Trip Report 1/28 to 2/2
Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 8:43 am
Trip Report
Thursday, January 28th we arrived on St. Tomas after getting out of town with a snowstorm chasing us down the highway from Maine into Boston where, by the time we got there the snow had turned to rain. We had reservations at the Marriott Frenchman's Reef for 3 nights using our timeshare points. We got to our room, did a little unpacking then down to the Sunset Bar for our first dark and diet with lime. We had made a reservation at Havana Blue for that evening and it did not disappoint. I had the Miso and Lemongrass glazed sea bass and mrdndw/l had the Serrano Wrapped Mahi Mahi. We started with an appetizer of small scoops of guacamole, black bean spread and a mango salsa served with plaintain chips. I had a delicious salad that, even though the menu described it as a jalapeno dressing, it was very mild and delicious. Oh, and mrdndw/l had mahi mahi ceviche.
On Friday we had coffee in our room then down to Coco Joe's for breakfast. We shared the fresh fruit plate with honey lime yogurt and a bagel. The fruit plate was lovely but way too much for us to finish. Mango, canteloupe, honedew, strawberries, grapes, pineapple. After breakfast we spent the day at the pool by the beach. We just lazed by the pool reading and just chilling. Lunch for me was a Caesar salad with grilled chicken (way too much dressing) and mr had a cheeseburger. Dinner that night was at Oceana in downtown St. Thomas. We discovered this restaurant about 3 years ago and it, along with Havana Blue, has become a favorite. I had the fish special of the evening. Pan seared halibut with roasted potatoes and caramelized onions, finished with a crab salad. It was delicious. Rib eye steak for mrdndw/l. Both dishes amazing. If anyone ever finds themselves on St. T I highly recommend both these restaurants.
Saturday found us doing the same thing. Coffee in our room. Let me digress here for a moment: We love a room with a balcony so we can sit out and enjoy our morning coffee, but when we asked for an upgrade to an ocean view room we were told that yes there was availability but we would have to pay an additional $115/night. So, instead, we opened the slider, pulled the two chairs over in front of the open window and pretended to be on a balcony!!! Coco Joe's for the fresh fruit and bagel sharing and back to the pool. Kind of boring here folks but we lounged and lazed and read all day here too. Back to Havana Blue for dinner. I had mahi mahi with sauteed sea asparagus and tempura coated and fried French fries. It was good but the sea bass was much better. Loved the sea asparagus but the tempura fries were definitely not worth the calories. Mrdndw/l had the pork chop served with sauteed veggies and chorizo. He loved it!
Now on to Sunday!!!! And we're off to our favorite place in the whole world and, people, I think you know where I'm talking about. Breakfast of a bagel and coffee by our 'balcony', pack up and we are on the 11am ferry to St John!!! YAY!! In the taxi ride from the hotel to Red Hook (we like the Red Hook ferry better than CA) we met a couple from New Jersey who were also staying at the Marriott and were on their way to St J for the day. The were renting a car and exploring. We made a few suggestions for some of our favorites and then we went our separate ways.
We are staying at Mahogany Tree Villa. I found it through a thread on this forum thank you very much! The forum thread was "places you have stayed on St. John" or something like that. Anyway, we are in Azul de Mare. It's small but clean as a whistle and Jeff & Candy (although we have not met Candy yet) couldn't be nicer. We called Jeff from the hotel to let him know that we were taking the 11am ferry. Candy was in the middle of changing over the rooms and our room would not be ready until 2ish but he would meet us at the dock, take our luggage and come back for us when the room was ready. Not a problem for us. Off to the Beach Bar for us! I had my dark and diet with lime and mr had a painkiller. Ah, yes! We are back. We shared a cheeseburger for lunch and then walked to the Starfish Market for some supplies. Because of our close location to Cruz Bay, we decided not rent a car and walk into town and hope to take taxis to the beach and back. Jeff picked us up at Starfish and brought us back to the villa. We unpacked and headed back to the Beach Bar for Jazz night. I had emailed a bunch of friends and family to log onto the St John Spice Cam at 5pm St. John time and we would wave to them and write a message in the sand. The Beach Bar was getting pretty crowded and we figured we'd lose our chairs if we just left them there to get to the spice cam so we brought the chairs with us!! Got a few stares from folks at Joe's Rum Hut and Waterfront Bistro as we drqgged the chairs down the beach but oh well. We waved to our peeps back home and talked to some of them on the phone and wrote a message in the sand. Did anyone seet it?
