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Trip Report 4/23 - 5/3/09, Part 4
Trip Report 4/23 - 5/3/09, Part 4
Trip Report 4/23 – 5/3/09, Part 4
Day 4 – Sunday, 4/26
Awoke to our last morning on Virgin Gorda. As is my custom, whenever I wake up, I grab the camera & head to the door or window. Needing to capture that “as the dawn wakens” shot. So, here is my 5:08AM shot from our porch – on our last morning in Virgin Gorda.
Sad to be saying “goodbye” to this lovely place. Check out time is usually 11:00. Since we did not have to catch our Inter Island Ferry to St. John until 3:00, we asked if we could have a late check out so that we could enjoy a few more hours of sand, swimming & snorkeling. Our unit had guests coming in that date – but, Gino told us to just drop our stuff on the porch of one of the front units & use that unit’s shower, etc. when we were ready to leave. How nice was that??
This kind act actually had the extra bonus of letting us get a peek into one of the more expensive beachfront units. Huge unit – with a huge kitchen and living room. But, truth-be-told, we liked out little unit even more! Big isn’t always better. We actually liked our bathroom and shower better and ours really had a cozier feel. But, the other was more spacious & modern and also had an Oceanfront private deck.
So, after a quick breakfast of carrot bread and toast, we just enjoyed a few more hours on this very peaceful and beautiful property. We enjoyed seeing some more underwater life, enjoyed lounging around on the nearly vacant beach and of course, enjoyed a few more hours of this glorious warm Caribbean water. Again, only possible complaint was the number of lounge chairs available and also the condition of some of the lounge chairs needing new slats. But, overall – loved the place. We would highly recommend it and also would not hesitate to return.
Parting shot of the lovely beach here at Mango Bay Resort. Absolutely fantastic view!
After loading up & saying “good-bye” to Gino – we headed “downtown” to the Yacht Marina. We ate lunch at the Bath & Turtle. We watched the second quarter of a Boston Celtics game – thrilled to get a little bit of “home fever” fix. Upon arriving we were told that it was 2 for 1 rum punch time. “Okay” – that worked for us. After a couple apiece, we were starting to get that really comfortable feeling where we know, at that moment in time, “this is where we should be”.
The food was just as good as the drinks. Jim had the butter & lime conch. I had a marinated chicken breast sandwich. Both – very good. Service, of course, was on island time. But, no worries. Luckily at that time we did not know that the Celts were eventually going to lose that game to the Bulls in double overtime. Ignorance sure is bliss sometimes.
After lunch, we drove over to the ferry dock. Life is so simple here on Virgin Gorda. Our jeep rental instructions were to just leave the Jeep in the parking lot with the keys in it. How easy is that??
Ferry was right there – no problem. $50 per person one-way – which wasn’t too bad to get from Virgin Gorda to St. John. Left promptly at 3:00. Beautiful boat ride. LOVE getting out on the water. Loved passing the many islands, including Tortola. Great trip.
Arrived in Cruz Bay at 4:15. Per instructions, we called ahead to the property manager’s office to send someone to pick us up. He had already gotten keys for us from St. John Car Rental, in case we were delayed. We were thrilled that we were actually going to get to the office before they closed at 5:00. But, guess what? We got there at 4:30 & the closed sign was already up. Oh, well. Again, no big deal – we had our keys.
Followed our guide to Perelandra. Perelandra is located next to the Serendip Condos. Upon arriving, our jaws dropped. What a GORGEOUS place! It even exceeded our fairly high expectations. You entered into a HUGE great room. There was a huge master bedroom, huge master bath. Complete kitchen – even had a stovetop griddle. Lovely second bedroom & bath downstairs. Lovely décor and everything was in excellent condition.
Great deck with very nice views. We were very pleased with our choice! Thank you to all who recommended Perelandra to us.
We headed to Starfish for supplies even though the Cimmaron Property Management Company had left us a lovely welcome basket filled with tons of goodies. After we stored our food and drink supplies, we realized we were starving - so decided to try Banana Deck. During all of our previous stays on the island, we could NEVER find Banana Deck open. This time we were in luck. Of course, started off with a couple of Painkillers. No complaints. Jim had the garlic & butter mahi mahi. I had that Caribbean Chicken – which was a chicken breast stuffed with ham & swiss & covered with Gorgonzola cheese sauce. Yummo!!
