usvi-on-line
boo-hoo!
boo-hoo!
We came back in late last night to cold air and got up this morning and looked out the window to cold, grey skies and leaves up to my yin yang and clogged gutters and rain on the way! AAARGG!
Anyway, the trip was about as perfect as one could ask for. 14 days, 14 great sunrises,14 mornings after the night befores. Virtually no rain, no [bad] sunburns,no lost baggage, no flight delays, no anythings that went wrong.
The car: Cool Breeze won by default as they had the only 2dr Vitara available on such short notice. It had 39,321 miles on it, new tires, no radio, a/c compressor screamed if you used the defroster, but other wise it ran perfectly in it's underpowered way. No hassles in anyway with them and the car was there to get us to Coral Bay.
The villa: Casa Nita is a 3BR,3 bath house in Coral Bay, near Callabash Boom, overlooking Freis Bay, just on the other end of the beach where Miss Lucy's is This time of year the sun comes up with that deck in mind. Perfect, in that regard, though the sun rises and then beats down hard on the house all day making for a pretty hot house, even with the Tradewinds blowing. The drive up is easy, but to park more then one car is a pain. The villa itself is getting tired and needs more then a little THC. We're pretty easy going and it was more then fine for us, but someone who is discriminating would be disappointed with the overall condition of it. Also, the road noise from Rt. 107 starts at about 5:30 a.m. Worse then the road noise is the constant crowing of roosters and barking dogs at night from a West Indian compound below the villa. Again, we're folks that go with the flow, but I think some would be bother alot from the noise.
Dining and drinking:
We pretty much stay over in Coral Bay.
Skinny's:
Skinny Legs still has the best burger. Period. Now since Doug's death Skinny's is going thru a bunch of changes.I think Moe's wife is a bit more, shall we say, business oriented, and she is pushing through alot of changes. They were starting up a touch screen ordering system for the staff, much too the staff's chagrin. Every purchase must go through it, making it harder for some of the bartenders to be "silent partners". They moved the bar out a little bit, put in flat screen T.V.'s and are trying to fix the septic system again. It still isn't working too good and it smells pretty bad back by the horse shoe pits. They are as I write, installing a deep fryer and will be selling french fries in a few days.Thursday is "Thankspigging" and I wish I was going to be there!
Island Blues: The best setting for a bar/eatery in Coral Bay. I find the food O.K. but a little cutesy for my taste, pricey for my pocketbook, and a bit skimpy on the servings. For "local flavor" it's a great watering hole and in-season they get some good music.
Aqua- Bistro: Again, a great setting. The food is pretty good, and Mark tries to run a clean, pleasant bar and restaurant the way, a new coffee shop/bakery opened upstairs in the Coccolobo Plaza on Monday serving some breakfast foods.
M&M Donkey Diner: The best breakfast on that end of the island. They open for pizza a couple of nights a week.
Shipwreck Landing: I sometimes read some negative reviews on the food. Personally, I think they have great food, just not the regular menu. Order from the daily specials posted on the board out front. Also, for those who like frozen drinks,not my cup of rum but my wife loves 'em, they are reputed to be the best on the island. Donna, a regular bartender, was voted the "heaviest pour" in Coral Bay. I also think the locals, or transplanted continentals, are friendliest here and less full of themselves and their "local" status.
Vie's: If you haven't visited her, you've done yourself a grave injustice. May be the best bargain for lunch on STJ and a wonderful lady making and serving it.
A quick summary,almost more a villa and dining review for now, because I gotta tend to a bunch of stuff. A real trip report, with pics soon come.
Gotta clean the damned gutters before the rain comes!
Later, JT
Anyway, the trip was about as perfect as one could ask for. 14 days, 14 great sunrises,14 mornings after the night befores. Virtually no rain, no [bad] sunburns,no lost baggage, no flight delays, no anythings that went wrong.
The car: Cool Breeze won by default as they had the only 2dr Vitara available on such short notice. It had 39,321 miles on it, new tires, no radio, a/c compressor screamed if you used the defroster, but other wise it ran perfectly in it's underpowered way. No hassles in anyway with them and the car was there to get us to Coral Bay.
The villa: Casa Nita is a 3BR,3 bath house in Coral Bay, near Callabash Boom, overlooking Freis Bay, just on the other end of the beach where Miss Lucy's is This time of year the sun comes up with that deck in mind. Perfect, in that regard, though the sun rises and then beats down hard on the house all day making for a pretty hot house, even with the Tradewinds blowing. The drive up is easy, but to park more then one car is a pain. The villa itself is getting tired and needs more then a little THC. We're pretty easy going and it was more then fine for us, but someone who is discriminating would be disappointed with the overall condition of it. Also, the road noise from Rt. 107 starts at about 5:30 a.m. Worse then the road noise is the constant crowing of roosters and barking dogs at night from a West Indian compound below the villa. Again, we're folks that go with the flow, but I think some would be bother alot from the noise.
