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Rum Withdrawal - Newbie Trip Report
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WhereToNextYear?
- Posts: 12
- Joined: Sun Jun 05, 2011 4:24 pm
- Location: Chicago
Rum Withdrawal - Newbie Trip Report
I confess. For the most part, I was a silent forum stalker. I read every word, longing for my own St. John experience. I read, I researched, I traveled, and I enjoyed St. John! And now, I can’t wait to return!!! I would love an order of conch fritters and a Painkiller (or 3) at High Tide right now! I just searched the cabinets, and the best I could do was Barcardi rum (but I promise to shop for Cruzan this week) and a bottle of cream soda.
Now to the trip report:
We were a group of nine (5 adults, 4 girls – 9 & 10 years olds). We stayed at Vida de Mar. The villa met our needs (5 bedrooms, full A/C), the location was terrific, and the views were wonderful. It was close to Cruz Bay for fabulous dinners and was waterfront. The sound of the surf was incredible. There were some negatives, but I don’t want to complain. If anyone is interested in more info on Vida de Mar, I would be happy to share. Since it was my first trip, I don’t know how many of my complaints were just tropical-island related. It’s always a balancing act of expectations vs. reality. Catered To picked up our two rentals vehicles – very convenient (We took the 5 PM ferry over from Red Hook.).
We arrived on 6/25 and departed on 7/2. On average, the weather was terrific. We received a couple of showers on Sunday, Monday, Friday evening, and Saturday morning (and a few overnight showers). After following weather.com for months, I consider the weather a success for our week.
Beaches & Day Time Fun: We ended up at Cinnamon on Sunday (Hawksnest and Trunk had no parking). We had a perfect beach day. The kids thoroughly enjoyed the beach, and the snorkeling was wonderful (saw my first barracuda, among other sealife). We ate lunch at the restaurant there, and it was better than I expected. On Monday, it was raining, so we went into town for shopping and lunch. When we were ready to leave and try Hawksnest again, the sky opened up. We ended up back at the villa, and the kids swam in the rain. On Tuesday, we went to Hawksnest and had our first experience of walking onto a deserted beach – breathtaking!!! In the end, Hawksnest might be my favorite beach! The kids had a great time and snorkeling was great. We hit Cruz Bay for lunch, and then to Maho…Loved it! Maho was like a huge swimming pool for everyone. The water was incredibly calm. And we saw 4 turtles! We ventured over to Coral Bay and to Salt Pond Bay on Wednesday. I wasn’t impressed with Salt Pond. While we did see our first squid (x2), eel, and another turtle, the rest of the snorkeling wasn’t as good as the other beaches we hit. The kids (okay…adults too) didn’t enjoy the rocky entry. And my sister and I got ourselves into a bit of trouble while snorkeling. All was fine, until it was too shallow…I’ve never sucked in my stomach so much, straightened my legs (watch those knees), and begged the coral for space at any time in my life as then – my heart was beating like crazy. The coral and sea urchins were too close for comfort. In the end, nothing was harmed (me, my sister, the coral, etc.), but I learned a good lesson there. It seemed like all was fine, but all of a sudden, it was too shallow with no escape. I can’t explain how happy I was that I didn’t have the kids with me!!!! On the flip side, (humorously), on a different snorkeling excursion out (with 2 of the kids), I was incredibly exhausted because they both freaked out at the depth (20-30 feet?) and I had to tow both of them to shore (and neither of them flippered any assistance). We had a villa day on Thursday – We had so so much fun – more later. On Friday, we finally made it to Trunk Bay. We were there early and had another deserted beach experience for a few minutes – until the crowds appeared. The water was crystal clear and the snorkeling was awesome (and we saw a school (4 or 5) of barracuda) and a stingray.
Restaurants & Food: We had the villa provisioned by Villa Food. It was wonderful to have the villa stocked when we arrived. We grilled out the first night while the kids swam. I’d do it again in an instant (We arrived on Saturday and didn’t hit a grocery store for days.)! For restaurants, our top 4 dinners were (we disagreed with the order – but, here’s mine): Plancha del Mar, Morgan’s Mango, Line Inn, Café Roma, and Rhumb Lines (5th place for all). We ordered pizza for pick up one night from Café Roma which was wonderful. We ate at High Tide for lunch twice (It would also happen again tomorrow if it were closer.), Waterfront Bistro (great food, slow service), the Tap Room (okay food and service), and Skinny Legs (great burgers and ambiance!). We shopped at Dolphin, Starfish and St. John Market. And I can’t help it – we parked, shopped and left – we didn’t actually park, eat somewhere else, get booted, and then complain to the forum
Villa Day: Fantabulous! Vida de Mar is on Dever’s Bay. I had read that Dever’s Bay had great snorkeling, but that entry was tricky (rocky shore with strong waves). 4 of the adults decided to give it a try (sober, of course). It was tricky getting in (calmer far, far right in bay). The waves seemed pretty strong and the rocks were quite intimidating. I was ready for some exciting snorkeling, but not today. The most exciting thing I saw was a truck tire
Oh, well. At the villa, the kids swam for about 11 hours nonstop. The drinks started around 11 AM. Vida de Mar has a large pool that we all enjoyed (pool volleyball included). It was one of the best days on the island!
