usvi-on-line
Adventure in Paradise Part 4
Adventure in Paradise Part 4
Day 10: July 10
No chance to sleep in today … we are headed over to Jost van Dyke on the Ferry. That means getting up and down to Cruz Bay by 8:00 am to catch the 8:30 ferry. Lesson number one when going to Jost; bring a pen. They give you customs forms to fill out while you wait so that you can check through customs on Jost, but without a pen you will have difficulty filling out the forms. In fact, even the customs office/window/person in Jost does not have any pens. We were eventually able to borrow a pen in order to fill in the forms but it meant that we were last in line and the unfortunate ladies who lent us the pen ended up waiting in the taxi for us since the driver wanted to take a full load over to White Bay. I guess no deed goes unpunished.
Anyway, we finally made it through customs and immigration and boarded the taxi for White Beach and the Soggy Dollar. After arriving, we immediately decided to walk down the beach to Seddy's One Love for breakfast but couldn't find anyone home so walked back to Soggy Dollar. I must say for a "second" choice, the Soggy Dollar is an outstanding place to get into the Jost state of mind.
After several painkillers each and what seemed like hours trying to get that elusive ring to levitate itself on the hook, we stood up and staggered back to Seddy's One Love for lunch. What a great lunch; Lobster Salads, Lobster Rolls, and Shrimp Pasta all served with that "welcome to our family" attitude that you encounter on Jost. We even got to watch Seddy perform a magic trick at the bar. Wash it all down with more painkillers and we were all feeling very mellow by now!
I have been to Jost several times but have never walked over the hill to Ivan's Stress Free Bar so we determined that was our next destination. They have put in a staircase to make the walk easier and after all of the painkillers, that seemed like an exceptional idea. We made it to Ivan's in time to have another drink and to see Ivan picking flowers out back. It was so peaceful sitting on a chair looking out at the bay, I could definitely spend some quality time there at Ivan's and it was well worth the walk.
Luckily the ladies we had taxied over with had asked the driver to meet them at Ivan's so we hopped back on the taxi to go over the hill to Foxy's and a few more drinks. We were in for a real treat … Foxy, just back from his visit with the queen, was busy telling jokes and getting his picture taken. He is truly an interesting character and worth meeting if you are in Jost.
We were just limin' in Foxy's waiting for the ferry when we noticed it was already parked at the dock. Well in that case we decided maybe it was time to start walking to the dock. About this time our helpful cab driver pulled up alongside and asked if we wanted a ride to the ferry since it would be leaving in two minutes. Perhaps it was the liquid haze I had been consuming all day or maybe the total lack of time sense I had developed on Jost, but for some reason I said; there was no problem, we could walk the distance. As he drove away, I noticed the ladies we had been more or less traveling with all day (who were walking about 200 yards in front of us) had broken out into a run. I checked my camera's clock (since I was not wearing a watch) and realized the driver was correct but it was now less than 2 minutes. For a second lesson when traveling to Jost; the Ferries are probably the only thing on the Islands that absolutely run on time! So by now my entire crew had broken into a run. We finally turned the corner and dashed up the dock only to find that our (now favorite) taxi driver had pulled his vehicle up on the dock and was convincing the ferry to wait until we were aboard. Once again, an example of the "Jost family" taking care of each other … you've got to love Jost!
Well we finally made it to the ferry which took us back to St John and once again through customs. After which we went back up the hill to the villa for a swim and to get ready for dinner.
That's right I said dinner … We still had another appointment at ZoZo's. My daughter turned 28 on July 13th and my son's girlfriend turned 24 on July 10th so we had asked them where we could take them for dinner to celebrate and the overwhelming response was ZoZo's. Unfortunately, there was a special function on the 11th, so we could not get reservations on that date and the 12th was not convenient either so it looked like we would just have to "suck it up" and have some more fun today with a fantastic dinner. In short, we had another great meal at ZoZo's which included: appetizers of Calamari, Sausage & Peppers, and Scallops followed by entries of Seared Yellow Fin Tuna, Osso Bucco, and Grilled Ribeye. With a couple of bottles of wine and some champagne we were ready to head back to the villa and crash for the night.