Unfortunately, at the end of our meal – we just wanted to “go home” and enjoy our new pad. So, we never made it to the Beach Bar to meet up with fellow Forumites. Just headed back & enjoyed our first, of many, drinks on “our” lovely balcony overlooking St. Thomas.
Day 5 – Monday, 4/27
First morning on St. John. WooHoo! This is the lovely view that we enjoyed every morning at Perelandra.
Enjoyed a simple breakfast of grilled english muffins with peanut butter. Our first stop was a trip back to St. John Car Rental to fill out paperwork for our Jeep Rental @ 10:00. They are so nice there. We rent from them whenever we stay on St. John. They had given us a soft-top and we preferred a hard-top. We could tell that they probably would have preferred to just tell us “tough luck” – but, the agent had a change of heart & told us to come back at 12:30 and that she would most likely have one for us.
So, with just a couple of hours to kill & not wanting to get the jeep we would turn in all sandy, we decided not to hit the beach, yet. So, next best thing….. visit Ruth at St. John Spice. She was as sweet as usual. She even remembered our hometown from our last meeting 2 years ago (as we are fellow New Englanders).
After getting some spice and coffee, we decided to hit a couple more shops. We strolled into the Turquoise Turtle. Great shop. I hardly ever buy anything for myself, but I found this amazing cover-up dress that I loved. Very light and airy – very islandy!
Once we were settled into our new yellow hard-topped Jeep, we headed to Deli Grotto. Got a nice Turkey Sandwich to share. Enjoyed it on our deck at Perelandra. As always, whatever you get from Deli Grotto is always delicious.
Finally, off to the beaches. Cinnamon was the first St. John beach that we ever set foot on, so we try to make it our first stop when we return. Today it was very windy there. We actually took a walk along the beach. Set up shop under some branches – then started getting pummeled to death by the blowing sand. Didn’t even make it into the water on that visit.
Headed on to Trunk. By now, it was close to 4:00. So, didn’t need to pay a fee to get in. PLUS, most of the people are gone by then. LOVE this time of day here at Trunk. The water was warm, the atmosphere peaceful – just the way life should be. As we’ve mentioned before in posts, we wanted to “not” pick Trunk as one of our favorites – as there is such “hype” about that place. But, whenever we return – we “get it”. Especially late in the day when most of those pesky “tourists” are gone.
Ended the day spending a quiet night “at home”. We ordered pizza from Ronnie’s pizza. It was very good. Even on vacation, family can always find you. We had a message on the villa phone from our daughter to call her. She said it was urgent. Before we left to go on vacation she was in the midst of trying to purchase her first condo – it was a short-sale situation so it was a bit involved. In any event, she called to let us know…. “She Got It”!! WooHoo!! So, in her honor – “WE” celebrated with Painkillers!
All-in-all – pretty good day here in paradise!
Day 4 – Sunday, 4/26
Awoke to our last morning on Virgin Gorda. As is my custom, whenever I wake up, I grab the camera & head to the door or window. Needing to capture that “as the dawn wakens” shot. So, here is my 5:08AM shot from our porch – on our last morning in Virgin Gorda.
Sad to be saying “goodbye” to this lovely place. Check out time is usually 11:00. Since we did not have to catch our Inter Island Ferry to St. John until 3:00, we asked if we could have a late check out so that we could enjoy a few more hours of sand, swimming & snorkeling. Our unit had guests coming in that date – but, Gino told us to just drop our stuff on the porch of one of the front units & use that unit’s shower, etc. when we were ready to leave. How nice was that??
This kind act actually had the extra bonus of letting us get a peek into one of the more expensive beachfront units. Huge unit – with a huge kitchen and living room. But, truth-be-told, we liked out little unit even more! Big isn’t always better. We actually liked our bathroom and shower better and ours really had a cozier feel. But, the other was more spacious & modern and also had an Oceanfront private deck.
