usvi-on-line
last minute trip report
last minute trip report
here's my feeble attempt to do a trip report. please remember i'm a frustrated old lawyer (cause i don't have john g's novelistic style). nevertheless here's the highlights of papabou's visit to the island he loves circa 7/26 to 8/6:
THE TRAVELERS: papa bou & the bride (of 43 yrs) and mac & sandi (43 yrs of marriage too). known mac for almost 60 yrs, roommates 1st yr in college, both bride's were blind dates at georgia (optically too or neither would have been back for seconds). both brides came back to our small hometown outside of atl and we have been neighbors over 33 years. our 5 kids range in age from 38 to 43 and thought they were all siblings until we explained why the 3 macs were toeheaded blondes and the bous were dark skinned brunettes. (mac & I both doing pretty good until the ladies made us have our tubes tied when we reached our bag limit). we have literally spent the equivalent of years together on beach/water type vacations (few days and weeks here and there and almost 20 months in neighoring beach condos in st augustine) and mac & i were scuba buddies since certification in 1985 though now only snorkel due to senility. this was my 11th trip to stj, the bride's 8th, mac's second (he and I did a guy trip a couple yrs ago) and sandi's maiden voyage. we have a lot in common including a common fear our 4 social security checks could be in jeopardy if the financial course our country is on is not altered. yes we were a perfectly matched foursome for 10 days on stj.
TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS: bride and i are delta family with some limited access to buddy passes for traveling friends. the good news is she and i fly free on our passes and buddy passes are really elcheapo air travel for friends. the bad news is you are flying space available so no seat for you unless there are extra empty one's and not too many other pass riders who have priority higher than yours. you have to pick your travel days when it appears there are plenty of empty seats and then figure out if there's a place you want to stay that might be available on possible travel dates. beginning in early july it looked like we ought to have seat availabilty for atl to stt on 7/27 or 7/28 and stt to atl 8/5 or 8/6 thus that became our window for which we needed lodging.
THE VILLAS: original plan was for bride and i to go solo(?) as a couple. bride had already informed me she liked all the northshore beaches, but due to "high anxiety" while in a moving vechile on stj she would NEVER in this life go back to little lameshure. she consented to close her eyes for max travel of 9 minutes (by her calculations 3% of the time she could go without a cigarette during the flt down). of course the villa had to have the equivalent views of prior stays on gifft hill and upper rockridge (WITHOUT ALL THAT CURVEY ROAD STUFF) and she damned well better have ac in her bedroom. thought i'd found the place in viewtiful on mamey peak. an older villa with drop dead views, 1 minute to smoothie stand at northshore/centerline intersection and one bedroom with ac. plus she was vailable for all possible dates including up to mid aug which worked for us. well i got to drinking out by pool one evening with mac and told him we were going back to stj again and he and sandi needed to come along. sounded good to him and sandi consented on condition we were back by 8/8 and she wasn't so sure about this "no ac" stuff in her bedroom. if ac was good enough for bride it might be good for her. well next the ladies began talking about the drives and all and how nice it'd be for them to stay at the villa a bunch and enjoy views while mac & i did that thing where you swim around with your face in the water looking like a one-horned, one-eyed, blow fish. (i assume she was referring to the vi pass time of snorkeling). thus began the search for that ideal villa that met the ladies requirements AND available for our possible travel dates, now down to 7/27 to 8/6 window that was less than a kings ransom. a couple of places on mt bordeaux looked promising but rates such that would need to shorten to 7 days to stay in budget. then some deal soul (pia was it you again) mentioned a newly available villa on mt bord that had great views, rates, and ac in the bedrooms. yes vrbo # 251116 casa bueno. (bride's a frustrated english teacher who was limited by family duties to teaching less than 3 years. she took spanish in hs, repeated in college and has purchased a spanish/english conversion dictionary (?) so she could impress the beach boys while ordering the drink dujour during her regular stays at club med cancun. she said the villa's name was "cross gendered". casa is female so the name should be casa buena! huh? i've just posted a review on the villa rev section and won't repeat here.
