usvi-on-line
Trip report on the cheap.
Trip report on the cheap.
Ok Folks here is the trip report on the cheap. (that means I won’t waste words here)
NOTE: If you read nothing else, please read the conclusion at the end…..
Day one – Up at 2am off to the Airport. Almost missed the plane out of Reagan, but the Island gods were smiling and we got in the boarding line as soon as we showed up. Got to Atlanta OK, but then they changed our gate, and anyone who has flown out of Atlanta knows that can be a problem. We made to the new gate without a minute to spare (last in line), but the Island gods were still smiling and we were on our way. Oops, 1 hour rain delay on the ramp woke up to my own snoring when the plane started moving again Everything smooth as a bell in St. Thomas…Made the taxi, made the ferry and had a great 20 minute conversation with an island native on the crossing to St John. OK we are here…Pictures, pictures, pictures, more pictures….God do I look like a dorky tourist.
Next, got our Jeep and headed for the Villa. Great little Villa called Blue Aweigh. Story from the owner was the name came from the fact that the first version of the place actually blew away. The owner’s house was on the property also, and they were very cool folks. Hungry, very hungry, leave the bags, let’s go eat. Off to the Banana Deck. The dinner I thought would put me to sleep woke me up. Off to the Beach Bar. Hey look who it is, Mike and Nicole. Several drinks and a couple hours later (now close to 20 hours since the day began), We head back to the Villa less one credit card my dumb ass left on the bar. I Canceled credit card. End of day one
Day Two Up early, it is Sunday, out to the Jeep, let’s go find Miss Lucy’s. For a newbie we got there first try, I was proud of myself. Saw Nancy B and husband Ron there, but as to further display my lack of forumite skills, I did not recognize them for who they were. Significant, since I was going on a boat ride with them in a couple days. Sorry guys. Food was great. (more pictures) Let’s go snorkeling. Looked at the map, Salt Pond Bay is close….Off we go. Snorkeling at Salt pond was very nice. Relaxed and took lots more pictures above and below water. Left salt pond and went back to the Beach Bar to meet everyone but had not eaten yet. Got to the beach Bar and the Bartender said “hey man, here is your credit card” as he patted my back in an understanding manner. We briefly got to meet everyone, had Jello shots but had to go get some food (Beach Bar was packed) Walked up the hill to the Banana Deck and got dinner, came back and met with some left over stragglers, but we missed most of the fun, but hey, no worries, there is Mike and Nicole….Drink, drink, drink…Hey Mike I got something for you…. Presented Mike with the now infamous “F” the Economy T shirt. Felt good to do something for a fellow forum frequenter….. Drink, Drink, Drink… Off to Woody’s, Getting late, but we’re on a roll. Pictures and drink more. Eat something…..Back to the Beach Bar (Jeep is parked across the street) one more for the road…Back to the Villa? Nah….. Drove around for a while and located boat doc where we will meet Nancy, Otis and her crew. I may be a newbie, but I can find my way around. Jody is fired up…”What’s next”??? It is now late…I think bed is next…Back to the Villa. End of day two.
Day three
Monday. No-one we are meeting this day so it is snorkel mania day. Hopped in the Jeep and went to Hawksnest Bay. The snorkeling was challenging to say the least. Jody stayed on the beach. I had to stay on the perimeter of the reef because the swells threatened to drag me across the coral. I took some pictures, but the visibility was a bit mucked up by shifting coral sand. Jody wants in also so we leave Hawksnest and head to Honeymoon Bay. Way better!!! Not a soul in site, and I mean not one single person was on this beach when we walked out. We went snorkeling 2 times here. Visibility was great, the current was easy to take and Jody loved every minute of it. I took lots of pictures throughout the day. OK it gets cloudy here. We left the beach and headed to the grocery store, but as I was in shock over the prices (I should not have been because of previous forum info) I think I was a culture shocked zombie for a few minutes. I just remember leaving about $100 lighter in the wallet with little to show for it? Oh well, no worries, back to the Jeep. Tonight we eat Italian…OK we had spaghetti in the villa. My belly felt good and Rum was my desert. God I love this stuff….No honey I am not drunk…yet….Passed out…end of day 3
Day 4 – Beach Day
