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TR: 14 Days in Heaven (Part 3 - Days 8-11)
TR: 14 Days in Heaven (Part 3 - Days 8-11)
Day 8 - Saturday
So, this is a sad day for our friends as they go home. Michele and I get up early and do our run one last time. We all pack up and check out of Perelandra. The villa rep for our next villa Tesori, is great and agrees to let us go there at 10:30 to drop off the provisions that we have from Perelandra. We dropped Michele and Joe off at Connections to print their boarding passes and told them we'd be back to say good-bye. We headed to Tesori, dropped our bags and provisions off and then back to Cruz Bay to say good-bye. Unfortunately, they had already boarded the 11:15 CA Ferry so we only talked to them on the phone. They had a great week and are already planning on going back with their girls the next time.
Some of the people in our next week's group were already in St. Thomas (they flew from CA the night before and spent one night there). They were due to arrive on a private water taxi at noon. So, we parked the car at Slimman's (since you can't park at St. John Car on the turnaround day) and walked over to the dock to greet them. Our friends, Suzanne, Dave, their one year old and their babysitter arrived at 12:15 (Suz and Dave were married on St John also in May 2006). We were hungry so we headed to the Ocean Grille for fish and pork tacos - these are the best!
After lunch, we went to Hawksnest. Our villa wouldn't be ready until 4 pm so we relaxed and enjoyed the day. At 4, we headed to Tesori. The cleaning people were still there finishing up but they let us 'check in'. Kathy, our great villa rep, had left us a couple of bottles of white wine.
The baby went down for a nap, we unpacked and enjoyed the view! What a view! It's gorgeous! I love being high up. We had great winds and we could see St. Croix in the distance. Tesori is pretty new and has beautiful native stonework, very well furnished and a large pool. The main house has 4 bedrooms all accessed internally. We took the Master and my only negative would be the shower. It's just not very big!. The entire house has AC but during the day, we would turn it off and open up the great room. It has a portico off the great room with very comfy furniture for relaxing in and enjoying the view of the blue Caribbean Sea. The boys went out and grocery shopped at Starfish and the baby woke up - we showered and headed into town for Wagapalooza. Such a fun event! We saw some of the dog competitions - including best lap dog. There was a huge Great Dane that entered and he almost won! We saw Josh from Lion in Da Sun. We kept running into him and we had a running joke that I was stalking him and then, we turned it in to he was stalking us. Such a nice guy! We stayed a bit and then hunger prevailed so we headed to Banana Deck for dinner - figuring it would be a good, kid friendly place and it was. The one waiter was totally amusing the baby and he was a trooper - it was a long day for him and he was great. After dinner, we headed home to watch the stars and the upcoming full moon. Heaven!
Day 9 - Sunday
I love waking up and lying in my bed and looking out over the beautiful blue sea! At Tesori, you are so high, you are actually looking at the clouds and then you look down and bit and there it is - amazing! Started our day with St. John Voodoo coffee and then Suz and I went for a run. So, this was a new run - very tough! Down, down, down Gifft Hill Road, left on South Shore Road and then down, down, into Fish Bay. We ran for 20 minutes then turned around and headed back. Oh, so not fun! Killer hills so we would walk, then stop and regain our breath and then go. We made it - quite an accomplishment but never to be repeated again!
We showered and headed to Miss Lucy's - of course! Remember, I'm a creature of habit and I like to stick to my tried and true good things! We again had a great breakfast - banana pancakes for me and a couple of Mimosa's - breakfast of champions! After our relaxing brunch, we went to Maho. This is a great beach with kids - so easy to access and very easy for the baby to walk on. He's just over one and at that drunk, wobbly walking stage. He loved the sand and just plopped down and played. Another beautiful day in paradise - we had great weather the entire two weeks! Only rain the first Friday and the last Saturday a.m. We had showers overnight - I love those because they are good for the island and the cisterns!.
