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Trip Report: 13 Day Winter Escape
Trip Report: 13 Day Winter Escape
Returned last Thursday night (1/13) from 13 fabulous days on St. John. This was our 21st trip since 2000 and we're still discovering new things about the island. Here is my trip report. I decided not to do day by day since 1) I didn't take notes and my memory isn't that good and 2) it would feel pretty repetitive since we had a 'routine'.
This trip was just Ron and I and we loved every minute of it.
Travel day was super smooth. Friends who celebrated New Year's Eve with us drove us to the airport at 6 a.m. (great friends), thru security (no pat down), got coffee at Au Bon Pain and walked up the gate at 7:05 just as they called Zone 2 and walked right on the plane. We landed 30 minutes early and caught the 1 p.m. Red Hook Ferry so we were on island by 1:20 – sweet! Also, this ferry company allowed drinks in cups so we carried on our first painkiller (for me) and beer (for Ron). Stopped and saw Ruth and picked up our Marrakesh coffee. It's always so nice to see Ruth.
Our car rental was thru Paris. Our first time with them. A bit of confusion as I didn't realize that they'd meet us at the dock so we walked up the hill and then I saw they called and they came up to meet us. Car was a 2005 Jeep Wrangler. Pretty beat up but it served it's purpose. We had a low tire on day 3 and drove to the Fire House in Coral Bay to fill it (we couldn't get it off to put the spare on). We drove it to them and they gave us another car for a day while they fixed it. After that, all was well.
Our accommodations were at Sailview in Coral Bay. I really can't say enough positive things about the place and the hosts. Mike and Eileen are the very very best! We met Mike at Skinny Legs after a nice lunch at the Beach Bar. He drove us right up 10 about 2 minutes from Skinny's to make a quick right onto a dirt road. It was a bit bumpy but after 2 or 3 times up and down, we were used to it. We had a pretty big room with a very comfy bed, a beautiful armoire, a mini fridge with a coffee maker and a beautiful shower and bathroom. It was perfectly decorated and very tastefully done. As nice as an upscale villa but much more reasonably priced. Eileen had flowers in the room and 'welcome' supplies of coffee, half and half, orange juice, bread from Baked in the Sun, a couple of beers and sodas plus snacks! She is the best and it was much more then the other property managers give you. Every 3 days or so, she would leave us fresh beach towels on our car and swapped out our towels. This was such a nice treat. Can you tell we loved it here?
Our schedule was basically the same almost every day – wake up around 8 a.m. (it was 7 a.m. on the East coast), make our coffee, veg a bit, convince Ron that we'd go for a hike, decide our hike, dress for our hike and bring our gear with us for the beach. We'd usually leave around 9:30ish and return around 5ish after the beach for a quick shower and then head out for a drink and then dinner. Home each night (for the most part) by 9-10 p.m. We hiked about 7 of the 13 days.
I hike for two reasons – 1) exercise – makes me feel less guilty about all I eat and drink on vacation and 2) to see things I would never see. The beauty of St. John hiking is that each hike has a reward.
Hikes we did:
Johnny Horn Trail: This is the first time that we hiked all the way to Leinster Bay. We started at the Moravian Church. The reward of this hike is the great views and the beautiful bay at the end.
Margaret Hill: We hiked this one twice. It's one of our favorites. So super challenging. It takes us about 20 minutes to the Caneel Overlook and then 20 more to the Margaret Hill overlook. Both are amazing views and give us a chance to re-hydrate and enjoy the sites.
Reef Bay trail: This is probably the most challenging – the hike up is relentless. We hiked to the Petroglyphs also and were treated to our first waterfall. Ron also climbed the trail next to them as saw a second waterfall. I attempted it but chickened out.
Lameshur Bay trail: Our first time for this trail. It was HOT and challenging but had great views of Reef Bay.
L'Esperance Trail: Our first time. We only hiked this one for 1 hour round trip so we saw both sets of ruins but didn't do the full trail.
Ram Head hike: We've done this before but it's always a great hike. The winds were wicked fierce the day we did it so it helped to cool us off. The views are just wonderful from this trail.
Beaches:
No new beaches for us and the swells were up on the North Shore so we hit Maho many days. It was always the calmest and such a quick commute from Sailview. We also went to Lameshur, Salt Pond, Gibney, Trunk, Cinnamon and Hawksnest.
Trunk Bay
Maho Bay
Dining:
We would eat out twice a day – either breakfast or lunch and then dinner.
Restaurants (I'm not a foodie so I slack off on my descriptions here):
Shipwreck Landing: We had 3 wonderful dinners here.
Sweet Plantains: Prince makes great drinks and Rose is an excellent chef. We loved it as always.