What a fun day. Nearly everyone I had talked to on the forum it seemed was here (Honeymoon Bay). Sun4mysoul and her crew had really cool TITS shirts on. I wanted one just to remember them by. Pretty much the entire group spent oodles of time in the shallow water drinking, talking and yes getting burned up. I ran out of Rum and Sun4mysoul very kindly re-supplied me with something of which I don’t recall what it was, but it was good. I have got to say with all honesty, these were some of the coolest, most fun people I have ever had the pleasure to spend a day with…Even though none of them like the Orioles. While talking with CptnKirk, He invited us to come to his Villa that evening and have some drinks, I said “drinks”???? ummmm OK… We left and went back to Villa to get ready for dinner. Zozo’s…..Oh yeah this is eating right. Man, I am fried. Had a great steak and Jody had fish. It was crazy good food and the view was really nice at sunset. Ok, were off to see the captain. We arrive at CptnKirks place and discovered he was staying down the driveway from hell. God, I hope the brakes hold. No-one else took him up on his invitation, but damn-it I have a bottle of Rum and were coming in. A couple drinks and some really great conversation and there possibly could have been no better way to end the evening (thanks CptnKirk). End of day 4
Day 5 – Wednesday
Shopping early, and then off to Trunk bay to go snorkeling. What an awesome day. water is calm, clear and the fish were everywhere. We spent hours snorkeling this day...the breeze was nice and we had a shady spot to chill. When I say no worries, I mean absolutely no worries. To the Jeep…Drove around and took lots of pictures, the sugar factory was really something to see. Went back to the Villa and cleaned up real quick and off to dinner. The Fish Trap is our choice for this day…Not bad…almost no-one there, but it was good food and a nice time to just breathe and relax with my lovely wife. OK, off to the Beach Bar…by way of the jewelry store??? Drink, drink drink…back to the villa….end of day 5
Day 6 – Boat day
Sun4mysoul and Crew, Nancy B and Ron, and Jody and I took a day long tour on Born to Rhumb. Holy crap, where to start… We went to Tortola and checked in. Off to the Caves for snorkeling…Nice, very nice. Off to Willy T’s. Everyone showed there little willies, we took shots from the water ski, and generally drank copious amounts of pain killers. Off to Foxy’s…OK by now, Jody has had enough to drink…poor girl dropped her Mahi sandwich in the sand….The kind folks at Foxy’s gave her another. Off to the Soggy Dollar…Drink and more drink….lots of cool pictures. Thanks to Margo for the Painkiller. Sun4mysoul bit my noodle and I have the pictures to prove it. We headed back to St. John, and I felt this day should never end. I don’t remember what we had to eat that night? Man am I fried…..end of day 6.
Day 7 – Friday – last full day.
Not a lot of details here. We explored the entire day and used the death out of the Jeep. We went on every road we felt we were legally able to drive on. Stopped at Skinny Legs and took pictures and just generally spent the day taking pictures of everything we saw.
Dinner was at Morgans Mango. Really good….end of day 7
Day 8 – departure day
We left – I said “don’t be sad honey, we will be back soon”
Conclusion – It should be a forgone conclusion that about 90% of the total story is not here, but I must tell you that we met great people in St John. We had the time of our lives and in the process the island hooked us like lazy fish. We missed it before we ever got to the airport to go home. We crowded a lot into almost everyday, but also took the time to look around and talk to as many folks as we could. I love this island. And as for Jody, well she is already packing for our return in 10 months or at least is buying some stuff? But she is giddy that we are going back….
Thanks to everyone on the forum who made this trip so special.
Jim and Jody
I invite everyone to go to the links in my phtos post see see the story in living color
Folks, here are the links to virtually every picture I took in St John. I have had very little chance to label them all correctly, but for now I hope you enjoy looking at them as we had an amazing time taking them.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 4afe995003
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 387509ecf5
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... b17c998c64
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 328556f2bd
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 34aa378105
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 5521163803
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 008b00fb83
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 29f0141a3a
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 73afe295d7
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 5a8f67d8a3
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... b235071c39
NOTE: If you read nothing else, please read the conclusion at the end…..
Day one – Up at 2am off to the Airport. Almost missed the plane out of Reagan, but the Island gods were smiling and we got in the boarding line as soon as we showed up. Got to Atlanta OK, but then they changed our gate, and anyone who has flown out of Atlanta knows that can be a problem. We made to the new gate without a minute to spare (last in line), but the Island gods were still smiling and we were on our way. Oops, 1 hour rain delay on the ramp woke up to my own snoring when the plane started moving again Everything smooth as a bell in St. Thomas…Made the taxi, made the ferry and had a great 20 minute conversation with an island native on the crossing to St John. OK we are here…Pictures, pictures, pictures, more pictures….God do I look like a dorky tourist.
