usvi-on-line
Trip Report 2/3/07-2/10/07 -part 1
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martini girl
- Posts: 329
- Joined: Wed Aug 16, 2006 4:29 pm
- Location: Pennsylvania
Trip Report 2/3/07-2/10/07 -part 1
This trip was in the planning for 10+ months. Some background, although I've mentioned this numerous times: 2 families (2 moms/2 dads (all in our 40s), 2 daughters ages 8 and 12; 3 daughters ages 11,10,3)
I can't even remember where we came up with the idea of going to St. John, but somehow, Thank Goodness, we did.
Anyway, bought our tickets on US Airways 10 months ago. Found Great Expectations online and booked it (never stayed in a private home before, let alone sight unseen...a big leap of faith for me) The owners of the villa suggested a few websites, this forum being one of them, again ThankGoodness!
So we leave for the Philly airport at 4:00 am on Sat. the 3rd. The 7:30 am flight gets delayed 1 hour because they "forgot to turn the heat on in the plane". Meanwhile, the kids are looking out the window and say, Mommy, why are there men on a ladder looking at the engine of the plane? Welcome to the Phila. Int'l Airport and US Airways! In one hour, we are in the air. The flight was uneventful, we land in St. Thomas and feel that glorious sunshine on our faces, bags come out pretty quickly (11 checked bags in all- 4 for us, 7 for the other family!) Someone wrote a few months ago, "take half the clothes and twice the money"....boy, if that ain't the truth!
Our taxi driver is intent on getting us on the 2pm Red Hook ferry. We make it with seconds to spare and off we go. Met at the dock by the villa rep who takes one look at all of the luggage, laughs, and wonders how he's going to fit it in the back of his rather large pick-up truck. He does. We walk to Courtesy Car Rental, get our vehicles (Ford Explorer and Mitsubishi Montero) both in decent shape and head off to the villa. Villa rep is still wondering about how much luggage we brought. May I say, we certainly were clueless. I guess we're used to getting dressed up each night for dinner on vacation, but quickly found out that we didn't need to. What a nice relief to grab a pair of shorts and head out to dinner.
Great Expectations, at first, looks smaller to me than in the pictures on the website. The girls all take off to "claim their rooms." The villa rep shows us around, offers us a beer, explains things, says something about where to take out the trash on your way out to dinner. We didn't really catch his meaning until we couldn't come up with a trash receptacle at the end of our driveway. That whole trash thing in the dumpsters a few miles down the road was quite strange. Our chef from Katilady that evening clued us in on where to dispose of our trash.
Speaking of Katilady, the provisioning was acceptable. I think we could definitely have done without it as we had time to get our bearings and make a grocery run later in the day. But, in hindsight, it was a nice thing to have upon arrival.
Must get the girls ready for bed. Will continue soon.
I can't even remember where we came up with the idea of going to St. John, but somehow, Thank Goodness, we did.
Anyway, bought our tickets on US Airways 10 months ago. Found Great Expectations online and booked it (never stayed in a private home before, let alone sight unseen...a big leap of faith for me) The owners of the villa suggested a few websites, this forum being one of them, again ThankGoodness!
So we leave for the Philly airport at 4:00 am on Sat. the 3rd. The 7:30 am flight gets delayed 1 hour because they "forgot to turn the heat on in the plane". Meanwhile, the kids are looking out the window and say, Mommy, why are there men on a ladder looking at the engine of the plane? Welcome to the Phila. Int'l Airport and US Airways! In one hour, we are in the air. The flight was uneventful, we land in St. Thomas and feel that glorious sunshine on our faces, bags come out pretty quickly (11 checked bags in all- 4 for us, 7 for the other family!) Someone wrote a few months ago, "take half the clothes and twice the money"....boy, if that ain't the truth!
Our taxi driver is intent on getting us on the 2pm Red Hook ferry. We make it with seconds to spare and off we go. Met at the dock by the villa rep who takes one look at all of the luggage, laughs, and wonders how he's going to fit it in the back of his rather large pick-up truck. He does. We walk to Courtesy Car Rental, get our vehicles (Ford Explorer and Mitsubishi Montero) both in decent shape and head off to the villa. Villa rep is still wondering about how much luggage we brought. May I say, we certainly were clueless. I guess we're used to getting dressed up each night for dinner on vacation, but quickly found out that we didn't need to. What a nice relief to grab a pair of shorts and head out to dinner.