Unfortunately, karma got involved and threw us a curve ball to balance out all of the fun we had that day. I won't get into it again since I talked about it in another thread but suffice it to say that the fun was stopped for the evening when we returned to the villa and discovered it had been broken into while we were at dinner.
Without talking about the actual break-in, I will take a few minutes to describe the interactions of the St John's police department. Our first response was to call the emergency number for the police who took the address of the villa and stated that an officer would be there shortly. About 15 minutes later we received a call from an officer who stated that he was unfamiliar with Rock Ridge Road and wanted me to come down and meet him at the bottom of the road. I countered with the fact that the villa was right off the road and we would have someone at the end of the drive with a flashlight to guide him to the proper villa. Although he wasn't sure this would work, he reluctantly agreed to give it a try. I continued to talk him up the hill the entire way:
"Ok, I have gone around a turn, do you see my lights?" … "No, not yet, it is a way up the hill." … "So, I should keep driving up?" … "That would be my approach." … "How about now, do you see my lights yet?" … "No, not yet." … "So should I keep driving up?" … "That would be great." … "I just went around another turn, do you see my lights yet?" …
And so the conversation went until he finally rounded the last corner and saw my wife holding a flashlight at the driveway entrance and drove into the driveway. By the way, one of the nice features of Villa Allesandra is that the driveway is relatively large and will accommodate multiple vehicles.
After arriving, he jumped out of his car with the vehicle door open and the car running and came into the villa to talk with us. He had been taking our statement for a couple of minutes when my wife asked if she could shut the door since mosquitoes were coming in. He stated that he didn't want to shut the door since he had left his car running at which point my wife suggested that he could turn his car off and then shut the doors. My son further stated that turning the car off might be a good idea anyway to keep from having his police vehicle stolen (since it appeared there were thieves in the area). It was obvious this possibility had never occurred to him and his look of panic was priceless as he ran outside to secure his vehicle before returning to the villa to continue his investigation. Bottom line is that he filled out a report and informed us that in St John they only file reports on Tuesday and Thursday so if I wanted an official copy of the report I could come down to the office on Tuesday. When I informed him that I would be back in the states by Tuesday he seemed confused as if this was the first time this had ever happened, his only suggestion was to call the management company to see if they could pick up the report for me.
Least I sound too harsh on St John's finest let me say, the officer was very polite and helpful and tried his best to address our concerns. Oh well, we finally got rid of "Deputy Barney Fife", put everything in the villa back together and settled down for a somewhat restless night of sleep.
Day 11: July 11
No pictures today and everyone slept in late (including yours truly). I suppose it was a combination of the late evening with the heavy partying yesterday. Thinking the best way to recover would be to get "back on the horse"; we went out in search of a beach. As I was driving up Northshore Road, I noticed that the small parking lot for Jumbie was empty so we whipped into a parking place and headed down the hill to the beach. From a privacy point of view Jumbie was great … we had the beach all to ourselves. Unfortunately (probably the reason the beach was empty), the wind was strong, the water was rough, and was not very clear. As a result the snorkeling was not very good so we left and headed back to the villa for some dinner and pool time.
Someone got the idea to use up the extra burrito shells from a previous night's diner to make personal thin crust pizzas. This turned out to be an excellent way to use up the leftover cheese, onions, garlic, olives, roasted peppers, etc. We had an excellent dinner and settled into the pool for a relaxing evening.
Suddenly, my daughter commented on the number of "bugs" that were swimming with her. When I looked over, I noticed there were lots of bugs on the pool deck which were invading the pool and hot tub. When I say lots of bugs I mean LOTS of bugs … a solid covering of bugs on top of the water in the hot tub and a coating on the pool. This was a plague of Biblical proportions and I made a vow that if it started raining frogs we were out of there, paradise or not! Well with that encouragement, everyone got out of the pool and headed to the master bedroom in the villa. Since it was air-conditioned, had a TV with DVD, and had some extra seating, we retreated there for popcorn and a movie.