La Plancha Del Mer: The new location is beautiful and the food was as amazing as we remembered. Ron loves their deconstructed paella. I was too full for dessert but will definitely go back in May for their brownie dessert – yum!
Cactus Blue: Dinner was good not great. I think I may leave this off the list for May.
Morgan's Mango: We were there for Caribbean lobster. Ron had the surf and turf and loved it and I had their chicken. Great cocktails here too.
Rhumblines: We love Sunday nights with T Bird. Great guava margarita and I had their mojo pork and Ron had the pad thai.
Banana Deck: We had both lunch and dinner there. It's a solid restaurant that you really can't go wrong at.
Beach Bar: I'll admit it – we spend a lot of time there. We love the view and the people and the food is good too so we had a couple of lunches and one dinner there.
Donkey Diner: A first for me – yum! Great breakfasts and I love the courtyard.
Miss Lucy's for Jazz Brunch: We had a very disappointing day there. Service was ridiculous! No one waited on us and after 30 minutes the bartender was so pissed that he took our order and then our food came out quickly. Others around us had waited much longer. I'll go back because I love the setting so much. It was sad to see the damage to the tree. I chalk it up to a bad day.
Deli Grotto: We'd grab lunch here and then eat it on the beach. They have a new mult grain bread (or maybe, it's just new for me). I loved it. They have wonderful sandwiches. Trunk Bay chicken is my standard and Ron mixes it up.
We didn't have a bad meal on island.
The best day of any St. John vacation for me is always boat day. We went out with two other forumite couples – P-600 and her hubby and lawmom and her hubby. We went out with Capt John Brandi (a first for us). His boat is very smooth and comfortable and he's a great guy.
We had a great time together and had a lot of fun getting to know each other. We started snorkeling at the Caves and the Indians. I'm not a snorkeler so I just bobbed in the water with a noodle and a beer.
After that we hit Pirates Byte for a painkiller and P-600 and I had a killer match of Mega Jenga. We maxed it out to the top – all caught on video by Capt. Brandi.
Next, we hit the Willie T for lunch and cocktails. It was a fun day there and most everyone (not me) jumped off the top.
We then headed over to Ivan's and the Soggy Dollar where we saw Capt Jay and Mrs Capt Jay plus Ron and I saw many of our past charter capts – Capt Kevin of Born to Rhumb, Capt Rick of Lion in da Sun and Pogan from Ocean Runner. It was packed and felt like we were at the Jersey Shore but it was beautiful and we had so much fun.
Ron and our Capts
Ron, P-600 and I at Ivan's
P-600 and her hubby and we hung at the Beach Bar afterwards until about 10 p.m. It was a marathon day but super fun!
We also did two good deeds on island. We helped a newlywed couple change their flat tire. It was their first trip and their honeymoon and they loved it and were already hooked.
We also picked up a couple on Centerline road who had hiked Reef Bay and were staying at Maho. They thought they'd catch a bus home but they never saw one. We picked them up about 3 miles out of town and showed them Giftt Hill Road and then into town as we had to get gas. This was their first time too and we gave them some tips and I dropped them at Woody's. I think they'll be back too.
Another fantastic trip to the rock. We're counting down the days until our return in May for our 10 year wedding anniversary trip. Can't wait!
This trip was just Ron and I and we loved every minute of it.
Travel day was super smooth. Friends who celebrated New Year's Eve with us drove us to the airport at 6 a.m. (great friends), thru security (no pat down), got coffee at Au Bon Pain and walked up the gate at 7:05 just as they called Zone 2 and walked right on the plane. We landed 30 minutes early and caught the 1 p.m. Red Hook Ferry so we were on island by 1:20 – sweet! Also, this ferry company allowed drinks in cups so we carried on our first painkiller (for me) and beer (for Ron). Stopped and saw Ruth and picked up our Marrakesh coffee. It's always so nice to see Ruth.
Our car rental was thru Paris. Our first time with them. A bit of confusion as I didn't realize that they'd meet us at the dock so we walked up the hill and then I saw they called and they came up to meet us. Car was a 2005 Jeep Wrangler. Pretty beat up but it served it's purpose. We had a low tire on day 3 and drove to the Fire House in Coral Bay to fill it (we couldn't get it off to put the spare on). We drove it to them and they gave us another car for a day while they fixed it. After that, all was well.
Our accommodations were at Sailview in Coral Bay. I really can't say enough positive things about the place and the hosts. Mike and Eileen are the very very best! We met Mike at Skinny Legs after a nice lunch at the Beach Bar. He drove us right up 10 about 2 minutes from Skinny's to make a quick right onto a dirt road. It was a bit bumpy but after 2 or 3 times up and down, we were used to it. We had a pretty big room with a very comfy bed, a beautiful armoire, a mini fridge with a coffee maker and a beautiful shower and bathroom. It was perfectly decorated and very tastefully done. As nice as an upscale villa but much more reasonably priced. Eileen had flowers in the room and 'welcome' supplies of coffee, half and half, orange juice, bread from Baked in the Sun, a couple of beers and sodas plus snacks! She is the best and it was much more then the other property managers give you. Every 3 days or so, she would leave us fresh beach towels on our car and swapped out our towels. This was such a nice treat. Can you tell we loved it here?
