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Trip Report June 9-16 , Beaches, Resaurants & Wayward Sa
Trip Report June 9-16 , Beaches, Resaurants & Wayward Sa
Finally,
Here it is Sunday morning, I'm sitting here with coffee from St. John Spice and am determined to continue my trip report. Here goes...
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9043759@N05/578267986/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1091/578 ... 24862d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="St. John '07"></a>
First I have to mention the weather; it was perfect all week. It rained very hard two nights, but only sprinkled a little one morning and stopped before we were on the beach. Several times we watched the sky get cloudy, but it always cleared off and the temperature was mid to upper 80's everyday. Also, the mosquitos were bad the first two days, then for some reason seemed to be alot fewer. We were always able to be outside if we used OFF and lit citronella candles.
We knew that there would not be any cruise ships in STT 3 days during our stay and our first full day, Sunday, was one of them. We decided to pack a cooler with drinks and snacks and go to Trunk.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9043759@N05/611405939/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1125/611 ... d5d3eb.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Trunk Bay overview"></a>
We got there around 10:00. There were very few people and most of them were on the beach area closest to the cay. We found a nice shady spot on the left hand side and spent the entire day there.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9043759@N05/611405975/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1098/611 ... ec62d7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Shady spot on Trunk Bay"></a>
For lunch, I had a grilled chicken sandwich from the snack bar. It was excellent. My husband, Steve, had a hamburger and thought it was surprisingly good. Although we had our snorkel gear, we didn't try the underwater trail. I did last year and it wasn't so good. We did follow a ray around for awhile. Mainly we just enjoyed being on the beach, getting in the water when we got hot. I always take a book, and NEVER read. We can both sit on the beach all day without reading or any other props. We stayed until about 5:00 and I had to keep warning Steve about no seeums to get him to leave. For dinner, we used the grill at the villa. Remember, we couldn't find any decent looking steaks or other meat to grill, so we bought hotdogs. They tasted pretty good. We sat outside and enjoyed the view (this is a recurring theme every morning and evening).
Monday - Woke up early, made coffee and read. Even though we used 50 SPF, waterproof sunscreen and reapplied it often, we both looked a little red. We decided we would look around Wharfside Village and Mongoose Junction, have lunch, then go to a beach in the afternoon. Before we left the villa, we called Captain Phil to see if we could schedule a day sail with him Wed, Thurs, or Friday. He had room for us the next day (Tuesday), so we set that up. If we couldn't go with him I had two others that I was going to try: Captain Clark/White Wing or Calypso.
We roamed around Wharfside Village and had a smoothie at Paradise Cafe. They were out of ingredients for Cocoberry, so I had mango. It was awesome. Before leaving Wharfside, we stopped at St. John Spice. We met both Ruth and Ron. What nice people with great stores and service. We bought hot sauces, steak seasoning, coffee, a box of chocolate dipped coconut patties and some other non-food things as gifts. She has some very cute sundresses, but I restrained myself. Since we do carry-on only, Ruth packed our things (liquids larger than 3 oz) and mailed them to us. We received them last Wednesday. Thank you again, Ruth! We looked at some of the shops in Mongoose Junction (I'm not much of a shopper) and ate lunch at Sun Dog Cafe. We had Mexicali Dip with chips and a turkey sandwich. We both agreed this was possibly the best turkey sandwith ever. I can't remember the exact name of it..Willie something? Maybe Pia knows. Anyway Sun Dog Cafe is our favorite lunch place in Cruz Bay. We left there and headed for Jumbie. Are there any parking places at Jumbie? Of course not, so we drive on to Maho and find some shade on the left hand side.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9043759@N05/611405991/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1163/611 ... c08c81.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Shady spot on Maho"></a>
We stay here until about 4:00 and decide we should head back to the villa and think about where we'll have dinner. On the way back to Miles Away, we see the sign for Greek Night at Inn at Tamarind Court. That sounds perfect; no reservations, casual, not too pricey. We stayed here our first night on STJ last year because we arrived so late and didn't want to drive to the villa in Coral Bay after dark. I'm so glad we had dinner here this year. It was very, very good. We ordered an appetizer with feta cheese, hummus, olives and pita bread. It was so large we took over half of it home and nibbled on it several more times during the week. I had a chicken gyro and Steve ordered a regular gyro. They were both delicious and again, huge portions. I had a glass of wine with dinner, so with the appetizer and both entrees the entire bill was less than $50! The other "theme" dinners that were at Inn at Tamarind Court were Mexican and Stir-Fry. It's a different chef each night. I think this is a great place for dinner. You don't hear much about it so I thought I would mention how much we liked it. We get back to the villa and anticipate our day tomorrow with Captain Phil.