So, after a quick breakfast of carrot bread and toast, we just enjoyed a few more hours on this very peaceful and beautiful property. We enjoyed seeing some more underwater life, enjoyed lounging around on the nearly vacant beach and of course, enjoyed a few more hours of this glorious warm Caribbean water. Again, only possible complaint was the number of lounge chairs available and also the condition of some of the lounge chairs needing new slats. But, overall – loved the place. We would highly recommend it and also would not hesitate to return.
Parting shot of the lovely beach here at Mango Bay Resort. Absolutely fantastic view!
After loading up & saying “good-bye” to Gino – we headed “downtown” to the Yacht Marina. We ate lunch at the Bath & Turtle. We watched the second quarter of a Boston Celtics game – thrilled to get a little bit of “home fever” fix. Upon arriving we were told that it was 2 for 1 rum punch time. “Okay” – that worked for us. After a couple apiece, we were starting to get that really comfortable feeling where we know, at that moment in time, “this is where we should be”.
The food was just as good as the drinks. Jim had the butter & lime conch. I had a marinated chicken breast sandwich. Both – very good. Service, of course, was on island time. But, no worries. Luckily at that time we did not know that the Celts were eventually going to lose that game to the Bulls in double overtime. Ignorance sure is bliss sometimes.
After lunch, we drove over to the ferry dock. Life is so simple here on Virgin Gorda. Our jeep rental instructions were to just leave the Jeep in the parking lot with the keys in it. How easy is that??
Ferry was right there – no problem. $50 per person one-way – which wasn’t too bad to get from Virgin Gorda to St. John. Left promptly at 3:00. Beautiful boat ride. LOVE getting out on the water. Loved passing the many islands, including Tortola. Great trip.
Arrived in Cruz Bay at 4:15. Per instructions, we called ahead to the property manager’s office to send someone to pick us up. He had already gotten keys for us from St. John Car Rental, in case we were delayed. We were thrilled that we were actually going to get to the office before they closed at 5:00. But, guess what? We got there at 4:30 & the closed sign was already up. Oh, well. Again, no big deal – we had our keys.
Followed our guide to Perelandra. Perelandra is located next to the Serendip Condos. Upon arriving, our jaws dropped. What a GORGEOUS place! It even exceeded our fairly high expectations. You entered into a HUGE great room. There was a huge master bedroom, huge master bath. Complete kitchen – even had a stovetop griddle. Lovely second bedroom & bath downstairs. Lovely décor and everything was in excellent condition.
Great deck with very nice views. We were very pleased with our choice! Thank you to all who recommended Perelandra to us.
We headed to Starfish for supplies even though the Cimmaron Property Management Company had left us a lovely welcome basket filled with tons of goodies. After we stored our food and drink supplies, we realized we were starving - so decided to try Banana Deck. During all of our previous stays on the island, we could NEVER find Banana Deck open. This time we were in luck. Of course, started off with a couple of Painkillers. No complaints. Jim had the garlic & butter mahi mahi. I had that Caribbean Chicken – which was a chicken breast stuffed with ham & swiss & covered with Gorgonzola cheese sauce. Yummo!!
Unfortunately, at the end of our meal – we just wanted to “go home” and enjoy our new pad. So, we never made it to the Beach Bar to meet up with fellow Forumites. Just headed back & enjoyed our first, of many, drinks on “our” lovely balcony overlooking St. Thomas.
Day 5 – Monday, 4/27
First morning on St. John. WooHoo! This is the lovely view that we enjoyed every morning at Perelandra.
Enjoyed a simple breakfast of grilled english muffins with peanut butter. Our first stop was a trip back to St. John Car Rental to fill out paperwork for our Jeep Rental @ 10:00. They are so nice there. We rent from them whenever we stay on St. John. They had given us a soft-top and we preferred a hard-top. We could tell that they probably would have preferred to just tell us “tough luck” – but, the agent had a change of heart & told us to come back at 12:30 and that she would most likely have one for us.
So, with just a couple of hours to kill & not wanting to get the jeep we would turn in all sandy, we decided not to hit the beach, yet. So, next best thing….. visit Ruth at St. John Spice. She was as sweet as usual. She even remembered our hometown from our last meeting 2 years ago (as we are fellow New Englanders).