Next, got our Jeep and headed for the Villa. Great little Villa called Blue Aweigh. Story from the owner was the name came from the fact that the first version of the place actually blew away. The owner’s house was on the property also, and they were very cool folks. Hungry, very hungry, leave the bags, let’s go eat. Off to the Banana Deck. The dinner I thought would put me to sleep woke me up. Off to the Beach Bar. Hey look who it is, Mike and Nicole. Several drinks and a couple hours later (now close to 20 hours since the day began), We head back to the Villa less one credit card my dumb ass left on the bar. I Canceled credit card. End of day one
Day Two Up early, it is Sunday, out to the Jeep, let’s go find Miss Lucy’s. For a newbie we got there first try, I was proud of myself. Saw Nancy B and husband Ron there, but as to further display my lack of forumite skills, I did not recognize them for who they were. Significant, since I was going on a boat ride with them in a couple days. Sorry guys. Food was great. (more pictures) Let’s go snorkeling. Looked at the map, Salt Pond Bay is close….Off we go. Snorkeling at Salt pond was very nice. Relaxed and took lots more pictures above and below water. Left salt pond and went back to the Beach Bar to meet everyone but had not eaten yet. Got to the beach Bar and the Bartender said “hey man, here is your credit card” as he patted my back in an understanding manner. We briefly got to meet everyone, had Jello shots but had to go get some food (Beach Bar was packed) Walked up the hill to the Banana Deck and got dinner, came back and met with some left over stragglers, but we missed most of the fun, but hey, no worries, there is Mike and Nicole….Drink, drink, drink…Hey Mike I got something for you…. Presented Mike with the now infamous “F” the Economy T shirt. Felt good to do something for a fellow forum frequenter….. Drink, Drink, Drink… Off to Woody’s, Getting late, but we’re on a roll. Pictures and drink more. Eat something…..Back to the Beach Bar (Jeep is parked across the street) one more for the road…Back to the Villa? Nah….. Drove around for a while and located boat doc where we will meet Nancy, Otis and her crew. I may be a newbie, but I can find my way around. Jody is fired up…”What’s next”??? It is now late…I think bed is next…Back to the Villa. End of day two.
Day three
Monday. No-one we are meeting this day so it is snorkel mania day. Hopped in the Jeep and went to Hawksnest Bay. The snorkeling was challenging to say the least. Jody stayed on the beach. I had to stay on the perimeter of the reef because the swells threatened to drag me across the coral. I took some pictures, but the visibility was a bit mucked up by shifting coral sand. Jody wants in also so we leave Hawksnest and head to Honeymoon Bay. Way better!!! Not a soul in site, and I mean not one single person was on this beach when we walked out. We went snorkeling 2 times here. Visibility was great, the current was easy to take and Jody loved every minute of it. I took lots of pictures throughout the day. OK it gets cloudy here. We left the beach and headed to the grocery store, but as I was in shock over the prices (I should not have been because of previous forum info) I think I was a culture shocked zombie for a few minutes. I just remember leaving about $100 lighter in the wallet with little to show for it? Oh well, no worries, back to the Jeep. Tonight we eat Italian…OK we had spaghetti in the villa. My belly felt good and Rum was my desert. God I love this stuff….No honey I am not drunk…yet….Passed out…end of day 3
Day 4 – Beach Day
What a fun day. Nearly everyone I had talked to on the forum it seemed was here (Honeymoon Bay). Sun4mysoul and her crew had really cool TITS shirts on. I wanted one just to remember them by. Pretty much the entire group spent oodles of time in the shallow water drinking, talking and yes getting burned up. I ran out of Rum and Sun4mysoul very kindly re-supplied me with something of which I don’t recall what it was, but it was good. I have got to say with all honesty, these were some of the coolest, most fun people I have ever had the pleasure to spend a day with…Even though none of them like the Orioles. While talking with CptnKirk, He invited us to come to his Villa that evening and have some drinks, I said “drinks”???? ummmm OK… We left and went back to Villa to get ready for dinner. Zozo’s…..Oh yeah this is eating right. Man, I am fried. Had a great steak and Jody had fish. It was crazy good food and the view was really nice at sunset. Ok, were off to see the captain. We arrive at CptnKirks place and discovered he was staying down the driveway from hell. God, I hope the brakes hold. No-one else took him up on his invitation, but damn-it I have a bottle of Rum and were coming in. A couple drinks and some really great conversation and there possibly could have been no better way to end the evening (thanks CptnKirk). End of day 4
Day 5 – Wednesday
Shopping early, and then off to Trunk bay to go snorkeling. What an awesome day. water is calm, clear and the fish were everywhere. We spent hours snorkeling this day...the breeze was nice and we had a shady spot to chill. When I say no worries, I mean absolutely no worries. To the Jeep…Drove around and took lots of pictures, the sugar factory was really something to see. Went back to the Villa and cleaned up real quick and off to dinner. The Fish Trap is our choice for this day…Not bad…almost no-one there, but it was good food and a nice time to just breathe and relax with my lovely wife. OK, off to the Beach Bar…by way of the jewelry store??? Drink, drink drink…back to the villa….end of day 5
Day 6 – Boat day
Sun4mysoul and Crew, Nancy B and Ron, and Jody and I took a day long tour on Born to Rhumb. Holy crap, where to start… We went to Tortola and checked in. Off to the Caves for snorkeling…Nice, very nice. Off to Willy T’s. Everyone showed there little willies, we took shots from the water ski, and generally drank copious amounts of pain killers. Off to Foxy’s…OK by now, Jody has had enough to drink…poor girl dropped her Mahi sandwich in the sand….The kind folks at Foxy’s gave her another. Off to the Soggy Dollar…Drink and more drink….lots of cool pictures. Thanks to Margo for the Painkiller. Sun4mysoul bit my noodle and I have the pictures to prove it. We headed back to St. John, and I felt this day should never end. I don’t remember what we had to eat that night? Man am I fried…..end of day 6.
