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First Time Trip Report 1/10-1/17 Part 3 Final
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turtlegirl
- Posts: 154
- Joined: Sat Mar 01, 2008 8:54 pm
- Location: Massachusetts
First Time Trip Report 1/10-1/17 Part 3 Final
Hey everyone, thanks for the positive comments on installments 1 & 2. In Boston it's 2 degrees and Monday morning so in my head I'm in STJ and it's Thursday afternoon...
After Leinster and before lunch at Skinny Legs we checked out Francis, what a great beach. We had considered staying at Honeymoon Cottage near here but, again, glad we stayed closer to the restaurants in Cruz Bay on our first trip. We're already planning to hike Leinster onto the Johnny Horn Trail to eat lunch at Skinny's next trip instead of driving.
We drove back centerline Road and took a left onto Gifft Hill Road as the South/Westin part of the island (besides far East) was our only uncovered territory. Found it to be very congested and trafficy over here. We got gas in preparation for returning the jeep on Saturday and stopped at Starfish to check out the bigger market as we'd only been to Dolphin (we somehow missed Peace Pine Market) Wow their prices were high, higher than Dolphin which I found ironic as Starfish is so much larger. Lounged on the beach at Turtle Bay when we got back and checked out the Caneel Bay afternoon tea-a few goodies and some iced coffee were nice.
Dinner was at the Lime Inn, our only disappointing meal of the trip. Derek's tuna was grainy and tough-he actually sent it back- and my shrimp and scallop scampi was very bland. The people there were very nice, though, and it could have been an off night for the restaurant.
Friday we stayed put at Caneel bay, running in the morning, there is a great trail there called Mary's trail and you can see the big Hawksnest beach from there, saying hi to the donkeys and deer. After bfast we kayaked and then snorkeled Scott Beach again. We wanted to snorkel Caneel Hawksnest but it was very cloudy and windy so we passed-next time!
We had also planned to see Tituba at 7 p.m., the show at the Cinnamon ampitheatre, but it was raining so we napped instead.
We thought about trying La Tapa for dinner but didn't make reservations and it looked really crowded so we went back to Rhumblines and had our exact same meal over again (tuna and pad thai) and it was just as good the second time around. We've sworn to get different entrees next time!
Saturday morning we returned the jeep to Courtesy at 8:30 am and ran the Lind Point Trail back to Caneel. We ate breakfast and packed up and then it was time to leave on the 12:30 ferry for our 3 p.m. flight. I printed our boarding passes and filled out our customs form (which I had gotten at the airport upon arrival thanks to the tip from the forum) The ferry ride to CA was lovely but sad.
We breezed through Customs and Security with our carry-ons only to find out our plane was delayed an hour until 4 p.m. AND we had to fly to San Juan for an unscheduled fuel stop. Bummer! The plane was on time for it's hour delay but then we sat as there was a hole in the runway that had to be fixed before we took off...stopped in SJU, landed in BOS but then had to sit again as 4 flights landed at the same time and there were only 2 parking crews...our scheduled landing time of 6:10 p.m. actually became 9:10 p.m. Luckily it was saturday night so we had Sunday to recover and shovel our way out of the foot of snow that fell on Sunday. We were fortunate in that we left a day before a snowstorm and returned the day before a snow storm.
We loved St. John. We are huge Hawaii fans but have been looking for an island closer to home that we can also love. We've been to various Caribbean cruise stop islands in the past and have stayed on St. Martin and Nevis for week long trips, but they never floated our boat. We will be returning to STJ, though! I am a firm believer in traveling the shoulder season (we go to the Hawaiian islands in the Fall and May), but for us STJ works during high season in early January as Derek is a CPA and it is a great shorter trip for us after the holidays and before tax season really kicks in (higher cost being the only down side.) We didn't find the island to be crowded, although we've never experienced low season, but I think the economy has probably slowed things down a bit (I don't think we even needed dinner ressies anywhere except La Tapa). We really liked Caneel Bay and will probably stay here again on our next trip and would only stay at a villa when we bring our kids as we'd have to have 2 rooms at Caneel and that would be cost prohibitive.
I was surprised by the amount of clouds and the frequent (but short) periods of rain. Is this normal and does it occur throughout the year?
We didn't find restaurant prices to be any higher than Hawaii and food market prices only slightly higher (especially meat and frozen products).
We'd only rent a jeep for half our stay next time as the beaches/snorkeling are so great at Caneel and it is only a short taxi ride to dinner in Cruz Bay.
We had a wonderful time and I want to thank everyone again because all the insight we had prior to our trip made everything really smooth and helped us enjoy our stay even more.
After Leinster and before lunch at Skinny Legs we checked out Francis, what a great beach. We had considered staying at Honeymoon Cottage near here but, again, glad we stayed closer to the restaurants in Cruz Bay on our first trip. We're already planning to hike Leinster onto the Johnny Horn Trail to eat lunch at Skinny's next trip instead of driving.
We drove back centerline Road and took a left onto Gifft Hill Road as the South/Westin part of the island (besides far East) was our only uncovered territory. Found it to be very congested and trafficy over here. We got gas in preparation for returning the jeep on Saturday and stopped at Starfish to check out the bigger market as we'd only been to Dolphin (we somehow missed Peace Pine Market) Wow their prices were high, higher than Dolphin which I found ironic as Starfish is so much larger. Lounged on the beach at Turtle Bay when we got back and checked out the Caneel Bay afternoon tea-a few goodies and some iced coffee were nice.
Dinner was at the Lime Inn, our only disappointing meal of the trip. Derek's tuna was grainy and tough-he actually sent it back- and my shrimp and scallop scampi was very bland. The people there were very nice, though, and it could have been an off night for the restaurant.
