her, that she had a more pronounced swing in her hips when she walked through the plane naked. Behind Jane, the rest of the cabin crew was making a first pass to gather cups and cans. They were all naked too. Jane got on the plane's PA system.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are approximately 40 minutes from landing in St. George. Just a reminder that St. George law requires everyone to be naked to be admitted into the country. Caribbean Airlines suggests that, like the crew, you undress before we land. It is much easier to undress here on the plane than in the arrivals area at St. George airport. If you need a bag for your clothing, just press your flight attendant call button. We will be happy to provide you with a complimentary bag."

Sara and I were, of course, familiar with the St. George nudity laws. In fact, we had been involved in the campaign to get them passed. We never wore much for a flight into St. George. Sara had worn a light sundress with nothing underneath, and she had quietly slipped that off once we were in the air. I had worn an old Northwestern t-shirt and a pair of cargo shorts that I had slipped off shortly after Sara disrobed.

The nervous laughter and comments led me to think that we had more than a few first-timers on the flight. Just then, the new blonde flight attendant leaned into our seats, her bare breasts pointed towards Sara's bare lap.

"May I take your cups? You have something to put your clothes in?"

We handed her our cups and assured her that we didn't need a clothes bag. The flight attendant straightened. My speculation had been correct; she did have a very good body.

"Are you new on this run?" I asked.

The flight attendant smiled. "Yes, this is my first flight to St. George."

Sara interjected, "We live there now. Enjoy your stay on our island."

The PA spoke again.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain. We hope that you have enjoyed Flight 2745. We will be landing on the island of St. George in a few minutes. Would the flight attendants please prepare the cabin for landing."

I had not seen the pilot on boarding. The voice on the PA told me that our friend Elaine was in command today. Elaine was one of the two pilots who had captained most of the flights into St. George since the nudity laws passed. Another little quirk of St. George law was that every flight crew coming into the island had to be given a 24 hour layover. Elaine had gotten into the habit of using some of her layover sunning on the beach just south of our house, which is how we had met her. Since we had become friends, Elaine had several times stayed in one of our guest rooms. Since I knew that she was also friends with the manager of the hotel which the airline used on St. George, I suspected that she had a hotel receipt for the nights she had stayed with us and got reimbursed, but I never asked. Elaine was good people.

Watching the flight attendants "prepare the cabin for landing," I marveled a bit at how the St. George flight always had a physically attractive crew. I had been told that the airlines had stopped hiring based on looks decades ago. Yet, the people who worked this flight were always physically beautiful. Even Elaine was a very attractive woman. Perhaps it was self-selection and only beautiful people were willing to work a flight on which they would have to go naked.

Once we were at the gate and the cabin door had been opened, there was the usual line in the aisle to leave the plane. Looking over the passengers, I saw that everyone had, indeed, stripped down, including a few families that were on the flight. We were in no hurry to disembark because we wanted to say hello to Joyce and Elaine when they came off of the plane. We were about the last passengers off, with our small bags, and we dawdled just outside customs and immigration.

Finally, Joyce came off of the plane walking bare, tall, and proud with her small travel bag on one shoulder. Walking with her was the new flight attendant. Sara waved to get Joyce's attention (not that St. George's terminal is large enough that she would be likely to miss us). Joyce came over and gave each of Sara and me a warm, bare hug. After a few seconds of "How have you been," Joyce beckoned the other flight attendant to join us.

"Sara, Harry, I'd like you to meet Kelly."

The lovely naked blonde stepped forward and we shook hands.

"Kelly, are you on the St. George flight permanently?" Sara asked.

"Yes. I've had my bid in for this flight almost since the beginning of my time with Caribbean. There is quite a waiting list to crew these flights. I'm so happy that I finally got it," Kelly responded.

"Really?" I asked. "Why did you want this flight?"

"Are you kidding? Getting to work about half of a flight naked and every other day I get to spend a day someplace where it's illegal to wear any clothes, who wouldn't want that job?" Kelly responded enthusiastically.

