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For those of you who "get it" ...
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News of St. John
- Posts: 386
- Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2011 11:14 am
For those of you who "get it" ...
My husband and I spent our first anniversary in St. John this past February. I was sitting on the beach with him at Maho with my cooler of Carib beside me and watching the turtles poke their heads out of the water when I "got it." Now I'm hooked...
So I am returning for the holidays and this time bringing my parents with me. (Beach Girls Dad is my dad
) My husband and I have talked St. John up so much and my parents keep asking what it is about the island that makes it so special. It's hard to put it into words. So I have to ask- at what point did all of you "get it" and what is it about St. John that prompted your "obsession"?
I look forward to reading all of your stories...
So I am returning for the holidays and this time bringing my parents with me. (Beach Girls Dad is my dad
) My husband and I have talked St. John up so much and my parents keep asking what it is about the island that makes it so special. It's hard to put it into words. So I have to ask- at what point did all of you "get it" and what is it about St. John that prompted your "obsession"?I look forward to reading all of your stories...
Jenn, News of St. John
I'm a happier, go-with-the-flow person when I'm on Island.
And I'm more adventurous and braver and willing to try different things.
St.John gets into your blood and I don't know anyone who wants to change that. Certainly not me!
And I'm more adventurous and braver and willing to try different things.
St.John gets into your blood and I don't know anyone who wants to change that. Certainly not me!
Friends, they go away then they re-appear...I believe there is Magic here.
It's being the last ones on the beach with only sail boats moored out in the bay. Then, catching dinner at Shipwreck Landing looking like you just came off the beach! It's sleeping in and getting a rum smoothie from the top of the mountain for lunch and trying to choose beach to go to. It's snorkeling with the kids for the 1st time and swimming w/ sea turtles at Maho Bay! It's seeing St Thomas twinkle like stars from the Beach Bar while praying how to stay there! My wife and I "got it" on our 10th aniversary 5 years ago, just got back from our 4th trip down there!!
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Florida Girl
- Posts: 307
- Joined: Tue Sep 27, 2011 7:31 pm
- Location: Fort Myers
I might just add...
Don't be offended if for some reason they don't "get it"..
We travel with a great group of people who "get it"..but I have another couple who likes to go to tropical places (Mexico) and doesn't want to go anywhere that they can't fly to in a couple hours.
Boy are they missing out...That's ok, more beach space for me
Don't be offended if for some reason they don't "get it"..
We travel with a great group of people who "get it"..but I have another couple who likes to go to tropical places (Mexico) and doesn't want to go anywhere that they can't fly to in a couple hours.
Boy are they missing out...That's ok, more beach space for me
~Pam~
"Barefoot in the snow white sand
A bag of sea shells in her hand
She finally found a paradise it seems..."
"Barefoot in the snow white sand
A bag of sea shells in her hand
She finally found a paradise it seems..."
I don't know that it was like a wow, I get it feeling. My wife and like others, to this day, remember the "Trunk Bay Over Look" first time. We agree that it was not so much "I get it", more like "holy c$%^". Now it is just gets more solid each time we go...I try hard not to over share STJ with others. We have friends that like cruises, Mexico...just not for us. We have been to the Abacos, Grand Cayman..but our ticker keeps ringing for STJ...
http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
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"If I had trouble the warranty said, Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On"
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"If I had trouble the warranty said, Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On"
We know that feeling. It was our 15th anniversary trip. I think I felt it first riding across on the ferry in perfect weather with water so blue I couldn't believe it. Later we drove back to the Beach Bar for painkillers and sunset. Then there was waking up to our villa view ....but finally it was walking out onto Maho beach and spending the day without a care.
We'll be back in less than two months for our 3rd trip in 4 years and celebrate 18 years while we are there.
We'll be back in less than two months for our 3rd trip in 4 years and celebrate 18 years while we are there.
KT
We "felt something" when we decided to forgo the usual St. Thomas cruiser's excursions, and on the advice of someone we'd met on board, take a taxi to Red Hook, ferry to Cruz Bay, and taxi(?) to Trunk. Had some time to wander around Wharfside while waiting for the return ferry, and we vowed we'd be back.
It took the better part of a decade, with only a few more day trips to tide us over, before we made good on that promise to ourselves.
When we finally spent that glorious first week on the island we were so smitten that we even forgot to be sad when it was time to leave, but there have been some tears shed at the ends of some of the subsequent trips!
