TR 12/10 to 1/1 STJ & STT---brief report on a laid back
Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2009 4:58 pm
This is a long overdo trip report...but between being busy and plain old procrastination it has taken me this long to go through my pix and find a few that you might want to see....
http://gallery.me.com/byado18#100008
This was the trip to the USVI that took on a life of it's own. Originally, it was to be a week at our timeshare at the Westin (the first time in the very gorgeous 3 BR Bay Vista Unit) and then a week at Gallows. The time share week, our friends were coming along - they had been with us in the old timeshare 3 years ago and feel in love with STJ and were thrilled to return and get a real bed instead of the sofa bed in the old Timeshare! And my partner was going to be with us for the timeshare and then we would have a week at Gallows..... and then came the job transfer within her to a major project that was running late on role out and the cancellation of all vacations including their usual holiday week! After many changes and negotiations to be able to work remotely for 2 days, she got permission to leave from 12/24 to 1/2. And then of course the storm in the midwest complicated that further..........
Sooo...... since some flight tickets had already been purchased, we regrouped and planned on time at the Westin and then the last week at the STT Marriott/Morningstar Beach.
SAINT JOHN AT THE WESTIN
Mostly, it was a hang out on the beach kind of trip -- our friends had dealt with some major job changes and the stress that comes with job searches at age 63.... so we spent a lot of time on the Westin beach We headed to Caneel for one day, and enjoyed the beach and lunch. Since it wasn't too crowded we were able to score lounge chairs and spend several hours there. A 10 year old found the Star fish in the picture and let every one take pictures...he beamed as everyone oohed and ahed as he walked down the beach with his find! We took the boat from the Westin (to the Bath's and snorkeling)....it was my friends first time on a boat, to VG and snorkeling so it was quite an adventure!
We had some amazing dinners and the biggest task of each day was to decide on dinner plans for the evening......The tops for this trip were Zozo's, Paradisio, Rhumblines and Waterfront Bistro. We were pleased with all our meals and service. They liked Zozo's so much that they choose it for their last night's meal!I'm a vegetarian and all the places went out of their way to accommodate me.
ST THOMAS AT THE MARRIOTT-MORNINGSTAR BEACH
Because my partner had to work remotely many fo the days we were in STT, I spent a lot of time on the beach....(reading and playing Scrabble on my iTouch)! It was interesting to see the increase in crowds by the misddle of the trip..... and the longer we were there the earlier people were up "saving" chairs on the beach! I went out snorkeling on the Fury one day...unfortunately my battery hadn' recharges and the pix were limited...... it was one of the days it stormed for several hours so neither the snokeling or sailing were as enjoyable as I would have hoped.
Great meals were had at Old Stone Farmhouse, Herve's and Aqua Blue.......
I was there almost 3 weeks..the longest yet and finally had to come home to way too cold weather --which has continued to get worse and worse...although it's a balmy 27 today!
(feels great after all our minus days!)
I had some impressions of my time on the islands..... the staff at both the Westin and the Marriott were the most friendly I ever remember.... they seemed truly glad that people were there and went out of their way to be welcoming! Everyone commented on how much quieter it was....the first week they were looking forward to the holiday rush but already knew that reservations were down for January on...there was widespread concern about about the impact of the economic downturn....... the cabbies on STT commented on both the decrease in hotel/villa guests but also the significant decrease in the numbers of cruise ships coming into port......At the Westin, I saw more people bringing food from their rooms or the deli rather than eating at the restaurants. The week in STJ, the restaurants seemed much quieter than in the past (we have gone this same week for 5 years)- more people eating in...... It struck me how much trickle down there is with the change in economics..... I hope for all of our sakes but particularly those who are dependent on discretionary spending that things turn around.
As always, the first thing I do when I get home is to start planning next year's trip -- it will be one week at the timeshare and 10 days in a villa when my grown children and their significant others will join us....the search is on for the perfect villa!