Joyce chimed in, "It drives the union nuts because they claim that it is sexist to make us strip and that St. George needs to create an exemption for flight crews. But, pretty much everyone at our company wants to work these flights. No one gives up one of these assignments. I sure wouldn't."

Just then we saw Elaine coming off the plane accompanied by her co-pilot Ed. Elaine came up and gave Sara and me each a hug too.

"What were you two doing up in the States?" she asked.

Sara explained that we occasionally went back to tend to business interests. Then she asked Elaine, "Are you coming to the beach?"

Elaine nodded. "As soon as I dump my bag at the hotel."

"Can we get you to stop for dinner?" Sara asked.

"Sure. That would be great," Elaine agreed.

I turned to the others. "Kelly, Joyce, Ed, do you want to visit the beach on the southwest side where we live and then come over for dinner?"

Ed declined.

However, Joyce said, "Sure. That will be a great way to introduce Kelly to St. George." Kelly nodded her acquiescence. "Give us about an hour," Joyce added.

The six of us walked towards customs and immigration. The "border" was staffed by two men and two ladies, naked except for their official caps. Since Sara and I lived on the island, re-entry was a simple procedure. The other four had to show their passports. Since the customs staff didn't recognize Kelly, they made a cursory inspection of her bag.

Waiting briefly for Kelly to finish with customs, Joyce quipped, "I should have suggested a body cavity inspection just to jerk her chain."

Sara replied, "Those are really more fun when you are one of the first off the plane and everyone is lined up behind you watching. There's no one around now."

Kelly left customs and rejoined us. Sara fished in her bag and pulled out a tube of sunscreen. "Kelly, you are only a degree or two off of the equator here. The sun is intense and you are kind of pale. You'll burn terribly before you reach your hotel if you don't have sunscreen."

Smiling, Kelly pulled a tube from her bag and began spreading the sunscreen over herself.

"Don't forget the places that are usually covered," Sara instructed. "Get it in your crack and all around your pussy."

Kelly dutifully covered all of her body that she could reach with her sunscreen. Then she turned to me, held out the tube, and asked "Do my back?"

Being a gentleman, I couldn't refuse. I spread the sunscreen over her shoulders and her upper back and worked it in as though I was giving a massage. Initially, I stopped at Kelly's waist.

Turning her head, Kelly said, "I think that I forgot my butt. Would you?"

Gladly, as Kelly had a very beautiful ass. I put sunscreen on each of her cheeks and worked it in carefully. Finally, pulling myself away, I stood back.

Kelly reached behind herself with both hands and spread her cheeks. "Sara said that I need sunscreen here too."

I resumed, spreading sunscreen as far in between her cheeks as I thought necessary. I couldn't resist lightly fingering her rosebud a time or two, though. When I finished, Kelly turn around to face me. Smiling, she said "thank you" and then gave me a peck on the cheek.

Ed had already gone on. We said temporary goodbyes to Elaine, Joyce, and Kelly as they set off on the short walk to the hotel the airline used. Sara and I flagged one of the cabs marked "All Island."

Internal combustion engines had been banned from St. George. Bicycles were the common means of transportation, including special bikes with passenger benches that served as cabs. Most were dual and pedaled by two cabbies, usually one man and one woman. However, because the interior of the island was hilly, if not borderline mountainous, some cabs had a battery-powered motor to assist the cabbies. These were the "All Island" cabs. Needless to say, St. George cabbies were all very fit young men and women.

We had our cabbies stop at a market on the outskirts of Chamberlain so we could get food to serve at dinner that night. After leaving the market, we skirted around the perimeter of the island for almost 40 minutes until the cab dropped us at home.

After putting our purchases in the refrigerator (the island has very reliable power, generated largely from a farm of solar cells and wind turbines at the island's highest point), we opened up the house. Privacy isn't much of a concern on St. George and there is virtually no crime. Consequently, we were able to design our house with moveable panels for walls. That enabled us to open virtually the entire house to the outside. As we were only a few meters from the beach, there were reliable breezes that eliminated any need for air conditioning.