Tuesday - We park in Courtesy's lot and walk down to meet Captain Phil at the benches by JJ's. We're about 30 minutes early, but he spots us (we're carrying our snorkel gear) and comes over to introduce himself. What a nice, friendly guy. We talked with Captain Phil for quite awhile before the other couple arrived. We immediately liked him and felt comfortable with him. I'd heard so many great things about him and the Wayward Sailor, that it was like seeing an old friend. The other couple were newlyweds and had not snorkeled much before. Our first snorkel stop of the west side of Lovongo. He made sure we were comfortable with our equipment and then told us what area to stay around. We snorkeled for about 15 minutes before he and the other couple were in the water. He was taking extra time with them, which was fine with us because the snorkeling was great and we were comfortable on our own. When we did all get together in the water, he pointed out different types of coral and would dive down to show us. I'm not sure how long we were in the water, but I would guess 30-45 minutes. We got back on the boat and anchored in front of Solomen to eat lunch. Tarn served a sandwich (crab salad?) on toasted bread, slaw, chips and cantalope. It tasted so good!
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9043759@N05/611406181/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1144/611 ... 3c2e83.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Lunch on Wayward Sailor"></a>
After lunch, we went to snorkel Henley Cay. I mentioned to Captain Phil earlier that I wanted to learn to dive down with my snorkel, so at Henley he put a weight belt on me and showed me how to "free dive". He gave me several suggestions after watching me dive down a few times and I felt pretty comfortable after a short time. The current here was moderate and he said this would be drift snorkel. He pulled the dinghey along with him in the water and we rode it back to the boat after we snorkeled. I can't recall what types of coral and fish we saw, but again, it was great snorkeling. Unfortunately we didn't see any octopus, which is what he talked about after lunch. After Henley, we sailed back to Cruz Bay. Our day on Wayward Sailor went so quickly. It was a blast and I hope we conveyed to him how much we enjoyed ourselves. He said he was going to BVI that Friday and we seriously considered signing up for that, then we realized there were too many beaches on STJ that we had to see.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9043759@N05/611406007/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1151/611 ... 1a6791.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Captain Phil on Wayward Sailor"></a>
Dinner that night was at Panini Beach. Steve had ministroni and I had a pear, gorgonzola, walnut salad. We split the stuffed rigatoni entree. The meal was good, but the best part was re-introducing ourselves to the waitress, Dianne. As I mentioned, last year we arrived on STJ very late (the 10:00 pm Red Hook). We didn't know how to get to The Inn at Tamarind Court, so we asked someone at the ferry dock. Dianne was just getting off work at Panini and heard us ask directions. She said she was going that way and would take us. She made sure our key was on the board outside the office and that we found our room. She could not have been nicer and more welcoming. This was our first experience on STJ and it set the tone for the entire trip. We were impressed. So this year, we spoke with her again and told her how much we appreciated her assistance. She seemed to enjoy talking to us and was happy that we remembered her and her kindness.
Well, that took the better part of the morning. Next report: last 3 days of beaches and restaurants.
Here it is Sunday morning, I'm sitting here with coffee from St. John Spice and am determined to continue my trip report. Here goes...
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9043759@N05/578267986/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1091/578 ... 24862d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="St. John '07"></a>
First I have to mention the weather; it was perfect all week. It rained very hard two nights, but only sprinkled a little one morning and stopped before we were on the beach. Several times we watched the sky get cloudy, but it always cleared off and the temperature was mid to upper 80's everyday. Also, the mosquitos were bad the first two days, then for some reason seemed to be alot fewer. We were always able to be outside if we used OFF and lit citronella candles.
