What is STJ missing?

pipanale · Post by **pipanale** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 1:46 pm

A zipline tour. That would be awesome.

mindehankins · Post by **mindehankins** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 4:42 pm

St. John is perfect! It would be really neat, though, if there was a place where people who plan to return again and again could store a few things.

AnyTing · Post by **AnyTing** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 9:33 am

A casual place where you can get lobster or fish grilled up and served to you on a paper plate in the open air. Most other islands I've been to have such a creature. STJ is the only one I've been to where you can only find lobster in the nice restaurants with a healthy price tag.

And y'all know I can eat my weight in lobster.

Diana2 · Post by **Diana2** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 9:37 am

mindehankins wrote:St. John is perfect! It would be really neat, though, if there was a place where people who plan to return again and again could store a few things.

I second this one, Minde. I've always thought that would be a great service to provide us STJ addicts. If we could just leave our snorkle gear and beach chairs, that would eliminate one suitcase and I'd gladly rent a locker if it were available.

Pete (Mr. Marcia) · Post by **Pete (Mr. Marcia)** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 10:51 am

VickiH wrote:A casual place where you can get lobster or fish grilled up and served to you on a paper plate in the open air. Most other islands I've been to have such a creature. STJ is the only one I've been to where you can only find lobster in the nice restaurants with a healthy price tag.

And y'all know I can eat my weight in lobster.

The shuttered structure at Maho would be a perfect location.

DELETED · Post by **DELETED** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 11:00 am

DELETED

jmq · Post by **jmq** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 11:09 am

VickiH wrote:A casual place where you can get lobster or fish grilled up and served to you on a paper plate in the open air. Most other islands I've been to have such a creature. STJ is the only one I've been to where you can only find lobster in the nice restaurants with a healthy price tag.

And y'all know I can eat my weight in lobster.

You mean like this place in Anegada where they pull them out of the water and cook ‘em on a “grill” made out of a cut in half 55 gal drum?

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/KK ... site"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_8poT_jdtsYw/SGLAN ... 0.JPG"></a>

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/aA ... site"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_8poT_jdtsYw/SGuwT ... 7.JPG"></a>

toes in the sand · Post by **toes in the sand** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 11:31 am

I think that in the case of StJ, less is better.

Exit Zero · Post by **Exit Zero** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 12:49 pm

Lobster Fisherman cannot afford to live on St John anymore since the property values, taxes and utility costs have gotten too high for them and the NPS has limited where they can haul traps or even keep their boat.

California Girl · Post by **California Girl** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 2:06 pm

Isn't it amazing? You would think the NPS would preserve the island for the people who are born & raised there, but so many mega-mansions have been built on the remaining land that it has resulted in over-crowding (too many villas pushed too close together) and resulting in the "natives" having to move off-island to survive as they always did in the past. That's kind of sad, don't you think?

flip-flop · Post by **flip-flop** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 2:13 pm

Pete (Mr. Marcia) wrote:
VickiH wrote:A casual place where you can get lobster or fish grilled up and served to you on a paper plate in the open air. Most other islands I've been to have such a creature. STJ is the only one I've been to where you can only find lobster in the nice restaurants with a healthy price tag.

And y'all know I can eat my weight in lobster.
The shuttered structure at Maho would be a perfect location.

My 7YO has her eye on a Maho Beach Snack Shack! Maybe I can retire there afterall. I'll tell her you've requested grilled lobster, V!

djmom · Post by **djmom** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 2:21 pm

I know what it is missing but I'm not telling because I want to move down and open it!

Gromit · Post by **Gromit** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 5:06 pm

Interesting topic.

A better local transit system. VI Transit is unpredictable at best.

While I love to rent a jeep and explore, the environmentalist in me thinks that this really isn't sustainable over time.

It would be really neat to get some for of hybrid-electric buses -- painted in super fun colors -- that ran on 10 minute headways all around the island. People could buy a pass based on the number of days they are there and use the buses as much as they want over those days. The schedule should be simple and easy to understand. And name the routes fun names so they were easy to remember.

I know the taxi drivers wouldn't be too keen on this but honestly I think people would use it as long as they knew they wouldn't have to wait more than 10 minutes for a bus and as long as they were small, clean and fun.

Fun bus shelters designed to keep folks out of the sun and dry would also help. Local artists could each adopt a different shelter and be responsible for a unique design.

Just a thought....

lprof · Post by **lprof** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 5:34 pm

Gromit wrote: It would be really neat to get some for of hybrid-electric buses -- painted in super fun colors -- that ran on 10 minute headways all around the island. People could buy a pass based on the number of days they are there and use the buses as much as they want over those days. The schedule should be simple and easy to understand. And name the routes fun names so they were easy to remember.

Gromit, I like your thinking on this!

Apparently some thought has been given to similar ideas - from http://barnako.typepad.com/news_of_st_j ... aches.html

July 30, 2009
Park boss wants beach shuttle
Repaving of the North Shore Road is on track to begin in the fall, according to the Park's Superintendent.

Rotary_logo Mark Hardgrove told a meeting of St. John Rotary that bids for the work came in 25% less than budgeted.. This means, he said, the project can be expanded to include more repaving and include road behind the NPS building in Cruz Bay, the St. John Source said in its report of the meeting.
The Superintendent also said he’s hoping to enlist island taxi drivers in establishing shuttle transportation to the beaches. He’d like to see a system that would let people get on and off vehicles along the way. he said this would reduce parking problems and congestion at Trunk Bay as well as increase the drivers' income because they’d be driving more and waiting less.

Read the full St. John Source story at http://stjohnsource.com/content/news/lo ... g-tap-park

stjohnjulie · Post by **stjohnjulie** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 5:39 pm

On the lobster votes...the "Beach Party Every Other Sunday" is a good place to get it. It's on a limited schedule, but it's still an option. And no, the price of rent/lease/land doesn't allow for this sort of thing so easy.

Calif. Girl, here here!

As far as any kind of subsidized/government assisted anything on St. John...well, no time soon. Almost all of our tax dollars goes right into the STT coffers. A lot of people have been trying for a lot of years to get the STT/STJ district separated without much luck. Even if we got every registered voter on St. John to vote to have the district separated we would still lose. Hard to fight when STJ has 10% the population of STT. A lot of the funding for these sorts of things come from private donations and grass roots efforts.

I really appreciate the responses on this thread. I was a little afraid to read it, but I am pleased by how caring you all can be. THANKS!

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What is STJ missing?