Our schedule was basically the same almost every day – wake up around 8 a.m. (it was 7 a.m. on the East coast), make our coffee, veg a bit, convince Ron that we'd go for a hike, decide our hike, dress for our hike and bring our gear with us for the beach. We'd usually leave around 9:30ish and return around 5ish after the beach for a quick shower and then head out for a drink and then dinner. Home each night (for the most part) by 9-10 p.m. We hiked about 7 of the 13 days.
I hike for two reasons – 1) exercise – makes me feel less guilty about all I eat and drink on vacation and 2) to see things I would never see. The beauty of St. John hiking is that each hike has a reward.
Hikes we did:
Johnny Horn Trail: This is the first time that we hiked all the way to Leinster Bay. We started at the Moravian Church. The reward of this hike is the great views and the beautiful bay at the end.
Margaret Hill: We hiked this one twice. It's one of our favorites. So super challenging. It takes us about 20 minutes to the Caneel Overlook and then 20 more to the Margaret Hill overlook. Both are amazing views and give us a chance to re-hydrate and enjoy the sites.
Reef Bay trail: This is probably the most challenging – the hike up is relentless. We hiked to the Petroglyphs also and were treated to our first waterfall. Ron also climbed the trail next to them as saw a second waterfall. I attempted it but chickened out.
Lameshur Bay trail: Our first time for this trail. It was HOT and challenging but had great views of Reef Bay.
L'Esperance Trail: Our first time. We only hiked this one for 1 hour round trip so we saw both sets of ruins but didn't do the full trail.
Ram Head hike: We've done this before but it's always a great hike. The winds were wicked fierce the day we did it so it helped to cool us off. The views are just wonderful from this trail.
Beaches:
No new beaches for us and the swells were up on the North Shore so we hit Maho many days. It was always the calmest and such a quick commute from Sailview. We also went to Lameshur, Salt Pond, Gibney, Trunk, Cinnamon and Hawksnest.
Trunk Bay Maho BayDining:
We would eat out twice a day – either breakfast or lunch and then dinner.
Restaurants (I'm not a foodie so I slack off on my descriptions here):
Shipwreck Landing: We had 3 wonderful dinners here.
Sweet Plantains: Prince makes great drinks and Rose is an excellent chef. We loved it as always.
La Plancha Del Mer: The new location is beautiful and the food was as amazing as we remembered. Ron loves their deconstructed paella. I was too full for dessert but will definitely go back in May for their brownie dessert – yum!
Cactus Blue: Dinner was good not great. I think I may leave this off the list for May.
Morgan's Mango: We were there for Caribbean lobster. Ron had the surf and turf and loved it and I had their chicken. Great cocktails here too.
Rhumblines: We love Sunday nights with T Bird. Great guava margarita and I had their mojo pork and Ron had the pad thai.
Banana Deck: We had both lunch and dinner there. It's a solid restaurant that you really can't go wrong at.
Beach Bar: I'll admit it – we spend a lot of time there. We love the view and the people and the food is good too so we had a couple of lunches and one dinner there.
Donkey Diner: A first for me – yum! Great breakfasts and I love the courtyard.
Miss Lucy's for Jazz Brunch: We had a very disappointing day there. Service was ridiculous! No one waited on us and after 30 minutes the bartender was so pissed that he took our order and then our food came out quickly. Others around us had waited much longer. I'll go back because I love the setting so much. It was sad to see the damage to the tree. I chalk it up to a bad day.
Deli Grotto: We'd grab lunch here and then eat it on the beach. They have a new mult grain bread (or maybe, it's just new for me). I loved it. They have wonderful sandwiches. Trunk Bay chicken is my standard and Ron mixes it up.
We didn't have a bad meal on island.
The best day of any St. John vacation for me is always boat day. We went out with two other forumite couples – P-600 and her hubby and lawmom and her hubby. We went out with Capt John Brandi (a first for us). His boat is very smooth and comfortable and he's a great guy.
We had a great time together and had a lot of fun getting to know each other. We started snorkeling at the Caves and the Indians. I'm not a snorkeler so I just bobbed in the water with a noodle and a beer.
After that we hit Pirates Byte for a painkiller and P-600 and I had a killer match of Mega Jenga. We maxed it out to the top – all caught on video by Capt. Brandi.
