usvi-on-line
EagleRayLover BD Trip Report Part V
EagleRayLover BD Trip Report Part V
Link to Part I: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=23472
Link to Part II: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=23479
Link to Part III: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=23493
Link to Part IV: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=23525
Monday, June 11 - We have some very good friends, Don and Kathy, that live in Reading, PA that we don't get to see nearly often enough. A couple of months ago they told us that they were going on a cruise for their 25th anniversary, and as it turns out, today is the day that their cruise visits the port at St. Thomas! We told them that it would be really cool if they came over to St. John to hang out with us, and they said that they were interested, but to be honest, I had my doubts that it would happen. They were traveling with their two sons as well as with another family of four, and I know how easily inertia can set in, particularly when you have to mobilize a group relatively early when they're on vacation.
So, while we were puttering around the villa - "recovering" from the big birthday, I was pleasantly surprised to get a text that read "we're all just waiting for them to let people off of the ship - see you in a little while". Now it was time for me to mobilize MY group! We woke up the boys, had a quick breakfast, then loaded up the jeep with chairs, snorkel gear, snacks, drinks, and...us! I thought that since none of them had ever been on St. John before that we'd pick Maho as our beach of the day. That way they could still see the scenic overlooks on North Shore Road, but avoid what could be crowded beaches at Hawksnest, Trunk, and Cinnamon. Originally I had planned to go and meet them at the ferry dock area and drive them, in shifts, back to our base camp, but once I realized how much time that would take I advised them to find a taxi that would take them all to Maho. We arrived at a sparsely populated Maho, found a good place with sun, shade, and proximity to the snorkeling on the right side of the bay, set up our chairs, coolers, neat sheet, etc. and hung out waiting for "our guests" to arrive!
Before long a red safari taxi van pulled up adjacent to the parking lot, bearing our friends, and our new friends. Patrick, the taxi driver, confirmed the time that he'd be back to pick them all up, then, after a few hugs and introductions, I led the group to our spot on the beach for more of the same! Everyone marveled at the beauty of the place, there were stories about their ride over, instructions as to where the drinks, snacks, bathrooms, etc. were, then everyone fell into their chosen activities. Leslie took the girls/ladies, who had never snorkeled before, along the right side of the bay for an introduction to "our" underwater world.
"Somehow", all of the guys ended up wading in chest deep water with beers in hand! Don's friend Ritchie commented that "back home" if he was going to go to the beach, that two hours (which was roughly how long they had before they had to start heading back) would be plenty. It didn't take him very long at all to wonder aloud "what would happen if I was late/missed the ship?"
The ladies returned from their snorkel, and the newbies were ebullient in their excitement! The pre-mixed rum/fruit juice concoction was in play in short order. It was a gloriously fun time, but alas, all too soon Patrick appeared on the beach looking for his charges. Once he located them he told them, "it won't be my fault if you don't get back in time to catch the ship". I'm pretty certain that Ritchie was now not the only one weighing the pros and cons of doing just that! We gathered for a group picture, then exchanged happy/sad farewell hugs and kisses, then they were on their way.
While we hated to lose their company, at least we had Maho, beautiful, beautiful Maho, with which to console ourselves. So - a snorkel it is! We took a long time and went out to, and around the point, and ended up snorkeling a good bit of the near side of Little Maho as well.
I guess we were all beginning to sense that our time left on the island was waning as well, because after the snorkel we, uncharacteristically, decided to just hang out and enjoy the beach for a while. When it was time to head back the newest member of the STJ driving club assumed the helm for her initial drive on that part of the rock.
After rinsing the gear and ourselves we realized that we still had quite a bit of rum left at the villa, so while I prepared our repast of pork tenderloin, rice, and some of Josephine's greens, we began attacking our rum stores with the gusto of pirates!
Tuesday, June 12 - Our first stop this morning was up on Ajax Peak. Leslie was being interviewed for an article (since published) in the St. John Source - primarily for her involvement with the St. John Relay For Life, and ,more specifically, the "virtual team" that was made up of members of our very own forum! But first, some bananaquit love...
Next we drove past Cruz Bay to snorkel in Frank Bay. Time was running short and we were pulling out the stops to try and see an eagle ray, and this is one of the places we had seen one during our most recent previous trip. And it's a nice, if not spectacular, snorkel. Some of the coral heads off of and beyond Gallows Point are quite nice.
After our snorkel it was off to Mongoose Junction for lunch at Sun Dog Cafe, always a favorite. We were joined for lunch by Mary, who was the event chair for the Relay For Life, so that she and Leslie could talk about that. A young woman happened by, and at Mary's invitation joined us to chat. She is a local singer who is currently attending college stateside and was home for the summer.
After lunch we used stopping at Quiet Mon Pub and a trip to St. John Market as an excuse to get back to Centerline via the Jacob's Ladder/Gifft Hill Rd. route, so that Shane could experience that.
Back "home" we had one final social engagement for the day. Bob and Anne, whose rental apartment Leslie and I stayed at once, came over to join us for happy hour. We had a nice time getting caught up with them. The munchies we all had in conjunction with happy hour ruled out any big dinner plans, so the steaks in the fridge would have to wait one more night...
