Michigan Girls trip report April 2014 - part four

michigan girls · Post by **michigan girls** » Thu Apr 24, 2014 12:22 am

Part one: http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/virgi ... 1iLGfldUZI
Part two: http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/virgi ... 1iNK_ldUZJ
Part three: http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/virgi ... 1iQHvldUZJ

Day 7 – Monday
Our last full day. Sherry and I wanted to visit a beach we hadn't been to before, while Mayra wanted to do some shopping, so we headed off separately. We finally saw the donkeys we had been missing as we headed out past Zootenvaal, so we stopped to chat with them a moment. We decided on South Haulover, as Sherry could have some sand to sit on and I could have some new snorkeling. I started out on the right side of the by. It was pretty and the landscape there was interesting.

100_0812-6 by heidifunk, on Flickr

The coral is pretty healthy looking here, and there is a good variety of fish

100_0821-6 by heidifunk, on Flickr

Sadly, at this point my water camera decided to stop working. I could send it back (again!), but I've had enough, time to just get a new one. I'll be soliciting opinions on which one to get in a later thread.

I dropped my nonworking camera at our chairs and went to check out the left side. A little more to see on this side I thought, and I enjoyed the snorkel.

After having our sandwiches, I decided to walk over and have a look at North Haulover. When I got there, it looked pretty calm. I talked for awhile with a couple ladies who were also trying to decide if it was a good time to try it out. I walked out a ways in my water shoes, and could see no urchins, just rocks at the entry. I did not have my snorkel gear with me, so the ladies offered to be the testers of the entry. When they proclaimed it “not bad”, I went back over to south to grab my gear.

All I can say about North Haulover is “WOW” why has it taken me this long to snorkel there. It is so beautiful. It reminds me a lot of the outer areas of the The Indians. The coral heads here are healthy and teaming with life. It's a pity my stupid water camera had stopped working. After exploring for a good long while (the area to the left is far superior to the area to the right, in my opinion), I decided I had to talk Sherry in to snorkeling here (she doesn't like a difficult/rocky entry). When I got back over to south, I saw Angel's Rest was in, so we headed out for a drink. We spent some time chatting with Captain Peter (I just love him) and had a couple drinks before heading back to our chairs.

AR-6 by heidifunk, on Flickr

Perhaps the rum punches helped, as I managed to convince Sherry to give North Haulover a try. She was very glad she had, although she was less than thrilled with getting out as it is pretty hard to do it in any sort of graceful manner.

After packing up, we headed back to the house to make dinner plans. I had been unimpressed with Shipwreck Landing in the past, but decided one visit was not sufficient to decide I didn't care for the place so we decided to give it another shot.

Regardless of how I feel about their food, it must be said that they certainly make the prettiest bushwhackers I've ever seen.

DSC_0086-6 by heidifunk, on Flickr

However, from there it was just OK. I tried their conch fritters again, in hopes they had improved. Nope, still taste like Long John Silver's hush puppies to me - heavy on bread, low on conch. The mussels were pretty good, but that was about it. We ordered the chocolate cake that I had loved on our last visit only to find they had changed the recipe. It was still good, just no longer great. I think two visits is fair to judge, so henceforth we will stop for drinks, but probably not food. I should also point out that although the food was not so great, the service there is friendly and fast.
Back to the house for packing.

Tuesday – Walk of Woe

We headed into town to fill up and return our jeeps at about 8AM. As always, the turning in of the jeeps was worry free and we bid farewell to Conrad until August. We walked to Cruz Bay Landing for breakfast. I had an egg sandwich and a short stack of banana blueberry pancakes. It was good and the service was fast and friendly. We will definitely eat there again. We made the 10AM ferry we plenty of time to spare. I have no pictures of departure day, it's just too sad for me. I always get teary on the ride, even with the next trip planned.

Nothing unusual about the trip home, with the exception of the outlets in Miami. All the American gates have multiple charging stations. Great for people charging phones and ipads, not so much for those of us needing to take advantage of long layovers to get work done on our laptops. The charging stations limit output to 2 amps, not enough to power my laptop. It was a bit of a chore finding a real outlet, we had to go down one level and discovered it hiding behind a bank of chairs in the American Eagle lounge. I did manage to get a lot of work done once we finally found it. We arrived in Detroit to 40 degrees and windy at 11PM. After picking up the car, fueling up and driving home, I arrived home just past 2AM.