Shopping: We loved the wonderful shopping on the island. We definitely stimulated the economy
Driving: So so much fun! Okay, I didn’t have to drive, but I was enjoying the role of back-seat-driver. I didn’t think we could actually make it to the villa again after that first night – by the last night, I wasn’t sure how we would transition to right side, flat-land, boring Illinois driving!
St. Thomas Transportation: We booked Rachel (6-8 months in advance), but didn’t have the great experience others have had. When I booked, I asked if she could transport a group of 9 with luggage; she said she could without a problem because she had an eleven-person van that also holds luggage. When she picked us up at the airport (on time and waiting for us), she had her Suburban and another man (Sinclair) in her 11 person van. The four kids, another adult, and myself got into the van and the other 3 adults got into the Suburban with Rachel. The adults with Rachel got a wonderfully narrated tour of St. Thomas on the way to Red Hook. Sinclair was very nice, but quiet. It was a silent ride to Red Hook. At Red Hook, I talked with Rachel to confirm our previously scheduled 3-4 hour tour of St. Thomas before our return flight a week later. On Wednesday, Rachel called me to tell me that she couldn’t drive us for the tour and airport run the next Saturday. I was bummed because we booked it 6-8 months in advance. She said she had to pick up someone else at the airport. We could have Sinclair if we wanted. We passed. Instead, we stayed on St. John shopping and eating. We took the 1 PM ferry to Red Hook and then took one van (with all of our luggage) straight to the airport. We had no problems checking in, going through customs/immigration, security, etc. From beginning to end – the process took about 20 minutes (but, then we had a couple of hours to kill in the airport – but no worries, they have Cruzan in a variety of flavors ).
Home: I’m back
Time to find out what stores stock black cherry Cruzan! …and Vanilla …and Coconut… and I better investigate a Painkiller recipe…
I definitely see another St. John trip in my future
Any suggestions? 3 bedroom, close to Cruz Bay, and full A/C?
Now to the trip report:
We were a group of nine (5 adults, 4 girls – 9 & 10 years olds). We stayed at Vida de Mar. The villa met our needs (5 bedrooms, full A/C), the location was terrific, and the views were wonderful. It was close to Cruz Bay for fabulous dinners and was waterfront. The sound of the surf was incredible. There were some negatives, but I don’t want to complain. If anyone is interested in more info on Vida de Mar, I would be happy to share. Since it was my first trip, I don’t know how many of my complaints were just tropical-island related. It’s always a balancing act of expectations vs. reality. Catered To picked up our two rentals vehicles – very convenient (We took the 5 PM ferry over from Red Hook.).
We arrived on 6/25 and departed on 7/2. On average, the weather was terrific. We received a couple of showers on Sunday, Monday, Friday evening, and Saturday morning (and a few overnight showers). After following weather.com for months, I consider the weather a success for our week.
Beaches & Day Time Fun: We ended up at Cinnamon on Sunday (Hawksnest and Trunk had no parking). We had a perfect beach day. The kids thoroughly enjoyed the beach, and the snorkeling was wonderful (saw my first barracuda, among other sealife). We ate lunch at the restaurant there, and it was better than I expected. On Monday, it was raining, so we went into town for shopping and lunch. When we were ready to leave and try Hawksnest again, the sky opened up. We ended up back at the villa, and the kids swam in the rain. On Tuesday, we went to Hawksnest and had our first experience of walking onto a deserted beach – breathtaking!!! In the end, Hawksnest might be my favorite beach! The kids had a great time and snorkeling was great. We hit Cruz Bay for lunch, and then to Maho…Loved it! Maho was like a huge swimming pool for everyone. The water was incredibly calm. And we saw 4 turtles! We ventured over to Coral Bay and to Salt Pond Bay on Wednesday. I wasn’t impressed with Salt Pond. While we did see our first squid (x2), eel, and another turtle, the rest of the snorkeling wasn’t as good as the other beaches we hit. The kids (okay…adults too) didn’t enjoy the rocky entry. And my sister and I got ourselves into a bit of trouble while snorkeling. All was fine, until it was too shallow…I’ve never sucked in my stomach so much, straightened my legs (watch those knees), and begged the coral for space at any time in my life as then – my heart was beating like crazy. The coral and sea urchins were too close for comfort. In the end, nothing was harmed (me, my sister, the coral, etc.), but I learned a good lesson there. It seemed like all was fine, but all of a sudden, it was too shallow with no escape. I can’t explain how happy I was that I didn’t have the kids with me!!!! On the flip side, (humorously), on a different snorkeling excursion out (with 2 of the kids), I was incredibly exhausted because they both freaked out at the depth (20-30 feet?) and I had to tow both of them to shore (and neither of them flippered any assistance). We had a villa day on Thursday – We had so so much fun – more later. On Friday, we finally made it to Trunk Bay. We were there early and had another deserted beach experience for a few minutes – until the crowds appeared. The water was crystal clear and the snorkeling was awesome (and we saw a school (4 or 5) of barracuda) and a stingray.
