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Gromit's Adventures in Happy Land: Day 5
Gromit's Adventures in Happy Land: Day 5
Gromit's Adventures in Happy Land: Day 5
(Again, long but HOPEFULLY worth it!)
Location: Mayan Sky (Upper Carolina) Coral Bay
Gromit's Cast of characters:Gromit: ME!!
Mr. Gromit: Hubby
MIL: Mother in law (Newbie)
FIL: Father in law (Newbie)
Vicki & Co: Vicki, her hubby, his best friend and his wife (Their actual names are being withheld to protect the innocent).
*Other Krewe members will be added as the days progress!
Thursday December 11 (Day 5 of 7): Francis beach; Lunch at Island Blues (Buffalo wing sauce is good on EVERYTHING!); and Dinner at Morgan's Mango.
After such a fantastic day on the boat yesterday it was going to be hard to have a better day -- so why try?
Got up, ate some fresh pineapple that I'd cut up and had a bagel.
TIP!--Lilly's has bagels in their freezer section that are imported from Brooklyn, NY. And let me just say that these are some DAMN FINE bagels.
I used to go up to NYU for competitions during my college days and there was this fabulous little bagel/pizza place right on the corner next to Washington Square Park and these bagels sold at Lilly's were every bit as good.
So do yourself a favor and head to the freezer section at Lilly's for these bagels. They've got several "flavors" stocked. YUM!!
After breakfast we decided that we basically we just wanted to take it easy.
The North Shore beaches had been pretty rough this week, but even if they are rough Francis is usually a decent bet for calmer waters.
For some reason Mr. Gromit and I didn't leave at the same time as the IL's. We sent them on ahead to Francis and told them to just score us a spot.
On the way to Francis we found ourselves behind a fully loaded truck full of bags of dry bagged cement. You could smell his brakes cooking and he was just creeping along trying to avoid getting up to any speed whatsoever. When we got to a place where we could go around he waved us on.
TIP: If you're ever driving on STJ and find yourself in this situation just be patient. When the driver of the truck in front of you sees a safe opportunity for you to pass, they will give a couple of short honks on the horn and wave you around. As you pass them it's polite to honk twice with a short "beep beep" as a thank you.
When we finally got there, there were no more spaces in the lot. From the looks of it the IL's had grabbed the last decent one so we just parked along the road.
Water was pretty calm.
One of the things that we find valuable on island these days is a Neat Sheet. I cannot say enough about these little bundles of joy.
They are light, easy to pack, easily laundered and quick to dry. They repel sand and water and just make life easier. When I'm on the beach I like to lay down. Not a big fan of the beach chair. But that's just me.
Anyway, we basically spent the morning hanging out on the beach, reading and relaxing. The boys smoked their cigars and just generally chilled. I read my trashy and HOT romance novel (see previous posts on the matter).
The sun was out and it was gorgeous. One thing I dislike about STJ this time of year is how chilly the water is and how there's usually much less beach.
I know, it's all relative but I do find that the water is a lot colder this time of year. Also, the tides are higher so the beaches end up being much narrower.
The trade-off of course is that it's a lot less humid and buggy in December vs. the summer months. I also usually find that I am comfortable in a long sleeve shirt at night.
Of course it's always nice to be somewhere that's 85 F vs. 25F. So I'll shut up now and keep my bitching about the water temps to a minimum.
Anyway, we enjoyed the morning just lounging around and relaxing on the beach.
Around 1:30 or so we decided it was time for some lunch. We decided to head to Island Blues to give their new menu a try.
Personally I love the location of Island Blues. It's a good spot. When hubby and I came down for our honeymoon over 10 years ago, it was Serafina - a fine dining establishment with tablecloths and fancy plates.
By the time we made it back a year and half later, Serafina was gone. The funny thing about Island Blues is that it is currently (and has been for some time) decorated with all the signs of its previous incarnations.
As if to say to the island gods, "I know what I've been before, but I'm still here and I will continue to be here no matter what the sign out front says."
Last December we enjoyed the company of the locals who had made IB their regular hang out. With new ownership it seems that the locals have moved on - down to Aqua Bistro.
