usvi-on-line
Muhaha trip report Days 5-6 (1/26/11-1/27/11)
Muhaha trip report Days 5-6 (1/26/11-1/27/11)
Link to Days 1-2: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=19212
Link to Days 3-4: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=19214
Day 5:
Another morning up at 6:15am. This time the wifey joins me and we enjoy our coffee and a special concocted french bread and cinnamon breakfast out on the deck.
Today is Dinghy Day and we are super excited, but it is also our first and while looking out the deck we can't help but notice that the swells breaking over Johnson's Reef are looking fairly ominous. But, no sweat...I'm an experienced Wave Runner "captain" used to the 5-6 footers on Lake Michigan. Full of myself, we confidently drive down and park at Slimmans and march over to Noah's beachside kiosk for orientation. But wait, after my bad day with the sunburn on Francis, the good wife points us to Low Key to stop in and grab a big floppy hat for me. The kind that I thought I would never wear, with the string that holds it on your head...the whole nine yards. I'm a baseball cap kinda guy, but I suck it up and yield to her insistence. She is of course correct here, I think I would have been well done without the hat.
So, off we go. We decide to head over to Waterlemon first. We're cruising past Caneel when we hit the swells - up one, down another and you can't see over the next kind of swells. We plow on and fortunately things get a little better after passing Trunk. By the time we pass Francis things are much better...until turning the corner at Mary's Point. At this point it turns from relative calm to downright scary. We get about halfway down the point when we decide Waterlemon just isn't in the cards and turn back. We tied up on the mooring bouy at the far point of Mary's Point, between the point and Whisling Cay. Things are calm, but the water is quite cloudy. Not any better at Whistling Cay either, which is a bummer because I really wanted to go there for a snorkel.
Customs House ruins on Whitling Cay
The waves at Trunk were too high to beach the dinghy so at this point we are questioning the wisdom of renting the dinghy. We decide to head over to Honeymoon which looked calmer on the way out. As we approach we notice that a "certain Cay" (unnamed out of respect for Big Cheezes paranoia of ruining a private paradise) looks calm on the backside. We tied up and jump in for the swim to the cay and are rewarded with an unbelievable swim. I carried our backpack cooler on the swim and we spent some time eating a late lunch and taking in the sights of the cruise ships between STT and STJ, before heading into the water for what would be an amazing snorkel. The underwater landscape was amazing and the coral healthy. I ended up taking mostly video on this snorkel, but here are a couple of pics.
This is an incredible Elkhorn, about 15 feet across
Do I look happy after this snorkel? Note: my hat, buy one on dinghy day
We then sail off happily after salvaging Dinghy Day in a big way over to Honeymoon and just chill on the beach before heading back to Cruz Bay and dropping off the dinghy. This is the most critical part of Dinghy Day, believe me there is more pressure than Tiger Woods' gallery on the first tee when you are tyring to gracefully get beached and out of the dinghy in front of a couple of dozen patrons at the Beach Bar. All eyes are upon you, judgemental and in need of humor. Fortunately no accidents to report here.
We head back to the villa for a shower and some hot tub time. It's my honey's night for Lobster at Lime Inn, and that was delicious. It never fails that I order the wrong thing, in this case I got the all you can eat shrimp. It was quite tasty, but a lot of work...all that peeling. Picked up some ice cream at the Dolphin market on the way back to the villa and once again enjoyed the stars from the hot tub, while eating ice cream. Heaven on earth.
Day 6:
You may have guessed by now what time I woke up. It's weird, I know.
A picture of one of my morning friends
This morning the swells were much lower, but still there. We had zero plans, so we packed up all the stuff we could think of and headed out on the North Shore and wind up at the Annaburg ruins totally expecting to spend about 30 minutes there. We came across a "Friends of the Park" volunteer, Weldon, who we spent the next hour enjoying stories of the island and descriptions of how the mill was run back in the day. His knowledge was amazing and we were very thankful to spend the time talking with him. We toured the ruins and came across this really cool charcoal drawing scrawled into the wall of the DUNGEON(!). Now, I am peaked. This is cool, as in History Channel cool. This picture of the masters house was made by a detained slave by looking out the only window up the hill towards the house on the next mountain.
