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Jan&Mike's Trip Report - FINAL
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Jan&MikeVa
- Posts: 1084
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 5:32 pm
- Location: The Chesapeake Bay
Jan&Mike's Trip Report - FINAL
Thursday November 30
What a beautiful morning on STJ, we’re all settled into our new digs at Allesandra.
We sit on the patio with our coffee and decide which beaches to hit and where to snorkel. Ahhh, no trouble, no anxiety, no tears, just pure bliss!!!! Before we get ready we turn on the TV to check the news. OMG, Britney Spears stayed out all night partying and now they’re going to take away her kids! Mike looks at me and says, “I’m so glad we have TV”. 
So Maho is calling for us today, we head there early! I love this beach, it’s so calm and we backed the jeep right up to our chairs. This is WHY St John is so special, where else can you do this?? We snorkeled both sides of the bay, saw lots of good stuff; I’m not into names of all the fish and all. I just love hanging around watching them. Just like others have mentioned in their posts, I had a cute little fish that stayed with me the whole time! It’s so sweet. We then kicked back and relaxed on the beach. I’m just getting settled into reading my book, when a thought hits me…………. I left stuff at OPH, like prescription meds. OH NO, Mike is going to KEEEELLL me! So we leave our little spot on Maho and go back to Cruz Bay to get the keys. Back to Coral Bay to OPH and get our stuff. We headed on to Skinny’s for lunch, rang the bell for Howie,
and then headed out to Vie’s for a coconut tart. She is such a nice lady; we enjoy sitting and chatting with her. Have any of you seen her “Bush Cat Snack Shack”???? It’s the new feeding stations they’re doing for stray cats on island. It’s a good story. Back to Allesandra for some serious pool time, love the floats they provided. Put on some good New Orleans jazz (thanks Nothintoloose) and had a wonderful afternoon. Back to our usual routine, happy hour on the deck watching the sunset, cruise ships leaving STT, and the lights twinkling on. Then the full chorus of tree frogs and crickets chime in; we’re in paradise now. 
The big crash: At 2:30 am we are awoken to the very loud sound of glass breaking. Mike leaps out of bed (nekkid) and runs into the living room to do what?? Confront the burglar?? He’s screaming that someone is breaking in!! I’m right behind him and what am I going to do?? Protect Mike?? We get in the living room get our wits about us, turn on the lights and see the problem. One of the glass globes in the very high up ceiling fan fell and shattered all over the ceramic tile floor. It took about 2 hours to get calmed down enough to go back to sleep. And of course there is no broom at the villa, Mike used a bottle brush, don’t even ask.
Friday, Saturday, & Sunday December 1 - 3
I’ve taken up enough space on this board with my Trip Report, and I’m sure you’re getting bored. These last three days were perfect. Despite all the craziness the two of us are having so much fun together. The magic of the island works its spell on us……. We don’t have a care in the world! We went to Hawksnest & Mahoe again, Little Lameshur, and Honeymoon Beach. We swam, snorkeled, and played in the waves (they were awesome all week at Hawksnest). We drove down lot’s of roads, and really got “off the beaten path” looking at everything and everywhere. We are still amazed at the beauty of the Island and how much we love being there
Sunday at 4pm a bunch of forumites gathered at the Beach Bar and enjoyed the Jazz Jam. I’ll write a separate report and post pics for this event (it was a BLAST). Then at 6:30pm we headed out by the ferry dock and watched the children's parade. It was a fun time by all, locals and tourists. The kids on the island are very talented, good musicians and dancers. What fun to watch a Christmas Parade in Paradise!!
We then headed over to Bill & Sandies villa for dinner. We had planned to spend our last night on island at their villa until the move to Allesandra. So I had already planned to provide the dinner. We dropped the food off early in the morning and by the time we got back after the parade they had got it all ready. We had a very nice evening with Bill & Sandie and one of the other set of grandparents. You all know Bill’s story I’m sure. I must say what nice folks Bill & Sandie are……….. shirt off their back kind of people. Lots of laughs and good conversation. Bill will tell you all about his villa in his Trip Report, but I’ll tell ya now that it was gorgeous. One of Donald Schnell’s places: WOW.
Monday morning is packing day, yuck!
ScottB and his wife Traci from the forum stopped by to check out “villa life”. 
They are staying at Gallows for their first visit, hopefully we’ll get a Trip Report from him when they get back (today I believe). Check out with Caribbean Villas is painless; we stopped at the bakery across the parking lot and got some goodies. I LOVE their little almond croissants, yum yum!
