A Trip of Firsts June 1 - June 15 Final Thoughts

[psufan]

You get what you give.....in our hectic stateside lives we often take so many things for granted and we sometimes forget the value of common courtesy. Every trip to St John brings this into clearer focus for us. Over the years we have had incredible, simple things happen to us which unfortunately have become rarer occurrences in our everyday lives.

For example...when we go into Cruz Bay we inevitably end up at Slimman's lot. Over our 2 week stay we parked there several times and got to know the guys working and talked to Slim on numerous occasions. Everyone working there was so nice and we loved joking with them. On our last night in town when we picked up our Jeep Slim said "See you tomorrow." We told him we were sadly leaving in the morning. He told us to wait a minute. He went into his shack and was rattling around for awhile. After a few minutes he came out and we are now the proud owners of a USVI license plate. It was a simple gesture but it is a souvenir we now treasure.

Another example...we went into Starfish to buy a few items. As the cashier rang up our groceries I was attempting to open up the very stubborn plastic bags so that I could help with the bagging. I told her that I wasn't as practiced at separating the bags as she was and apologized for not being able to keep up. Her response to me was " I appreciate that you are willing to try."

We met a local at Gibney the one day. We had come up from the beach and he and his family were just arriving. He told us they loved to go to Gibney after 4PM. Instead of hustling down the hill with his family he took the time to talk to us and then he helped us pull out by standing in the middle of the road and to guide us and stop oncoming traffic as we backed out.

Many of you that are frequent visitors know of these simple pleasures. For those that may be heading there for your first visit, take the time to really talk to the locals that you meet along the way. We could tell countless other stories about the friendliness of the St Johnians. However, as I said at the beginning of this final installment, you get what you give. St John is a place that is precious because of its beauty as well as its simplicity and the fact that simple courtesy goes a very long way. Over multiple trips we now look forward to not only the beaches, the food, and relaxing. We also look forward to talking to the people. St John is a blessing in many ways.

I have waxed on long enough. You all have now been treated to another FIRST. This is my first trip report in 5 visits. Now we need to start planning our next visit!

[Bonny in CA]

I loved your final thoughts. They echoed my own thoughts of St. John!
I wish I had your talent for writing! Thanks so much for the trip report, the only thing better than being there is reading about it and looking at pictures!

October soon come!

[mbw1024]

Great report! We will be at Coconuts soon. Not soon enough for me but it will be worth the wait!

[sherban]

Thanks for the trip report and sharing your experience & reflections, very nice...

[betsyv]

Thank you so much for the great report...
I really enjoyed reading it and the photos..
We will be there for the first time (except a hr. or so from a cruise ship years ago.) and I cant wait to chat with the locals...One of my favorite things about exploring new places is getting to know the locals and how they spend their days. Also learning about the places the tourists don't frequent.

Your Trip report ...helps to keep me sane, until I can see and experience it all in person!

[equineannie]

A lovely post. Words of wisdom that I believe will follow you everywhere. I have lived on ST John, ST Thomas and multiple countries and islands in Asia. I can say that I was almost always treated with kindness. I was raised to practice the Golden Rule, regardless of the other person's attitude. Some many Westerners have such a sad sense of entitlement and treat everyone and everything accordingly. A smile, a cheery polite greeting and a thank you are universally recognized. God bless you as you shine as a light in this world!

[Myheart'sinSTJ]

Well said PSUFAN, to get respect you must give it, and that always starts with a simple Good morning or Good afternoon, those couple words go a long way. I can remember one of our past trips we had done the "walk of woe" and were on the ferry, one of the guys working on the ferry was sitting by himself and I sat down next to him a started a conversation, it was great 20 minute talk, I learned about his family, where he goes on vacation and on and on, the locals have a lot to say as long as you are willing to give a listen, can't wait for my return in August