Thanks to all of you -- whenever I am on island, I think of all of you.... and all the suggestions that you have made throughout the year..... and to those of you on island, thanks for helping us give back to ;our favorite paradise by keeping us up to date on giving opportunities, fundraisers, etc!
http://gallery.me.com/byado18#100008
This was the trip to the USVI that took on a life of it's own. Originally, it was to be a week at our timeshare at the Westin (the first time in the very gorgeous 3 BR Bay Vista Unit) and then a week at Gallows. The time share week, our friends were coming along - they had been with us in the old timeshare 3 years ago and feel in love with STJ and were thrilled to return and get a real bed instead of the sofa bed in the old Timeshare! And my partner was going to be with us for the timeshare and then we would have a week at Gallows..... and then came the job transfer within her to a major project that was running late on role out and the cancellation of all vacations including their usual holiday week! After many changes and negotiations to be able to work remotely for 2 days, she got permission to leave from 12/24 to 1/2. And then of course the storm in the midwest complicated that further..........
Sooo...... since some flight tickets had already been purchased, we regrouped and planned on time at the Westin and then the last week at the STT Marriott/Morningstar Beach.
SAINT JOHN AT THE WESTIN
Mostly, it was a hang out on the beach kind of trip -- our friends had dealt with some major job changes and the stress that comes with job searches at age 63.... so we spent a lot of time on the Westin beach We headed to Caneel for one day, and enjoyed the beach and lunch. Since it wasn't too crowded we were able to score lounge chairs and spend several hours there. A 10 year old found the Star fish in the picture and let every one take pictures...he beamed as everyone oohed and ahed as he walked down the beach with his find! We took the boat from the Westin (to the Bath's and snorkeling)....it was my friends first time on a boat, to VG and snorkeling so it was quite an adventure!
We had some amazing dinners and the biggest task of each day was to decide on dinner plans for the evening......The tops for this trip were Zozo's, Paradisio, Rhumblines and Waterfront Bistro. We were pleased with all our meals and service. They liked Zozo's so much that they choose it for their last night's meal!I'm a vegetarian and all the places went out of their way to accommodate me.
ST THOMAS AT THE MARRIOTT-MORNINGSTAR BEACH
Because my partner had to work remotely many fo the days we were in STT, I spent a lot of time on the beach....(reading and playing Scrabble on my iTouch)! It was interesting to see the increase in crowds by the misddle of the trip..... and the longer we were there the earlier people were up "saving" chairs on the beach! I went out snorkeling on the Fury one day...unfortunately my battery hadn' recharges and the pix were limited...... it was one of the days it stormed for several hours so neither the snokeling or sailing were as enjoyable as I would have hoped.
Great meals were had at Old Stone Farmhouse, Herve's and Aqua Blue.......
I was there almost 3 weeks..the longest yet and finally had to come home to way too cold weather --which has continued to get worse and worse...although it's a balmy 27 today!
(feels great after all our minus days!)I had some impressions of my time on the islands..... the staff at both the Westin and the Marriott were the most friendly I ever remember.... they seemed truly glad that people were there and went out of their way to be welcoming! Everyone commented on how much quieter it was....the first week they were looking forward to the holiday rush but already knew that reservations were down for January on...there was widespread concern about about the impact of the economic downturn....... the cabbies on STT commented on both the decrease in hotel/villa guests but also the significant decrease in the numbers of cruise ships coming into port......At the Westin, I saw more people bringing food from their rooms or the deli rather than eating at the restaurants. The week in STJ, the restaurants seemed much quieter than in the past (we have gone this same week for 5 years)- more people eating in...... It struck me how much trickle down there is with the change in economics..... I hope for all of our sakes but particularly those who are dependent on discretionary spending that things turn around.
As always, the first thing I do when I get home is to start planning next year's trip -- it will be one week at the timeshare and 10 days in a villa when my grown children and their significant others will join us....the search is on for the perfect villa!
Thanks to all of you -- whenever I am on island, I think of all of you.... and all the suggestions that you have made throughout the year..... and to those of you on island, thanks for helping us give back to ;our favorite paradise by keeping us up to date on giving opportunities, fundraisers, etc!
