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Pam's Trip Report Part 1
Pam's Trip Report Part 1
Here we go folks. I've had a great time revisiting our trip to St. John by writing this trip report! It's long, excruciatingly boring but I was so appreciative of others' trip reports when I was planning our trip that I had to submit my contribution no matter what. I thought about what I was curious about when researching St. John and tried to include those things in my report - like restaurant prices and what a typical day would look like. I was very lazy about taking pictures this trip but will insert a few for fun (I think I've got that down now). Thanks again everyone for contributing to our wonderful St. John vacation - the first but certainly not the last!
Pam's St. John Trip Report
Thursday, 11/26
Took the 5AM bus out of Portland. Got to Boston at 6:45 in plenty of time for our AA flight at 9:05. There were 6 of us from Maine - me (Pam) and my husband Manley, Cathy, Maureen and her husband Billy, and Norm. The direct flight was uneventful. Enjoyed a shot of Guava rum on the way to baggage claim. Gorilla and Pepper, our Idaho friends, were waiting for us - their flight had landed two hours earlier. We hit the liquor store while we were waiting on our bags. Ended up wishing we had picked up the 3 pack of Absolute for $30! Some went to pick up the rental cars at Thrifty (off site). Two jeep Liberties - one with bald tires that gave us cause for concern but we never had any problem. Back to the airport to load up the gang then off to the ferry dock.
The ferry ride was enjoyable. Loved the palm trees on the boat.
We grabbed some beers and relaxed.
Spoke with our greeter, Eric, from Destination St. John and he was waiting for us as we got off the ferry. The drive to Vistaero was interesting - a series of hills and sharp turns. We seriously wondered if we would ever find our way back once we left!
In short order, we arrived at our villa.
Truly beautiful! The sweeping views were mesmerizing. Staring out to sea or watching the rain showers moving across St. Thomas became our daily routine. Eric took us through the house and gave us the run down on life on St. John - take your trash to the dumpster every day, conserve water, be prepared for power outages and be prepared for the strong drinks served at the local establishments.
The group generously allowed me first pick of the bedrooms since I had organized much of the trip. The choice was easy as there is one bedroom with a king sized bed. The other bedrooms all had queens. Cards were drawn to decide the order of choice. Everyone was happy with their bedrooms - not that anyone spent much time in them, we mostly hung around the pool or in the very comfortable living room. All the bedrooms are air conditioned. We had a corner room and had plenty of ventilation so did not use the a/c. The others were 50/50 in their use of the a/c.
We were very happy with the villa. The kitchen is well appointed with plenty of dishes, flatware, pots/pans, etc. We cooked in quite a lot. It was great to go home at the end of the day and hang by the pool with cocktails and snacks, then just roll right in to dinner and more beverages. The refrigerator by the pool was very handy for beer. There is also a wine fridge in the kitchen.
There is a dining room, living room with fireplace and a half bath off the kitchen. This area is not air conditioned but can be opened up allowing the breeze to blow through. It was very comfortable. The sliders to the balcony also have screens that can be pulled when the bugs were out at dawn and dusk. The bugs were not much of a problem for most of us but a couple of people are bug magnets so maybe they took the heat off us!
The outside areas of this villa are amazing. On the lower level, there are a variety of chair and table combinations on the balcony that runs across the front of the villa. All three lower bedrooms open up onto that. On the upper level, there is a huge pool and hot tub, lounge chairs, wet bar with bar stools and two tables/chairs all out in the sun. Then there is a gazebo with a high table and chairs under it and two groupings of comfy chairs and hassocks that are all in the shade. Everyone could find a comfortable place to be.
I had arranged with Ali at Villa Food for an initial provisioning. That turned out to be an excellent choice. We were tired after the long day of travel, in the case of Gorilla and Pepper two days of travel, and had no desire to venture out that night - we especially didn’t want to go out then figure out how to get back in the dark, driving on the wrong side of the road, etc. I had built a grocery list a few weeks before we left and Ali took care of everything. I liked that I could order from a grocery list rather than buying a package. Ali even found us Ting which was a big treat for the group, and a surprise since I hadn’t told them that Ting could be had in St. John. It was so great to arrive and have all the groceries put away and nice cold beer in the fridge. Ali was unable to find the chicken kabobs I ordered so she bought all the fixings for us to build our own. She also left a lovely little flower arrangement with her card in the refrigerator. Destination St. John provided a very nice basket of fruit, cheese and other snacks. I would absolutely use Ali again for provisioning. It was definitely worth the few dollars to have everything we needed waiting for us at the villa.
