usvi-on-line
Oleander- Aug22-Aug29 Part III
Oleander- Aug22-Aug29 Part III
Arrived home from Maho and the kids were tired. Time to shower off the salt water and maybe watch some TV or a movie until dinner. Kids cant get reception on any of the TV's so DH decides he will set up The Marx Brothers on the DVD. Surprise!! Despite TV's in all BR's and LR, all of the cable boxes have been disconnected from the TV's, 2 of the TV's were unplugged and the 2 DVD's were disconnected also. Later we would learn that the telephone answering machine was unplugged. No ops manuals for any of the equippment so we knew we would have to call CV to help us out or we would be spending the evening working under poor lighting conditions trying to straighten things out.
Curtis came out just after 5 and worked hard with everyone (but me) looking over his shoulder. No reason for things to be in this condition. The house was not prepped for a storm as it has been continuously occupied since early July. No matter, all is well that ends well and the Marx brothers and the weather channel went on later that night. Kudos to Cutiss for his hard work.
DH and I always try to get to the Turtle Bay Pavillion at Caneel for a sunset at least once during every trip. As we figured it would be slow at Caneel we all planned to take the tram, do the sunset at Turtle Bay, and then grab a light meal at the Caneel Beach Restaurant at twilight.
The electronics snafu held us up a bit so Turtle Bay was out, but we joined many families for a light meal at sunset. They were serving not only in the casual(lunch) restaurant but also anywhere you wanted to eat on the patio, under the veranda and also on the upper deck. After dinner we walked out on the dock to see the lights on STT and then many kids staying at Caneel, as well as those just visiting, went hunting through the shrubbery for frogs and gheckos with little flaslights the staff gave out. We had a nightcap at the new bar they have installed under the veranda adjacent to the main beach. Warm breezes and a beautiful sky. Nice!!
The remainder of our days were spent alternately swimming, soaking, floating and snorkeling at Trunk, Francis, a second trip to Maho and a second to Hawksnest. Saturday night, we remained there on the beach until after 6--without any no-seums. On Tuesday, we all snorkeled the rocks all the way around to Gibney. By then, the one boy who was a little frighened of snorkeling when he would see sea urchins really came into his own, and would snorkle along humming a tune to the fish as he went. DS and the other boy saw a nurse shark under the rocks on the Gibney side, we all saw a fair amount of tropicals and 2 nice sized rays on the way back. After we returned, DS and DH snorkeled straight out a little right of center at Hawksnest, beyond the close-in reef and they said the area opened up into sort of a canyon, with a boulevard of larger tropicals swimming up and down what appeared to be two lanes. They didnt want to leave the water, even though we wanted to get to the Beach Bar for our last sunset meal and the kids wanted to play in the old boat again. This day was just about the highlight of our beach days, as we were serenaded all afternoon by alternating live and DJ music from the Oppenheimer Pavillion, where the Westin had a beach bash for their employees.
Speaking of the Beach Bar, my DH and I did get out alone one night and grabbed a lite bite in the sand. The band was awful--or maybe I am just getting old. It wasnt T Bird, but someone else. No matter-we had a few hours to ourselves. DS took the kids to the Dive In Movie at the Westin on Friday and Sunday night. Sunday night was warm, with a gentle breeze over Rendevous, and you could barely find a mosquito to bite you. The moon was pretty full, and we were able to enjoy an unemcumbered moonlight swim in the villa pool, and a little more private time for just the two of us on the deck before the gang returned home. On Saturday morning, we dropped DS and the kids off at the Westin where they had lunch and enjoyed the beach and the pool, while we had brunch with Rev Anne Marie Porter. She married us on Peter Bay in 2000, and we always get togethet with her for some special time whenever we come to St John. She is a real sweetheart, and reports the wedding business in Love City is still going strong. A few of the couples she married have brought their babies back to her to be christened--what a great idea!
Final Part( I think) soon come...a visit to Sol Inclination, dinner and mini golf at Pastory Gardens and our general observations about what's new on St John
Curtis came out just after 5 and worked hard with everyone (but me) looking over his shoulder. No reason for things to be in this condition. The house was not prepped for a storm as it has been continuously occupied since early July. No matter, all is well that ends well and the Marx brothers and the weather channel went on later that night. Kudos to Cutiss for his hard work.
DH and I always try to get to the Turtle Bay Pavillion at Caneel for a sunset at least once during every trip. As we figured it would be slow at Caneel we all planned to take the tram, do the sunset at Turtle Bay, and then grab a light meal at the Caneel Beach Restaurant at twilight.
The electronics snafu held us up a bit so Turtle Bay was out, but we joined many families for a light meal at sunset. They were serving not only in the casual(lunch) restaurant but also anywhere you wanted to eat on the patio, under the veranda and also on the upper deck. After dinner we walked out on the dock to see the lights on STT and then many kids staying at Caneel, as well as those just visiting, went hunting through the shrubbery for frogs and gheckos with little flaslights the staff gave out. We had a nightcap at the new bar they have installed under the veranda adjacent to the main beach. Warm breezes and a beautiful sky. Nice!!
The remainder of our days were spent alternately swimming, soaking, floating and snorkeling at Trunk, Francis, a second trip to Maho and a second to Hawksnest. Saturday night, we remained there on the beach until after 6--without any no-seums. On Tuesday, we all snorkeled the rocks all the way around to Gibney. By then, the one boy who was a little frighened of snorkeling when he would see sea urchins really came into his own, and would snorkle along humming a tune to the fish as he went. DS and the other boy saw a nurse shark under the rocks on the Gibney side, we all saw a fair amount of tropicals and 2 nice sized rays on the way back. After we returned, DS and DH snorkeled straight out a little right of center at Hawksnest, beyond the close-in reef and they said the area opened up into sort of a canyon, with a boulevard of larger tropicals swimming up and down what appeared to be two lanes. They didnt want to leave the water, even though we wanted to get to the Beach Bar for our last sunset meal and the kids wanted to play in the old boat again. This day was just about the highlight of our beach days, as we were serenaded all afternoon by alternating live and DJ music from the Oppenheimer Pavillion, where the Westin had a beach bash for their employees.
Speaking of the Beach Bar, my DH and I did get out alone one night and grabbed a lite bite in the sand. The band was awful--or maybe I am just getting old. It wasnt T Bird, but someone else. No matter-we had a few hours to ourselves. DS took the kids to the Dive In Movie at the Westin on Friday and Sunday night. Sunday night was warm, with a gentle breeze over Rendevous, and you could barely find a mosquito to bite you. The moon was pretty full, and we were able to enjoy an unemcumbered moonlight swim in the villa pool, and a little more private time for just the two of us on the deck before the gang returned home. On Saturday morning, we dropped DS and the kids off at the Westin where they had lunch and enjoyed the beach and the pool, while we had brunch with Rev Anne Marie Porter. She married us on Peter Bay in 2000, and we always get togethet with her for some special time whenever we come to St John. She is a real sweetheart, and reports the wedding business in Love City is still going strong. A few of the couples she married have brought their babies back to her to be christened--what a great idea!
Final Part( I think) soon come...a visit to Sol Inclination, dinner and mini golf at Pastory Gardens and our general observations about what's new on St John
Oleander
We has absolutely great weather every day, but heavy showers during the night. JMQ was there at the same time and also mentioned that he had great weather and few bugs. I guess our heavy overnight showers brought out a bumper crop of mosquitos for you.
Sorry.
Sorry.
