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12th Anniversary Trip Report: Final (finally)
12th Anniversary Trip Report: Final (finally)
Although unplanned, day nine became our villa day. It was a gorgeous sunny morning and the pool was calling our names! We often find our villa days just happen this way. We enjoyed a day of relaxation: reading, listening to the Tortola radio station which we find fun, and floating. We had a big night ahead, Wagapalooza and Panorama!
I will mention here that one of the things we really enjoy in a villa is an outdoor shower. There is just something awesome about showering outdoors with the beauty of St. John all around. Drake’s Lookout has a “new” master bedroom separate from the main house which is nicely appointed, with a great outdoor shower and also AC! When it was time to get cleaned up, it was still early and therefore, very warm out. This was my first outdoor shower where I was actually hot. Had to have the water on cold and it felt great!
We went into Cruz Bay a little early, parked with Slim Man and stopped by Joe’s Rum Hut for a drink to walk over to Wagapalooza. Happy hour prices at Joe’s were great! As were the drinks. In true “island time” fashion, the 5:00 start to the dog show ended up getting going about 5:45. But of course well worth the wait. There were soooo many well behaved dogs (and onwers). Fun categories and a wonderful cause to raise $$$ for the ACC. I highly recommend to any dog lovers if you are on island. I think it is held annually the Saturday before Memorial Day (remember this year it was postponed one week due to rain).
We stopped by the ball fields just as Panorama was ending in time to see the “St. Thomas All Stars”. Panorama is generally held the Saturday before Memorial Day in the park, but because the park is under renovation it was moved to the ball fields. The music is so enjoyable to listen to and to observe the musicians is a real treat.
Headed back to Coral Bay for dinner via North Shore, the first time we drove it in the dark. How amazing!!! Hard to imagine star gazing being any better anywhere else! Needless to say, it took us longer than normal with all of the stops . We had wanted to go to Island Blues – close for cleaning? Aqua Bistro kitchen closed at 8:30, so we headed to Shipwreck for Mahi sandwhiches. It was great, but really? On a Saturday night?
Day ten arrives with mixed feelings, as it is our last day on St. John but it is also our anniversary! We are going to make the most of this day! Our intent was to hike Reef Bay early as to enjoy the Petroglyhps in solitude. We arrive, no cars. Great! A family pulls up with two small children and begins to massively apply bug spray. Ha! We will definitely beat them. No bug spray for us… Started out, very excited! About 150 yards down: MAJOR ATTACK of killer mosquitos. Yes, we have been to St. John quite a few times, and yes, we have had mosquiots in the past. But NOTHING like this. They were ALL OVER both of us. Panic! Got to the Ben’s almost in the nick of time, after fumbling with the bag. This was not our most shining moment. Made the wise decision to high tail it back to the jeep. No Reef’s Bay this year
Plan B: Have a beer. Drove into Cruz Bay for a little shopping at Mongoose, then to Hawksnest. The “beach to beach power swim” was this morning so the parking lot was full. We got the absolute last space, yet there was no one on the beach. They were all celebrating at Gibney. Saw some swimmers arrive…first or last, those guys ROCK!
Traditional anniversary lunch at Skinny’s (remember, attempted hikes count toward earning those burgers). Stayed at Skinny’s for post-lunch rum punches, then back to our villa to enjoy an amazing afternoon and get ready for anniversary photos. What a beautiful backdrop we had this year!
Dinner was at Shipwreck for Jazz Night. Got the special table (thanks), had a great meal with homemade Key Lime pie. The best! All in all, a wonderful anniversary even though it did not go as planned…such is life on St. John
Life is definitely good and we are very fortunate to be able to celebrate our anniversary on this amazing island. Until next year
[img]<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63648091@N05/5836415725/" title="STJ 2011 269 by J&M99, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2601/583 ... 2063a1.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="STJ 2011 269"></a>
Villa View
[/img]<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63648091@N05/5836415733/" title="STJ 2011 258 by J&M99, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5184/583 ... c2399d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="STJ 2011 258"></a>
Villa Pool
[img]<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63648091@N05/5839680244/" title="STJ 2011 098 by J&M99, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2706/583 ... 73c375.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="STJ 2011 098"></a>
View looking back toward house from pool
[/img]<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63648091@N05/5836392507/" title="STJ 2011 260 by J&M99, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5200/583 ... dcbe87.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="STJ 2011 260"></a>
Villa deck
[img]<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63648091@N05/5839148883/" title="STJ 2011 294 by J&M99, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5144/583 ... 3f70f1.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="STJ 2011 294"></a>
Wagapalooza 2011
[/img]<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63648091@N05/5836415703/" title="STJ 2011 293 by J&M99, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5262/583 ... bc92bd.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="STJ 2011 293"></a>
Panorama 2011
[img]<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63648091@N05/5836415715/" title="STJ 2011 306 by J&M99, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3338/583 ... 255c57.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="STJ 2011 306"></a>
12th Wedding Anniversary[/img]
I will mention here that one of the things we really enjoy in a villa is an outdoor shower. There is just something awesome about showering outdoors with the beauty of St. John all around. Drake’s Lookout has a “new” master bedroom separate from the main house which is nicely appointed, with a great outdoor shower and also AC! When it was time to get cleaned up, it was still early and therefore, very warm out. This was my first outdoor shower where I was actually hot. Had to have the water on cold and it felt great!