We got settled in, fired up some beverages, hit the pool, more beverages, watched our first sunset, fired up the grill and cooked burgers and chicken kabobs and made a salad. We dined on the balcony and thoroughly enjoyed our first meal of the trip. A lovely start to our vacation.
Pam's St. John Trip Report
Thursday, 11/26
Took the 5AM bus out of Portland. Got to Boston at 6:45 in plenty of time for our AA flight at 9:05. There were 6 of us from Maine - me (Pam) and my husband Manley, Cathy, Maureen and her husband Billy, and Norm. The direct flight was uneventful. Enjoyed a shot of Guava rum on the way to baggage claim. Gorilla and Pepper, our Idaho friends, were waiting for us - their flight had landed two hours earlier. We hit the liquor store while we were waiting on our bags. Ended up wishing we had picked up the 3 pack of Absolute for $30! Some went to pick up the rental cars at Thrifty (off site). Two jeep Liberties - one with bald tires that gave us cause for concern but we never had any problem. Back to the airport to load up the gang then off to the ferry dock.
The ferry ride was enjoyable. Loved the palm trees on the boat.
We grabbed some beers and relaxed.
Spoke with our greeter, Eric, from Destination St. John and he was waiting for us as we got off the ferry. The drive to Vistaero was interesting - a series of hills and sharp turns. We seriously wondered if we would ever find our way back once we left!
In short order, we arrived at our villa.
Truly beautiful! The sweeping views were mesmerizing. Staring out to sea or watching the rain showers moving across St. Thomas became our daily routine. Eric took us through the house and gave us the run down on life on St. John - take your trash to the dumpster every day, conserve water, be prepared for power outages and be prepared for the strong drinks served at the local establishments.
The group generously allowed me first pick of the bedrooms since I had organized much of the trip. The choice was easy as there is one bedroom with a king sized bed. The other bedrooms all had queens. Cards were drawn to decide the order of choice. Everyone was happy with their bedrooms - not that anyone spent much time in them, we mostly hung around the pool or in the very comfortable living room. All the bedrooms are air conditioned. We had a corner room and had plenty of ventilation so did not use the a/c. The others were 50/50 in their use of the a/c.
We were very happy with the villa. The kitchen is well appointed with plenty of dishes, flatware, pots/pans, etc. We cooked in quite a lot. It was great to go home at the end of the day and hang by the pool with cocktails and snacks, then just roll right in to dinner and more beverages. The refrigerator by the pool was very handy for beer. There is also a wine fridge in the kitchen.
There is a dining room, living room with fireplace and a half bath off the kitchen. This area is not air conditioned but can be opened up allowing the breeze to blow through. It was very comfortable. The sliders to the balcony also have screens that can be pulled when the bugs were out at dawn and dusk. The bugs were not much of a problem for most of us but a couple of people are bug magnets so maybe they took the heat off us!
The outside areas of this villa are amazing. On the lower level, there are a variety of chair and table combinations on the balcony that runs across the front of the villa. All three lower bedrooms open up onto that. On the upper level, there is a huge pool and hot tub, lounge chairs, wet bar with bar stools and two tables/chairs all out in the sun. Then there is a gazebo with a high table and chairs under it and two groupings of comfy chairs and hassocks that are all in the shade. Everyone could find a comfortable place to be.
I had arranged with Ali at Villa Food for an initial provisioning. That turned out to be an excellent choice. We were tired after the long day of travel, in the case of Gorilla and Pepper two days of travel, and had no desire to venture out that night - we especially didn’t want to go out then figure out how to get back in the dark, driving on the wrong side of the road, etc. I had built a grocery list a few weeks before we left and Ali took care of everything. I liked that I could order from a grocery list rather than buying a package. Ali even found us Ting which was a big treat for the group, and a surprise since I hadn’t told them that Ting could be had in St. John. It was so great to arrive and have all the groceries put away and nice cold beer in the fridge. Ali was unable to find the chicken kabobs I ordered so she bought all the fixings for us to build our own. She also left a lovely little flower arrangement with her card in the refrigerator. Destination St. John provided a very nice basket of fruit, cheese and other snacks. I would absolutely use Ali again for provisioning. It was definitely worth the few dollars to have everything we needed waiting for us at the villa.
We got settled in, fired up some beverages, hit the pool, more beverages, watched our first sunset, fired up the grill and cooked burgers and chicken kabobs and made a salad. We dined on the balcony and thoroughly enjoyed our first meal of the trip. A lovely start to our vacation.
Pam
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Marcia (Mrs. Pete)
- Posts: 1576
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 9:40 pm
- Location: Madison Area, Wisconsin