Day 12: July 12
This was to be our last day on the beach so I asked the group which beach they would like to revisit and the overwhelming response was Maho. So we went off to Maho to grasp for our last adventure. Even though the water was somewhat murky, the snorkeling at Maho was pretty good and everyone had a great time chasing turtles and fish.
After limin' on the beach we went back to get ready to hit the Beach Bar for their Sunday music show. We had the good fortune to run into several formites including: Ruth & Ron, Pia & Les, Anthony, and Caribert & his wife. It turned out that this was a special night at the Beach Bar as it was the final performance in St John of Sally Smith. The music was great and the company was interesting but everyone was starting to get hungry and decided they wanted to go someplace special for our last dinner on the island. Thanks to a recommendation from Pia, we decided to head over to the Banana Deck for dinner. The meals of Jerk Mahi-Mahi, Scallops, and Shrimp Curry were ok but the highlight was that we were able to sit on the deck and listen to the music I would have to say we really enjoyed Sunday Jazz at the BB.
Day 13: July 13
Today was our last day 9 and it was time to pack for home. Well at least our flight did not leave until 4:40 pm so we had plenty of time to get ready. After we packed we drove down to drop off the luggage at the ferry dock and return the rental car and I took a few minutes to write HOTRNS in sandscrit. We then hopped on the 11:15 ferry to Charlotte Amalie just as it started to pour down the rain (so much for the longevity of my sandscrit). The rain made me think that even the jumbies of St John were sorry to see us go.
Anyway the intent was to do some shopping and to get lunch in CA until we needed to hit the airport; however I was concerned about storing our luggage in the interim. It turns out this was an unnecessary concern since the taxi system in St Thomas has already figured out that this is an issue for many returning flyers. As soon as we got off of the ferry, a driver approached us with the offer to store our bags in his cab until we were ready to leave. He assured us that the cab would remain in place and our luggage would be safe. So with some reservations, we loaded our bags into the cab and then walked to Cafe Amici for lunch. Cafe Amici has excellent pastas and homemade stone oven pizzas and I highly recommend their outdoor deck as a place to get a great pre-flight meal that will last until you arrive home. After a lunch of Mediterranean Pasta, Cavatappi Pesto Pasta, a Caribbean Jerk Chicken Pizza, a Mediterranean Pizza, and a Margherita Pizza; we shopped for trinkets and headed back to the taxi where we hoped our luggage would still be found. Sure enough as we got close to the dock we heard our driver telling us to take our time since we still had about 20 minutes before we had to leave.
We loaded into the taxi and went to the airport where we checked in for our flight. The St Thomas airport has a maze of confusing aisles which we managed to negotiate and eventually made it to the waiting room. Nothing unusual happened on the flights and thankfully all of the luggage arrived and we made it back home as scheduled (although even 13 days did not seem long enough).
HOPEFULLY TO BE CONTINUED SOON!
No chance to sleep in today … we are headed over to Jost van Dyke on the Ferry. That means getting up and down to Cruz Bay by 8:00 am to catch the 8:30 ferry. Lesson number one when going to Jost; bring a pen. They give you customs forms to fill out while you wait so that you can check through customs on Jost, but without a pen you will have difficulty filling out the forms. In fact, even the customs office/window/person in Jost does not have any pens. We were eventually able to borrow a pen in order to fill in the forms but it meant that we were last in line and the unfortunate ladies who lent us the pen ended up waiting in the taxi for us since the driver wanted to take a full load over to White Bay. I guess no deed goes unpunished.
Anyway, we finally made it through customs and immigration and boarded the taxi for White Beach and the Soggy Dollar. After arriving, we immediately decided to walk down the beach to Seddy's One Love for breakfast but couldn't find anyone home so walked back to Soggy Dollar. I must say for a "second" choice, the Soggy Dollar is an outstanding place to get into the Jost state of mind.