Our next set of friends was arriving today. A couple that we've known forever and their 7-year-old daughter. This was Vici and Mark's 4th trip to St. John so they totally get it and Emma's first. They called us while we were on Maho to let us know they were in CA having lunch. They were taking the 3 p.m. ferry so we headed back to town to meet them. Turns out, they somehow ended up on a super fast ferry and were in Cruz Bay at 3:30 - lucky dogs! We picked them up at the Ferry dock and took them to Tesori.
They loved the villa too! Emma immediately got in her suit and jumped in the pool. She loved St. John! She found a little lizard by the pool and called it Lizzie and then Liz Ard. She created a game in the pool where she jumped on the floats and if she hit the wall without any effort, it was 'gold'. She also would ask if she would get 'style points' for certain things - she was too funny! She signed the guest book the last day (7 pages!) and called her game 'hit it' - great kid!
Since it was Sunday, I showered up and Ron and I headed to the Beach Bar to meet up with any Forumites that would be there. We saw Nascarfan and his crew and JoePagano and his wife (lucky them are there for 28 days - so jealous!). Ron stayed for a drink or two and then headed back to get our other friends (we had 2 cars but we weren't sure if the family with the baby would be ready to come in). The baby was left home with the sitter and the rest of us hung at the Beach Bar for a bit and then went to dinner at Rhumblines. T-Bird was playing - I love her! I spotted Bob63 and his wife (I recognized him from his avatar). I went over, introduced myself and said hello. I'm sure he was thinking who is this drunk girl and why is she bothering me. Dinner was great and Emma was a champ hanging out with us until after 9. We headed home, put her to bed and ended with drinks and the views of the full moon rising.
Day 10 - Monday
Villa gravity and pool in the morning - very relaxing. We got ready and headed to Gibney. We first stopped at Deli Grotto for sandwiches. I had Trunk Bay chicken on a wrap and the others had either the Grotto Chicken (I think that's what it was) or the Italian. We all loved our lunch.
After another great beach day, we headed home, relaxed, showered and then into town. Our usual stop, Beach Bar for drinks (my standard is either a Corona or a Painkiller) and then Cafe Roma for dinner. Baby and Emma were home with the sitter so this was our first 'adults only' night. We had a great dinner - we were stuffed, tired and all a bit tipsy so we were home around 10! I know - lame! We never make it out late! I think the latest I'm ever out on St. John is 11 p.m. I much prefer to drink early and often and be home in bed and up early to enjoy every bit of sun!
Day 11 - Tuesday - Boat Day - Born to Rhumb
Today's is our 2nd boat day - did I mention that I love boat days? I do! They are always the best days and that is saying a lot since every day is excellent on St. John!
Suz and I decided that we would run to the boat dock to meet our friends since we didn't leave until 9 am,. This sounded like a great plan! However, it rained, well, let's say it poured at about 8 a.m. We were troopers (or crazy) and decided to still go at about 8:20. Rain had stopped but the roads were slick! The road down from Tesori is steep, steep, steep! We walked down, very slow and very carefully. We then started running but would stop and walk where we felt nervous (say, Jacob's Ladder - gulp!) but we made it! Yeah! We are sweaty and gross and can't wait to snorkel to shower off!
Capt Kevin and his fine mate, Genie met us at 9. Both are totally laid back and great! Their boat fits up to 12 and we were just 7 - the baby and sitter were back at Tesori. We were spread out and very comfortable. He stocks the boat with water, soda and beer - yum! He also makes a mean painkiller in the afternoon. The ride was very smooth and comfortable. Every time we were underway, Emma went down for a nap. We checked in at Soper's Hole Tortola. I was a bit grumpy because I needed a painkiller. It was 9:45 and it was time! We finished up there and went to the Caves on Norman Island to snorkel. This was a first for us. Wow! We didn't have to go anywhere - there were tons of fish all under our boat! We did swim around and into the caves and saw many more (again, I can't identify a single one). But, when we were swimming back, we spotted a turtle! My first to ever see in the water! Fun - we followed him a bit and then off he went.