Went by Donald Schnell’s to return the jeep, but we left all of our stuff in it. They said it would be no problem. That’s another nice group of folks and their rental cars are in extremely good shape! We will always rent from them in the future. Went to St John Spice and did a lot of Christmas shopping and spend a little time with Ruth. That’s another great person, RUTH ROCKS!! Took the 2:15 CA and I shed a few tears when I looked back at STJ. 
I truly didn’t want to go home this time, very unusual for me.
Flights home were great, no problems. We had brought some booze back for Christmas Gifts and the folk at Captain Jack’s (whatever it’s called – right next door to JJ’s) wrapped it up and put it in one of the special boxes for bottles. We forgot that we couldn’t take it on the plane so we had to check it. Then I had to sign a lien waiver relieving them of any liability if it breaks. Got into D.C. at 11:30pm and went to retrieve our luggage. Here comes a box of booze, guess it’s ours… No wait it’s a K-Mart box. Then we notice ours coming right behind it. However everyone is noticing that the K-Mart box is leaking………..GIN! All over the conveyor belt, everyone was laughing. Mike proudly reaches over, grabs our very dry well packed box, and announces, “that’s what you get for buying booze at K-Mart”
The End
Jan (akaCharlie)
What a beautiful morning on STJ, we’re all settled into our new digs at Allesandra.
We sit on the patio with our coffee and decide which beaches to hit and where to snorkel. Ahhh, no trouble, no anxiety, no tears, just pure bliss!!!! Before we get ready we turn on the TV to check the news. OMG, Britney Spears stayed out all night partying and now they’re going to take away her kids! Mike looks at me and says, “I’m so glad we have TV”. So Maho is calling for us today, we head there early! I love this beach, it’s so calm and we backed the jeep right up to our chairs. This is WHY St John is so special, where else can you do this?? We snorkeled both sides of the bay, saw lots of good stuff; I’m not into names of all the fish and all. I just love hanging around watching them. Just like others have mentioned in their posts, I had a cute little fish that stayed with me the whole time! It’s so sweet. We then kicked back and relaxed on the beach. I’m just getting settled into reading my book, when a thought hits me…………. I left stuff at OPH, like prescription meds. OH NO, Mike is going to KEEEELLL me! So we leave our little spot on Maho and go back to Cruz Bay to get the keys. Back to Coral Bay to OPH and get our stuff. We headed on to Skinny’s for lunch, rang the bell for Howie,
and then headed out to Vie’s for a coconut tart. She is such a nice lady; we enjoy sitting and chatting with her. Have any of you seen her “Bush Cat Snack Shack”???? It’s the new feeding stations they’re doing for stray cats on island. It’s a good story. Back to Allesandra for some serious pool time, love the floats they provided. Put on some good New Orleans jazz (thanks Nothintoloose) and had a wonderful afternoon. Back to our usual routine, happy hour on the deck watching the sunset, cruise ships leaving STT, and the lights twinkling on. Then the full chorus of tree frogs and crickets chime in; we’re in paradise now. The big crash: At 2:30 am we are awoken to the very loud sound of glass breaking. Mike leaps out of bed (nekkid) and runs into the living room to do what?? Confront the burglar?? He’s screaming that someone is breaking in!! I’m right behind him and what am I going to do?? Protect Mike?? We get in the living room get our wits about us, turn on the lights and see the problem. One of the glass globes in the very high up ceiling fan fell and shattered all over the ceramic tile floor. It took about 2 hours to get calmed down enough to go back to sleep. And of course there is no broom at the villa, Mike used a bottle brush, don’t even ask.
Friday, Saturday, & Sunday December 1 - 3
I’ve taken up enough space on this board with my Trip Report, and I’m sure you’re getting bored. These last three days were perfect. Despite all the craziness the two of us are having so much fun together. The magic of the island works its spell on us……. We don’t have a care in the world! We went to Hawksnest & Mahoe again, Little Lameshur, and Honeymoon Beach. We swam, snorkeled, and played in the waves (they were awesome all week at Hawksnest).
We drove down lot’s of roads, and really got “off the beaten path” looking at everything and everywhere. We are still amazed at the beauty of the Island and how much we love being thereSunday at 4pm a bunch of forumites gathered at the Beach Bar and enjoyed the Jazz Jam. I’ll write a separate report and post pics for this event (it was a BLAST).