Link to Part II: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=23479
Link to Part III: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=23493
Link to Part IV: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=23525
Monday, June 11 - We have some very good friends, Don and Kathy, that live in Reading, PA that we don't get to see nearly often enough. A couple of months ago they told us that they were going on a cruise for their 25th anniversary, and as it turns out, today is the day that their cruise visits the port at St. Thomas! We told them that it would be really cool if they came over to St. John to hang out with us, and they said that they were interested, but to be honest, I had my doubts that it would happen. They were traveling with their two sons as well as with another family of four, and I know how easily inertia can set in, particularly when you have to mobilize a group relatively early when they're on vacation.
So, while we were puttering around the villa - "recovering" from the big birthday, I was pleasantly surprised to get a text that read "we're all just waiting for them to let people off of the ship - see you in a little while". Now it was time for me to mobilize MY group! We woke up the boys, had a quick breakfast, then loaded up the jeep with chairs, snorkel gear, snacks, drinks, and...us! I thought that since none of them had ever been on St. John before that we'd pick Maho as our beach of the day. That way they could still see the scenic overlooks on North Shore Road, but avoid what could be crowded beaches at Hawksnest, Trunk, and Cinnamon. Originally I had planned to go and meet them at the ferry dock area and drive them, in shifts, back to our base camp, but once I realized how much time that would take I advised them to find a taxi that would take them all to Maho. We arrived at a sparsely populated Maho, found a good place with sun, shade, and proximity to the snorkeling on the right side of the bay, set up our chairs, coolers, neat sheet, etc. and hung out waiting for "our guests" to arrive!
Before long a red safari taxi van pulled up adjacent to the parking lot, bearing our friends, and our new friends. Patrick, the taxi driver, confirmed the time that he'd be back to pick them all up, then, after a few hugs and introductions, I led the group to our spot on the beach for more of the same! Everyone marveled at the beauty of the place, there were stories about their ride over, instructions as to where the drinks, snacks, bathrooms, etc. were, then everyone fell into their chosen activities. Leslie took the girls/ladies, who had never snorkeled before, along the right side of the bay for an introduction to "our" underwater world.
"Somehow", all of the guys ended up wading in chest deep water with beers in hand! Don's friend Ritchie commented that "back home" if he was going to go to the beach, that two hours (which was roughly how long they had before they had to start heading back) would be plenty. It didn't take him very long at all to wonder aloud "what would happen if I was late/missed the ship?"
The ladies returned from their snorkel, and the newbies were ebullient in their excitement! The pre-mixed rum/fruit juice concoction was in play in short order. It was a gloriously fun time, but alas, all too soon Patrick appeared on the beach looking for his charges. Once he located them he told them, "it won't be my fault if you don't get back in time to catch the ship". I'm pretty certain that Ritchie was now not the only one weighing the pros and cons of doing just that! We gathered for a group picture, then exchanged happy/sad farewell hugs and kisses, then they were on their way.
While we hated to lose their company, at least we had Maho, beautiful, beautiful Maho, with which to console ourselves. So - a snorkel it is! We took a long time and went out to, and around the point, and ended up snorkeling a good bit of the near side of Little Maho as well.
I guess we were all beginning to sense that our time left on the island was waning as well, because after the snorkel we, uncharacteristically, decided to just hang out and enjoy the beach for a while. When it was time to head back the newest member of the STJ driving club assumed the helm for her initial drive on that part of the rock.
After rinsing the gear and ourselves we realized that we still had quite a bit of rum left at the villa, so while I prepared our repast of pork tenderloin, rice, and some of Josephine's greens, we began attacking our rum stores with the gusto of pirates!
Tuesday, June 12 - Our first stop this morning was up on Ajax Peak. Leslie was being interviewed for an article (since published) in the St. John Source - primarily for her involvement with the St. John Relay For Life, and ,more specifically, the "virtual team" that was made up of members of our very own forum! But first, some bananaquit love...
Next we drove past Cruz Bay to snorkel in Frank Bay. Time was running short and we were pulling out the stops to try and see an eagle ray, and this is one of the places we had seen one during our most recent previous trip. And it's a nice, if not spectacular, snorkel. Some of the coral heads off of and beyond Gallows Point are quite nice.
After our snorkel it was off to Mongoose Junction for lunch at Sun Dog Cafe, always a favorite. We were joined for lunch by Mary, who was the event chair for the Relay For Life, so that she and Leslie could talk about that. A young woman happened by, and at Mary's invitation joined us to chat. She is a local singer who is currently attending college stateside and was home for the summer.
After lunch we used stopping at Quiet Mon Pub and a trip to St. John Market as an excuse to get back to Centerline via the Jacob's Ladder/Gifft Hill Rd. route, so that Shane could experience that.
Back "home" we had one final social engagement for the day. Bob and Anne, whose rental apartment Leslie and I stayed at once, came over to join us for happy hour. We had a nice time getting caught up with them. The munchies we all had in conjunction with happy hour ruled out any big dinner plans, so the steaks in the fridge would have to wait one more night...
Come see us!
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msgcolleen
- Posts: 1497
- Joined: Thu Oct 05, 2006 8:33 am
- Location: Allen, Texas
Another excellent day! Why does it have to go by so fast? Thanks for sharing your fun in the sun with us~ 
I've got 2 tickets to paradise~Pack your bags we'll leave tonight!
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