After snorkeling, we went to Sandy Spit, then lunch at Foxy's (finally, a painkiller for me!) and ended the day at the Soggy Dollar. Wow, it was crowded! There were two cattle boats from St. Thomas in the harbor. I don't remember their names but around 3:30 they blew a conch shell and we were amazed at all the folks that got on board - it seemed never ending!
We drank painkillers and enjoyed the harbor and then headed home. Another wonderful boat day!
Our friends loved Born to Rhumb so much that they cancelled their Oceanrunner for the next day. They had plans to go to Tortola to swim with the dolphins (more later).
We got home to Tesori and the sitter informed us that there was no water. What? We called Kathy from Island Getaways and explained the situation. She was perplexed but sent someone over right away. He was not the 'regular' guy but determined that the cisterns were empty! Apparently there was 5 ft of water in them on Saturday. We had no running toilets or anything - ugh! Kathy felt horrible but couldn't get it fixed that night. I told her - it's okay! It's an island and these things happen. Not all of the housemates felt this way but what could you do. We showered in the pool, made a great dinner of steak and pork and enjoyed the night. Let's face it, this is not the first night that I've retired without a shower. Haven't we all had those very happy hour days that turn into dinner and then too tired for a shower? Well, maybe not all of you, but I have.
So, this is a sad day for our friends as they go home. Michele and I get up early and do our run one last time. We all pack up and check out of Perelandra. The villa rep for our next villa Tesori, is great and agrees to let us go there at 10:30 to drop off the provisions that we have from Perelandra. We dropped Michele and Joe off at Connections to print their boarding passes and told them we'd be back to say good-bye. We headed to Tesori, dropped our bags and provisions off and then back to Cruz Bay to say good-bye. Unfortunately, they had already boarded the 11:15 CA Ferry so we only talked to them on the phone. They had a great week and are already planning on going back with their girls the next time.
Some of the people in our next week's group were already in St. Thomas (they flew from CA the night before and spent one night there). They were due to arrive on a private water taxi at noon. So, we parked the car at Slimman's (since you can't park at St. John Car on the turnaround day) and walked over to the dock to greet them. Our friends, Suzanne, Dave, their one year old and their babysitter arrived at 12:15 (Suz and Dave were married on St John also in May 2006). We were hungry so we headed to the Ocean Grille for fish and pork tacos - these are the best!
After lunch, we went to Hawksnest. Our villa wouldn't be ready until 4 pm so we relaxed and enjoyed the day. At 4, we headed to Tesori. The cleaning people were still there finishing up but they let us 'check in'. Kathy, our great villa rep, had left us a couple of bottles of white wine.
The baby went down for a nap, we unpacked and enjoyed the view! What a view! It's gorgeous! I love being high up. We had great winds and we could see St. Croix in the distance. Tesori is pretty new and has beautiful native stonework, very well furnished and a large pool. The main house has 4 bedrooms all accessed internally. We took the Master and my only negative would be the shower. It's just not very big!. The entire house has AC but during the day, we would turn it off and open up the great room. It has a portico off the great room with very comfy furniture for relaxing in and enjoying the view of the blue Caribbean Sea. The boys went out and grocery shopped at Starfish and the baby woke up - we showered and headed into town for Wagapalooza. Such a fun event! We saw some of the dog competitions - including best lap dog. There was a huge Great Dane that entered and he almost won! We saw Josh from Lion in Da Sun. We kept running into him and we had a running joke that I was stalking him and then, we turned it in to he was stalking us. Such a nice guy! We stayed a bit and then hunger prevailed so we headed to Banana Deck for dinner - figuring it would be a good, kid friendly place and it was. The one waiter was totally amusing the baby and he was a trooper - it was a long day for him and he was great. After dinner, we headed home to watch the stars and the upcoming full moon. Heaven!
Day 9 - Sunday
I love waking up and lying in my bed and looking out over the beautiful blue sea! At Tesori, you are so high, you are actually looking at the clouds and then you look down and bit and there it is - amazing! Started our day with St. John Voodoo coffee and then Suz and I went for a run. So, this was a new run - very tough! Down, down, down Gifft Hill Road, left on South Shore Road and then down, down, into Fish Bay. We ran for 20 minutes then turned around and headed back. Oh, so not fun! Killer hills so we would walk, then stop and regain our breath and then go. We made it - quite an accomplishment but never to be repeated again!
