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Islanded in a Sea of Stars, Trip Report Day 7 Part 2
Islanded in a Sea of Stars, Trip Report Day 7 Part 2
Trip Report Day 7 Part 2
Hmm, where did I leave off from Part 1. Oh, I remember. I was trying to convince M that he really wanted to go for a walk so I could see Waterlemon Cay closer up. As in, from the water. But he wasn’t buying it. His shoes were rubbing his feet a bit, and he had enough strolling around already that morning.
We returned to the Jeep and headed back toward Coral Bay so that we could stop at the villa for some early afternoon Site Maintenance. (My older daughter reads this forum. Sorry, honey.)
We were starting to think about lunch, and I was hoping to tempt M with some Vie’s, so that I could possibly divert his attention over to Vie’s Beach, and do some last minute snorkeling. With that in mind, I pointed out the road to the East Side.
Do you like old fashioned wooden roller coaster rides? Then you will love the drive to the East End. I am five feet tall, and at times the dashboard was at such an angle that I could not see over it to tell you whether we were still on the road or not.
Big, swoopy hills, with tantalizing glimpses of blue on all sides. A pair of mongooses gallumped across the road in front of us.
The beaches here are small sand and pebbly affairs, just so charming and intimate that you want to stop at every one.
There are few things M and I love more than just driving around someplace gorgeous, exclaiming over the views, and pointing out interesting things that our partner may have missed. M has the uncanny ability to drive past a tavern at 80 mph and tell you who is inside, so his keen powers of observation while motoring up down and around the hills was a constant source of amusement.
We passed Vie’s going east, and I could smell the garlic chicken from the road, but M wouldn’t pull over due to the lure of what may lie just around the next bend. I really enjoyed the East End vibes and views.
Rock scramblers
The end of the road.
Unfortunately, he wouldn’t stop at Vie’s on the way west, either. I was a little too enthusiastic about it, and I think he smelled a trap. All I could smell was the chicken. Vie’s parking lot was full up, whether with diners or beachgoers on her little strand across the street, we will never know. Blast.
Goodbye, and thanks for visiting the East End.
Nearing Coral Bay, I noticed some donkeys wandering around in the dried up mud flat area oceanside of the road. M slowed down, and they saw this as an invitation.
Good day sir. Good day Maam. As you may have noticed, we are donkeys.
As you can tell by our melting eyes and friendly smiles, we are harmless. Here, let me wipe that glass for you.
Open your window. You know you want to.
When there was no food forthcoming, they laid back their ears in irritation and stomped off.
Lunch was the Aqua Bistro. What a perfect choice.
We had narrowly missed dinner here a few nights earlier, but it was pouring rain at that time and the restaurant is outdoors.
The weather was absolutely perfect this afternoon, however.
There were beautiful flowers all around, and we entertained ourselves watching the hummingbirds at the blossom buffet.
Meanwhile, the girls were on the Reef Bay Trail, hiking downhill from Centerline Road to the ocean. They saw a variety of interesting critters:
Deer
Spider
A Heron
Also hermit crabs and bats. They saw the petroglyphs, and the Reef Bay Sugar Mill ruins.
And then Reef Bay at the end of the hike.
The Sadie Sea was stationed there, waiting to pick them up and return them to Cruz Bay around 3pm. The appointed hour came and went, and they did not return, so I stuck my head in the Visitor Center and asked when they were expected.
I was told that the Sadie Sea had experienced engine trouble, and that another boat had been dispatched to pick up the hikers.
We had a little time to kill, so M and I walked across to Mongoose Junction to look at the watches in Jewels. M has been needing a watch for years, but he is one of those guys who just never gets around to spending money on himself. It took quite a bit of goading, but he finally agreed to purchase an attractive Rado. The saleslady asked for some time to remove some links from the bracelet, and we returned to the NPS dock to sit in the sun and wait for the girls.
Blast!
The girls disembarked from the Blast, and filled us in on what had happened. Apparently, the Sadie Sea was in the process of returning the hikers to Cruz Bay when there was a rather loud bang. Immediately, the crew grabbed a fire extinguisher and directed the passengers to the safest area of the boat. The little dogs on board started shaking because they were startled by the noise, and they ducked under the seats, shivering. The St. John Rescue boat came out to monitor the situation, and Cruz Bay Watersport’s Blast came out to ferry the hikers home.
