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The Adventures of Gromit: Day 1
The Adventures of Gromit: Day 1
Greetings Everyone!
Believe it or not this is my VERY FIRST TR!! (Sad, I know!)
Sadly my TR will contain few pics since I am more of an "enjoy the experience and not worry about the camera" kind of girl BUT you can count on Vicki to supply the priceless ones!
Anyway, here goes!
Gromit's Cast of characters:
Gromit: ME!!
Mr. Gromit: Hubby
MIL: Mother in law (Newbie)
FIL: Father in law (Newbie)
Location: Mayan Sky (Upper Carolina) Coral Bay
Other Krewe members will be added as the days progress!
Sunday December 7 (Day 1 of 7): Travel day, Mayan Sky Villa review, Dinner at Shipwreck Landing, and Lilly's Market.
Got up at the CRACK O DAWN to get to Dulles for our 7 am flight to STT thru Atlanta on Delta Airlines.
Since I purchased the cheapest tix available at the time there were no upgrades in my future
This time I was good. Regulars on the forum know that I am packing challenged but I am pleased to report that I had a rolling carry on, my small Kipling backpack and 1 checked bag weighing exactly 49.4 lbs!
Flight to ATL was not crowded and we scored some extra room (BONUS!)
ATL to STT was on time and packed!
We landed on time and headed to grab the bags. I love the "Happy Trail" into the airport (vs. the Walk of Woe). I can't explain it but there's nothing like that warm humid air and the smell of jet fuel to welcome me to my Happy Place!!
My in-laws were scheduled to land a few mins before us but had not landed by the time we arrived.
Since I wanted to make the 4:00 pm from downtown, my plan was to grab the MIL and all the carry on bags and a cab to make the 4:00 downtown. Mr. Gromit and FIL would wait for the checked bags and if they couldn't make the 4:00 pm downtown they would aim for the 5:00 pm from Red Hook.
I was a little nervous but within 10 mins I spotted the in laws. After hugs all around MIL and I grabbed a taxi and headed for the downtown ferry.
Got there with plenty of time to spare and within a few mins we were joined by Mr. Gromit and FIL. YAY!!!!! I was so excited to see the look on their faces as we took the ferry over to STJ.
We always sit below deck cause we don't want to fry. Ferry was smooth and we arrived in Cruz Bay within 40 mins.
As soon as we got off the ferry Graciella from VIVA was there to greet us. I made a quick run up to say Hi to Ruth at StJ Spice. I had 15 mins to grab my car from STJ car rental down the block before they closed. They had offered to leave the keys with the VIVA rep but I didn't want to drive all the way back to Cruz Bay the next day.
Sadly I didn't have time to stop into the Beach Bar for the gathering (sorry guys!) Since we had luggage and people waiting for us I just couldn't squeeze it in.
Staff at STJ car rental was fantastic as usual. The cars were ready to go. We had 2 jeep Wranglers. FIL did great driving on the left right off the bat. I think he was a bit worried that he wouldn't get the hang of it. But no problems!!
We headed for the dock, grabbed the luggage and the people and were headed up Centerline road to Coral bay.
Two Tips: We used the walkie talkies to communicate between the vehicles along the way, which was helpful especially when we encountered donkeys in the road ahead. This is important for the newbie! And we reassured them not to judge the island by Centerline road since there's not much to see along the way.
Arrived at Mayan Sky around 5:45 and unloaded. Graciella, our villa greeter, was wonderful and thorough. VIVA had left a really nice welcome basket for us.
Mayan Sky is a lovely and solidly built Mexican style villa. It consists of two buildings. The main building (bottom level has a nice sized King BR and a futon couch with a limited view and it's next to the pool.) The upper level consists of a Master BR (King), the living room, kitchen, dining room and an outdoor seating area off the living room. The other King bedroom is in a separate pod on the upper level. Each bedroom has its own bathroom. The villa could use a 1/2 bathroom so that you don't have to go to your BR to use the Bathroom, but it's OK without it.