We showered and headed to Miss Lucy's - of course! Remember, I'm a creature of habit and I like to stick to my tried and true good things! We again had a great breakfast - banana pancakes for me and a couple of Mimosa's - breakfast of champions! After our relaxing brunch, we went to Maho. This is a great beach with kids - so easy to access and very easy for the baby to walk on. He's just over one and at that drunk, wobbly walking stage. He loved the sand and just plopped down and played. Another beautiful day in paradise - we had great weather the entire two weeks! Only rain the first Friday and the last Saturday a.m. We had showers overnight - I love those because they are good for the island and the cisterns!.
Our next set of friends was arriving today. A couple that we've known forever and their 7-year-old daughter. This was Vici and Mark's 4th trip to St. John so they totally get it and Emma's first. They called us while we were on Maho to let us know they were in CA having lunch. They were taking the 3 p.m. ferry so we headed back to town to meet them. Turns out, they somehow ended up on a super fast ferry and were in Cruz Bay at 3:30 - lucky dogs! We picked them up at the Ferry dock and took them to Tesori.
They loved the villa too! Emma immediately got in her suit and jumped in the pool. She loved St. John! She found a little lizard by the pool and called it Lizzie and then Liz Ard. She created a game in the pool where she jumped on the floats and if she hit the wall without any effort, it was 'gold'. She also would ask if she would get 'style points' for certain things - she was too funny! She signed the guest book the last day (7 pages!) and called her game 'hit it' - great kid!
Since it was Sunday, I showered up and Ron and I headed to the Beach Bar to meet up with any Forumites that would be there. We saw Nascarfan and his crew and JoePagano and his wife (lucky them are there for 28 days - so jealous!). Ron stayed for a drink or two and then headed back to get our other friends (we had 2 cars but we weren't sure if the family with the baby would be ready to come in). The baby was left home with the sitter and the rest of us hung at the Beach Bar for a bit and then went to dinner at Rhumblines. T-Bird was playing - I love her! I spotted Bob63 and his wife (I recognized him from his avatar). I went over, introduced myself and said hello. I'm sure he was thinking who is this drunk girl and why is she bothering me. Dinner was great and Emma was a champ hanging out with us until after 9. We headed home, put her to bed and ended with drinks and the views of the full moon rising.
Day 10 - Monday
Villa gravity and pool in the morning - very relaxing. We got ready and headed to Gibney. We first stopped at Deli Grotto for sandwiches. I had Trunk Bay chicken on a wrap and the others had either the Grotto Chicken (I think that's what it was) or the Italian. We all loved our lunch.
After another great beach day, we headed home, relaxed, showered and then into town. Our usual stop, Beach Bar for drinks (my standard is either a Corona or a Painkiller) and then Cafe Roma for dinner. Baby and Emma were home with the sitter so this was our first 'adults only' night. We had a great dinner - we were stuffed, tired and all a bit tipsy so we were home around 10! I know - lame! We never make it out late! I think the latest I'm ever out on St. John is 11 p.m. I much prefer to drink early and often and be home in bed and up early to enjoy every bit of sun!
Day 11 - Tuesday - Boat Day - Born to Rhumb
Today's is our 2nd boat day - did I mention that I love boat days? I do! They are always the best days and that is saying a lot since every day is excellent on St. John!
Suz and I decided that we would run to the boat dock to meet our friends since we didn't leave until 9 am,. This sounded like a great plan! However, it rained, well, let's say it poured at about 8 a.m. We were troopers (or crazy) and decided to still go at about 8:20. Rain had stopped but the roads were slick! The road down from Tesori is steep, steep, steep! We walked down, very slow and very carefully. We then started running but would stop and walk where we felt nervous (say, Jacob's Ladder - gulp!) but we made it! Yeah! We are sweaty and gross and can't wait to snorkel to shower off!