Then at 6:30pm we headed out by the ferry dock and watched the children's parade. It was a fun time by all, locals and tourists. The kids on the island are very talented, good musicians and dancers. What fun to watch a Christmas Parade in Paradise!!We then headed over to Bill & Sandies villa for dinner. We had planned to spend our last night on island at their villa until the move to Allesandra. So I had already planned to provide the dinner. We dropped the food off early in the morning and by the time we got back after the parade they had got it all ready. We had a very nice evening with Bill & Sandie and one of the other set of grandparents. You all know Bill’s story I’m sure. I must say what nice folks Bill & Sandie are……….. shirt off their back kind of people. Lots of laughs and good conversation. Bill will tell you all about his villa in his Trip Report, but I’ll tell ya now that it was gorgeous. One of Donald Schnell’s places: WOW.
Monday morning is packing day, yuck!
ScottB and his wife Traci from the forum stopped by to check out “villa life”. They are staying at Gallows for their first visit, hopefully we’ll get a Trip Report from him when they get back (today I believe). Check out with Caribbean Villas is painless; we stopped at the bakery across the parking lot and got some goodies. I LOVE their little almond croissants, yum yum! Went by Donald Schnell’s to return the jeep, but we left all of our stuff in it. They said it would be no problem. That’s another nice group of folks and their rental cars are in extremely good shape! We will always rent from them in the future. Went to St John Spice and did a lot of Christmas shopping and spend a little time with Ruth. That’s another great person, RUTH ROCKS!!
Took the 2:15 CA and I shed a few tears when I looked back at STJ. I truly didn’t want to go home this time, very unusual for me.Flights home were great, no problems. We had brought some booze back for Christmas Gifts and the folk at Captain Jack’s (whatever it’s called – right next door to JJ’s) wrapped it up and put it in one of the special boxes for bottles. We forgot that we couldn’t take it on the plane so we had to check it. Then I had to sign a lien waiver relieving them of any liability if it breaks. Got into D.C. at 11:30pm and went to retrieve our luggage. Here comes a box of booze, guess it’s ours… No wait it’s a K-Mart box. Then we notice ours coming right behind it. However everyone is noticing that the K-Mart box is leaking………..GIN! All over the conveyor belt, everyone was laughing. Mike proudly reaches over, grabs our very dry well packed box, and announces, “that’s what you get for buying booze at K-Mart”
The End
Jan (akaCharlie)
Thank you so much for your detailed trip reports. I've enjoyed reading them very much and I hope to do half as good.
I would have been terrified over the crash, how scary is that?!!
I can't wait to go to the Beach Bar for the Jazz Jam...I've been wanting to do it since I read about it early this year. My time is almost here. Yippee!!
Thnx again!!
I would have been terrified over the crash, how scary is that?!!
I can't wait to go to the Beach Bar for the Jazz Jam...I've been wanting to do it since I read about it early this year. My time is almost here. Yippee!!
Thnx again!!
Coden
trip reprort-final
I, too have enjoyed your trip reports. I hope I can take detailed notes when I go so I can provide entertaining reports like yours. I'll be in STJ in 182 days! 
I am glad that you finally had some great days! I am not so sure that I would have been as patient. I am looking forward to the pictures.
I am glad that you finally had some great days! I am not so sure that I would have been as patient. I am looking forward to the pictures.
Jan(akaCharlie) - OMG, we had lunch at Skinny's on Thursday 11/30!!! Again, our paths crossed and we didn't even know it!
I know what you mean about the waves at Hawksnest, the beaches were all really rough last week. Never saw it like that before.
Thanks for your trip report, I'm still going strong with mine, can't seem to stop writing once I start....
I know what you mean about the waves at Hawksnest, the beaches were all really rough last week. Never saw it like that before.
Thanks for your trip report, I'm still going strong with mine, can't seem to stop writing once I start....
The final episode of “As the Island Turns” did not disappoint. Great reports Jan.
As we last left Jan & Mike in the new villa – they find that villa Allesandra is haunted. A strange crash in the middle of the night wakes our adventuresome couple. Mike goes out to “take on” the ghost bare handed – as a matter of fact, bear everything. Luckily, there was no confrontation, but just a mess to clean up.
Then OPH comes back to haunt our couple one more time by hiding the couples “Med’s”. Jan reluctantly tests her marriage to Mike and explains that then need to go back to OPH.