The crew of the Sadie Sea tried to return the passage fees to those folks who already had paid for the trip, but some of the people told them to keep the money. By now N was getting a little seasick, and she didn’t look so good. They put her on one of the first dinghys over to the Blast. A followed later, and she was pretty nervous about jumping from the Sadie Sea into the dinghy, but she made it all right.
M went back to Jewels to pick up his watch, and I went with the girls to purchase something to drink from the smoothie stand. M caught up with us and lamented the fact that he did not have his watch. Something had gone wrong in the resizing process. The nice saleslady told M that the manager would come in early at 8:00 am tomorrow and try to fix it, even though the store did not open until 10. By ten we would have returned our rental car, and would be on the ferry dock waiting for our ride to STT. We went to the gas station to top off the tank.
"Gaurd" Rail
There is a sign right near there that says SPEED HUMP and on the same pole, the sign below it says SLOW CHILDREN. I’m not sure how I feel about that.
We thought about taking the girls to Aqua Bistro for dinner, but the Blues Fest was going on there and it was pretty crowded. So we returned to Skinny’s, over their protests. They were pretty sick of Skinny’s by then. I thumbed my nose at my liver, and had one last Raspberry Colada. The folks at the table next to us recognized A and N from the Sadie Sea adventure, and hoped that they were feeling better. Then it was back to Bo Atabey to pack our suitcases.
I spent some time out alone on the pool deck, looking up at the heavens. It was one of those moments when your spirit soars, and you rise up to become part of everything even though you feel like the only person in the world...kind of joyful and tearful and lonely and fulfilled all at once.
I was islanded in a sea of stars.
(The trip report is officially over, but I will post once more to express some final thoughts about our first STJ experience.)
Hmm, where did I leave off from Part 1. Oh, I remember. I was trying to convince M that he really wanted to go for a walk so I could see Waterlemon Cay closer up. As in, from the water. But he wasn’t buying it. His shoes were rubbing his feet a bit, and he had enough strolling around already that morning.
We returned to the Jeep and headed back toward Coral Bay so that we could stop at the villa for some early afternoon Site Maintenance. (My older daughter reads this forum. Sorry, honey.)
We were starting to think about lunch, and I was hoping to tempt M with some Vie’s, so that I could possibly divert his attention over to Vie’s Beach, and do some last minute snorkeling. With that in mind, I pointed out the road to the East Side.
Do you like old fashioned wooden roller coaster rides? Then you will love the drive to the East End. I am five feet tall, and at times the dashboard was at such an angle that I could not see over it to tell you whether we were still on the road or not.
Big, swoopy hills, with tantalizing glimpses of blue on all sides. A pair of mongooses gallumped across the road in front of us.
The beaches here are small sand and pebbly affairs, just so charming and intimate that you want to stop at every one.
There are few things M and I love more than just driving around someplace gorgeous, exclaiming over the views, and pointing out interesting things that our partner may have missed. M has the uncanny ability to drive past a tavern at 80 mph and tell you who is inside, so his keen powers of observation while motoring up down and around the hills was a constant source of amusement.
We passed Vie’s going east, and I could smell the garlic chicken from the road, but M wouldn’t pull over due to the lure of what may lie just around the next bend. I really enjoyed the East End vibes and views.
Rock scramblers
The end of the road.
Unfortunately, he wouldn’t stop at Vie’s on the way west, either. I was a little too enthusiastic about it, and I think he smelled a trap. All I could smell was the chicken. Vie’s parking lot was full up, whether with diners or beachgoers on her little strand across the street, we will never know. Blast.
Goodbye, and thanks for visiting the East End.
Nearing Coral Bay, I noticed some donkeys wandering around in the dried up mud flat area oceanside of the road. M slowed down, and they saw this as an invitation.
Good day sir. Good day Maam. As you may have noticed, we are donkeys.
As you can tell by our melting eyes and friendly smiles, we are harmless. Here, let me wipe that glass for you.
Open your window. You know you want to.
When there was no food forthcoming, they laid back their ears in irritation and stomped off.
Lunch was the Aqua Bistro. What a perfect choice.