Capt Kevin and his fine mate, Genie met us at 9. Both are totally laid back and great! Their boat fits up to 12 and we were just 7 - the baby and sitter were back at Tesori. We were spread out and very comfortable. He stocks the boat with water, soda and beer - yum! He also makes a mean painkiller in the afternoon. The ride was very smooth and comfortable. Every time we were underway, Emma went down for a nap. We checked in at Soper's Hole Tortola. I was a bit grumpy because I needed a painkiller. It was 9:45 and it was time! We finished up there and went to the Caves on Norman Island to snorkel. This was a first for us. Wow! We didn't have to go anywhere - there were tons of fish all under our boat! We did swim around and into the caves and saw many more (again, I can't identify a single one). But, when we were swimming back, we spotted a turtle! My first to ever see in the water! Fun - we followed him a bit and then off he went.
After snorkeling, we went to Sandy Spit, then lunch at Foxy's (finally, a painkiller for me!) and ended the day at the Soggy Dollar. Wow, it was crowded! There were two cattle boats from St. Thomas in the harbor. I don't remember their names but around 3:30 they blew a conch shell and we were amazed at all the folks that got on board - it seemed never ending!
We drank painkillers and enjoyed the harbor and then headed home. Another wonderful boat day!
Our friends loved Born to Rhumb so much that they cancelled their Oceanrunner for the next day. They had plans to go to Tortola to swim with the dolphins (more later).
We got home to Tesori and the sitter informed us that there was no water. What? We called Kathy from Island Getaways and explained the situation. She was perplexed but sent someone over right away. He was not the 'regular' guy but determined that the cisterns were empty! Apparently there was 5 ft of water in them on Saturday. We had no running toilets or anything - ugh! Kathy felt horrible but couldn't get it fixed that night. I told her - it's okay! It's an island and these things happen. Not all of the housemates felt this way but what could you do. We showered in the pool, made a great dinner of steak and pork and enjoyed the night. Let's face it, this is not the first night that I've retired without a shower. Haven't we all had those very happy hour days that turn into dinner and then too tired for a shower? Well, maybe not all of you, but I have.
NancyB
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Robin in NC
- Posts: 332
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 7:19 pm
- Location: Kernersville, NC
So cool to read a trip report of someone who was on the island the same time we were. Apparently, we crossed paths - you were at Maho Sunday, we were there Monday; we were at Cafe Roma Sunday, you were there Monday! And I had every intention of going to the Beach Bar, but something happened...I can't even remember now what it was...that held us up so long that we had to let it go. Sounds like you're having a wonderful trip. Did you read "Keep Left", the book about the building of Tesori? (The author called it a "novel," but that would imply things like, oh, I don't know - a plot?) I think you'd find it especially interesting now that you've stayed there.
Robin
Robin
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nascarfan59
- Posts: 509
- Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 9:24 pm
- Location: Central IL
Robin, I brought the book for my husband the author autographed it but he hasn't read it yet. When I was running in Maria Bluff area the week before, my friend and I actually saw him at his new construction site (we recognized him from the jacket cover).
I'm sure we were somewhere at the same time that week - such a small island! I'm surprised I made it to the Beach Bar both weeks - it's amazing how hard it is to keep on any 'schedule' when on vacation in St. John
I'm sure we were somewhere at the same time that week - such a small island! I'm surprised I made it to the Beach Bar both weeks - it's amazing how hard it is to keep on any 'schedule' when on vacation in St. John
NancyB
PA Girl, turns out that the cistern is so big that they had to rig it so that it would keep the water in one area to be able to pump it out. That rigging had broken and the water was there but too spread out to be pumped out. Once they fixed it (2 times!), it was working again. So, it's the islands and I didn't push on the problem too much - I was just happy it was fixed
Paula, yes, it was crazy to run down those hills but we did it. It was actually less harder than it seemed it would be when driving.
Thank you again for the Born to Rhumb recommedation!
Paula, yes, it was crazy to run down those hills but we did it. It was actually less harder than it seemed it would be when driving.
Thank you again for the Born to Rhumb recommedation!
NancyB