After several painkillers each and what seemed like hours trying to get that elusive ring to levitate itself on the hook, we stood up and staggered back to Seddy's One Love for lunch. What a great lunch; Lobster Salads, Lobster Rolls, and Shrimp Pasta all served with that "welcome to our family" attitude that you encounter on Jost. We even got to watch Seddy perform a magic trick at the bar. Wash it all down with more painkillers and we were all feeling very mellow by now!
I have been to Jost several times but have never walked over the hill to Ivan's Stress Free Bar so we determined that was our next destination. They have put in a staircase to make the walk easier and after all of the painkillers, that seemed like an exceptional idea. We made it to Ivan's in time to have another drink and to see Ivan picking flowers out back. It was so peaceful sitting on a chair looking out at the bay, I could definitely spend some quality time there at Ivan's and it was well worth the walk.
Luckily the ladies we had taxied over with had asked the driver to meet them at Ivan's so we hopped back on the taxi to go over the hill to Foxy's and a few more drinks. We were in for a real treat … Foxy, just back from his visit with the queen, was busy telling jokes and getting his picture taken. He is truly an interesting character and worth meeting if you are in Jost.
We were just limin' in Foxy's waiting for the ferry when we noticed it was already parked at the dock. Well in that case we decided maybe it was time to start walking to the dock. About this time our helpful cab driver pulled up alongside and asked if we wanted a ride to the ferry since it would be leaving in two minutes. Perhaps it was the liquid haze I had been consuming all day or maybe the total lack of time sense I had developed on Jost, but for some reason I said; there was no problem, we could walk the distance. As he drove away, I noticed the ladies we had been more or less traveling with all day (who were walking about 200 yards in front of us) had broken out into a run. I checked my camera's clock (since I was not wearing a watch) and realized the driver was correct but it was now less than 2 minutes. For a second lesson when traveling to Jost; the Ferries are probably the only thing on the Islands that absolutely run on time! So by now my entire crew had broken into a run. We finally turned the corner and dashed up the dock only to find that our (now favorite) taxi driver had pulled his vehicle up on the dock and was convincing the ferry to wait until we were aboard. Once again, an example of the "Jost family" taking care of each other … you've got to love Jost!
Well we finally made it to the ferry which took us back to St John and once again through customs. After which we went back up the hill to the villa for a swim and to get ready for dinner.
That's right I said dinner … We still had another appointment at ZoZo's. My daughter turned 28 on July 13th and my son's girlfriend turned 24 on July 10th so we had asked them where we could take them for dinner to celebrate and the overwhelming response was ZoZo's. Unfortunately, there was a special function on the 11th, so we could not get reservations on that date and the 12th was not convenient either so it looked like we would just have to "suck it up" and have some more fun today with a fantastic dinner. In short, we had another great meal at ZoZo's which included: appetizers of Calamari, Sausage & Peppers, and Scallops followed by entries of Seared Yellow Fin Tuna, Osso Bucco, and Grilled Ribeye. With a couple of bottles of wine and some champagne we were ready to head back to the villa and crash for the night.
Unfortunately, karma got involved and threw us a curve ball to balance out all of the fun we had that day. I won't get into it again since I talked about it in another thread but suffice it to say that the fun was stopped for the evening when we returned to the villa and discovered it had been broken into while we were at dinner.
Without talking about the actual break-in, I will take a few minutes to describe the interactions of the St John's police department. Our first response was to call the emergency number for the police who took the address of the villa and stated that an officer would be there shortly. About 15 minutes later we received a call from an officer who stated that he was unfamiliar with Rock Ridge Road and wanted me to come down and meet him at the bottom of the road. I countered with the fact that the villa was right off the road and we would have someone at the end of the drive with a flashlight to guide him to the proper villa. Although he wasn't sure this would work, he reluctantly agreed to give it a try. I continued to talk him up the hill the entire way:
"Ok, I have gone around a turn, do you see my lights?" … "No, not yet, it is a way up the hill." … "So, I should keep driving up?" … "That would be my approach." … "How about now, do you see my lights yet?" … "No, not yet." … "So should I keep driving up?" … "That would be great." … "I just went around another turn, do you see my lights yet?" …
And so the conversation went until he finally rounded the last corner and saw my wife holding a flashlight at the driveway entrance and drove into the driveway. By the way, one of the nice features of Villa Allesandra is that the driveway is relatively large and will accommodate multiple vehicles.