After the tour we get summoned over to the garden by Charles, the tender of the garden area. He takes us on a walk thru the plants that he is growing and chops off samples of sugar cane and coconut for us to taste. Awesome and once again I surprise myself by learning a lot about the native plants. Well, sugar cane is not native, but you know...
After that we head over to Skinny Legs for a burger and then off to the Mangroves for a truly weird and fascinating snorkel.
My bride had a bit too many margaritas at Skinny Legs so I thought that this snorkel in shallow water would be good and safe. We found a relatively clear area in which to enter the water and proceeded to snorkel in 2-3 feet of water along the mangroves. She quickly sobered, but was way to creeped out and elected to wait out my snorkel on shore. I saw many baby fish, from small barracuda that could fit in your palm to a small (nurse?) shark. I didn't have the camera ready to snap a shot of the shark and it was well gone before it booted up. But here are some pics of the snorkel. This is a very interesting thing to do and I recommend it to anyone who is curious. The lighting was a real challenge here so I apologize for the darkness of the pics, but that's how it was.
Then, it was off to Haulover north for an excellent snorkel.
Another sunset at the villa followed by carryout Ronnie's pizza on the deck, some hot tub soaking, and stargazing before off to bed.
Next is an unbelievable day at Francis Bay....
Link to Days 3-4: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=19214
Day 5:
Another morning up at 6:15am. This time the wifey joins me and we enjoy our coffee and a special concocted french bread and cinnamon breakfast out on the deck.
Today is Dinghy Day and we are super excited, but it is also our first and while looking out the deck we can't help but notice that the swells breaking over Johnson's Reef are looking fairly ominous. But, no sweat...I'm an experienced Wave Runner "captain" used to the 5-6 footers on Lake Michigan. Full of myself, we confidently drive down and park at Slimmans and march over to Noah's beachside kiosk for orientation. But wait, after my bad day with the sunburn on Francis, the good wife points us to Low Key to stop in and grab a big floppy hat for me. The kind that I thought I would never wear, with the string that holds it on your head...the whole nine yards. I'm a baseball cap kinda guy, but I suck it up and yield to her insistence. She is of course correct here, I think I would have been well done without the hat.
So, off we go. We decide to head over to Waterlemon first. We're cruising past Caneel when we hit the swells - up one, down another and you can't see over the next kind of swells. We plow on and fortunately things get a little better after passing Trunk. By the time we pass Francis things are much better...until turning the corner at Mary's Point. At this point it turns from relative calm to downright scary. We get about halfway down the point when we decide Waterlemon just isn't in the cards and turn back. We tied up on the mooring bouy at the far point of Mary's Point, between the point and Whisling Cay. Things are calm, but the water is quite cloudy. Not any better at Whistling Cay either, which is a bummer because I really wanted to go there for a snorkel.
Customs House ruins on Whitling Cay
The waves at Trunk were too high to beach the dinghy so at this point we are questioning the wisdom of renting the dinghy. We decide to head over to Honeymoon which looked calmer on the way out. As we approach we notice that a "certain Cay" (unnamed out of respect for Big Cheezes paranoia of ruining a private paradise) looks calm on the backside. We tied up and jump in for the swim to the cay and are rewarded with an unbelievable swim. I carried our backpack cooler on the swim and we spent some time eating a late lunch and taking in the sights of the cruise ships between STT and STJ, before heading into the water for what would be an amazing snorkel. The underwater landscape was amazing and the coral healthy. I ended up taking mostly video on this snorkel, but here are a couple of pics.