Great Expectations, at first, looks smaller to me than in the pictures on the website. The girls all take off to "claim their rooms." The villa rep shows us around, offers us a beer, explains things, says something about where to take out the trash on your way out to dinner. We didn't really catch his meaning until we couldn't come up with a trash receptacle at the end of our driveway. That whole trash thing in the dumpsters a few miles down the road was quite strange. Our chef from Katilady that evening clued us in on where to dispose of our trash.
Speaking of Katilady, the provisioning was acceptable. I think we could definitely have done without it as we had time to get our bearings and make a grocery run later in the day. But, in hindsight, it was a nice thing to have upon arrival.
Must get the girls ready for bed. Will continue soon.
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Xislandgirl
- Posts: 4163
- Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 4:03 pm
- Location: Slightly left of center
TRIP REPORT! Hooray!
I am interested in knowing if you were able to snorkle off Hart, which I have been told has a good reef. We were in a place on Hart in October 2003 and were too intimidated to go in to explore the reef, and we are strong swimmers! We did find out that there were really bad storms right after we left, so have always wondered if the waves we saw there were unusual.
I am interested in knowing if you were able to snorkle off Hart, which I have been told has a good reef. We were in a place on Hart in October 2003 and were too intimidated to go in to explore the reef, and we are strong swimmers! We did find out that there were really bad storms right after we left, so have always wondered if the waves we saw there were unusual.
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
First, let me say – you’re a girl after my own heart with the handle “martini girl”. I’ll have a Kettle One Straight Up, Shaken with an Olive please.
Ah - A trip report. With 79 days to go – I need all the fixes I can get. Thanks for taking the time to write them. So, “Scare Air” aka US Air finally got you there. You survived the taxi ride and you have enough luggage to outfit everyone on the island. Oh, I can tell this is going to be good. Bring on the next report.
Ah - A trip report. With 79 days to go – I need all the fixes I can get. Thanks for taking the time to write them. So, “Scare Air” aka US Air finally got you there. You survived the taxi ride and you have enough luggage to outfit everyone on the island. Oh, I can tell this is going to be good. Bring on the next report.
FlaGeorge
"Swim Against The Current - Even a Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow"
"Swim Against The Current - Even a Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow"
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howie's sunshine
- Posts: 65
- Joined: Wed Aug 30, 2006 6:44 am
Great report so far
Oh! what a day for a trip report sitting hear watching it snow in springfield Mass. and I looked and saw the report. what a smile I have. I miss the sun and beach. and this report is a great fix. thank you can't wait to read the rest.
cindy
cindy
Great start to your trip report! We stayed at G.E. in July of 2004 with our entire family (15), and had a great time. It's a good villa for bigger groups. Plenty of room to spread out, outside. The only bedroom we didn't end up using was the one on the walk to the guesthouse. We called it the "cave". 
Looking forward to the rest of your report!
Sarah
Looking forward to the rest of your report!
Sarah
Liamsaunt, we snorkeled Hart on our last trip. It's kind of tricky to get in and out of the water. I fell coming out the second time was praying as I went down, that my butt wouldn't land on an urchin!!! 
It's shallow for a longs ways out with rocks and urchins, but it was totally worth the effort. Lots of fish and coral to see, and we were the only ones there! We could see bay from our villa and picked a day when the waves looked fairly calm.
sarah
It's shallow for a longs ways out with rocks and urchins, but it was totally worth the effort. Lots of fish and coral to see, and we were the only ones there! We could see bay from our villa and picked a day when the waves looked fairly calm.sarah
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Kentuckygirl
- Posts: 1903
- Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2006 10:17 am
- Location: Kentucky
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madforstjohn
- Posts: 31
- Joined: Wed Nov 29, 2006 5:32 pm
- Location: Massachusetts
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Berkfamily
- Posts: 37
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 5:21 pm
Ditto trip report hooray. I read it while taking a break from chipping ice off of my truck.liamsaunt wrote:TRIP REPORT! Hooray!
I am interested in knowing if you were able to snorkle off Hart, which I have been told has a good reef. We were in a place on Hart in October 2003 and were too intimidated to go in to explore the reef, and we are strong swimmers! We did find out that there were really bad storms right after we left, so have always wondered if the waves we saw there were unusual.
liamsaunt, the last time I could snorkel Hart Bay was 1997. I try EVERY time I go down, but it's been too rough. There's a lot of very shallow reef there with deep grooves between the coral heads. It's delightful. But, unless its calm you're going to be hamburger.
Cheers, RickG
S/V Echoes - Coral Bay - St. John, VI