We had narrowly missed dinner here a few nights earlier, but it was pouring rain at that time and the restaurant is outdoors.
The weather was absolutely perfect this afternoon, however.
There were beautiful flowers all around, and we entertained ourselves watching the hummingbirds at the blossom buffet.
Meanwhile, the girls were on the Reef Bay Trail, hiking downhill from Centerline Road to the ocean. They saw a variety of interesting critters:
Deer
Spider
A Heron
Also hermit crabs and bats. They saw the petroglyphs, and the Reef Bay Sugar Mill ruins.
And then Reef Bay at the end of the hike.
The Sadie Sea was stationed there, waiting to pick them up and return them to Cruz Bay around 3pm. The appointed hour came and went, and they did not return, so I stuck my head in the Visitor Center and asked when they were expected.
I was told that the Sadie Sea had experienced engine trouble, and that another boat had been dispatched to pick up the hikers.
We had a little time to kill, so M and I walked across to Mongoose Junction to look at the watches in Jewels. M has been needing a watch for years, but he is one of those guys who just never gets around to spending money on himself. It took quite a bit of goading, but he finally agreed to purchase an attractive Rado. The saleslady asked for some time to remove some links from the bracelet, and we returned to the NPS dock to sit in the sun and wait for the girls.
Blast!
The girls disembarked from the Blast, and filled us in on what had happened. Apparently, the Sadie Sea was in the process of returning the hikers to Cruz Bay when there was a rather loud bang. Immediately, the crew grabbed a fire extinguisher and directed the passengers to the safest area of the boat. The little dogs on board started shaking because they were startled by the noise, and they ducked under the seats, shivering. The St. John Rescue boat came out to monitor the situation, and Cruz Bay Watersport’s Blast came out to ferry the hikers home.
The crew of the Sadie Sea tried to return the passage fees to those folks who already had paid for the trip, but some of the people told them to keep the money. By now N was getting a little seasick, and she didn’t look so good. They put her on one of the first dinghys over to the Blast. A followed later, and she was pretty nervous about jumping from the Sadie Sea into the dinghy, but she made it all right.
M went back to Jewels to pick up his watch, and I went with the girls to purchase something to drink from the smoothie stand. M caught up with us and lamented the fact that he did not have his watch. Something had gone wrong in the resizing process. The nice saleslady told M that the manager would come in early at 8:00 am tomorrow and try to fix it, even though the store did not open until 10. By ten we would have returned our rental car, and would be on the ferry dock waiting for our ride to STT. We went to the gas station to top off the tank.
"Gaurd" Rail
There is a sign right near there that says SPEED HUMP and on the same pole, the sign below it says SLOW CHILDREN. I’m not sure how I feel about that.
We thought about taking the girls to Aqua Bistro for dinner, but the Blues Fest was going on there and it was pretty crowded. So we returned to Skinny’s, over their protests. They were pretty sick of Skinny’s by then. I thumbed my nose at my liver, and had one last Raspberry Colada. The folks at the table next to us recognized A and N from the Sadie Sea adventure, and hoped that they were feeling better. Then it was back to Bo Atabey to pack our suitcases.
I spent some time out alone on the pool deck, looking up at the heavens. It was one of those moments when your spirit soars, and you rise up to become part of everything even though you feel like the only person in the world...kind of joyful and tearful and lonely and fulfilled all at once.
I was islanded in a sea of stars.
(The trip report is officially over, but I will post once more to express some final thoughts about our first STJ experience.)
WHEW...you got me there! THANK YOU for your absolutely fantastic account of your first trip.I spent some time out alone on the pool deck, looking up at the heavens. It was one of those moments when your spirit soars, and you rise up to become part of everything even though you feel like the only person in the world...kind of joyful and tearful and lonely and fulfilled all at once.
I was islanded in a sea of stars.
I have enjoyed every segment . You certainly know how to write.
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California Girl
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designbyroe
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babyblueagel1981
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Such beautiful writing and pictures. We are going in June on a cruise and St. Thomas is one of the stops. We have rented a car to go spend the day on St. John. My husband and my self have never been, but my parents have and they are going with us...I almost bet i will not want to get back on the ship and just stay in St. John..... 
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