Day 7 – Friday – last full day.
Not a lot of details here. We explored the entire day and used the death out of the Jeep. We went on every road we felt we were legally able to drive on. Stopped at Skinny Legs and took pictures and just generally spent the day taking pictures of everything we saw.
Dinner was at Morgans Mango. Really good….end of day 7
Day 8 – departure day
We left – I said “don’t be sad honey, we will be back soon”
Conclusion – It should be a forgone conclusion that about 90% of the total story is not here, but I must tell you that we met great people in St John. We had the time of our lives and in the process the island hooked us like lazy fish. We missed it before we ever got to the airport to go home. We crowded a lot into almost everyday, but also took the time to look around and talk to as many folks as we could. I love this island. And as for Jody, well she is already packing for our return in 10 months or at least is buying some stuff? But she is giddy that we are going back….
Thanks to everyone on the forum who made this trip so special.
Jim and Jody
I invite everyone to go to the links in my phtos post see see the story in living color
Folks, here are the links to virtually every picture I took in St John. I have had very little chance to label them all correctly, but for now I hope you enjoy looking at them as we had an amazing time taking them.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 4afe995003
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 387509ecf5
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... b17c998c64
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 328556f2bd
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 34aa378105
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 5521163803
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 008b00fb83
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 29f0141a3a
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 73afe295d7
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 5a8f67d8a3
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... b235071c39
Last edited by jclampet on Thu Jun 11, 2009 6:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
..........help
I had them in another post but I will put them here again
Folks, here are the links to virtually every picture I took in St John. I have had very little chance to label them all correctly, but for now I hope you enjoy looking at them as we had an amazing time taking them.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 4afe995003
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 387509ecf5
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... b17c998c64
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 328556f2bd
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 34aa378105
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 5521163803
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 008b00fb83
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 29f0141a3a
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 73afe295d7
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 5a8f67d8a3
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... b235071c39
Folks, here are the links to virtually every picture I took in St John. I have had very little chance to label them all correctly, but for now I hope you enjoy looking at them as we had an amazing time taking them.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 4afe995003
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 387509ecf5
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... b17c998c64
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 328556f2bd
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 34aa378105
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 5521163803
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 008b00fb83
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 29f0141a3a
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 73afe295d7
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 5a8f67d8a3
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... b235071c39
Who knows we may cross paths again, sounds as your hooked by the St John bug. I'm stealing the noodle pics for my trip report. You warned me you were going to post them 
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Sun4MySoul
- Posts: 524
- Joined: Sun May 06, 2007 1:37 pm
- Location: NC
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Boston Mike
- Posts: 974
- Joined: Sat Dec 27, 2008 5:41 am
- Location: Boston, MA.
Fun times - great report! It was great meeting you and Jody.
For those that know Cass on Born to Rhumb, poor girl blew out her knee so her friend, Brittany was our first mate. Turns out it was her first day on a boat
She was a great girl though and I wish her the best with Capt. Kevin until the end of the season.
For those that know Cass on Born to Rhumb, poor girl blew out her knee so her friend, Brittany was our first mate. Turns out it was her first day on a boat
She was a great girl though and I wish her the best with Capt. Kevin until the end of the season.NancyB
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Boston Mike
- Posts: 974
- Joined: Sat Dec 27, 2008 5:41 am
- Location: Boston, MA.
She work at Rum Hut also?Nancy_B wrote:Fun times - great report! It was great meeting you and Jody.
For those that know Cass on Born to Rhumb, poor girl blew out her knee so her friend, Brittany was our first mate. Turns out it was her first day on a boat
Life begins where the land ends!
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Sun4MySoul
- Posts: 524
- Joined: Sun May 06, 2007 1:37 pm
- Location: NC