The kitchen is new and well appointed. Grill is out back (so anyone cooking on the grill will not be able to enjoy the view). Nice pots and pans.
The two upper bedrooms have really great views of Coral Bay and beyond. The downstairs BR has a big window but the foliage blocks the view. So while the bedrooms are equal their views are not.
The bed in the MB is also really high. At 5'10" I didn't have a problem, but the in-laws opted for the other bedroom because the bed was lower. The beds were very comfortable.
AC was broken in the LR (but VIVA sent out folks to fix it two days later). We didn't need it - just opened the windows. BR AC worked well.
The pool is small but nice with individual graduated stairs into the pool. Nice poolside outdoor shower.
MY only major complaint with this villa is that they only provided two beach towels per bedroom. Yes, that's one beach towel per person-- for the week. They also didn't initially provide laundry detergent (even though the check in instructions indicated that they would).
We made the one towel per person thing work for a day but then I called and told them that this just wasn't going to work and it would be a waste of water and vacation time to be laundering towels every day. I was told initially that this was the allotment of towels for the villa and that they would see what they could do. I politely told them that the allotment was unacceptable.
To ViVA's credit they delivered a few extra beach towels and the detergent the following day. However, I would hope that the owners invest some money in extra beach towels for the villa. Every other place I have rented has had a basket full of towels to use.
This villa also has mid-week cleaning service which was a nice touch.
Parking at this villa is also limited. You'd be hard pressed to get three Jeeps parked at the top of the paved driveway. As it was at least one Jeep had to back down as there was no way for both to be turned around unless you were a magician.
The views from Mayan Sky were gorgeous and it was a very quiet neighborhood.
Anyway, enough about the villa!
So we quickly decided to change clothes and head out to dinner.
Since the FIL was still nervous about driving we all piled into one Jeep and headed to Shipwreck Landing for dinner.
We were a bit nervous when we pulled up as there was not a space to be found in front and there were cars parked along the side of the road leading up to the restaurant. It was busier than we'd ever seen it.
I asked our waitress, Karen, if Shipwreck Pat was in but sadly Pat had worked the day shift.
I was so tired that I don't remember what everyone ate that night -- all i know is that I had the Fish & Chips (YUM!!) and several painkillers to wash away the travel day.
We swung by Lilly's Market at Cocolobo Plaza to do an initial provisioning for the Villa.
I can report that Lilly's was well stocked and reasonably priced (for STJ). We stopped by several times that week for goodies and they had plenty of great stuff to work with. Their deli meats were very high quality (more on that later) and they had standard as well as gourmet type items. I was very impressed. As far as pricing goes, nothing beats Pine Peace in Cruz Bay but if you're staying in Coral Bay Lilly's will have everything you need to get you through the week.
Anyway, we headed back to Mayan Sky with groceries, unpacked and got some sleep.
Tomorrow: Beach Day at Jumbie, Lunch at Skinny Legs, Dinner at Aqua Bistro, Making Gourmet Jell-O shots with garnish and triple chocolate Ghirardelli brownies.
Believe it or not this is my VERY FIRST TR!! (Sad, I know!)
Sadly my TR will contain few pics since I am more of an "enjoy the experience and not worry about the camera" kind of girl BUT you can count on Vicki to supply the priceless ones!
Anyway, here goes!
Gromit's Cast of characters:
Gromit: ME!!
Mr. Gromit: Hubby
MIL: Mother in law (Newbie)
FIL: Father in law (Newbie)
Location: Mayan Sky (Upper Carolina) Coral Bay
Other Krewe members will be added as the days progress!
Sunday December 7 (Day 1 of 7): Travel day, Mayan Sky Villa review, Dinner at Shipwreck Landing, and Lilly's Market.
Got up at the CRACK O DAWN to get to Dulles for our 7 am flight to STT thru Atlanta on Delta Airlines.