Restaurants & Food: We had the villa provisioned by Villa Food. It was wonderful to have the villa stocked when we arrived. We grilled out the first night while the kids swam. I’d do it again in an instant (We arrived on Saturday and didn’t hit a grocery store for days.)! For restaurants, our top 4 dinners were (we disagreed with the order – but, here’s mine): Plancha del Mar, Morgan’s Mango, Line Inn, Café Roma, and Rhumb Lines (5th place for all). We ordered pizza for pick up one night from Café Roma which was wonderful. We ate at High Tide for lunch twice (It would also happen again tomorrow if it were closer.), Waterfront Bistro (great food, slow service), the Tap Room (okay food and service), and Skinny Legs (great burgers and ambiance!). We shopped at Dolphin, Starfish and St. John Market. And I can’t help it – we parked, shopped and left – we didn’t actually park, eat somewhere else, get booted, and then complain to the forum
Villa Day: Fantabulous! Vida de Mar is on Dever’s Bay. I had read that Dever’s Bay had great snorkeling, but that entry was tricky (rocky shore with strong waves). 4 of the adults decided to give it a try (sober, of course). It was tricky getting in (calmer far, far right in bay). The waves seemed pretty strong and the rocks were quite intimidating. I was ready for some exciting snorkeling, but not today. The most exciting thing I saw was a truck tire
Oh, well. At the villa, the kids swam for about 11 hours nonstop. The drinks started around 11 AM. Vida de Mar has a large pool that we all enjoyed (pool volleyball included). It was one of the best days on the island!Shopping: We loved the wonderful shopping on the island. We definitely stimulated the economy
Driving: So so much fun! Okay, I didn’t have to drive, but I was enjoying the role of back-seat-driver. I didn’t think we could actually make it to the villa again after that first night – by the last night, I wasn’t sure how we would transition to right side, flat-land, boring Illinois driving!
St. Thomas Transportation: We booked Rachel (6-8 months in advance), but didn’t have the great experience others have had. When I booked, I asked if she could transport a group of 9 with luggage; she said she could without a problem because she had an eleven-person van that also holds luggage. When she picked us up at the airport (on time and waiting for us), she had her Suburban and another man (Sinclair) in her 11 person van. The four kids, another adult, and myself got into the van and the other 3 adults got into the Suburban with Rachel. The adults with Rachel got a wonderfully narrated tour of St. Thomas on the way to Red Hook. Sinclair was very nice, but quiet. It was a silent ride to Red Hook. At Red Hook, I talked with Rachel to confirm our previously scheduled 3-4 hour tour of St. Thomas before our return flight a week later. On Wednesday, Rachel called me to tell me that she couldn’t drive us for the tour and airport run the next Saturday. I was bummed because we booked it 6-8 months in advance. She said she had to pick up someone else at the airport. We could have Sinclair if we wanted. We passed. Instead, we stayed on St. John shopping and eating. We took the 1 PM ferry to Red Hook and then took one van (with all of our luggage) straight to the airport. We had no problems checking in, going through customs/immigration, security, etc. From beginning to end – the process took about 20 minutes (but, then we had a couple of hours to kill in the airport – but no worries, they have Cruzan in a variety of flavors
). Home: I’m back
Time to find out what stores stock black cherry Cruzan! …and Vanilla …and Coconut… and I better investigate a Painkiller recipe…I definitely see another St. John trip in my future
Any suggestions? 3 bedroom, close to Cruz Bay, and full A/C?-
EagleRayLover
- Posts: 1474
- Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 8:56 pm
- Location: St. John -WooHoo!!
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GotToGetAway
- Posts: 396
- Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2011 10:55 pm
- Location: FL
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MissingIslandTime
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2011 11:39 pm
"I confess. For the most part, I was a silent forum stalker"
I love that line for it is my confession too. I take notes on TR from these folks that love STJ and know so much about it. I checked every day to follow Pickle, JJShaw, Capn Dan and Ruby, jadkins08, just to mention a few ---to see how they spend their time and where! So glad to know that I am not the only one. I love the honesty as it so helps all of us plan,plan,plan but then be realistic.
A huge thanks to you all for sharing!
I love that line for it is my confession too. I take notes on TR from these folks that love STJ and know so much about it. I checked every day to follow Pickle, JJShaw, Capn Dan and Ruby, jadkins08, just to mention a few ---to see how they spend their time and where! So glad to know that I am not the only one. I love the honesty as it so helps all of us plan,plan,plan but then be realistic.
A huge thanks to you all for sharing!
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EagleRayLover
- Posts: 1474
- Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 8:56 pm
- Location: St. John -WooHoo!!
noticed no one really gave you any input for your 3 BR option near Cruz bay for the next trip- we are staying at Amani in Maria Bluff in October. the main house has 3 BR and the cottage has a separate BR. Ac in BR. Pool, hot tub, deck and view looks amazing- I can't wait and will get tons of pictures, but thought I'd put that out there for you!
Leslie, Kids Night In Babysitting
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WhereToNextYear?
- Posts: 12
- Joined: Sun Jun 05, 2011 4:24 pm
- Location: Chicago