We had arrived between lunch and dinner so there was only one other couple at a table next to us.
The IL's ordered popcorn shrimp and we ordered the wings with the mild buffalo sauce on the side.
Now, I don't know what they put in that sauce but the main ingredient has to be crack because it was good on everything.
We got our main courses (again like a HUGE loser I barely remember what anyone ate--but I seem to recall a crab cake sandwich in my mouth at some point) and it seemed to become this perverse test to see if there was anything we could put I this sauce that the sauce would make it 10 times better.
I am pleased to report that the sauce was awesome on everything. We asked the waitress about the sauce and she said they make it there and I told her she should bottle that stuff and sell it cause it was FINE!!
Everything here was good. I will be pleased to maintain Island Blues as a regular "Must Visit" spot in the future.
After gorging ourselves on the yummy food and buffalo wing sauce at Island Blues we headed to Cocolobo to check out a couple of things.
Strolling through the parking lot we ran into VICKI & CO!! Big hugs all around and we all agreed that the previous day had totally rocked.
We used the opportunity to firm up plans for the next day's trip to Jost. All agreed we decided to meet up the next morning at the National Park ferry dock.
After a little browsing we headed back to the villa to get stuff ready for the next day, take a nap and then to get ready for dinner at Morgan's Mango.
We figured it was time to head into civilization for a while and to show the in-laws around town.
Tuesday and Wednesday were really busy cruise ship days (with 6 ships and 5 ships in CA respectively). Today there were NO cruise ships in port at STT so we knew that STJ would just be locals during the day and this is always the case at night.
Anyway, we headed into Cruz Bay in one Jeep. I took the North Shore road. I love driving the North Shore road at night. There something really peaceful & cool about it. The tropical foliage forms a canopy around you as you drive along the section close to Maho and the ruins sort of spring up out of the darkness around Cinnamon Bay. It's just kind of cool. Plus we were one night away from the full moon so things were pretty lit up.
Couldn't find a place close to Morgan's to park so I dropped everyone off and then parked around the side of Mongoose Junction. I took some time to wander through couple of shops on the way to Morgan's.
MIL was still on the hunt for her Caribbean lobster but Morgan's was out. Oh well. They have tons to choose from.
I have always liked Morgan's location and the atmosphere here. But over the years their failure to update their menu and their mediocre food really left me wanting for more.
This was probably our most disappointing meal. The restaurant wasn't very full and they tried to seat us in this tiny corner of a table.
Being a little claustrophobic I asked politely if we could have a table in the center of the dining room close to a fan.
The service was terrible (even by island standards) and the music was WAY too loud for the small number of people in the restaurant.
We ordered the flying fish appetizer and it was dry and heavily breaded. Typically this was one of the few things Morgan's did well but apparently even this has become mediocre.
Main dishes used to come with peas and rice as well as fried plantains. Now they serve everything with mashed potatoes and broccoli neither of which were very good.
I ordered a salad, but it was pretty gritty. I told our server that the greens needed to be washed a bit better and she said they were locally grown.
I said, "Yeah, you get them from Josephine in Coral Bay." "And the flavor is great but your staff needs to actually WASH the greens before serving them."
I guess on top of everything else that wasn't that good it was kind of the last straw for me. I won't go back to Morgan's any time soon and I would urge folks to avail themselves of many of the other options available in town. I don't make this recommendation lightly. I have eaten at Morgans Mango MANY times over the years and am no longer impressed with what they offer. The bar is nice, grab a drink there, but I would honestly suggest having dinner elsewhere.
We finished dinner and then decided to go for a walk around Cruz Bay. The IL's were not interested I going to Jost with us the next day and opted to plan Friday as a shopping day. So we decided to show them where our favorite shops were and give them a little tour so that they would know where they were going.
We wandered through the streets and I decided to grab some cash at the ATM on the corner across from Woody's. Due to power outages etc I never let my cash get too low and when I get an opportunity to get some cash, I take it.