After getting some spice and coffee, we decided to hit a couple more shops. We strolled into the Turquoise Turtle. Great shop. I hardly ever buy anything for myself, but I found this amazing cover-up dress that I loved. Very light and airy – very islandy!
Once we were settled into our new yellow hard-topped Jeep, we headed to Deli Grotto. Got a nice Turkey Sandwich to share. Enjoyed it on our deck at Perelandra. As always, whatever you get from Deli Grotto is always delicious.
Finally, off to the beaches. Cinnamon was the first St. John beach that we ever set foot on, so we try to make it our first stop when we return. Today it was very windy there. We actually took a walk along the beach. Set up shop under some branches – then started getting pummeled to death by the blowing sand. Didn’t even make it into the water on that visit.
Headed on to Trunk. By now, it was close to 4:00. So, didn’t need to pay a fee to get in. PLUS, most of the people are gone by then. LOVE this time of day here at Trunk. The water was warm, the atmosphere peaceful – just the way life should be. As we’ve mentioned before in posts, we wanted to “not” pick Trunk as one of our favorites – as there is such “hype” about that place. But, whenever we return – we “get it”. Especially late in the day when most of those pesky “tourists” are gone.
Ended the day spending a quiet night “at home”. We ordered pizza from Ronnie’s pizza. It was very good. Even on vacation, family can always find you. We had a message on the villa phone from our daughter to call her. She said it was urgent. Before we left to go on vacation she was in the midst of trying to purchase her first condo – it was a short-sale situation so it was a bit involved. In any event, she called to let us know…. “She Got It”!! WooHoo!! So, in her honor – “WE” celebrated with Painkillers!
All-in-all – pretty good day here in paradise!
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msgcolleen
- Posts: 1497
- Joined: Thu Oct 05, 2006 8:33 am
- Location: Allen, Texas
Nice pics & reporting! Lovely view at Perelandra too!
I'll have to remember Trunk in the late afternoon~good tip!
Thanks for sharing
I'll have to remember Trunk in the late afternoon~good tip!
Thanks for sharing
I've got 2 tickets to paradise~Pack your bags we'll leave tonight!
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Those pictures bring back some great memories....my wife and I stayed at Perelandra a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it.
Thanks for your reports and keep them coming.
Thanks for your reports and keep them coming.
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I am not sure where the Sirenusa developement was/is. But I have attached a couple of links to try to help you find Perelandra.
It is off of Route 104 - which is the road that Starfish Market is on. It was a road to the left about half a mile or so after Candi's BBQ. The road off of Route 104 is Serendip Rd. Perelandra is about a mile from turning off of Route 104.
http://www.wheretostay.com/caribbean/us ... _John.html
You can also get a general location from the villa map on the Carefree Getaways site.
http://www.carefreegetaways.com/map/villamap.htm
It was a nice location - very easy & quick to get to town. But, view-wise, I did prefer the view from the Gifft Hill area when we stayed at Cielo Vista.
But, absolutely nothing but great things to say about the accomodations at Perelandra.
It is off of Route 104 - which is the road that Starfish Market is on. It was a road to the left about half a mile or so after Candi's BBQ. The road off of Route 104 is Serendip Rd. Perelandra is about a mile from turning off of Route 104.
http://www.wheretostay.com/caribbean/us ... _John.html
You can also get a general location from the villa map on the Carefree Getaways site.
http://www.carefreegetaways.com/map/villamap.htm
It was a nice location - very easy & quick to get to town. But, view-wise, I did prefer the view from the Gifft Hill area when we stayed at Cielo Vista.
But, absolutely nothing but great things to say about the accomodations at Perelandra.
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Rachelle & Joe
- Posts: 677
- Joined: Sat Nov 18, 2006 4:23 pm
- Location: ohio
trip report 4-23 5-3 part 4
Thanks 
This villa is realy popular & we can see why, looks wonderful ! We have also stayed at cielo vista & agree the views from there are fantastic ! But this villa has Beautiful views also ! Thanks for posting Rachelle
This villa is realy popular & we can see why, looks wonderful ! We have also stayed at cielo vista & agree the views from there are fantastic ! But this villa has Beautiful views also ! Thanks for posting Rachelle