I think that the fact that those that don't appreciate St. John for what it is, and for what it's not, or as we all say "get it", tend to find somewhere more suitable to them means that the island is usually full of folks that do - and that gives a place that is already blessed with natural wonder that little something extra.
Everyone that gets it, does so in a way that is unique and meaningful to them, and though it's hard to put into words, when you meet someone else that understands, the smile and/or nod that you exchange makes it clear that you both know!
It took the better part of a decade, with only a few more day trips to tide us over, before we made good on that promise to ourselves.
When we finally spent that glorious first week on the island we were so smitten that we even forgot to be sad when it was time to leave, but there have been some tears shed at the ends of some of the subsequent trips!
I think that the fact that those that don't appreciate St. John for what it is, and for what it's not, or as we all say "get it", tend to find somewhere more suitable to them means that the island is usually full of folks that do - and that gives a place that is already blessed with natural wonder that little something extra.
Everyone that gets it, does so in a way that is unique and meaningful to them, and though it's hard to put into words, when you meet someone else that understands, the smile and/or nod that you exchange makes it clear that you both know!
Come see us!
My first trip was because my daughter was going and I was tired of being left home alone for a week while my husband travelled back to Wisconsin for deer hunting with my son. I cooked up an idea to meet my adult daughter there and entice her into staying with her boring old mother for a few days after she got the eco-camp thing out of her system. Two of my other friends also decided to go along so we wound up renting an efficiency plus another bedroom suite at a villa on Fish Bay. I had done all of the research for the trip and during the taxi ride from the airport on St. Thomas to Red Hook I started to seriously worry about what I had gotten us into based on some of the places along the way on St Thomas. Charlotte Amalie had some areas that certainly didn't look like the pictures I'd seen online! Things started to look better once we got on the ferry and could see the harbor at Cruz Bay. The ferry dock was a quaint surprise and our greeter was hospitable and Cruz Bay seemed much less dilapidated than most of St. Thomas. The place we rented on Fish Bay was by far the most humble of any we have stayed in, but we weren't yet "spoiled" so when we saw the view from the deck the inside didn't matter one bit. We got lost heading back in the dark after picking up groceries, but we eventually found our way and sat mesmerized by the stars and the sounds of the surf and the frogs that night as we sipped our wine on the deck and I got to see my daughter as a friend for the first time. The next day when we made that first trip along the North Shore road and stopped at every overlook to gawk at views that knocked our socks off. By the end of the second day we couldn't wait to get back to our little spot and have that sense of peace and contentment we'd experienced the night before. Sure enough....the stars, the night sounds, the ships on the horizon...it all happened again and that's when we all simultaneously "got it". We've ALL been back multiple times since, sometimes together and sometimes not, but it seems that all of us still crave that sense of peace that STJ radiates.
Our first trip was a "baby moon" in May of 2006. Now two kids later and celebrating 10 years marriage we couldn't imagine going anywhere else. Beliieve me I researched a ton of different places in hopes of broadening my travel map but I just kept coming back to STJ. We will be returning in May this year and can't wait. We aren't the type that vacation every year so this probably won't happen again for a few years. But we "got it" the first time.
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traveler22
- Posts: 853
- Joined: Fri Dec 29, 2006 5:17 pm
- Location: New Jersey
1.Sitting on the deck at the end of a most awesome,relaxing,peaceful day with friends.
2.Doing the same with just my beach bunny and I
3.If you ever meet some one who"doesn't get it"(most all-inclusive people) you will really get it
4.The feeling of coming back home every time we arrive at the ferry dock since our first trip.
2.Doing the same with just my beach bunny and I
3.If you ever meet some one who"doesn't get it"(most all-inclusive people) you will really get it
4.The feeling of coming back home every time we arrive at the ferry dock since our first trip.
I had done tons of research before our first trip, including reading many posts on this forum. We rented on STT and got lost leaving the barge on STJ. After we finally got headed in the right direction we couldn't seem to get to Centerline Rd because of the Round about construction. I remembered reading here about S.Shore and Gift Hill and directed my husband to go that way. It was a not a fun ride across the island in the DARK. It was a pretty stressful arrival so far. As we drove through Coral Bay the mood changed. At one point we passed a pink house with a family out in the yard playing music and little girls were dancing. Across the street was a big tree with flowers or fruit and Bats were all around the tree. I didn't know it at the time but looking back that's the moment. We can't pass that house today without speaking of it. Waking up to the view from Concordia in the morning and snorkeling at Salt Pond sealed the deal of course, but there was just something about that family scene. It's almost like it was a promise of good to come and St.John delivered.