Friday we stayed put at Caneel bay, running in the morning, there is a great trail there called Mary's trail and you can see the big Hawksnest beach from there, saying hi to the donkeys and deer. After bfast we kayaked and then snorkeled Scott Beach again. We wanted to snorkel Caneel Hawksnest but it was very cloudy and windy so we passed-next time!
We had also planned to see Tituba at 7 p.m., the show at the Cinnamon ampitheatre, but it was raining so we napped instead.
We thought about trying La Tapa for dinner but didn't make reservations and it looked really crowded so we went back to Rhumblines and had our exact same meal over again (tuna and pad thai) and it was just as good the second time around. We've sworn to get different entrees next time!
Saturday morning we returned the jeep to Courtesy at 8:30 am and ran the Lind Point Trail back to Caneel. We ate breakfast and packed up and then it was time to leave on the 12:30 ferry for our 3 p.m. flight. I printed our boarding passes and filled out our customs form (which I had gotten at the airport upon arrival thanks to the tip from the forum) The ferry ride to CA was lovely but sad.
We breezed through Customs and Security with our carry-ons only to find out our plane was delayed an hour until 4 p.m. AND we had to fly to San Juan for an unscheduled fuel stop. Bummer! The plane was on time for it's hour delay but then we sat as there was a hole in the runway that had to be fixed before we took off...stopped in SJU, landed in BOS but then had to sit again as 4 flights landed at the same time and there were only 2 parking crews...our scheduled landing time of 6:10 p.m. actually became 9:10 p.m. Luckily it was saturday night so we had Sunday to recover and shovel our way out of the foot of snow that fell on Sunday. We were fortunate in that we left a day before a snowstorm and returned the day before a snow storm.
We loved St. John. We are huge Hawaii fans but have been looking for an island closer to home that we can also love. We've been to various Caribbean cruise stop islands in the past and have stayed on St. Martin and Nevis for week long trips, but they never floated our boat. We will be returning to STJ, though! I am a firm believer in traveling the shoulder season (we go to the Hawaiian islands in the Fall and May), but for us STJ works during high season in early January as Derek is a CPA and it is a great shorter trip for us after the holidays and before tax season really kicks in (higher cost being the only down side.) We didn't find the island to be crowded, although we've never experienced low season, but I think the economy has probably slowed things down a bit (I don't think we even needed dinner ressies anywhere except La Tapa). We really liked Caneel Bay and will probably stay here again on our next trip and would only stay at a villa when we bring our kids as we'd have to have 2 rooms at Caneel and that would be cost prohibitive.
I was surprised by the amount of clouds and the frequent (but short) periods of rain. Is this normal and does it occur throughout the year?
We didn't find restaurant prices to be any higher than Hawaii and food market prices only slightly higher (especially meat and frozen products).
We'd only rent a jeep for half our stay next time as the beaches/snorkeling are so great at Caneel and it is only a short taxi ride to dinner in Cruz Bay.
We had a wonderful time and I want to thank everyone again because all the insight we had prior to our trip made everything really smooth and helped us enjoy our stay even more.
Nice report! I am glad you enjoyed St. John. There are people St. John would not work well for . . . the ones looking for nightlife like Cancun.
Gina
I agree. I think the selection at the supermarkets and condition aren't really good. For example, I bought pancake mix that was hard as a rock--probably due to the island conditions. A local told me that we are better off to eat all meals out--haven't tried that but maybe it is true.We didn't find restaurant prices to be any higher than Hawaii and food market prices only slightly higher (especially meat and frozen products).
Gina
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Jan&MikeVa
- Posts: 1084
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 5:32 pm
- Location: The Chesapeake Bay
Thanks for the trip report, I enjoyed hearing about your time at Caneel!!!!
The rain and clouds are hit & miss. We switch beach routes in the morning sometimes because of cloud cover on one end or the other. Mike says it NEVER rains at Lameshure...............well the Rain Gods fooled him on this last trip! We got pounded their one afternoon..........drove almost everyone home. We waited it out in the jeep.
Glad you'll be going back, Hawaii is a looooong trip from the East Coast!
The rain and clouds are hit & miss. We switch beach routes in the morning sometimes because of cloud cover on one end or the other. Mike says it NEVER rains at Lameshure...............well the Rain Gods fooled him on this last trip! We got pounded their one afternoon..........drove almost everyone home. We waited it out in the jeep.
Glad you'll be going back, Hawaii is a looooong trip from the East Coast!
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turtlegirl
- Posts: 154
- Joined: Sat Mar 01, 2008 8:54 pm
- Location: Massachusetts
We don't miss night life because we do so much during the day that after dinner we are more than ready for bed!
It is great how different people do different things on vacation but all love the same spot.
No pics.-someday I'll figure it out, I promise.
I did think it was hotter and sunnier out at Salt Pond/Lameshure.
Are the clouds/frequent,short showers a January thing or do they occur throughout the year?
We wanted to sample all of St. John, so we really got out there. The more times we go, the less we'll do probably, except we like being active. We never made it to the Beach Bar or La Tapa so we HAVE to go back!
It is great how different people do different things on vacation but all love the same spot.
No pics.-someday I'll figure it out, I promise.
I did think it was hotter and sunnier out at Salt Pond/Lameshure.
Are the clouds/frequent,short showers a January thing or do they occur throughout the year?
We wanted to sample all of St. John, so we really got out there. The more times we go, the less we'll do probably, except we like being active. We never made it to the Beach Bar or La Tapa so we HAVE to go back!