Does Mike Killllllll her? Or, does he tie her to a rock so that the crabs have dinner? No – our ghost chasing hero gives her a hug & kiss and they take on OPH one last time.
The island has now spooked Jan to the point that she needs a companion while in the water snorkeling. Jan enlist the help of Nemo - “I had a cute little fish that stayed with me the whole time!”. Jan would feel better if more folks where around – so they head to the Beach Bar and hook up with all the forum folks.
Apart from all the mishaps – Jan sheds a tear as they leave STJ. Mike breaths a sigh of relief that he has survived another one of Jan’s adventures and the couple remain happily married.
Jan – I had so much fun reading your reports – thanks so much for taking the time to write them.
As we last left Jan & Mike in the new villa – they find that villa Allesandra is haunted. A strange crash in the middle of the night wakes our adventuresome couple. Mike goes out to “take on” the ghost bare handed – as a matter of fact, bear everything. Luckily, there was no confrontation, but just a mess to clean up.
Then OPH comes back to haunt our couple one more time by hiding the couples “Med’s”. Jan reluctantly tests her marriage to Mike and explains that then need to go back to OPH.
Does Mike Killllllll her? Or, does he tie her to a rock so that the crabs have dinner? No – our ghost chasing hero gives her a hug & kiss and they take on OPH one last time.
The island has now spooked Jan to the point that she needs a companion while in the water snorkeling. Jan enlist the help of Nemo - “I had a cute little fish that stayed with me the whole time!”. Jan would feel better if more folks where around – so they head to the Beach Bar and hook up with all the forum folks.
Apart from all the mishaps – Jan sheds a tear as they leave STJ. Mike breaths a sigh of relief that he has survived another one of Jan’s adventures and the couple remain happily married.
Jan – I had so much fun reading your reports – thanks so much for taking the time to write them.
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"
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stjohnmay2003
- Posts: 63
- Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 4:29 pm
- Location: NJ
It's really crazy what that place will do to you. I literally shed tears on the ferry ride when we were heading home from our one year wedding anniversary trip (we were married there!) in May 04 because I knew it would probably be a long time before we returned. Luckily our we were invited to our friends wedding on Tortola 2 years later (June 06) so we were able to spend 3 days/2 nights on St John before our one week trip to Tortola.
Married- Trunk Bay May 3, 2003
Jan,
Thanx for the great detailed reports....enjoyed reading them, but of course felt badly about your ordeal with OPH.
It was awesome meeting you & Mike, and hopefully on our next visit, we'll be able to spend more time.
Thank you for having us up to check out your villa, and Tracie & I both hope our paths cross again soon....
By the way, our trip report will be ready in a day or two, need to catch up a bit with reality.
-Scott
Thanx for the great detailed reports....enjoyed reading them, but of course felt badly about your ordeal with OPH.
It was awesome meeting you & Mike, and hopefully on our next visit, we'll be able to spend more time.
Thank you for having us up to check out your villa, and Tracie & I both hope our paths cross again soon....
By the way, our trip report will be ready in a day or two, need to catch up a bit with reality.
-Scott
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Jan&MikeVa
- Posts: 1084
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 5:32 pm
- Location: The Chesapeake Bay
Thanks guys for all your comments, I will post a review for both villas over the weekend.
ScottB - It was great to meet you guys too! Anxious to hear how the rest of your vacation was; we'll all be looking for your Trip Report!
FlaGeorge - We enjoyed your "As the Island Turns", it was really funny! Mike and I have laughed over your posts....thank you!
No return trip in the works yet, but we all know it'll happen!!
Jan (akaCharlie)
ScottB - It was great to meet you guys too! Anxious to hear how the rest of your vacation was; we'll all be looking for your Trip Report!
FlaGeorge - We enjoyed your "As the Island Turns", it was really funny!
Mike and I have laughed over your posts....thank you!No return trip in the works yet, but we all know it'll happen!!
Jan (akaCharlie)
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Bill in Va
- Posts: 442
- Joined: Thu Aug 10, 2006 3:56 pm
- Location: Lake Gaston, Va
Keepin the right "limin" atitude...Gold metal winn
Yep the winners are........Mike and Jan!!!!! You guys are the template for "how to make it NO matter what"! Thanks for all your kind words and the safe journey phone call yesterday morning. Great report. We will be in touch..God bless...Bill
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nothintolose
- Posts: 1960
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:36 pm
- Location: New Orleans, LA
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Bob & Anita
- Posts: 611
- Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 11:20 pm
- Location: Charlotte, NC