We knew that there would not be any cruise ships in STT 3 days during our stay and our first full day, Sunday, was one of them. We decided to pack a cooler with drinks and snacks and go to Trunk.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9043759@N05/611405939/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1125/611 ... d5d3eb.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Trunk Bay overview"></a>
We got there around 10:00. There were very few people and most of them were on the beach area closest to the cay. We found a nice shady spot on the left hand side and spent the entire day there.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9043759@N05/611405975/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1098/611 ... ec62d7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Shady spot on Trunk Bay"></a>
For lunch, I had a grilled chicken sandwich from the snack bar. It was excellent. My husband, Steve, had a hamburger and thought it was surprisingly good. Although we had our snorkel gear, we didn't try the underwater trail. I did last year and it wasn't so good. We did follow a ray around for awhile. Mainly we just enjoyed being on the beach, getting in the water when we got hot. I always take a book, and NEVER read. We can both sit on the beach all day without reading or any other props. We stayed until about 5:00 and I had to keep warning Steve about no seeums to get him to leave. For dinner, we used the grill at the villa. Remember, we couldn't find any decent looking steaks or other meat to grill, so we bought hotdogs. They tasted pretty good. We sat outside and enjoyed the view (this is a recurring theme every morning and evening).
Monday - Woke up early, made coffee and read. Even though we used 50 SPF, waterproof sunscreen and reapplied it often, we both looked a little red. We decided we would look around Wharfside Village and Mongoose Junction, have lunch, then go to a beach in the afternoon. Before we left the villa, we called Captain Phil to see if we could schedule a day sail with him Wed, Thurs, or Friday. He had room for us the next day (Tuesday), so we set that up. If we couldn't go with him I had two others that I was going to try: Captain Clark/White Wing or Calypso.
We roamed around Wharfside Village and had a smoothie at Paradise Cafe. They were out of ingredients for Cocoberry, so I had mango. It was awesome. Before leaving Wharfside, we stopped at St. John Spice. We met both Ruth and Ron. What nice people with great stores and service. We bought hot sauces, steak seasoning, coffee, a box of chocolate dipped coconut patties and some other non-food things as gifts. She has some very cute sundresses, but I restrained myself. Since we do carry-on only, Ruth packed our things (liquids larger than 3 oz) and mailed them to us. We received them last Wednesday. Thank you again, Ruth! We looked at some of the shops in Mongoose Junction (I'm not much of a shopper) and ate lunch at Sun Dog Cafe. We had Mexicali Dip with chips and a turkey sandwich. We both agreed this was possibly the best turkey sandwith ever. I can't remember the exact name of it..Willie something? Maybe Pia knows. Anyway Sun Dog Cafe is our favorite lunch place in Cruz Bay. We left there and headed for Jumbie. Are there any parking places at Jumbie? Of course not, so we drive on to Maho and find some shade on the left hand side.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9043759@N05/611405991/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1163/611 ... c08c81.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Shady spot on Maho"></a>
We stay here until about 4:00 and decide we should head back to the villa and think about where we'll have dinner. On the way back to Miles Away, we see the sign for Greek Night at Inn at Tamarind Court. That sounds perfect; no reservations, casual, not too pricey. We stayed here our first night on STJ last year because we arrived so late and didn't want to drive to the villa in Coral Bay after dark. I'm so glad we had dinner here this year. It was very, very good. We ordered an appetizer with feta cheese, hummus, olives and pita bread. It was so large we took over half of it home and nibbled on it several more times during the week. I had a chicken gyro and Steve ordered a regular gyro. They were both delicious and again, huge portions. I had a glass of wine with dinner, so with the appetizer and both entrees the entire bill was less than $50! The other "theme" dinners that were at Inn at Tamarind Court were Mexican and Stir-Fry. It's a different chef each night. I think this is a great place for dinner. You don't hear much about it so I thought I would mention how much we liked it. We get back to the villa and anticipate our day tomorrow with Captain Phil.