We passed by the new "Crazy Cracker" with music blaring. Judging from the kind of music they were playing and the kind of crowd they were attracting it seemed to be a larger version of Woody's with the young, college age girls and guys set.
We didn't go in and I didn't take a look at the menu. We really liked this place when it was the Backyard bar and Duffy's. So I'm willing to give them a try but we just weren't feeling it that night.
Another thing I noticed in Cruz Bay this time - more so than usual - were the number of "thuggy" looking guys just hanging around on the street near the Crazy Cracker. Don't get me wrong, if you looked them in the eye and smiled they were polite and smiled back but they just looked so out of place dressed like some guy you'd see in Anacostia in DC with the long baggy pants, the chains, the big jackets etc.
I am under no illusions as to why they were there. They were clearly dealers and there to do business with anyone who wanted to do business with them.
But in the past the dealers wore regular t-shirts and jeans and just blended in. They were more subtle in their approach. Now they are just hiding in plain sight 25 yards from the police station. I'm not judging, I'm just sayin'.
The Beach Bar was pretty quiet and folks were just hanging out. T-Bird was singing at the High Tide near the new Waterfront Bistro --Man is she good!
I would really have liked to just sit at the bar there and hang out for a bit but FIL seemed in a hurry to get back to Coral Bay.
We pointed out our favorite shopping spots and then wandered back to the ferry dock along the beach.
Then suddenly out of the darkness four college age guys come roaring up onto the beach in a dinghy.
These guys literally flew in from the water cutting and pulling the engine up just in time then skidding onto the sand at what must have been top speed for the little engine. They piled out of the dinghy to applause from the other on lookers who were clearly as impressed as I was with the technique.
I shouted, "9.5!! I deducted a half a point because you were a little rough with the dismount!" and they all laughed and took a bow.
We wandered back to the car and then headed back along the dark North Shore road to the villa for the night.
Tomorrow: Day on Jost with Vicki & Co.; Breakfast at Soggy Dollar; drinks and chairs at Miss Gertrudes; Roti at Foxy's; Meeting Foxy and hearing his off-color island dog joke; Meeting Ivan and checking out Ivan's campground; In-laws go shopping; Dinner Out at Miss Lucy's Full Moon Party with Sydney & Co.; Drinks at Skinny's; Tips for getting a table at Miss Lucy's FMP for 8 after 7pm; Back to Skinny's after FMP for more food and drinks; and Impromptu sing-along to John Denver at Skinny's.
(Again, long but HOPEFULLY worth it!)
Location: Mayan Sky (Upper Carolina) Coral Bay
Gromit's Cast of characters:Gromit: ME!!
Mr. Gromit: Hubby
MIL: Mother in law (Newbie)
FIL: Father in law (Newbie)
Vicki & Co: Vicki, her hubby, his best friend and his wife (Their actual names are being withheld to protect the innocent).
*Other Krewe members will be added as the days progress!
Thursday December 11 (Day 5 of 7): Francis beach; Lunch at Island Blues (Buffalo wing sauce is good on EVERYTHING!); and Dinner at Morgan's Mango.
After such a fantastic day on the boat yesterday it was going to be hard to have a better day -- so why try?
Got up, ate some fresh pineapple that I'd cut up and had a bagel.
TIP!--Lilly's has bagels in their freezer section that are imported from Brooklyn, NY. And let me just say that these are some DAMN FINE bagels.
I used to go up to NYU for competitions during my college days and there was this fabulous little bagel/pizza place right on the corner next to Washington Square Park and these bagels sold at Lilly's were every bit as good.
So do yourself a favor and head to the freezer section at Lilly's for these bagels. They've got several "flavors" stocked. YUM!!
After breakfast we decided that we basically we just wanted to take it easy.
The North Shore beaches had been pretty rough this week, but even if they are rough Francis is usually a decent bet for calmer waters.
For some reason Mr. Gromit and I didn't leave at the same time as the IL's. We sent them on ahead to Francis and told them to just score us a spot.
On the way to Francis we found ourselves behind a fully loaded truck full of bags of dry bagged cement. You could smell his brakes cooking and he was just creeping along trying to avoid getting up to any speed whatsoever. When we got to a place where we could go around he waved us on.