110 days 14 hours 35 minutes until back to my happy place...

EagleRayLover · Post by **EagleRayLover** » Thu Apr 24, 2014 12:30 am

Glad you had such a good time!

mahojim · Post by **mahojim** » Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:02 am

Awesome ...
It can be sad to leave that place...- but the obvious fact is that you'll be back!
Thanks for your detailed report.
So wonderful to share how that island affects people in such a positive and patient way...
I've been trying to bring that "Island Time" feeling with me back home here in Jersey for over a decade. Like to think it comes naturally with what STJ has shown me.
Thanks again for the reminder!
Smiles-
MJ

david@va.beach · Post by **david@va.beach** » Thu Apr 24, 2014 8:12 am

Thanks for the great report! I'm glad you had a chance to do haulover north....Did one in your group have to make the 6am ferry?

Barb Y · Post by **Barb Y** » Thu Apr 24, 2014 8:28 am

Great report and beautiful pics. We really enjoyed Cruz Bay Landing too. We had breakfast there twice and the staff, service and food were excellent! Glad you had a great trip. Enjoy your next countdown, hopefully this one will not include snow

michigan girls · Post by **michigan girls** » Thu Apr 24, 2014 8:29 am

No David. Originally Mayra had an 8AM flight, but she got it changed to 2PM

liamsaunt · Post by **liamsaunt** » Thu Apr 24, 2014 9:23 am

Thanks for the great reports! Haulover North is definitely one of my favorite snorkeling spots. I am glad you were there on a calm day and able to enjoy it.

shoemak38 · Post by **shoemak38** » Thu Apr 24, 2014 12:44 pm

Thanks for the great reports
Question what time did your plane leave. We leave on a Monday and I planned on taking the 10am ferry for a 1:40pm flight

michigan girls · Post by **michigan girls** » Thu Apr 24, 2014 1:34 pm

Our plane left at 1:30, the 10AM ferry was perfect

ArkieLovesSTJ · Post by **ArkieLovesSTJ** » Thu Apr 24, 2014 1:52 pm

Thanks for taking the time to post a such a detailed report! We didn't get to do Haulover North when we were down last month, as it was too rough every time we checked, but it is definitely an awesome snorkle, if the conditions are right.

jmq · Post by **jmq** » Thu Apr 24, 2014 2:37 pm

Double bonus = calm enough to snorkel North Haulover AND to have the drink boat show up!

Thanks for taking the time to share details and photos.

ColumbiaSCTraveler · Post by **ColumbiaSCTraveler** » Thu Apr 24, 2014 8:43 pm

Okay, we also have yet to snorkel Haulover North. Maybe this year!

Angel's Rest looks like a fun detour!

Too bad about Shipwreck. It's one of our favorites. Their specials are usually fantastic! And their peanut butter pie is the BEST! But you're right - those drinks!!! So, so good!

Thanks for sharing! See you in August!

michigan girls · Post by **michigan girls** » Thu Apr 24, 2014 9:41 pm

We had been putting off the Haulover north snorkel because the book calls it a difficult entry and an advanced snorkel. This freaked Sherry out a bit and she really didn't want to do it.

I'm so glad we did. The entry was not that hard, and it was so worth it. I could see where it might be difficult if it were rough though, so pick your day accordingly.

I really want to like Shipwreck - they're so friendly there and the service is great. If they would just improve their conch fritters, that would go a long way...

peacenjoy · Post by **peacenjoy** » Thu Apr 24, 2014 11:29 pm

I really enjoyed your trip report. Thank you for taking the time for such detail. So nice that your friend could just hang at the villa and you all still had a great vacation. You are obviously compatible travel partners. Thanks.

Ed S · Post by **Ed S** » Fri Apr 25, 2014 11:20 am

michigan girls wrote:We had been putting off the Haulover north snorkel because the book calls it a difficult entry and an advanced snorkel. This freaked Sherry out a bit and she really didn't want to do it.

My wife and I have only done Haulover South a few times, but have never even tried to find Haulover North. I know it is probably "right there", but can you let me know (this is sounding like a really dumb question as I type it!) how to get to Haulover North? Is there a clear path from where we would park and cross the road from Haulover South? Thanks in advance. Heading back in 5 weeks

and want to venture out to some new places in addition to our usual favorites.

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