Dining and drinking:
We pretty much stay over in Coral Bay.
Skinny's:
Skinny Legs still has the best burger. Period. Now since Doug's death Skinny's is going thru a bunch of changes.I think Moe's wife is a bit more, shall we say, business oriented, and she is pushing through alot of changes. They were starting up a touch screen ordering system for the staff, much too the staff's chagrin. Every purchase must go through it, making it harder for some of the bartenders to be "silent partners". They moved the bar out a little bit, put in flat screen T.V.'s and are trying to fix the septic system again. It still isn't working too good and it smells pretty bad back by the horse shoe pits. They are as I write, installing a deep fryer and will be selling french fries in a few days.Thursday is "Thankspigging" and I wish I was going to be there!
Island Blues: The best setting for a bar/eatery in Coral Bay. I find the food O.K. but a little cutesy for my taste, pricey for my pocketbook, and a bit skimpy on the servings. For "local flavor" it's a great watering hole and in-season they get some good music.
Aqua- Bistro: Again, a great setting. The food is pretty good, and Mark tries to run a clean, pleasant bar and restaurant the way, a new coffee shop/bakery opened upstairs in the Coccolobo Plaza on Monday serving some breakfast foods.
M&M Donkey Diner: The best breakfast on that end of the island. They open for pizza a couple of nights a week.
Shipwreck Landing: I sometimes read some negative reviews on the food. Personally, I think they have great food, just not the regular menu. Order from the daily specials posted on the board out front. Also, for those who like frozen drinks,not my cup of rum but my wife loves 'em, they are reputed to be the best on the island. Donna, a regular bartender, was voted the "heaviest pour" in Coral Bay. I also think the locals, or transplanted continentals, are friendliest here and less full of themselves and their "local" status.
Vie's: If you haven't visited her, you've done yourself a grave injustice. May be the best bargain for lunch on STJ and a wonderful lady making and serving it.
A quick summary,almost more a villa and dining review for now, because I gotta tend to a bunch of stuff. A real trip report, with pics soon come.
Gotta clean the damned gutters before the rain comes!
Later, JT
When you find yourself in a hole.... quit digging.
Thanks for the trip report. Next May, we’ll be spending a week on the Coral Bay side of the island and I’ve already added a few items to my list from your report – Thanks. Last year we stayed on the Cruz Bay side and tried to hit Vie’s 3 different times (closed each time). Sure hope she’s open next May. Thanks again.
FlaGeorge
"Swim Against The Current - Even a Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow"
"Swim Against The Current - Even a Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow"
Hang in there!!!-
Kentuckygirl
- Posts: 1903
- Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2006 10:17 am
- Location: Kentucky
Sounds like you had a good time!
Was the noise from 107 really bad? John is fixated on this house that is right off the road there. I had thought in passing about the traffic...the house really comes right up to the road. Hmm...
Thanks for the restaurant reviews. We haven't been to a bunch of the ones you listed. Maybe next time.
Was the noise from 107 really bad? John is fixated on this house that is right off the road there. I had thought in passing about the traffic...the house really comes right up to the road. Hmm...
Thanks for the restaurant reviews. We haven't been to a bunch of the ones you listed. Maybe next time.
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
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Bob & Anita
- Posts: 611
- Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 11:20 pm
- Location: Charlotte, NC
We were about 100 ft. straight up from 107 witha lot of vegetation between us and the road. We get up at around 5:30 a.m. every morning anyway, but without the a/c on, you'd be pretty hardpressed to sleep thru the school buses, the Viatran public bus and all of the construction workers heading to work. The buses honk on many of the curves, for safety reasons and the sound travels up. Like I said, the dogs were even worse,barking at the donkeys would be my guess, sometimes all night long. Even as easy going as I am, I was close to driving down and kicking a couple of them. Now, ask me if I would stay there again? YES!liamsaunt wrote:Sounds like you had a good time!
Was the noise from 107 really bad? John is fixated on this house that is right off the road there. I had thought in passing about the traffic...the house really comes right up to the road. Hmm...
Thanks for the restaurant reviews. We haven't been to a bunch of the ones you listed. Maybe next time.
I like the location for other reasons.
When you find yourself in a hole.... quit digging.
Thanks JT. I think this takes the house John was thinking of off the table for us. If you had all that racket 100 feet up, and the house is right on the road, it would be even noisier for us. Oh well, there's lots of other places to pick from!
I do agree that area is great though--close to Salt Pond and I love the Friis Bay view.
I do agree that area is great though--close to Salt Pond and I love the Friis Bay view.
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.