How did you get (caribbean) salt water in your blood?

[dctac]

[dtenel]

I was fortuanate enough to go every year with my parents starting when I was in Kindergarden Man....that was like 30 years ago the first time we ever put our feet on the dock of a boat! I remember it like it was yesterday as well! Our first trip we bare boated around the outer islands of the Bahamas. After that we started doing the BVI/USVI and I have never turned back! I remember the days when Road Town was just a little town off the beaten track and cruise shipped were only in STT.

The funny thing is the first time I ever saw a coconut in the raw was on JVD and one of Foxy's bartendars cut one down from the tree and showed me how to open it. The first time we took our daughters with us, it was the same exact location and another bartendar from Foxy's that showed them how it is done! Nothing compares to having your kids catch the island fever like we have


Sadly, we are now land based as dear 'ol dad can no longer captain a boat....and there is no way I can go to a crewed charter after all the years of it being just the family! BUT...we go to STT every year....hubby, parents, and I and make millions of new memories. The minute I step off that plane, I truly feel as if I am "home." One sniff of that salty air is all it takes. Our girls are 13 and 15....and in a few years hubby and I will sell our business, house, ect and move to the islands!

[NCSue]

Always have loved the ocean. Hubby is more the winter vacation type - too bad he married me!!! No winter vacays for me! We were at his Christmas party one year, he was drawing names out of a hat for THE door prize.......two airline tickets anywhere American flew (non European). Low and behold - HE DREW HIS OWN NAME!!! He thought about putting it back in and drawing again - I immediately threatened him with life and limb!!! So - several stops to the travel agent, many hours researching......we found St. John! Since then, we've had 4 more trips - taking our two kids back and other family members. I'll echo what someone else said - seeing your kids catch the St. John fever is AMAZING!

[kma27]

Back in March 1996 my mother belonged to RCI and said she'd give me a week anywhere I wanted to go and we were thinking about an October vacation; believe it or not, I took the RCI book and looked everywere that was tropical and the ONLY places available were on STT! Can you believe that? That being said, we decided on Bluebeard's Castle and have been hooked on STT ever since. Thereafter, we bought our unit in 1999 and have been going back once and sometimes twice a year. Once you see that water, you are hooked, as all of you know.

[michigancouple]

In 2007 we had enough frequent flyer miles to barely squeak out 2 roundtrip tickets on NWA. I just did a broad search of “sunny/beach” places and STT was one of the locations that came up that we had enough miles for. I really knew nothing about the place except that my parents had stopped there once on a cruise ship. We took a look at STT on a map, learned that the weather was always pretty terrific and booked the trip. We loved it and vowed we would return in 2 years. 2009 was our 2nd trip and just this past March I took my adult daughters on a mom/daughter trip. I have told my family that if everyone can decide what their own heaven will be like, this place is what mine is going to be. I feel so at peace and happy in my soul when I am there.

[pswlrw]

I was 18 and a friend asked if I wanted to go on a vacation with her to St. Thomas. I said "sure". We went and had a blast staying at the old Virgin Isle Hotel (and spent a day on St. John). When we got home she said, "We should move there". I said "Okay". We rented a house over the phone, packed some Kraft Mac n Cheese in our suitcases, and with $100 in my pocket, I moved to the Virgin Islands.

I lived on St. Thomas for 3 years, bartending at the old Sparky's on the waterfront (and the one at the awesome old airport - RIP). This was in 1979 so there were no cell phones, people didn't have the internet and I never did have a phone in any house I lived in. What a fabulous 3 years. It was a totally different world from my Boston suburb. I met so many characters and made so many wonderful friends (including the man I would marry!).

We went back a few times over the next few years for weddings, etc. Fast forward to 2000 when I rented a house on St. John for my 40th and have been going back (almost) every year since.

Like all of you, when I step off the plane I feel the immediate muscle relaxation of the caribbean - it's heat, it's people and it's magic. But I also feel the sweet nostaglia of my youth and I remember that that kick ass chick of 18 who took on the world still lives inside me.

[augie]

Osmosis

[dctac]

Great reads....

[Puddlejumper]

A yacht delivery took me to Tortola from NC. Once in Soper's Hole, I was hooked. I was raised on the water in eastern NC, but had never seen anything like Caribbean water before this trip. It took me a little over a year to move to STJ after that delivery. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat!

Great memories. Made some life long friends too.