Next, we hit the Willie T for lunch and cocktails. It was a fun day there and most everyone (not me) jumped off the top.
We then headed over to Ivan's and the Soggy Dollar where we saw Capt Jay and Mrs Capt Jay plus Ron and I saw many of our past charter capts – Capt Kevin of Born to Rhumb, Capt Rick of Lion in da Sun and Pogan from Ocean Runner. It was packed and felt like we were at the Jersey Shore but it was beautiful and we had so much fun.
Ron and our Capts Ron, P-600 and I at Ivan'sP-600 and her hubby and we hung at the Beach Bar afterwards until about 10 p.m. It was a marathon day but super fun!
We also did two good deeds on island. We helped a newlywed couple change their flat tire. It was their first trip and their honeymoon and they loved it and were already hooked.
We also picked up a couple on Centerline road who had hiked Reef Bay and were staying at Maho. They thought they'd catch a bus home but they never saw one. We picked them up about 3 miles out of town and showed them Giftt Hill Road and then into town as we had to get gas. This was their first time too and we gave them some tips and I dropped them at Woody's. I think they'll be back too.
Another fantastic trip to the rock. We're counting down the days until our return in May for our 10 year wedding anniversary trip. Can't wait!
NancyB
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msgcolleen
- Posts: 1497
- Joined: Thu Oct 05, 2006 8:33 am
- Location: Allen, Texas
What a great trip #21!! I want to hike like that! Sailview is on my list and we are hoping to find some forumites to go with us on a Palm Tree Charter in August!
Thanks for sharing your fun trip with us~~~
Thanks for sharing your fun trip with us~~~
I've got 2 tickets to paradise~Pack your bags we'll leave tonight!
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
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SOonthebeach
- Posts: 1707
- Joined: Tue Jan 19, 2010 10:01 am
- Location: Texas
Lovermont, they are so such good people. We are having a drink with them when we return in May. We're not staying with them then but I'm sure we'll be back.Lovermont wrote:Thanks for taking the time to post your trip report. It sounds like you had a fantastic time. So glad you enjoyed "our place" - Sailview Inn. I'm lucky to call Mike & Eileen true friends after staying with them a few times.
Reading your report makes me want to be on STJ now!
Lovermont
Where are you cheating on St. John at?
NancyB
Isla Mujeres, Mexico in March.Nancy_B wrote:Lovermont, they are so such good people. We are having a drink with them when we return in May. We're not staying with them then but I'm sure we'll be back.
Where are you cheating on St. John at?
But, I'm also trying to figure out a feasible way to go back to STJ and Sailview for two weeks in December. I'm watching the Frequent Flyer miles, and SV is such a good value, I think we can pull it off. Yeah!
Thanks for the great report. Loved hearing about the hiking and the difficulty and views of each one. We always "intend" to hike, but never get up early and just do it. My husband really wants to get up before sunrise and do rams head.
Your boating day sounds like fun too.
Maybe next trip we will really hike...
Your boating day sounds like fun too.
Maybe next trip we will really hike...
Good times, sister! So happy for you both!!!
Amy loves the "Tofu Scramble" at Donkey Diner...(I think that's what it's called...- I eat meat & potatoes...
)
Things we're looking forward to next trip;-
Pool & AC! (our last villa rental wasn't all that comfortable...)
(Like you & hubby-)A week to ourselves
Supper & hopefully music at Maho Pavilion
Reef Bay Trail Hike-(we'll be doing the NPS jammer...)
Dinghy Day?
More time at Haulover, Hansen & Vie's
We're big fans of Shipwreck, and Aqua Bistro,and will definately hit those spots for an early morning Bloody Mary or three...!
Glad Sailview worked out for you! You two really know how to get the most out of your vaca, and hopefully My Sweetie & I will get our act together and nail down a daysail with yous guys this Spring! We should try to do something different, no?
Thanks for the photos,- such fun!
See you in May...
Smiles-
MJ
Amy loves the "Tofu Scramble" at Donkey Diner...(I think that's what it's called...- I eat meat & potatoes...
)Things we're looking forward to next trip;-
Pool & AC! (our last villa rental wasn't all that comfortable...)
(Like you & hubby-)A week to ourselves
Supper & hopefully music at Maho Pavilion
Reef Bay Trail Hike-(we'll be doing the NPS jammer...)
Dinghy Day?
More time at Haulover, Hansen & Vie's
We're big fans of Shipwreck, and Aqua Bistro,and will definately hit those spots for an early morning Bloody Mary or three...!
Glad Sailview worked out for you! You two really know how to get the most out of your vaca, and hopefully My Sweetie & I will get our act together and nail down a daysail with yous guys this Spring! We should try to do something different, no?
Thanks for the photos,- such fun!
See you in May...
Smiles-
MJ