after reading the available info for cb, on 7/20 i ripped off an email inquiry on availability for 7/26 (earliest date we could get there) till 8/2 when the calendar showed occupied. had a nice conversation with marc miller who was handling. he confirmed just on market and not sure owner wanted to rent before 1st renter arrived on 8/2 but would inquire. he called back and confirmed owner would rent for 6 nites. i told him i needed a few hours to find a place to stay between 8/2 checkout and 8/5 or 6 when it looked like we could nonrev home. bingo, the best plan ever for the bride and sandi - 1. we spend 6 nights at casa buena (a not o to recognize bride's contirbution to plan), do a villa gravity day or 2, and 3 or 4 days at cinnamon, maho and francis. 2. then on 8/2 after soaking up all the coral bay views and culture we move to cosmo cruz bay and villa nautilus on maria bluff. bride's no fool, she know's about maria bluff with the water and western views of her normal haunts on the west end, sure that's close to that wonderful villa kismet, the theplace she's going to rent for her friends wake trip she can afford with my life insurance that she'll soon be collecting if nautilus doesn't have good views, breezes and bedroom ac. (i knew i was safe cause she send me out of town last fall with a buddy and we had stayed at nautilus). nevermind, she was so sure about the future trip to kismet, she didn't even listen to the iteniary from naut - short daily drives to hawksnest and trunk bay. she's happy at trunk bay, says she enjoys pretty beach, views, the crazy people and the facilities, but "it's overpriced". the other beaches are free she explains (or is it exclaims?)
so 6 nites at casa buena, quick sunday am move to nautilus for 4 nites. the ladies enjoy the best of both ends of stj (and all northern beaches with short drives to each) and the guys get thrown in the briar patch again. the ladies are in their paradise and the guys can do their thing and we all did!
if you've stayed with me so far, i'll now speed up with a quick summary of the stay on stj:
STILL GOOD:
burger's and mahi sandwichs at skinny legs and they will cut each in half for variety sharing; all food and views from ship wreck; chatting with crabby and his friends and if you want fresh fish, ask him how to contact andy the fisherman but unlike skinny's not necessarily same day service; crabby still has good fins at 20 wk rate vs 35 in cruz bay; snorkeling at waterlemon, francis, and unbeliveable clarity the day we did trunk; breezes, sunsets, and stt lighting up as viewed from maria bluff; and just about everything else about stj;
HAS NOT CHANGED: the slow deterioration of the reefs at hawksnest but still a great easy shore snorkel; that hog trail they call gifft hill rd; the animals in coral bay and chickens every where; the high evaporation rate of cruzon rum, once the seal is broken, she's a goner; the wonderful slow ride into breeze on the roanoke with the low side rails that let you enjoy the beauty of the ride from the comfort of your car; the knowledge that if the lord's willing, i'll be back to paradise before the memories of this trip fade.
NEW GOOD: the views and breezes at casa b, 6 nites and never turned on sought after bedroom ac that helped us find casa b; some really friendly folks at starfish market and gormet so maybe they are feeling the competiiton of new stj market; a very nice experience with the folks at discount car rental on stt plus great rate on an almost new liberty; how pleasant the weather was during our stay and i loved the warmer water for those long snorkels; smaller crowds than prior trips; and roundabout progessing without completely shutting down traffic aand i beleive she will be finished before ss fund runs out.
PROOF OF MY SHADE PREDICITION: smart as* that i am, i've done a couple of posts re north shore beach shade level at various times due to the relative sun position to north shore. in short i'd figured that while there was plenty of shade on northern beaches between 9/21 and 3/21 the shade would be limited in the summer. well i was right. i had also figured that would mean that little lamesure would have plenty in the summer (i still believe i'm right but don't know cause bride said she thought i was bsing her and even if not she wasn't riding on the only rd wosre than gifft hill rd to find out. oh well.
NEEDS IMPROVEMENT: being able to count on car barges. while we were on island mister b, general II and roanoke were running so no problem but week before it got testy.
LUCK HAS NOT RUN OUT: 11 trips now with car rental on stt and barge to stj WITHOUT A HITCH. damn i wish i'd had that luck at the crap table!
enough, but thanks to all who helped this trip possible with your info and to those who make the time between trips bearable with your info and your good humor.
peace,
papabou
(bride doesn't do email either)
PS: you know we got on our flt down though the mac's were relegated to second flt but 1st class because if we hadn't made it there would be no report. the question is did we get home as planned? yes but not without a lot of stomach acid since i knew no seats next few days and from past experience there were more people in waiting than seats on our flt. hmmm, will our priority get us a precious seat? yes, yes, yes, & yes. the bride got a 1st class seat next to the handsome father of her children and sandi had a seat far away from mac who was assigned the rear toilet due to his behavior on the flt down.