We went into Cruz Bay a little early, parked with Slim Man and stopped by Joe’s Rum Hut for a drink to walk over to Wagapalooza. Happy hour prices at Joe’s were great! As were the drinks. In true “island time” fashion, the 5:00 start to the dog show ended up getting going about 5:45. But of course well worth the wait. There were soooo many well behaved dogs (and onwers). Fun categories and a wonderful cause to raise $$$ for the ACC. I highly recommend to any dog lovers if you are on island. I think it is held annually the Saturday before Memorial Day (remember this year it was postponed one week due to rain).
We stopped by the ball fields just as Panorama was ending in time to see the “St. Thomas All Stars”. Panorama is generally held the Saturday before Memorial Day in the park, but because the park is under renovation it was moved to the ball fields. The music is so enjoyable to listen to and to observe the musicians is a real treat.
Headed back to Coral Bay for dinner via North Shore, the first time we drove it in the dark. How amazing!!! Hard to imagine star gazing being any better anywhere else! Needless to say, it took us longer than normal with all of the stops . We had wanted to go to Island Blues – close for cleaning? Aqua Bistro kitchen closed at 8:30, so we headed to Shipwreck for Mahi sandwhiches. It was great, but really? On a Saturday night?
Day ten arrives with mixed feelings, as it is our last day on St. John but it is also our anniversary! We are going to make the most of this day! Our intent was to hike Reef Bay early as to enjoy the Petroglyhps in solitude. We arrive, no cars. Great! A family pulls up with two small children and begins to massively apply bug spray. Ha! We will definitely beat them. No bug spray for us… Started out, very excited! About 150 yards down: MAJOR ATTACK of killer mosquitos. Yes, we have been to St. John quite a few times, and yes, we have had mosquiots in the past. But NOTHING like this. They were ALL OVER both of us. Panic! Got to the Ben’s almost in the nick of time, after fumbling with the bag. This was not our most shining moment. Made the wise decision to high tail it back to the jeep. No Reef’s Bay this year
Plan B: Have a beer. Drove into Cruz Bay for a little shopping at Mongoose, then to Hawksnest. The “beach to beach power swim” was this morning so the parking lot was full. We got the absolute last space, yet there was no one on the beach. They were all celebrating at Gibney. Saw some swimmers arrive…first or last, those guys ROCK!
Traditional anniversary lunch at Skinny’s (remember, attempted hikes count toward earning those burgers). Stayed at Skinny’s for post-lunch rum punches, then back to our villa to enjoy an amazing afternoon and get ready for anniversary photos. What a beautiful backdrop we had this year!
Dinner was at Shipwreck for Jazz Night. Got the special table (thanks), had a great meal with homemade Key Lime pie. The best! All in all, a wonderful anniversary even though it did not go as planned…such is life on St. John
Life is definitely good and we are very fortunate to be able to celebrate our anniversary on this amazing island. Until next year [img]<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63648091@N05/5836415725/" title="STJ 2011 269 by J&M99, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2601/583 ... 2063a1.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="STJ 2011 269"></a>
Villa View
[/img]<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63648091@N05/5836415733/" title="STJ 2011 258 by J&M99, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5184/583 ... c2399d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="STJ 2011 258"></a>
Villa Pool
[img]<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63648091@N05/5839680244/" title="STJ 2011 098 by J&M99, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2706/583 ... 73c375.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="STJ 2011 098"></a>
View looking back toward house from pool
[/img]<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63648091@N05/5836392507/" title="STJ 2011 260 by J&M99, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5200/583 ... dcbe87.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="STJ 2011 260"></a>
Villa deck
[img]<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63648091@N05/5839148883/" title="STJ 2011 294 by J&M99, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5144/583 ... 3f70f1.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="STJ 2011 294"></a>
Wagapalooza 2011
[/img]<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63648091@N05/5836415703/" title="STJ 2011 293 by J&M99, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5262/583 ... bc92bd.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="STJ 2011 293"></a>
Panorama 2011
[img]<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63648091@N05/5836415715/" title="STJ 2011 306 by J&M99, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3338/583 ... 255c57.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="STJ 2011 306"></a>
12th Wedding Anniversary[/img]
One more pic
[img]<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63648091@N05/5836415687/" title="STJ 2011 276 by J&M99, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5078/583 ... 232df5.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="STJ 2011 276"></a>
Forgot my one picture of the donkeys, taken from the car. The donkey's were so plentiful and cute this year, I wish I had more. Next time [/img]
Forgot my one picture of the donkeys, taken from the car. The donkey's were so plentiful and cute this year, I wish I had more. Next time
[/img]
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EagleRayLover
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greyhoundmom
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