First Timer Trip Report (part 1)

[bruco72]

Woke just before 3 am on 5/21 as we had a 3:30 am cab pickup for our 5:45 flight to Miami. Landed on STT at 2:30. Flights were uneventful. Had a great cab driver who answered questions about the island. Very proud of his home. About 10 minutes into the ride I looked at my girlfriend and said "We're never renting a car on St. Thomas" she agreed. That driving freaked me out a bit and I started to get a little nervous about the driving thing.....

But alas, we were soon on the 4 pm ferry.



We picked up our jeep from Conrad Sutton, who I found to be very friendly, unlike some of the reviews I've seen have stated. We met the property manager at Dolphin Market and were then on our way to Coral Bay and Anchorage Aweigh. I found driving on the left to be easy, though it took a while to get used to the steepness and the corners. Seagrape Hill is a wild one!

We used Ali from Villa Food and I highly recommend her. She did a great job. So nice to not have to go to the store after a long travel day.

Alas, the view I've been seeing in pictures for a long time.



Took a dip in the pool, went to dinner at Shipwreck (yum!) and called it a night.

Anchorage Aweigh was fantastic, loved it. It has quite the driveway and our jeep wasn't the best. Reverse barely worked and it was very herkey jerkey with a slow response, so after a few comical attempts to turn around in the driveway, we decided to just park at the bottom for the rest of the week, which worked fine.



Decided to go to Trunk on the first day. Beautiful.



Forgot my snorkel gear, so rented a set. Decent snorkel, but much better to come. Beach wasn't overly crowded.

Went to Sweet Plantains that night. It was pretty good, it was curry night (which we didn't know) and curry isn't my favorite. Also wouldn't seat us outside as a group of 2. I understand that policy during high season, but it was a slow night.

Day 2 and we decided to get a little braver and head to Francis. Saw this guy on the way.



Made a big blunder here and neglected to put on bug spray before headed out on the walking trail. Never had skeeters bite through my swim trunks before! I ended up with about 10 bites on my ashtabula.

Francis was great. Nice snorkel up the right hand side. Saw some huge Tarpon. Nice and quiet all day long. Also swam over to that little pocket beach and Little Maho.



Decided to take a little drive after the beach out to the East End. I didn't think the roads could get any steeper!



Saw this guy. Great and beautiful drive.



Had a great meal at Aqua Bistro, after our nightly post beach dip in the pool.

Decided to try Cinnamon the next day. LOVED Cinnamon. Such a gorgeous beach.



We went far to the right hand side amongst the black rock formations. Some decent snorkeling near the island.



It clouded up, but the rain stayed away...for now.....



Ate at Island Blues that night. Will not be headed there again. We got a lot more attention from the roaches than from our server.

Up next, BVI boat trip.

[phyl]

Seeing your picture of Francis bay almost made my heart stop....in a good way!!! We will be there in 2 wks and I can barely stand it! Thank you so much for those awesome pics. I love the one of the East end road!!

[Kentuckygirl]

Great start! I just saved your east end road pic! I love that drive!

[SuefromMA]

First-timer?? You never would have guessed it!! Sounds like you've been writing trip reports your whole life. Fantastic photos - great story-telling!

ALWAYS love those donkey in the road shots!

Thanks for the report. Looking forward to the next installments.

[SOonthebeach]

LOVE the pics and reporting- keep it up!!

[Coden]

Lovely!! Glad you had a great start to your vacation. Thnx for the picture of Francis...my fav!

[msgcolleen]

First time is always the best! Great reporting and pics so far~ Keep um coming!
Sorry 'bout the ashtabula bites

[cool breeze]

Great TR, awesome pictures, looking forward to the next chapter!
Have fun

[mbw1024]

great pics, thanks.

[augie]

I'd be willing to bet that the driving on STT won't seem so bad now that you've gotten your feet wet driving on the left.

If you can drive in/around Chicago, I'd think STT would be a piece of cake!

Great report so far - thanks for sharing it with us!

[Gromit]

I can tell by the way you handled the jeep situation that you totally "get" STJ!!

Great start.

Sorry to hear that Island Blues was a bust. We've always had great food and service there.

But there are plenty of other options!

Keep the reports coming! I've got 6 months to kill

[bruco72]

That's what I kept telling myself, I drive in downtown Chicago, I can handle this and the driving was easier than expected.

I may need a little more hilly left hand driving before being ready for STT!

This week back has been soooo tough. I want to have my morning coffee on the porch swing at Anchorage Aweigh, not at my desk

[seagrape]

We feel your pain. We still have to come back to Alaska's cold winters and think of warm mornings with that first cup on the swing. Looking forward to the next!

[Nancy_B]

Great TR!

Deers are new to St. John for us and we saw many of them - it felt just like Pennsylvania. I worry that they will over-populate quickly as there are no natural predators for them. Maybe, open day is in the future?

[JT]

Great pics and reports.Gotta say, we've always loved Island Blues in the past, though they've changed hands. Last month during our 2 weeks in Coral Bay we only went to Blues once. 'Nuff said.