Since I purchased the cheapest tix available at the time there were no upgrades in my future
This time I was good. Regulars on the forum know that I am packing challenged but I am pleased to report that I had a rolling carry on, my small Kipling backpack and 1 checked bag weighing exactly 49.4 lbs!
Flight to ATL was not crowded and we scored some extra room (BONUS!)
ATL to STT was on time and packed!
We landed on time and headed to grab the bags. I love the "Happy Trail" into the airport (vs. the Walk of Woe). I can't explain it but there's nothing like that warm humid air and the smell of jet fuel to welcome me to my Happy Place!!
My in-laws were scheduled to land a few mins before us but had not landed by the time we arrived.
Since I wanted to make the 4:00 pm from downtown, my plan was to grab the MIL and all the carry on bags and a cab to make the 4:00 downtown. Mr. Gromit and FIL would wait for the checked bags and if they couldn't make the 4:00 pm downtown they would aim for the 5:00 pm from Red Hook.
I was a little nervous but within 10 mins I spotted the in laws. After hugs all around MIL and I grabbed a taxi and headed for the downtown ferry.
Got there with plenty of time to spare and within a few mins we were joined by Mr. Gromit and FIL. YAY!!!!! I was so excited to see the look on their faces as we took the ferry over to STJ.
We always sit below deck cause we don't want to fry. Ferry was smooth and we arrived in Cruz Bay within 40 mins.
As soon as we got off the ferry Graciella from VIVA was there to greet us. I made a quick run up to say Hi to Ruth at StJ Spice. I had 15 mins to grab my car from STJ car rental down the block before they closed. They had offered to leave the keys with the VIVA rep but I didn't want to drive all the way back to Cruz Bay the next day.
Sadly I didn't have time to stop into the Beach Bar for the gathering (sorry guys!) Since we had luggage and people waiting for us I just couldn't squeeze it in.
Staff at STJ car rental was fantastic as usual. The cars were ready to go. We had 2 jeep Wranglers. FIL did great driving on the left right off the bat. I think he was a bit worried that he wouldn't get the hang of it. But no problems!!
We headed for the dock, grabbed the luggage and the people and were headed up Centerline road to Coral bay.
Two Tips: We used the walkie talkies to communicate between the vehicles along the way, which was helpful especially when we encountered donkeys in the road ahead. This is important for the newbie! And we reassured them not to judge the island by Centerline road since there's not much to see along the way.
Arrived at Mayan Sky around 5:45 and unloaded. Graciella, our villa greeter, was wonderful and thorough. VIVA had left a really nice welcome basket for us.
Mayan Sky is a lovely and solidly built Mexican style villa. It consists of two buildings. The main building (bottom level has a nice sized King BR and a futon couch with a limited view and it's next to the pool.) The upper level consists of a Master BR (King), the living room, kitchen, dining room and an outdoor seating area off the living room. The other King bedroom is in a separate pod on the upper level. Each bedroom has its own bathroom. The villa could use a 1/2 bathroom so that you don't have to go to your BR to use the Bathroom, but it's OK without it.
The kitchen is new and well appointed. Grill is out back (so anyone cooking on the grill will not be able to enjoy the view). Nice pots and pans.
The two upper bedrooms have really great views of Coral Bay and beyond. The downstairs BR has a big window but the foliage blocks the view. So while the bedrooms are equal their views are not.
The bed in the MB is also really high. At 5'10" I didn't have a problem, but the in-laws opted for the other bedroom because the bed was lower. The beds were very comfortable.
AC was broken in the LR (but VIVA sent out folks to fix it two days later). We didn't need it - just opened the windows. BR AC worked well.
The pool is small but nice with individual graduated stairs into the pool. Nice poolside outdoor shower.
MY only major complaint with this villa is that they only provided two beach towels per bedroom. Yes, that's one beach towel per person-- for the week. They also didn't initially provide laundry detergent (even though the check in instructions indicated that they would).
We made the one towel per person thing work for a day but then I called and told them that this just wasn't going to work and it would be a waste of water and vacation time to be laundering towels every day. I was told initially that this was the allotment of towels for the villa and that they would see what they could do. I politely told them that the allotment was unacceptable.