After arriving, he jumped out of his car with the vehicle door open and the car running and came into the villa to talk with us. He had been taking our statement for a couple of minutes when my wife asked if she could shut the door since mosquitoes were coming in. He stated that he didn't want to shut the door since he had left his car running at which point my wife suggested that he could turn his car off and then shut the doors. My son further stated that turning the car off might be a good idea anyway to keep from having his police vehicle stolen (since it appeared there were thieves in the area). It was obvious this possibility had never occurred to him and his look of panic was priceless as he ran outside to secure his vehicle before returning to the villa to continue his investigation. Bottom line is that he filled out a report and informed us that in St John they only file reports on Tuesday and Thursday so if I wanted an official copy of the report I could come down to the office on Tuesday. When I informed him that I would be back in the states by Tuesday he seemed confused as if this was the first time this had ever happened, his only suggestion was to call the management company to see if they could pick up the report for me.
Least I sound too harsh on St John's finest let me say, the officer was very polite and helpful and tried his best to address our concerns. Oh well, we finally got rid of "Deputy Barney Fife", put everything in the villa back together and settled down for a somewhat restless night of sleep.
Day 11: July 11
No pictures today and everyone slept in late (including yours truly). I suppose it was a combination of the late evening with the heavy partying yesterday. Thinking the best way to recover would be to get "back on the horse"; we went out in search of a beach. As I was driving up Northshore Road, I noticed that the small parking lot for Jumbie was empty so we whipped into a parking place and headed down the hill to the beach. From a privacy point of view Jumbie was great … we had the beach all to ourselves. Unfortunately (probably the reason the beach was empty), the wind was strong, the water was rough, and was not very clear. As a result the snorkeling was not very good so we left and headed back to the villa for some dinner and pool time.
Someone got the idea to use up the extra burrito shells from a previous night's diner to make personal thin crust pizzas. This turned out to be an excellent way to use up the leftover cheese, onions, garlic, olives, roasted peppers, etc. We had an excellent dinner and settled into the pool for a relaxing evening.
Suddenly, my daughter commented on the number of "bugs" that were swimming with her. When I looked over, I noticed there were lots of bugs on the pool deck which were invading the pool and hot tub. When I say lots of bugs I mean LOTS of bugs … a solid covering of bugs on top of the water in the hot tub and a coating on the pool. This was a plague of Biblical proportions and I made a vow that if it started raining frogs we were out of there, paradise or not! Well with that encouragement, everyone got out of the pool and headed to the master bedroom in the villa. Since it was air-conditioned, had a TV with DVD, and had some extra seating, we retreated there for popcorn and a movie.
Day 12: July 12
This was to be our last day on the beach so I asked the group which beach they would like to revisit and the overwhelming response was Maho. So we went off to Maho to grasp for our last adventure. Even though the water was somewhat murky, the snorkeling at Maho was pretty good and everyone had a great time chasing turtles and fish.
After limin' on the beach we went back to get ready to hit the Beach Bar for their Sunday music show. We had the good fortune to run into several formites including: Ruth & Ron, Pia & Les, Anthony, and Caribert & his wife. It turned out that this was a special night at the Beach Bar as it was the final performance in St John of Sally Smith. The music was great and the company was interesting but everyone was starting to get hungry and decided they wanted to go someplace special for our last dinner on the island. Thanks to a recommendation from Pia, we decided to head over to the Banana Deck for dinner. The meals of Jerk Mahi-Mahi, Scallops, and Shrimp Curry were ok but the highlight was that we were able to sit on the deck and listen to the music I would have to say we really enjoyed Sunday Jazz at the BB.