This is an incredible Elkhorn, about 15 feet across
Do I look happy after this snorkel? Note: my hat, buy one on dinghy day
We then sail off happily after salvaging Dinghy Day in a big way over to Honeymoon and just chill on the beach before heading back to Cruz Bay and dropping off the dinghy. This is the most critical part of Dinghy Day, believe me there is more pressure than Tiger Woods' gallery on the first tee when you are tyring to gracefully get beached and out of the dinghy in front of a couple of dozen patrons at the Beach Bar. All eyes are upon you, judgemental and in need of humor. Fortunately no accidents to report here.
We head back to the villa for a shower and some hot tub time. It's my honey's night for Lobster at Lime Inn, and that was delicious. It never fails that I order the wrong thing, in this case I got the all you can eat shrimp. It was quite tasty, but a lot of work...all that peeling. Picked up some ice cream at the Dolphin market on the way back to the villa and once again enjoyed the stars from the hot tub, while eating ice cream. Heaven on earth.
Day 6:
You may have guessed by now what time I woke up. It's weird, I know.
A picture of one of my morning friends
This morning the swells were much lower, but still there. We had zero plans, so we packed up all the stuff we could think of and headed out on the North Shore and wind up at the Annaburg ruins totally expecting to spend about 30 minutes there. We came across a "Friends of the Park" volunteer, Weldon, who we spent the next hour enjoying stories of the island and descriptions of how the mill was run back in the day. His knowledge was amazing and we were very thankful to spend the time talking with him. We toured the ruins and came across this really cool charcoal drawing scrawled into the wall of the DUNGEON(!). Now, I am peaked. This is cool, as in History Channel cool. This picture of the masters house was made by a detained slave by looking out the only window up the hill towards the house on the next mountain.
After the tour we get summoned over to the garden by Charles, the tender of the garden area. He takes us on a walk thru the plants that he is growing and chops off samples of sugar cane and coconut for us to taste. Awesome and once again I surprise myself by learning a lot about the native plants. Well, sugar cane is not native, but you know...
After that we head over to Skinny Legs for a burger and then off to the Mangroves for a truly weird and fascinating snorkel.
My bride had a bit too many margaritas at Skinny Legs so I thought that this snorkel in shallow water would be good and safe. We found a relatively clear area in which to enter the water and proceeded to snorkel in 2-3 feet of water along the mangroves. She quickly sobered, but was way to creeped out and elected to wait out my snorkel on shore. I saw many baby fish, from small barracuda that could fit in your palm to a small (nurse?) shark. I didn't have the camera ready to snap a shot of the shark and it was well gone before it booted up. But here are some pics of the snorkel. This is a very interesting thing to do and I recommend it to anyone who is curious. The lighting was a real challenge here so I apologize for the darkness of the pics, but that's how it was.
Then, it was off to Haulover north for an excellent snorkel.
Another sunset at the villa followed by carryout Ronnie's pizza on the deck, some hot tub soaking, and stargazing before off to bed.
Next is an unbelievable day at Francis Bay....
Last edited by Muhaha on Wed Feb 02, 2011 11:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-
Kentuckygirl
- Posts: 1903
- Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2006 10:17 am
- Location: Kentucky
[/url]-
SOonthebeach
- Posts: 1707
- Joined: Tue Jan 19, 2010 10:01 am
- Location: Texas
I am SO loving your reports & photos!
Sago palms was DEFINATELY one of our favorite places to stay,-just delicious, as you're more than well aware!
It just got to be a bit challenging going to/from the villa/beach with all of the constant daily "packing & unpacking"...!!!
The pool & hot-tub was a real treat, with all that heat... 
PLEASE tell me that you didn't try to navigate your way down the path behind the home to the beach! It was a very rumlogged misadventure that we should've never tried!
I'm looking forward to more stories about your trip, and will bug you for more info regarding your trip to the Annaberg Ruins and Reef Bay Trail excursions. Those two things, as well as a dinghy day are "must-does" this coming trip.
The hat is awesome,-suits you. Sounds like your little beloved is a lot like My Sweet Amy- we should meet up on island some day!
Keep the report coming, thanks, and always
Smiles-
MJ
Sago palms was DEFINATELY one of our favorite places to stay,-just delicious, as you're more than well aware!
