usvi-on-line
Islands getting busier??? Thoughts???
Apparently the big thing with spring break this year is all the reports of violence in Mexico. Mommy and Daddy don't want their babies going and getting falling down drunk in a place with that much random gunfire.
I rarely hang out in Cruz Bay after dark, but I must say I was shocked by the behavior of tourists on the street the last time I was there later in the evening--all I could think was: "how come there's not more crime and violence?"
SJNJ, although I maybe shouldn't respond to your question on what Lex meant by "Americanized" ---isn't it obvious? To be fair, Americans didn't do it all by themselves--materialism caught on very fast here, and one thing does lead to another.
Small note to whoever mentioned being swamped by 'locals" when trying get off the ferry--that word 'local' is always a difficult one, I suspect you mean the primarily Dominicano/Haitian, heavily illegal construction workers who built all those villas? During the biggest part of the building boom, roughly a thousand of them were commuting over from St. thomas daily.
I rarely hang out in Cruz Bay after dark, but I must say I was shocked by the behavior of tourists on the street the last time I was there later in the evening--all I could think was: "how come there's not more crime and violence?"
SJNJ, although I maybe shouldn't respond to your question on what Lex meant by "Americanized" ---isn't it obvious? To be fair, Americans didn't do it all by themselves--materialism caught on very fast here, and one thing does lead to another.
Small note to whoever mentioned being swamped by 'locals" when trying get off the ferry--that word 'local' is always a difficult one, I suspect you mean the primarily Dominicano/Haitian, heavily illegal construction workers who built all those villas? During the biggest part of the building boom, roughly a thousand of them were commuting over from St. thomas daily.
flip-flop wrote:Definitely not William & Mary. We would never act like that!PA Girl wrote:No, it was in Virginia. I can't remember the name. I recognized it at the time. Not UVA, Virginia Tech or anything like that, a smaller school.GraysonDave wrote:I wonder if that "large Southern university" in this thread was the University of Georgia.Are you sure it wasn't VT! lol. James Madison, Randolph Macon, Mary Washington...would be my 2nd tier bets. VCU is big but not moneyed per se.
Also, as for the parking thing...did you know there was parking behind Mongoose. Like all the way around back. I did not! I thought the only parking was on the side and front. Yes, this was my 7th or 8th trip. Learn something new everytime! Of course, the parking czar was there in the lot. That was a first for me!
Randolph Macon!
Often, when a visitor to our island is being unusually rude, it has to do with alcohol lowering inhibitions. Locals are very used to drunk people and "culturally unaware" tourists, and we live a low-stress life because that stuff doesn't faze us. Most people come and have a good, relaxing time; it's not like the island has been invaded by the epitome of various ugly-tourist stereotypes. If you are seeing more of that behavior, it's simply because there are more people visiting, so it's more likely you'll witness it.
Catbat - that was exactly my sense. The locals (be they west indian, dominican, white, black, whatever) didn't seem phased at all by the insanity. I still loved the ferry guy, "Mellow your tone. Sir, you need to mellow your tone."
I think I noticed it more because 1) it was more crowded and 2) I look more like a tourist than a local and I don't want anyone confusing me with the a$$es!
A warm, genuine smile and a look of empathy when some loon is going off goes a long way in saying "I am not one of them!"
I think I noticed it more because 1) it was more crowded and 2) I look more like a tourist than a local and I don't want anyone confusing me with the a$$es!
A warm, genuine smile and a look of empathy when some loon is going off goes a long way in saying "I am not one of them!"
-
Randy in MD
- Posts: 395
- Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 8:04 am
- Location: Shady Side, MD
When I was a child in the 50's and 60's my family went on vacation to Ocean City, MD every summer. It was relatively small and people dressed up to go out to dinner after a day at the beach. In the 70's I vacationed in the Florida Keys on several occasions and driving through the islands on a 2-lane road was beautiful, fun, and except for the big towns, it was uncrowded. In the 80's I discovered the Outer Banks, and again, you could drive quite a ways on Hatteras Island without seeing anyone else. In the 90's we made our first trips to St. John and were amazed by the unspoiled, uncrowded and beautiful beaches and could easily park in Cruz Bay every evening, without renting from someone who had a free lot. And you know something - all of those places from my past have changed. For those of us who like the uncrowded and unspoiled, things will never be the same in the places we remember so fondly. But Marcia and I have adjusted our expectations, and we've used our experience to seek out as much of the past as possible. We wander a little farther from the beaten path, we enjoy the new restaurants, plan a little, adjust our schedules a little, and much of the magic is still there. This last trip we saw crowds as we've never seen before on St. John. We chalked it up to Spring Break and the Blues Festival. It was a bit disorienting, but everyone we ran into was having fun, and the interactions we had were all good. I guess all I'm saying is that in the world of development, and in the realm of constant change, St. John isn't immune to what's happening everywhere else in the US and in the rest of the world. Better reason than ever to practice and preach a little Peace & Love wherever you go...