Tuesday - We park in Courtesy's lot and walk down to meet Captain Phil at the benches by JJ's. We're about 30 minutes early, but he spots us (we're carrying our snorkel gear) and comes over to introduce himself. What a nice, friendly guy. We talked with Captain Phil for quite awhile before the other couple arrived. We immediately liked him and felt comfortable with him. I'd heard so many great things about him and the Wayward Sailor, that it was like seeing an old friend. The other couple were newlyweds and had not snorkeled much before. Our first snorkel stop of the west side of Lovongo. He made sure we were comfortable with our equipment and then told us what area to stay around. We snorkeled for about 15 minutes before he and the other couple were in the water. He was taking extra time with them, which was fine with us because the snorkeling was great and we were comfortable on our own. When we did all get together in the water, he pointed out different types of coral and would dive down to show us. I'm not sure how long we were in the water, but I would guess 30-45 minutes. We got back on the boat and anchored in front of Solomen to eat lunch. Tarn served a sandwich (crab salad?) on toasted bread, slaw, chips and cantalope. It tasted so good!
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9043759@N05/611406181/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1144/611 ... 3c2e83.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Lunch on Wayward Sailor"></a>
After lunch, we went to snorkel Henley Cay. I mentioned to Captain Phil earlier that I wanted to learn to dive down with my snorkel, so at Henley he put a weight belt on me and showed me how to "free dive". He gave me several suggestions after watching me dive down a few times and I felt pretty comfortable after a short time. The current here was moderate and he said this would be drift snorkel. He pulled the dinghey along with him in the water and we rode it back to the boat after we snorkeled. I can't recall what types of coral and fish we saw, but again, it was great snorkeling. Unfortunately we didn't see any octopus, which is what he talked about after lunch. After Henley, we sailed back to Cruz Bay. Our day on Wayward Sailor went so quickly. It was a blast and I hope we conveyed to him how much we enjoyed ourselves. He said he was going to BVI that Friday and we seriously considered signing up for that, then we realized there were too many beaches on STJ that we had to see.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9043759@N05/611406007/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1151/611 ... 1a6791.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Captain Phil on Wayward Sailor"></a>
Dinner that night was at Panini Beach. Steve had ministroni and I had a pear, gorgonzola, walnut salad. We split the stuffed rigatoni entree. The meal was good, but the best part was re-introducing ourselves to the waitress, Dianne. As I mentioned, last year we arrived on STJ very late (the 10:00 pm Red Hook). We didn't know how to get to The Inn at Tamarind Court, so we asked someone at the ferry dock. Dianne was just getting off work at Panini and heard us ask directions. She said she was going that way and would take us. She made sure our key was on the board outside the office and that we found our room. She could not have been nicer and more welcoming. This was our first experience on STJ and it set the tone for the entire trip. We were impressed. So this year, we spoke with her again and told her how much we appreciated her assistance. She seemed to enjoy talking to us and was happy that we remembered her and her kindness.
Well, that took the better part of the morning. Next report: last 3 days of beaches and restaurants.
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Puddlejumper
- Posts: 276
- Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2007 11:17 am
- Location: Southport, NC was STJ
Thanks for the compliments everyone.
MaryBeth - Parking for the Inn at Tamarind is the first left you can make after you drive past the Inn (does that make sense?). I think there's a laundry mat there. We wouldn't have known where to park, but they had a sign that said, "Parking next left" or something like that.
Sea-nile - of course I don't mind if you use the mask/fin idea. I'm jealous that you get to go back again so soon. Last year we stuck some rum bottles in the sand and scattered some shells around St. John '06
MaryBeth - Parking for the Inn at Tamarind is the first left you can make after you drive past the Inn (does that make sense?). I think there's a laundry mat there. We wouldn't have known where to park, but they had a sign that said, "Parking next left" or something like that.
Sea-nile - of course I don't mind if you use the mask/fin idea. I'm jealous that you get to go back again so soon. Last year we stuck some rum bottles in the sand and scattered some shells around St. John '06
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designbyroe
- Posts: 1348
- Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 1:27 pm
- Location: Chilaxin on White Bay at least in my mind
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Kentuckygirl
- Posts: 1903
- Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2006 10:17 am
- Location: Kentucky
We ate at Inn back during our honeymoon and had such a great evening. There was a group playing island-y music and people were getting up on stage and singing along.
We ate breakfast there in Feb - EXCELLENT! The waitress was great with our toddler son, portions were too large and the quality was very good. We love the setting.
We ate breakfast there in Feb - EXCELLENT! The waitress was great with our toddler son, portions were too large and the quality was very good. We love the setting.