the end
THE TRAVELERS: papa bou & the bride (of 43 yrs) and mac & sandi (43 yrs of marriage too). known mac for almost 60 yrs, roommates 1st yr in college, both bride's were blind dates at georgia (optically too or neither would have been back for seconds). both brides came back to our small hometown outside of atl and we have been neighbors over 33 years. our 5 kids range in age from 38 to 43 and thought they were all siblings until we explained why the 3 macs were toeheaded blondes and the bous were dark skinned brunettes. (mac & I both doing pretty good until the ladies made us have our tubes tied when we reached our bag limit). we have literally spent the equivalent of years together on beach/water type vacations (few days and weeks here and there and almost 20 months in neighoring beach condos in st augustine) and mac & i were scuba buddies since certification in 1985 though now only snorkel due to senility. this was my 11th trip to stj, the bride's 8th, mac's second (he and I did a guy trip a couple yrs ago) and sandi's maiden voyage. we have a lot in common including a common fear our 4 social security checks could be in jeopardy if the financial course our country is on is not altered. yes we were a perfectly matched foursome for 10 days on stj.
TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS: bride and i are delta family with some limited access to buddy passes for traveling friends. the good news is she and i fly free on our passes and buddy passes are really elcheapo air travel for friends. the bad news is you are flying space available so no seat for you unless there are extra empty one's and not too many other pass riders who have priority higher than yours. you have to pick your travel days when it appears there are plenty of empty seats and then figure out if there's a place you want to stay that might be available on possible travel dates. beginning in early july it looked like we ought to have seat availabilty for atl to stt on 7/27 or 7/28 and stt to atl 8/5 or 8/6 thus that became our window for which we needed lodging.
THE VILLAS: original plan was for bride and i to go solo(?) as a couple. bride had already informed me she liked all the northshore beaches, but due to "high anxiety" while in a moving vechile on stj she would NEVER in this life go back to little lameshure. she consented to close her eyes for max travel of 9 minutes (by her calculations 3% of the time she could go without a cigarette during the flt down). of course the villa had to have the equivalent views of prior stays on gifft hill and upper rockridge (WITHOUT ALL THAT CURVEY ROAD STUFF) and she damned well better have ac in her bedroom. thought i'd found the place in viewtiful on mamey peak. an older villa with drop dead views, 1 minute to smoothie stand at northshore/centerline intersection and one bedroom with ac. plus she was vailable for all possible dates including up to mid aug which worked for us. well i got to drinking out by pool one evening with mac and told him we were going back to stj again and he and sandi needed to come along. sounded good to him and sandi consented on condition we were back by 8/8 and she wasn't so sure about this "no ac" stuff in her bedroom. if ac was good enough for bride it might be good for her. well next the ladies began talking about the drives and all and how nice it'd be for them to stay at the villa a bunch and enjoy views while mac & i did that thing where you swim around with your face in the water looking like a one-horned, one-eyed, blow fish. (i assume she was referring to the vi pass time of snorkeling). thus began the search for that ideal villa that met the ladies requirements AND available for our possible travel dates, now down to 7/27 to 8/6 window that was less than a kings ransom. a couple of places on mt bordeaux looked promising but rates such that would need to shorten to 7 days to stay in budget. then some deal soul (pia was it you again) mentioned a newly available villa on mt bord that had great views, rates, and ac in the bedrooms. yes vrbo # 251116 casa bueno. (bride's a frustrated english teacher who was limited by family duties to teaching less than 3 years. she took spanish in hs, repeated in college and has purchased a spanish/english conversion dictionary (?) so she could impress the beach boys while ordering the drink dujour during her regular stays at club med cancun. she said the villa's name was "cross gendered". casa is female so the name should be casa buena! huh? i've just posted a review on the villa rev section and won't repeat here.
after reading the available info for cb, on 7/20 i ripped off an email inquiry on availability for 7/26 (earliest date we could get there) till 8/2 when the calendar showed occupied. had a nice conversation with marc miller who was handling. he confirmed just on market and not sure owner wanted to rent before 1st renter arrived on 8/2 but would inquire. he called back and confirmed owner would rent for 6 nites. i told him i needed a few hours to find a place to stay between 8/2 checkout and 8/5 or 6 when it looked like we could nonrev home. bingo, the best plan ever for the bride and sandi - 1. we spend 6 nights at casa buena (a not o to recognize bride's contirbution to plan), do a villa gravity day or 2, and 3 or 4 days at cinnamon, maho and francis. 2. then on 8/2 after soaking up all the coral bay views and culture we move to cosmo cruz bay and villa nautilus on maria bluff. bride's no fool, she know's about maria bluff with the water and western views of her normal haunts on the west end, sure that's close to that wonderful villa kismet, the theplace she's going to rent for her friends wake trip she can afford with my life insurance that she'll soon be collecting if nautilus doesn't have good views, breezes and bedroom ac. (i knew i was safe cause she send me out of town last fall with a buddy and we had stayed at nautilus). nevermind, she was so sure about the future trip to kismet, she didn't even listen to the iteniary from naut - short daily drives to hawksnest and trunk bay. she's happy at trunk bay, says she enjoys pretty beach, views, the crazy people and the facilities, but "it's overpriced". the other beaches are free she explains (or is it exclaims?)