It just got to be a bit challenging going to/from the villa/beach with all of the constant daily "packing & unpacking"...!!!
The pool & hot-tub was a real treat, with all that heat... PLEASE tell me that you didn't try to navigate your way down the path behind the home to the beach! It was a very rumlogged misadventure that we should've never tried!
I'm looking forward to more stories about your trip, and will bug you for more info regarding your trip to the Annaberg Ruins and Reef Bay Trail excursions. Those two things, as well as a dinghy day are "must-does" this coming trip.
The hat is awesome,-suits you. Sounds like your little beloved is a lot like My Sweet Amy- we should meet up on island some day!
Keep the report coming, thanks, and always
Smiles-
MJ
Ok, I know what unpacking is but I am too scared to ask what "packing" is. And no, we did not try the trail behind the house. I remember your trip report and always had that in the back of my mind! One other thing about Sago - don't bother buying any liquor before arriving. The place was well stocked with some high quality booze. I can only assume that the cleaning lady does not drink.mahojim wrote:I am SO loving your reports & photos!
Sago palms was DEFINATELY one of our favorite places to stay,-just delicious, as you're more than well aware!
It just got to be a bit challenging going to/from the villa/beach with all of the constant daily "packing & unpacking"...!!!
PLEASE tell me that you didn't try to navigate your way down the path behind the home to the beach! It was a very rumlogged misadventure that we should've never tried!
I'm looking forward to more stories about your trip, and will bug you for more info regarding your trip to the Annaberg Ruins and Reef Bay Trail excursions. Those two things, as well as a dinghy day are "must-does" this coming trip.
The hat is awesome,-suits you. Sounds like your little beloved is a lot like My Sweet Amy- we should meet up on island some day!
Keep the report coming, thanks, and always
Smiles-
MJ
-
msgcolleen
- Posts: 1497
- Joined: Thu Oct 05, 2006 8:33 am
- Location: Allen, Texas
Loving your report but very curious about the certain secret cay that you visited and enjoyed . . . you can PM me with the name or just give me the letter that it starts with!! 
I've got 2 tickets to paradise~Pack your bags we'll leave tonight!
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
Snorkeling at Princess is unique... I agree. It's not our "must" on every trip, but we stop by whenever we feel like that kind of curious snorkeling. Last time we were there, the tide kept pushing me into the mangrove roots and I constantly had to back paddle so my head wouldn't get tangled. It was our last full day and I was thinking, "At least I'll get to stay longer (or forever) on St. John if I get stuck."
Thanks for the reports. Looking forward to the Francis report.
Thanks for the reports. Looking forward to the Francis report.
Ok, even though Big Cheeze is scary big looking in his profile picture I will release the first letter of the cay - "H".
I am *so* frustrated as I spent an hour typing up the Francis trip report only to have it disappear when I hit the "submit" button. I will try to do it again tonight.
Anthony - is there anything you can do to alleviate this issue? It seems that there is a timeout of sorts that requires you to log back in. If you are typing and formatting a trip report, this will cause you to lose all of the work.
I am *so* frustrated as I spent an hour typing up the Francis trip report only to have it disappear when I hit the "submit" button. I will try to do it again tonight.
Anthony - is there anything you can do to alleviate this issue? It seems that there is a timeout of sorts that requires you to log back in. If you are typing and formatting a trip report, this will cause you to lose all of the work.
Henley Cay? Is that a secret? I do not understand. I thought you went to Love and Go Cay.....now THAT would be a secret... 
Enjoying your reports and pix! Keep em coming. I know how frustrating it is to loose your hard work. Try this: use Microsoft Word, or some other word process software and then copy and paste it in VIOL.
Great pictures on a cold, icy day!
-Bert
Enjoying your reports and pix! Keep em coming. I know how frustrating it is to loose your hard work. Try this: use Microsoft Word, or some other word process software and then copy and paste it in VIOL.
Great pictures on a cold, icy day!
-Bert
The liver is evil, it must be punished!