TIP: If you're ever driving on STJ and find yourself in this situation just be patient. When the driver of the truck in front of you sees a safe opportunity for you to pass, they will give a couple of short honks on the horn and wave you around. As you pass them it's polite to honk twice with a short "beep beep" as a thank you.
When we finally got there, there were no more spaces in the lot. From the looks of it the IL's had grabbed the last decent one so we just parked along the road.
Water was pretty calm.
One of the things that we find valuable on island these days is a Neat Sheet. I cannot say enough about these little bundles of joy.
They are light, easy to pack, easily laundered and quick to dry. They repel sand and water and just make life easier. When I'm on the beach I like to lay down. Not a big fan of the beach chair. But that's just me.
Anyway, we basically spent the morning hanging out on the beach, reading and relaxing. The boys smoked their cigars and just generally chilled. I read my trashy and HOT romance novel (see previous posts on the matter).
The sun was out and it was gorgeous. One thing I dislike about STJ this time of year is how chilly the water is and how there's usually much less beach.
I know, it's all relative but I do find that the water is a lot colder this time of year. Also, the tides are higher so the beaches end up being much narrower.
The trade-off of course is that it's a lot less humid and buggy in December vs. the summer months. I also usually find that I am comfortable in a long sleeve shirt at night.
Of course it's always nice to be somewhere that's 85 F vs. 25F. So I'll shut up now and keep my bitching about the water temps to a minimum.
Anyway, we enjoyed the morning just lounging around and relaxing on the beach.
Around 1:30 or so we decided it was time for some lunch. We decided to head to Island Blues to give their new menu a try.
Personally I love the location of Island Blues. It's a good spot. When hubby and I came down for our honeymoon over 10 years ago, it was Serafina - a fine dining establishment with tablecloths and fancy plates.
By the time we made it back a year and half later, Serafina was gone. The funny thing about Island Blues is that it is currently (and has been for some time) decorated with all the signs of its previous incarnations.
As if to say to the island gods, "I know what I've been before, but I'm still here and I will continue to be here no matter what the sign out front says."
Last December we enjoyed the company of the locals who had made IB their regular hang out. With new ownership it seems that the locals have moved on - down to Aqua Bistro.
We had arrived between lunch and dinner so there was only one other couple at a table next to us.
The IL's ordered popcorn shrimp and we ordered the wings with the mild buffalo sauce on the side.
Now, I don't know what they put in that sauce but the main ingredient has to be crack because it was good on everything.
We got our main courses (again like a HUGE loser I barely remember what anyone ate--but I seem to recall a crab cake sandwich in my mouth at some point) and it seemed to become this perverse test to see if there was anything we could put I this sauce that the sauce would make it 10 times better.
I am pleased to report that the sauce was awesome on everything. We asked the waitress about the sauce and she said they make it there and I told her she should bottle that stuff and sell it cause it was FINE!!
Everything here was good. I will be pleased to maintain Island Blues as a regular "Must Visit" spot in the future.
After gorging ourselves on the yummy food and buffalo wing sauce at Island Blues we headed to Cocolobo to check out a couple of things.
Strolling through the parking lot we ran into VICKI & CO!! Big hugs all around and we all agreed that the previous day had totally rocked.
We used the opportunity to firm up plans for the next day's trip to Jost. All agreed we decided to meet up the next morning at the National Park ferry dock.
After a little browsing we headed back to the villa to get stuff ready for the next day, take a nap and then to get ready for dinner at Morgan's Mango.
We figured it was time to head into civilization for a while and to show the in-laws around town.
Tuesday and Wednesday were really busy cruise ship days (with 6 ships and 5 ships in CA respectively). Today there were NO cruise ships in port at STT so we knew that STJ would just be locals during the day and this is always the case at night.
Anyway, we headed into Cruz Bay in one Jeep. I took the North Shore road. I love driving the North Shore road at night. There something really peaceful & cool about it. The tropical foliage forms a canopy around you as you drive along the section close to Maho and the ruins sort of spring up out of the darkness around Cinnamon Bay. It's just kind of cool. Plus we were one night away from the full moon so things were pretty lit up.