Our house was on a small cove, and we had our "own" beach (all beaches to mean high tide are actually public property). However, just around the point was "Southwest Beach," one of the more popular beaches on St. George.

About 20 minutes later, another cab dropped Elaine, Joyce, and Kelly in front of our house. They each carried a large towel and Joyce had a beach bag in which I could see the tops of a couple of bottles of wine. Sara and I loaded more drinks into a cooler and gathered our towels. The five of us walked down to the beach and around the point. It was early afternoon on a weekday, so Southwest Beach wasn't crowded. There were about 35-40 people on the beach. Southwest Beach was not one of the designated "family beaches" on the island, so the crowd was all adult.

We spread our towels and sat down. Joyce pulled a bottle of wine from her bag along with an opener. After opening the bottle, she distributed the wine into five paper cups and passed them out.

After a few moments, Kelly said, "I think that it's a great idea, but why is it illegal to wear any clothes on St. George?"

Sara nodded at me to answer. "Well, I'll have to give you a short lesson in island history. It starts with the fact that, in the 1960s, St. George was very inexpensive and became very popular with what I guess you'd call 'hippies' or 'flower children' from the US and Canada. Some of them never left. That was, of course, the era of the 'sexual revolution' and the island acquired a pretty relaxed attitude. After independence, the island was looking for some way to develop an economy. We don't really make or grow much here, so tourism was the obvious choice. However, the challenge was to differentiate St. George from all of the other resort islands in the Caribbean."

I sipped some wine and then resumed. "No one here really cares about nudity, so the first thing done was to create several officially permitted nude beaches. That brought a few people, but didn't do much to make St. George a more desirable destination than, say, Jamaica or St. Martin. About ten years ago, it was thought that we'd boost tourism if we let people go nude everywhere on the island. That worked, but we also got a lot of 'gawkers' who came just to see naked bodies and stayed clothed themselves. That was a real deterrent to a lot of people who wanted to enjoy St. George in the nude. Finally, a few of us, Sara and I were involved, began pushing to make nudity mandatory. Our idea was that visitors would be more at ease going nude if everyone else was nude too. Surprisingly, the idea got a lot of support from the full-time residents and became law about six years ago."

"What happens if someone is wearing clothes without a permit?" Kelly asked.

Sara responded, "Well, if you did that as a tourist, the police would take you to the station. You'd be stripped naked and your face and genitals would be photographed. Those photos go on the government's website and never come down. Then, you'd be fined about $ 2,000 and put in a boat to St. Kitts immediately."

"What if you live here?" Kelly asked.

"I'm not sure because it has never happened," Sara answered. "Everyone who lives here is perfectly happy to stay naked."

I looked at Joyce and asked her, "Did you show Kelly the Garden?"

Joyce just smiled.

"What Garden?" Kelly asked.

I nodded at Sara. Sara explained, "In colonial days, a huge, very lovely park was built in the center of Chamberlain. Even when nudity was just optional, it became understood that anyone in the park was looking for sex. It splits so that the northern half is hetero and the southern half is gay/lesbian. You can certainly decline if you're in the Garden and someone asks you to have sex, but people don't go to the Garden if they're just interested in looking at flowers. The other thing is that no one hides behind the bushes. Sex in the Garden is very open and anyone is welcome to watch."

Kelly seemed a bit shocked, "Really?"

"Yes," Sara continued. "Like Harry was saying, it's probably a holdover from the Sixties, but folks on St. George don't consider sex something to be done in private. We also don't place a lot of importance on monogamy. You can certainly enjoy sex with many people besides the person you love."

Kelly was obviously trying to get her mind around the freedom of the Garden.

Sara added, "The Garden is really a great place. Harry and I go there often, sometime together, sometimes individually."