I did it again...

[LysaC]

I tried to visit another island but found all sorts of flaws when compared to STJ! I'll never visit another island in my life. Unless of course it's one of the BVI's while on a charter from ST JOHN!!

Damn it!

I guess we'll be coming back to STJ in January- as long as there's still an affordable place to stay and a car to rent and we haven't spent all our money on the septic system/oil heat/new fence/Mohegan Sun weekend coming up ...

Now it's time to make reservations- S*!t or get off the pot as my Mom would say!

Now where's my valium for the flight...

FYI to all you newbies- staying on STJ during the high season is disgustingly overpriced vs. the low/shoulder season. We are looking at January this year and OMG! the price increases for high season. I saw one villa at $1550 low season jump to $2800 high season.

[mbw1024]

where'd ya go?

[SuefromMA]

Lysa,

I am right there with you!! We, too, "ventured out" and went to another island. (At some time - might even post a few pics.) Anyway - spent most of the trip comparing it to St. John & not even coming close.

Some beautiful sites, some GREAT restaurants - but, too many people, too many cars, beaches no where near as beautiful, snorkeling - don't even talk about it and, in a nutshell, just NOT St. John.

I don't think we were even back 2 weeks before I had our next trip to St. John (in April of '09) all booked (with a little sidetrip first to Virgin Gorda).

So, "Yes" - get right on those plans. You will feel SO MUCH BETTER after. Oh - and the best thing - GET that new ticker going!!

WooHoo!

Sue (a fellow New Englander)

[DELETED]

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[California Girl]

I had the same reaction to Grand Cayman. As you said, it just ain't St. John! I haven't been everywhere, but for my money, nothing comes even close to comparing to STJ!

[LysaC]

Oh, I didn't actually go anywhere. I was just researching different places- Vieques, Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Outer Islands of the Bahamas.

It was like that Seinfeld episode- I always found something wrong with these other options. No direct flight, no rental cars, no ATM's, no blah blah blah.

Hubby and I are actually coming to the realization that we might have to skip STJ again this year. We have some impending & expensive house issues that will have to be dealt with soon. Oh, and we have oil heat. Ugh!

His family owns a home in residential Daytona so we might do a coupla nights in Orlando then explore the Daytona area. So far, I love Seaworld, Gatorland , and various natural springs along the St Johns river (ironic ain't it).

We'll see.

Daytona Beach looks boring as all get out. One flat boring beach. Anyone have any suggestions for "big nature" near Daytona?

[nothintolose]

I have to say, I have never been to another island but everytime we think about it or talk about it, we end up deciding that going to STJ for our first island totally spoiled us on others.

The only other islands I ever even seem to consider are other islands in the BVI chain.

Everytime I hear about condos and highrises all along a beach, having to dress up to go out, tons of people, or having to charter a boat to go snorkleling, I just go back to thinking about STJ.

[Berlingirl]

Lysa..

Right up there with you on the expensive home repairs and the oil heat...it's pathetic we have no other options. I planned for next April before we got out of May because I knew we'd be getting a tank topping mid summer and then we'd be back to reality...so now...we're going no matter what! Our vaca to the USVI is just about our only certainty this coming year...

Sorry, no Daytona advice...we actually don't have any family that has any type of vacation home anywhere so guess that's a good thing in a weird sort of way. Hope you have a good time in FL!

[Schnell]

Daytona Beach looks boring as all get out. One flat boring beach. Anyone have any suggestions for "big nature" near Daytona?

First off the Daytona beaches imo are too packed. We usually stray away from them and head south towards ponce inlet or new smyrna.

Just a few ideas of Nature things to do in the Daytona area...You could do a kayak tour/rental in the backwaters of ponce inlet. There are a lot of people that do the tours in the area. Never actually taken a tour since family of mine lives on the backwaters and has boat/ski/canoe/kayaks. There is also a nice park at the Ponce Inlet Jetty along with a small marine eco station there too. There also is the silver springs area out by Ocala. Its about an hour or so ride from Daytona area. The Canaveral National seashore is about 30-40 minutes south of Daytona beaches. Some nice beaches down there. There is also a bird sanctuary on the Canaveral property. In Ormond Beach area just north of Daytona there is the "loop" which is a big loop through backwaters/creek area. Some nice canopy covered roads back there that show you a bit what old FL was like.

There really is a lot of nature stuff in the area, you just have to seek it out. Its not in your face like the famous beach and the cars going in circles

[LysaC]

Thank you Schnell! That's exactly the info I was looking for!

Since we are there in Janaury, we won't be into the beach so much or swimming but I'm a big fan of tidepools and marine life and exploring flora & fauna that doesn't exist in New England.

I'm psyched to see a manatee!

[toni]

Husband and I are flying to Orlando on Saturday and driving to Daytona. My mom lived in Port Orange (south of Daytona) for a long time before she passed away years ago; we try to get down there every so often to see her friends. I like Daytona-sure it's not STJ, but the beach is great for long long walks which is nice,especially at dawn/dusk. As mentioned it's definitely better down south of Daytona as far as crowds go. My grandparents came down for years and I loved looking at the old time pictures-practically every motel was a mom/pop efficiency type place. That's changed! From what I remember it was fun driving along A1A up towards St. Augustine too-lots of uncrowded stretches of beach.

Vacation's what you make of it-hope you have a great time!