Couldn't find a place close to Morgan's to park so I dropped everyone off and then parked around the side of Mongoose Junction. I took some time to wander through couple of shops on the way to Morgan's.
MIL was still on the hunt for her Caribbean lobster but Morgan's was out. Oh well. They have tons to choose from.
I have always liked Morgan's location and the atmosphere here. But over the years their failure to update their menu and their mediocre food really left me wanting for more.
This was probably our most disappointing meal. The restaurant wasn't very full and they tried to seat us in this tiny corner of a table.
Being a little claustrophobic I asked politely if we could have a table in the center of the dining room close to a fan.
The service was terrible (even by island standards) and the music was WAY too loud for the small number of people in the restaurant.
We ordered the flying fish appetizer and it was dry and heavily breaded. Typically this was one of the few things Morgan's did well but apparently even this has become mediocre.
Main dishes used to come with peas and rice as well as fried plantains. Now they serve everything with mashed potatoes and broccoli neither of which were very good.
I ordered a salad, but it was pretty gritty. I told our server that the greens needed to be washed a bit better and she said they were locally grown.
I said, "Yeah, you get them from Josephine in Coral Bay." "And the flavor is great but your staff needs to actually WASH the greens before serving them."
I guess on top of everything else that wasn't that good it was kind of the last straw for me. I won't go back to Morgan's any time soon and I would urge folks to avail themselves of many of the other options available in town. I don't make this recommendation lightly. I have eaten at Morgans Mango MANY times over the years and am no longer impressed with what they offer. The bar is nice, grab a drink there, but I would honestly suggest having dinner elsewhere.
We finished dinner and then decided to go for a walk around Cruz Bay. The IL's were not interested I going to Jost with us the next day and opted to plan Friday as a shopping day. So we decided to show them where our favorite shops were and give them a little tour so that they would know where they were going.
We wandered through the streets and I decided to grab some cash at the ATM on the corner across from Woody's. Due to power outages etc I never let my cash get too low and when I get an opportunity to get some cash, I take it.
We passed by the new "Crazy Cracker" with music blaring. Judging from the kind of music they were playing and the kind of crowd they were attracting it seemed to be a larger version of Woody's with the young, college age girls and guys set.
We didn't go in and I didn't take a look at the menu. We really liked this place when it was the Backyard bar and Duffy's. So I'm willing to give them a try but we just weren't feeling it that night.
Another thing I noticed in Cruz Bay this time - more so than usual - were the number of "thuggy" looking guys just hanging around on the street near the Crazy Cracker. Don't get me wrong, if you looked them in the eye and smiled they were polite and smiled back but they just looked so out of place dressed like some guy you'd see in Anacostia in DC with the long baggy pants, the chains, the big jackets etc.
I am under no illusions as to why they were there. They were clearly dealers and there to do business with anyone who wanted to do business with them.
But in the past the dealers wore regular t-shirts and jeans and just blended in. They were more subtle in their approach. Now they are just hiding in plain sight 25 yards from the police station. I'm not judging, I'm just sayin'.
The Beach Bar was pretty quiet and folks were just hanging out. T-Bird was singing at the High Tide near the new Waterfront Bistro --Man is she good!
I would really have liked to just sit at the bar there and hang out for a bit but FIL seemed in a hurry to get back to Coral Bay.
We pointed out our favorite shopping spots and then wandered back to the ferry dock along the beach.
Then suddenly out of the darkness four college age guys come roaring up onto the beach in a dinghy.
These guys literally flew in from the water cutting and pulling the engine up just in time then skidding onto the sand at what must have been top speed for the little engine. They piled out of the dinghy to applause from the other on lookers who were clearly as impressed as I was with the technique.
I shouted, "9.5!! I deducted a half a point because you were a little rough with the dismount!" and they all laughed and took a bow.
We wandered back to the car and then headed back along the dark North Shore road to the villa for the night.
