USVI-On-Line

Loving it Minde!

Love the TR & pics keeps my mind off this cold winter !!! Keep m coming !!!

I am really enjoying your report and pictures, Minde. Thanks for sharing your trip with us.

Again, great pictures Minde, how was the water temperature? Looking forward to more of your TR

Myheart, the water temps were fine. In the very early morning (8am) it was a bit cool, but I'd brought a shorty wet suit in case it was cold, and never felt a use for it. Of course, I wasn't in the water as much as usual.

Love, love, LOVING this trip report! What a sweet visit with your daughter! Thank you for sharing! Looking forward to more installments!

thanks for posting.....haven't been on the forum much recently...but so glad I caught your report!!!!!

can't wait for you to finish........really enjoying...

it's so nice to know the locations of the pictures since I have been there before! really makes a difference when reading the reports.....

glad you enjoyed.....

Thank you for sharing! Looking so forward to more installments!

Keep them coming Mindy! Loving these!

Loving your trip report. Loving how you went out of your comfort zone and did this on
your own with your daughter!

After a quick stop at Sam and Jack’s (which doesn’t open until 9am – late for us!), we were off to Maho on Saturday morning.


Jillian played around with the camera, trying to get one of those half-in/half-out of the water shots.

I went in for a float, but again, didn’t see much, until I ran across this on my way back to our “camp:”


Yay! It took Maho to get Jillian finally in the water and swimming! We played in the water until lunch time, hung up the gear and enjoyed our Sam and Jacks lunch.


And my all time favorite beach treat – Tiramisu!!!


Between her runs at Francis, hike down to Dolphin and walks on the beach this morning, my girl was getting so sore from chafing, so we headed to Chelsea to see what they had. We asked an attendant in the pharmacy itself, and she went looking around for ideas, but another local employee knew just what we needed and brought it to us. I was hoping for some sport – glide stuff, but this lady brought us a pink bottle of powder and assured us that this was the magic fix. (She turned out to be absolutely right)
We went home and cleaned up, then parked at Slim Man’s lot to walk around Cruz Bay. Hanging out in Cruz Bay was one of Jillian’s favorite things to do on St. John. I hadn’t done a whole lot of that on past trips, so it was mostly new and interesting for me. We hit up St. John Spice – for so long that I had to go sit outside cause my legs were aching. Thank you, Ruth, for having the foresight to put that bench up there! Then we stopped at High Tide for some conch fritters and drinks.



We walked down to the Visitor’s Center to try to make reservations for the Reef Bay hike, and were directed across the street to the Friends of the National Park store, and found the best we could do was be added to the waiting list. Make your reservations before you get here, if you’re coming in high season! While at the Visitor’s center, I found out where the Lind Point trail starts, which has always been a mystery to me. I took a couple of pics to show anyone else who doesn’t know. It’s up these steps:


Behind this pavilion:


Now we were refreshed and comfortable, and decided to take a little drive, to see what was beyond the gas station. We made it as far as an intersection to a road that goes to Fish Bay, when I confused the heck out of a guy. There was an intersection and I was trying to remember what Pam Gaffin’s book had said about it. You could take a sharp left, a sort-of left or (I believe) a sort of right. I couldn’t remember, so I stopped with no traffic behind me, and was thinking (I know – I’m a dunce). I didn’t notice that a man coming from the far left was waiting for me. He honked. I looked up and waved him on, but he wouldn’t go. I said I don’t know where I am! He pointed toward my right and said “Fish Bay!” I still didn’t know what to do, so I put my hands up in the air and waved him on again, but he still wouldn’t go. Finally, he hollered “WHAT are you going TO DO?” So I went right, toward Fish Bay. I’m sorry, sir, that this Lost-Ass-New-Yorker held you up! And I thank you for letting me know where I was heading! At this point, I was afraid of getting lost, so we drove just a couple of minutes, turned around and went home! My conclusion was that what was past the gas station was not scary, but I need to look at some maps or something and make a mental picture, before we venture back there.
Here’s a little proof that we went “beyond the gas station” :




Yes, that was a cliff. No, we didn’t cross the line. We went home and were relieved to find Sunny (the caretaker of Cruz Views) there. Jillian had managed to empty the coconut water from the coconut (skewers and a meat fork), and had managed to crack the coconut in ½ (rocks from the driveway), but she couldn’t grate the coconut, which was part of her plan. Sunny retrieved his cutlass from his truck and broke it into pieces she could grate. He’s a darned good guy. I’m so glad to know he’s there. He knows everything!
I heated up our dinner (brought from home), and Jillian grated and toasted the coconut. We called home and told our day’s stories, then once again went to bed very early.

You all had some fun filled days, for sure!! Makes me homesick just reading about it!!

Mindehankins,

I have been enjoying your travelogue. I would like your take on the roads in STJ. I have a problem with cliff-side driving. It is not absolutely terrible...I live in Colorado Springs, and drive throughout the state, but always inquire first, and never drive a pass I haven't done before without some photos or very good second hand advice. Examples: I can't drive the Pacific Coast Highway in many stretches. It is the really steep drop-offs with vast expanses of nothingness on the downside that bother me. The pass to Aspen, for example. Have you driven over to Coral Bay? What is that road like? I have no problem with, say, the Blue Ridge Parkway in any stretch. Are there any really breathtaking drop offs when taking that road across the center of the island?

I may start this as a thread of its own...

Thanks

Really enjoying your TR and pics! Glad to see Jillian got in at Maho. My mother is very timid about getting in the water and I'm hoping Maho will lure her in as well! How are the conch fritters at High Tide? It's my favorite place to get a cocktail in Cruz Bay, but I've never ordered the fritters there. I admit, I'm a little picky about my conch fritters (love the ones at Aqua Bistro the best), so I'm always hesitant about ordering them and being disappointed.

Daniel - I responded to your other thread. The only actual "cliff" that stands out is the one we photographed. If you ask about cliffs enroute to your accomodations, I'm confident someone will know the road and respond, but for general getting around, no problems!
Michigangirls - We enjoyed them. We enjoyed them. I've only had Miss Vie's fritters in the past. These were good and the setting awesome. If going to St. John with water-phobes/fish-phobes in the future, I'd head directly to Maho. That WAS my plan initially, but the water was high when we arrived.