Day 13: July 13
Today was our last day 9 and it was time to pack for home. Well at least our flight did not leave until 4:40 pm so we had plenty of time to get ready. After we packed we drove down to drop off the luggage at the ferry dock and return the rental car and I took a few minutes to write HOTRNS in sandscrit. We then hopped on the 11:15 ferry to Charlotte Amalie just as it started to pour down the rain (so much for the longevity of my sandscrit). The rain made me think that even the jumbies of St John were sorry to see us go.
Anyway the intent was to do some shopping and to get lunch in CA until we needed to hit the airport; however I was concerned about storing our luggage in the interim. It turns out this was an unnecessary concern since the taxi system in St Thomas has already figured out that this is an issue for many returning flyers. As soon as we got off of the ferry, a driver approached us with the offer to store our bags in his cab until we were ready to leave. He assured us that the cab would remain in place and our luggage would be safe. So with some reservations, we loaded our bags into the cab and then walked to Cafe Amici for lunch. Cafe Amici has excellent pastas and homemade stone oven pizzas and I highly recommend their outdoor deck as a place to get a great pre-flight meal that will last until you arrive home. After a lunch of Mediterranean Pasta, Cavatappi Pesto Pasta, a Caribbean Jerk Chicken Pizza, a Mediterranean Pizza, and a Margherita Pizza; we shopped for trinkets and headed back to the taxi where we hoped our luggage would still be found. Sure enough as we got close to the dock we heard our driver telling us to take our time since we still had about 20 minutes before we had to leave.
We loaded into the taxi and went to the airport where we checked in for our flight. The St Thomas airport has a maze of confusing aisles which we managed to negotiate and eventually made it to the waiting room. Nothing unusual happened on the flights and thankfully all of the luggage arrived and we made it back home as scheduled (although even 13 days did not seem long enough).
HOPEFULLY TO BE CONTINUED SOON!
Here is the link that explains why Sally is leaving the island.
http://stjohnsource.com/content/arts-en ... e-leave-vi
http://stjohnsource.com/content/arts-en ... e-leave-vi
Very nice trip report 
. I can relate to that little bit of nervousness leaving your bags with the taxi driver. We did that for the first time our last trip so we could have lunch in CA. I will definitely be doing the same thing next time as we have a 5:30 flight. I may just hire Rachel though so we can have a relaxed few hours.
You definitely packed alot into your trip! Sounds like everyone had a fantastic time except for the break in
.
. I can relate to that little bit of nervousness leaving your bags with the taxi driver. We did that for the first time our last trip so we could have lunch in CA. I will definitely be doing the same thing next time as we have a 5:30 flight. I may just hire Rachel though so we can have a relaxed few hours.You definitely packed alot into your trip! Sounds like everyone had a fantastic time except for the break in
.Going "home" again October 26th!
Re: Adventure in Paradise Part 4
What is this?
I have been enjoying your reports. Sorry to hear about the breakin but it sounds like you took it in stride.
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
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Rachelle & Joe
- Posts: 677
- Joined: Sat Nov 18, 2006 4:23 pm
- Location: ohio
adventure in paradise part 4
so sorry about your break in , but the trip sonnded like lots of fun ! love the pics ! thanks , oh, as liamsaunt asked what is that 
, but the trip sonnded like lots of fun ! love the pics ! thanks , oh, as liamsaunt asked what is that 
I've enjoyed all your trip reports. We were at Maho on the 12th too as it was our first beach we hit! The turtles that day were everywhere! We didn't make it there until afternoon and couldn't drag ourselves out to get cleaned up and go to the beach bar.
Lucky you looking at going back before the end of summer! Thanks for sharing and I'm sorry that you had to deal with the break in!!
Nicolle
Lucky you looking at going back before the end of summer! Thanks for sharing and I'm sorry that you had to deal with the break in!!
Nicolle