Tomorrow: Day on Jost with Vicki & Co.; Breakfast at Soggy Dollar; drinks and chairs at Miss Gertrudes; Roti at Foxy's; Meeting Foxy and hearing his off-color island dog joke; Meeting Ivan and checking out Ivan's campground; In-laws go shopping; Dinner Out at Miss Lucy's Full Moon Party with Sydney & Co.; Drinks at Skinny's; Tips for getting a table at Miss Lucy's FMP for 8 after 7pm; Back to Skinny's after FMP for more food and drinks; and Impromptu sing-along to John Denver at Skinny's.
*Another fine scatterbrained production
Gromit-
I was curious about Crazy Crackers. Wonder how the food is...?
I too liked it a lot better as Duffy's. Didn't have to go over to STT for those magical wings!
I also noticed what you had mentioned as 'thuggy'. My cotravelers didn't feel necessarily too comfortable downtown after @ 10,or so. Didn't bother me,though. I'm a huge crystal meth fan.
Love reading your posts-
Smiles-
MJ
I was curious about Crazy Crackers. Wonder how the food is...?
I too liked it a lot better as Duffy's. Didn't have to go over to STT for those magical wings!
I also noticed what you had mentioned as 'thuggy'. My cotravelers didn't feel necessarily too comfortable downtown after @ 10,or so. Didn't bother me,though. I'm a huge crystal meth fan.
Love reading your posts-
Smiles-
MJ
-
California Girl
I agree with the "thuggy" comment as well. Years ago they did blend in. Now, it seems they are proud to stand out. They might as well just hold up signs. Heck, I can't even buy from them anymore for fear someone will recognize me 
It's everywhere you go. I think it just seems to stand out more in a small town (and right next to a police station)
It's everywhere you go. I think it just seems to stand out more in a small town (and right next to a police station) -
ShipwreckPat
- Posts: 139
- Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2008 8:03 am
- Location: St John
I love reading your trip reports and seeing St John in the eyes of an experienced vacationer. I just wanted to say thanks for remembering Serafina and taking note of all the old signs. After the location changed hands a few times after us, I always suggested an exorcism be preformed to rid the building of whatever bad vibes there were there! We wish we were still there as Serafina but we were a little ahead of our time for fine dining in Coral Bay. I will say that I do not miss washing all those damn table lines though.
Happy Holidays to all
Happy Holidays to all
Pat-- I didn't know that you ran Serafina.
It's funny though how some places can have such an effect on people. Our honeymoon was hubby's first trip to the VI and my second.
We didn't have much money at the time and Serafina was our "big night out" during the trip. It was so open and elegant and beautiful and the food was wonderful. It was such a gem. But at the time it was on its own out there as a fine establishment.
I gotta tell you though... no matter what it looks like now...every time I see the place I can picture it just exactly as it was the first time I saw it with the candles on the tables flickering and all the lovely white linens.
I guess in some small way we'll always think of it as Serafina
It's funny though how some places can have such an effect on people. Our honeymoon was hubby's first trip to the VI and my second.
We didn't have much money at the time and Serafina was our "big night out" during the trip. It was so open and elegant and beautiful and the food was wonderful. It was such a gem. But at the time it was on its own out there as a fine establishment.
I gotta tell you though... no matter what it looks like now...every time I see the place I can picture it just exactly as it was the first time I saw it with the candles on the tables flickering and all the lovely white linens.
I guess in some small way we'll always think of it as Serafina
*Another fine scatterbrained production
-
ShipwreckPat
- Posts: 139
- Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2008 8:03 am
- Location: St John
Gromit
Thanks for the memories. Yes, we were very proud of Serafina, named after my husband's 100
year old aunt, but as I said earlier, we were just
a little ahead of our time for fine dining in Coral Bay
I sometimes wonder what it would be like if we still had it. No regrets but fine memories. Thanks for sharing yours.
Pat
Thanks for the memories. Yes, we were very proud of Serafina, named after my husband's 100
year old aunt, but as I said earlier, we were just
a little ahead of our time for fine dining in Coral Bay
I sometimes wonder what it would be like if we still had it. No regrets but fine memories. Thanks for sharing yours.
Pat