so 6 nites at casa buena, quick sunday am move to nautilus for 4 nites. the ladies enjoy the best of both ends of stj (and all northern beaches with short drives to each) and the guys get thrown in the briar patch again. the ladies are in their paradise and the guys can do their thing and we all did!
if you've stayed with me so far, i'll now speed up with a quick summary of the stay on stj:
STILL GOOD:
burger's and mahi sandwichs at skinny legs and they will cut each in half for variety sharing; all food and views from ship wreck; chatting with crabby and his friends and if you want fresh fish, ask him how to contact andy the fisherman but unlike skinny's not necessarily same day service; crabby still has good fins at 20 wk rate vs 35 in cruz bay; snorkeling at waterlemon, francis, and unbeliveable clarity the day we did trunk; breezes, sunsets, and stt lighting up as viewed from maria bluff; and just about everything else about stj;
HAS NOT CHANGED: the slow deterioration of the reefs at hawksnest but still a great easy shore snorkel; that hog trail they call gifft hill rd; the animals in coral bay and chickens every where; the high evaporation rate of cruzon rum, once the seal is broken, she's a goner; the wonderful slow ride into breeze on the roanoke with the low side rails that let you enjoy the beauty of the ride from the comfort of your car; the knowledge that if the lord's willing, i'll be back to paradise before the memories of this trip fade.
NEW GOOD: the views and breezes at casa b, 6 nites and never turned on sought after bedroom ac that helped us find casa b; some really friendly folks at starfish market and gormet so maybe they are feeling the competiiton of new stj market; a very nice experience with the folks at discount car rental on stt plus great rate on an almost new liberty; how pleasant the weather was during our stay and i loved the warmer water for those long snorkels; smaller crowds than prior trips; and roundabout progessing without completely shutting down traffic aand i beleive she will be finished before ss fund runs out.
PROOF OF MY SHADE PREDICITION: smart as* that i am, i've done a couple of posts re north shore beach shade level at various times due to the relative sun position to north shore. in short i'd figured that while there was plenty of shade on northern beaches between 9/21 and 3/21 the shade would be limited in the summer. well i was right. i had also figured that would mean that little lamesure would have plenty in the summer (i still believe i'm right but don't know cause bride said she thought i was bsing her and even if not she wasn't riding on the only rd wosre than gifft hill rd to find out. oh well.
NEEDS IMPROVEMENT: being able to count on car barges. while we were on island mister b, general II and roanoke were running so no problem but week before it got testy.
LUCK HAS NOT RUN OUT: 11 trips now with car rental on stt and barge to stj WITHOUT A HITCH. damn i wish i'd had that luck at the crap table!
enough, but thanks to all who helped this trip possible with your info and to those who make the time between trips bearable with your info and your good humor.
peace,
papabou
(bride doesn't do email either)
PS: you know we got on our flt down though the mac's were relegated to second flt but 1st class because if we hadn't made it there would be no report. the question is did we get home as planned? yes but not without a lot of stomach acid since i knew no seats next few days and from past experience there were more people in waiting than seats on our flt. hmmm, will our priority get us a precious seat? yes, yes, yes, & yes. the bride got a 1st class seat next to the handsome father of her children and sandi had a seat far away from mac who was assigned the rear toilet due to his behavior on the flt down.
the end
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cypressgirl
- Posts: 2178
- Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2006 2:42 pm
- Location: houston
Good timing.
Hubby and I were just saying that we should cut down on luggage this trip (ha!). Might be doable if we each give up our favorite snorkel fins. So, I was thinking that we might be able to rent from Crabby's (since we're staying in Coral Bay).
Then, right there in your report - Fins at Crabby'sfor $20.
So, thank you for the great report and timely information. Also, happy to read positive "newbie" experiences.
Hubby and I were just saying that we should cut down on luggage this trip (ha!). Might be doable if we each give up our favorite snorkel fins. So, I was thinking that we might be able to rent from Crabby's (since we're staying in Coral Bay).
Then, right there in your report - Fins at Crabby'sfor $20.
So, thank you for the great report and timely information. Also, happy to read positive "newbie" experiences.
janet
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mindehankins
- Posts: 3014
- Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2009 8:21 am
- Location: Western NY State
If I was able to get over it, anyone can! Awesome report!