usvi-on-line
Trip Report - Day 2 (October 3, 2012)
Trip Report - Day 2 (October 3, 2012)
Hello, day two was a wonderful first full day on the island. Hot, hot, hot. With temps in the 90's it was a great day to be in the water. Sunrise from the villa deck.
When I left you yesterday, we were headed down the trail from the villa into Reef Bay. The hike down was sweet, steep at parts, but steps had been put in and a rope was strung along the trees. It took us about 15 minutes from villa to beach. When we broke through the trees this is the view we saw.
We hiked to the left towards the mooring bouys that the National Park Service uses to pick up the hikers they take down the Reef Bay trail, the rocks were fun to crawl over as we worked to get into the next bay. Once in the next bay we were treated to finding some ruins.
We explored some more and then donned our snorkle gear and headed into the water. The snorkling was not all that great due to the wave action, okay, it was really like being in a snowstorm. I like snow so I was okay with that. Besides, we were in St John. A bad day snorkling is better than a good day at work anytime! We did see a nice ray as we made our way to the mooring bouys. We rested a bit on the beach at the end of the Reef Bay Trail chatting for a while with a young graduate student who is on island with his mom staying at Maho. Rain was moving in so we made our way back across the water to our entry point. Boy did that driving rain feel good on our backs. And it was so cool to dive down and look back up at the surface of the water with the rain coming down.
The hike back to the villa, not so fun. We swam in the pool and then headed to town. We had brought treats for the dogs at the Animal Schelter and we wanted to get them dropped off. You should have seen the expressions on the workers faces. Worth every effort to stuff and haul those treats in my suitcase. Next we headed into town to pick up Husbands new fins (Zip fins-shorter than a normal snorkel fin). Then to the Beach Bar for some Happy Hour cocktails and to see Boo, a really great bartender.
Since too much of a good thing is never bad in the islands, we headed next up to Woody's to catch some more Happy. Noel makes a great bushwacker and BBC so we settled in there for some people watching. Chad, one of the owners came and chatted with us for a while. He was interested in Husband's Woody's shirt, inquiring as to how old it was. Older than dirt was our reply. He and some other locals shared some chat before we headed down to High Tide for some Mahi Mahi, conch fritters, and salad.
Another day in paradise. Enjoyed every minute. Back at the villa, we turned out all of the lights and went for a swim in the pool. There must have been a gazillion stars out. Happy Girl, enough said. Till tomorrow.......................
When I left you yesterday, we were headed down the trail from the villa into Reef Bay. The hike down was sweet, steep at parts, but steps had been put in and a rope was strung along the trees. It took us about 15 minutes from villa to beach. When we broke through the trees this is the view we saw.
We hiked to the left towards the mooring bouys that the National Park Service uses to pick up the hikers they take down the Reef Bay trail, the rocks were fun to crawl over as we worked to get into the next bay. Once in the next bay we were treated to finding some ruins.
We explored some more and then donned our snorkle gear and headed into the water. The snorkling was not all that great due to the wave action, okay, it was really like being in a snowstorm. I like snow so I was okay with that. Besides, we were in St John. A bad day snorkling is better than a good day at work anytime! We did see a nice ray as we made our way to the mooring bouys. We rested a bit on the beach at the end of the Reef Bay Trail chatting for a while with a young graduate student who is on island with his mom staying at Maho. Rain was moving in so we made our way back across the water to our entry point. Boy did that driving rain feel good on our backs. And it was so cool to dive down and look back up at the surface of the water with the rain coming down.
The hike back to the villa, not so fun. We swam in the pool and then headed to town. We had brought treats for the dogs at the Animal Schelter and we wanted to get them dropped off. You should have seen the expressions on the workers faces. Worth every effort to stuff and haul those treats in my suitcase. Next we headed into town to pick up Husbands new fins (Zip fins-shorter than a normal snorkel fin). Then to the Beach Bar for some Happy Hour cocktails and to see Boo, a really great bartender.
Since too much of a good thing is never bad in the islands, we headed next up to Woody's to catch some more Happy. Noel makes a great bushwacker and BBC so we settled in there for some people watching. Chad, one of the owners came and chatted with us for a while. He was interested in Husband's Woody's shirt, inquiring as to how old it was. Older than dirt was our reply. He and some other locals shared some chat before we headed down to High Tide for some Mahi Mahi, conch fritters, and salad.
Another day in paradise. Enjoyed every minute. Back at the villa, we turned out all of the lights and went for a swim in the pool. There must have been a gazillion stars out. Happy Girl, enough said. Till tomorrow.......................
Re: Trip Report - Day 2 (October 3, 2012)
Looks like today is going to be a gorgeous day according to the SpiceCam...Have a great day!! 
~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..."
-
EagleRayLover
- Posts: 1474
- Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 8:56 pm
- Location: St. John -WooHoo!!
Re: Trip Report - Day 2 (October 3, 2012)
Looks like it was a great day for a hike! Sorry your snorkel wasn't so good but like you said a bad snorkel in St John isn't so bad compared to other things you could be doing! Have fun today! Looking forward to hearing more!! 
Leslie, Kids Night In Babysitting
Re: Trip Report - Day 2 (October 3, 2012)
Fantastic!!!!!! Funny how reading trip reports makes your heart ache and happy at the same. Keep on doing what you are doing
-
lsbredmond
- Posts: 13
- Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 12:37 am
Re: Trip Report - Day 2 (October 3, 2012)
We'll be there in 11 days for our very first trip, so this is like preview tour - thank you. Do you know (or can you mention when and if you do find out) if Vie's Snack Shack is open or closed? According the St John Spice list, they closed in late July with a a TBD on reopening date. It would be sad to miss such an iconic experience. Also, how are the crowds? Are reservations needed in most restaurants or is traffic pretty light?
Keep the pics coming!
Keep the pics coming!
Re: Trip Report - Day 2 (October 3, 2012)
isbredmond, we will ask around about Vie's, we have never been able to find it open on any of our trips down, but then we don't get to that end of the island as much as we probably should. Traffic is not bad, but then we drive major highways, major rat race at home, so traffic congestion perception is probably different to everyone. We are surprised by the amount of people on island, pleasantly so. Not too crowded, but not desserted either. We snorkeled at a Maho today and we were one of 4 cars in the lot upon arrival, and one of 6 cars in the lot when we left.