So well said. Thank you, Randy.Randy in MD wrote:When I was a child in the 50's and 60's my family went on vacation to Ocean City, MD every summer. It was relatively small and people dressed up to go out to dinner after a day at the beach. In the 70's I vacationed in the Florida Keys on several occasions and driving through the islands on a 2-lane road was beautiful, fun, and except for the big towns, it was uncrowded. In the 80's I discovered the Outer Banks, and again, you could drive quite a ways on Hatteras Island without seeing anyone else. In the 90's we made our first trips to St. John and were amazed by the unspoiled, uncrowded and beautiful beaches and could easily park in Cruz Bay every evening, without renting from someone who had a free lot. And you know something - all of those places from my past have changed. For those of us who like the uncrowded and unspoiled, things will never be the same in the places we remember so fondly. But Marcia and I have adjusted our expectations, and we've used our experience to seek out as much of the past as possible. We wander a little farther from the beaten path, we enjoy the new restaurants, plan a little, adjust our schedules a little, and much of the magic is still there. This last trip we saw crowds as we've never seen before on St. John. We chalked it up to Spring Break and the Blues Festival. It was a bit disorienting, but everyone we ran into was having fun, and the interactions we had were all good. I guess all I'm saying is that in the world of development, and in the realm of constant change, St. John isn't immune to what's happening everywhere else in the US and in the rest of the world. Better reason than ever to practice and preach a little Peace & Love wherever you go...
-
designbyroe
- Posts: 1348
- Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 1:27 pm
- Location: Chilaxin on White Bay at least in my mind
Very well said Randy!Randy in MD wrote:When I was a child in the 50's and 60's my family went on vacation to Ocean City, MD every summer. It was relatively small and people dressed up to go out to dinner after a day at the beach. In the 70's I vacationed in the Florida Keys on several occasions and driving through the islands on a 2-lane road was beautiful, fun, and except for the big towns, it was uncrowded. In the 80's I discovered the Outer Banks, and again, you could drive quite a ways on Hatteras Island without seeing anyone else. In the 90's we made our first trips to St. John and were amazed by the unspoiled, uncrowded and beautiful beaches and could easily park in Cruz Bay every evening, without renting from someone who had a free lot. And you know something - all of those places from my past have changed. For those of us who like the uncrowded and unspoiled, things will never be the same in the places we remember so fondly. But Marcia and I have adjusted our expectations, and we've used our experience to seek out as much of the past as possible. We wander a little farther from the beaten path, we enjoy the new restaurants, plan a little, adjust our schedules a little, and much of the magic is still there. This last trip we saw crowds as we've never seen before on St. John. We chalked it up to Spring Break and the Blues Festival. It was a bit disorienting, but everyone we ran into was having fun, and the interactions we had were all good. I guess all I'm saying is that in the world of development, and in the realm of constant change, St. John isn't immune to what's happening everywhere else in the US and in the rest of the world. Better reason than ever to practice and preach a little Peace & Love wherever you go...
There's no $ sign on a peace of mind, this I've come to know
I echo that and will add two other culprits...This forum(lol...love it Anthony) and the very people that have been and rave about the island to their family and friends.msgcolleen wrote:YOU TOOK THE WORDS RIGHT OUT OF MY MOUTH!!SJfromNJ wrote:I blame it all on Kenny. Its all his fault.
We have a total of 15 in our group this year...3 villas 3 jeeps and it's because they saw our pics and heard us waxing poetically about the island over the past 8 years.
I say we close the forum to those that have been to STJ already...no more Virgins to the Virgins.
That being said, we had no problem in the past 2 days getting lunch and seats and good service at the BB and Skinnys .
But then, Boo and Ingrid are some of the best at what hey do.
Honeymoon wasn't that busy yesterday nor was Hawksnest the day before. But then, we always come during Spring Break with the kids therefore, we would know no different from say an Oct or Nov.