To ViVA's credit they delivered a few extra beach towels and the detergent the following day. However, I would hope that the owners invest some money in extra beach towels for the villa. Every other place I have rented has had a basket full of towels to use.
This villa also has mid-week cleaning service which was a nice touch.
Parking at this villa is also limited. You'd be hard pressed to get three Jeeps parked at the top of the paved driveway. As it was at least one Jeep had to back down as there was no way for both to be turned around unless you were a magician.
The views from Mayan Sky were gorgeous and it was a very quiet neighborhood.
Anyway, enough about the villa!
So we quickly decided to change clothes and head out to dinner.
Since the FIL was still nervous about driving we all piled into one Jeep and headed to Shipwreck Landing for dinner.
We were a bit nervous when we pulled up as there was not a space to be found in front and there were cars parked along the side of the road leading up to the restaurant. It was busier than we'd ever seen it.
I asked our waitress, Karen, if Shipwreck Pat was in but sadly Pat had worked the day shift.
I was so tired that I don't remember what everyone ate that night -- all i know is that I had the Fish & Chips (YUM!!) and several painkillers to wash away the travel day.
We swung by Lilly's Market at Cocolobo Plaza to do an initial provisioning for the Villa.
I can report that Lilly's was well stocked and reasonably priced (for STJ). We stopped by several times that week for goodies and they had plenty of great stuff to work with. Their deli meats were very high quality (more on that later) and they had standard as well as gourmet type items. I was very impressed. As far as pricing goes, nothing beats Pine Peace in Cruz Bay but if you're staying in Coral Bay Lilly's will have everything you need to get you through the week.
Anyway, we headed back to Mayan Sky with groceries, unpacked and got some sleep.
Tomorrow: Beach Day at Jumbie, Lunch at Skinny Legs, Dinner at Aqua Bistro, Making Gourmet Jell-O shots with garnish and triple chocolate Ghirardelli brownies.
*Another fine scatterbrained production
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Jan&MikeVa
- Posts: 1084
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 5:32 pm
- Location: The Chesapeake Bay
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Sun4MySoul
- Posts: 524
- Joined: Sun May 06, 2007 1:37 pm
- Location: NC
Great start, Gromit.
We stayed right down the street from Mayan Sky this past May (we passed the fairly steep driveway everyday). The area is very quiet, I agree.
When we stayed at one of the villas that VIVA manages, there was no detergent either. They said that they don't provide it. I wonder if it's VIVA's policy or the owner's decision.
Looking forward to more of your reports!
We stayed right down the street from Mayan Sky this past May (we passed the fairly steep driveway everyday). The area is very quiet, I agree.
When we stayed at one of the villas that VIVA manages, there was no detergent either. They said that they don't provide it. I wonder if it's VIVA's policy or the owner's decision.
Looking forward to more of your reports!
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Kathyzhere
- Posts: 527
- Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2007 5:04 pm
- Location: Cape Cod & SW FL
Re: The Adventures of Gromit: Day 1
So I am not the only one that like that smell.Gromit wrote: I can't explain it but there's nothing like that warm humid air and the smell of jet fuel to welcome me to my Happy Place!!
Looks like I am also not the only one with Viva towel issues.
When planning our Feb trip, another forum member told me they stayed at a Viva managed house and there were not enough beach towels. (it was a pricey house and they found it odd and annoying)
Prior to our arrival I questioned the Viva rep and she assured me that there were always enough towels.
When we arrived at Rivendell in February, there were 6 towels for 8 adults.
When I first complained, they said I should look around the house, there towels were there somewhere.
Then they said the towels must have been lost or stained and we should "just use bath towels"
Ah, no way, not at that price. Two days later, Viva did provide other beach towels that unfortunately were so cheap the dye came off on us the first time we used them. To Viva's credit, they did send someone out to buy the towels.
How hard could it be to keep a stack of decent towels in the office so customers don't need to go begging?