Well just go to Myrtle over the Forth of July that should put crowded into perspective. I agree with Hugo probably the Mexico thing going on right now atributing to crowds if more college kids coming right now.
Ya know I think most of us on this board are probably alot more ecologically friendly than most of your average tourist and really get pissed when we see people harming our little piece of Paradise. A couple trips back I was snorkeling at Hawksnest and noticed a guy started to walk into the coral. Well thought he would stop as he started to get into the thicker stuff, but no he just kept going. Popped my head up threw off my Mask and said hey man ya really shouldn't walk on the coral. Big hulking young guy looked at me and just said yea your right and turned back. Stupid freaking humans amaze me sometimes
May he step on a thousand Sea Urchins 
Hey Bevm come on down in the fall sometime. Beaches all to yourself and I can gaurantee if we meant up it would be a blast. I'm pretty sure my group, you and Crash would be a good fit for some partyin St John Style
Ya know I think most of us on this board are probably alot more ecologically friendly than most of your average tourist and really get pissed when we see people harming our little piece of Paradise. A couple trips back I was snorkeling at Hawksnest and noticed a guy started to walk into the coral. Well thought he would stop as he started to get into the thicker stuff, but no he just kept going. Popped my head up threw off my Mask and said hey man ya really shouldn't walk on the coral. Big hulking young guy looked at me and just said yea your right and turned back. Stupid freaking humans amaze me sometimes
May he step on a thousand Sea Urchins Hey Bevm come on down in the fall sometime. Beaches all to yourself and I can gaurantee if we meant up it would be a blast. I'm pretty sure my group, you and Crash would be a good fit for some partyin St John Style
I guess I either did not pay attention to the other tourists or Oct/Nov is a good time to go. June was good too. Yes STJ is more crowded than ever. I have only been going since 2005 and I have noticed a difference. I am kind of surprised however. Most people I know that want to go on an island vacation want beach front all inclusive with a swim up bar and a lot of entertainment. STJ does not have that but that is what I like about it! I don't like touristy places, crowds and islands where the beautiful landscape is ruined by high rise hotels. I guess maybe there are more people like me out there than I realize. But you'd think that people who appreciate STJ and nature and what STJ has to offer would not be rude.
Another thing I noticed is that the younger generations are rude. Perhaps they were not raised the same way baby boomers and older folks were. Manners are long gone. I see this every day. I guess I really dated myself there!
Another thing I noticed is that the younger generations are rude. Perhaps they were not raised the same way baby boomers and older folks were. Manners are long gone. I see this every day. I guess I really dated myself there!
I'm really happy if there's 2 barstools for BT and me at Shipwreck.
In May 2005 we hiked up Ram Head one morning and by the time we started back down there were 28 people up there, and not from one big group either. That kind of had an effect on me back then as to how busy STJ was getting.
As to rudeness and merchants and servers, many of you have heard this before, but I'm sure not everybody: In 2004 BT and I had spent the morning at Francis Bay and stopped at the Chateau Bordeaux deck to have a tasty beverage. While we were there a taxi pulled up and a very over dressed, haughty wench came in and in a very snotty tone asked the lady bartender, "Do you use fresh fruit in your smoothies?" The server quickly answered, "We're not making any smoothies today," and the broad split, in a huff. Just as the taxi pulled out a rental Suzuki pulled up and a young couple came in and politely asked the bartender if they could get a smoothie here.. The bartender smiled sweetly and asked, "Sure, would you like fresh fruit in your smoothie?" Somehow the memory of this exchange has always made me smile at how cause and effect work sometimes.
In May 2005 we hiked up Ram Head one morning and by the time we started back down there were 28 people up there, and not from one big group either. That kind of had an effect on me back then as to how busy STJ was getting.
As to rudeness and merchants and servers, many of you have heard this before, but I'm sure not everybody: In 2004 BT and I had spent the morning at Francis Bay and stopped at the Chateau Bordeaux deck to have a tasty beverage. While we were there a taxi pulled up and a very over dressed, haughty wench came in and in a very snotty tone asked the lady bartender, "Do you use fresh fruit in your smoothies?" The server quickly answered, "We're not making any smoothies today," and the broad split, in a huff. Just as the taxi pulled out a rental Suzuki pulled up and a young couple came in and politely asked the bartender if they could get a smoothie here.. The bartender smiled sweetly and asked, "Sure, would you like fresh fruit in your smoothie?" Somehow the memory of this exchange has always made me smile at how cause and effect work sometimes.
When you find yourself in a hole.... quit digging.