It was this:
Xoxo
J&j
We (heart) you
Back to the Beach Bar where, if there were any forumites there last night, we missed meeting them. But I did see St. John Ruth and Ron with the two guys from Bongo Bongo. Said hi to them and they continued on their way. We met a nice couple from Iowa who are here for six weeks! Six weeks people! We had a great time sharing St. J stories and then the four of us went upstairs to The Balcony for a bite to eat. Now, we have been coming to St. J for a long time. The first time was for our 25th wedding anniversary which was 15 years ago today. We skipped a few years but have been coming back for the last 8 or so years every year and 25 years ago Pusser's was where The Balcony is today. I don't know why but we have not been to The Balcony in the last 8 years or so. The food was really good. I had the garlic ginger chicken satay skewers and a delicious salad with blue cheese, candied walnuts, poached pears dressed in balsamic and mrdndw/l had crab cakes and the same salad. I think we'll be back and I recommend it. Our new Iowa friends have offered to take us around looking at some two bedroom houses for us to check out for next year. We are going with the on Tuesday.
Today is our 40th wedding anniversary. Lord, where does the time go?! Happy Anniversary mrdndw/l. Having coffee on our little deck right now. He's reading and I'm typing away. We think we'll head out to Hawksnest today. Hawksnest has a very special place in our hearts. It was the first beach we stopped at on our first morning here fifteen years ago. I can still remember how I felt when we walked out onto that beach. The color of the water.....well, you all know what I'm talking about.
Off to breakfast and the beach.
Thursday, January 28th we arrived on St. Tomas after getting out of town with a snowstorm chasing us down the highway from Maine into Boston where, by the time we got there the snow had turned to rain. We had reservations at the Marriott Frenchman's Reef for 3 nights using our timeshare points. We got to our room, did a little unpacking then down to the Sunset Bar for our first dark and diet with lime. We had made a reservation at Havana Blue for that evening and it did not disappoint. I had the Miso and Lemongrass glazed sea bass and mrdndw/l had the Serrano Wrapped Mahi Mahi. We started with an appetizer of small scoops of guacamole, black bean spread and a mango salsa served with plaintain chips. I had a delicious salad that, even though the menu described it as a jalapeno dressing, it was very mild and delicious. Oh, and mrdndw/l had mahi mahi ceviche.
On Friday we had coffee in our room then down to Coco Joe's for breakfast. We shared the fresh fruit plate with honey lime yogurt and a bagel. The fruit plate was lovely but way too much for us to finish. Mango, canteloupe, honedew, strawberries, grapes, pineapple. After breakfast we spent the day at the pool by the beach. We just lazed by the pool reading and just chilling. Lunch for me was a Caesar salad with grilled chicken (way too much dressing) and mr had a cheeseburger. Dinner that night was at Oceana in downtown St. Thomas. We discovered this restaurant about 3 years ago and it, along with Havana Blue, has become a favorite. I had the fish special of the evening. Pan seared halibut with roasted potatoes and caramelized onions, finished with a crab salad. It was delicious. Rib eye steak for mrdndw/l. Both dishes amazing. If anyone ever finds themselves on St. T I highly recommend both these restaurants.
Saturday found us doing the same thing. Coffee in our room. Let me digress here for a moment: We love a room with a balcony so we can sit out and enjoy our morning coffee, but when we asked for an upgrade to an ocean view room we were told that yes there was availability but we would have to pay an additional $115/night. So, instead, we opened the slider, pulled the two chairs over in front of the open window and pretended to be on a balcony!!! Coco Joe's for the fresh fruit and bagel sharing and back to the pool. Kind of boring here folks but we lounged and lazed and read all day here too. Back to Havana Blue for dinner. I had mahi mahi with sauteed sea asparagus and tempura coated and fried French fries. It was good but the sea bass was much better. Loved the sea asparagus but the tempura fries were definitely not worth the calories. Mrdndw/l had the pork chop served with sauteed veggies and chorizo. He loved it!
Now on to Sunday!!!! And we're off to our favorite place in the whole world and, people, I think you know where I'm talking about. Breakfast of a bagel and coffee by our 'balcony', pack up and we are on the 11am ferry to St John!!! YAY!! In the taxi ride from the hotel to Red Hook (we like the Red Hook ferry better than CA) we met a couple from New Jersey who were also staying at the Marriott and were on their way to St J for the day. The were renting a car and exploring. We made a few suggestions for some of our favorites and then we went our separate ways.
We are staying at Mahogany Tree Villa. I found it through a thread on this forum thank you very much! The forum thread was "places you have stayed on St. John" or something like that. Anyway, we are in Azul de Mare. It's small but clean as a whistle and Jeff & Candy (although we have not met Candy yet) couldn't be nicer. We called Jeff from the hotel to let him know that we were taking the 11am ferry. Candy was in the middle of changing over the rooms and our room would not be ready until 2ish but he would meet us at the dock, take our luggage and come back for us when the room was ready. Not a problem for us. Off to the Beach Bar for us! I had my dark and diet with lime and mr had a painkiller. Ah, yes! We are back. We shared a cheeseburger for lunch and then walked to the Starfish Market for some supplies. Because of our close location to Cruz Bay, we decided not rent a car and walk into town and hope to take taxis to the beach and back. Jeff picked us up at Starfish and brought us back to the villa. We unpacked and headed back to the Beach Bar for Jazz night. I had emailed a bunch of friends and family to log onto the St John Spice Cam at 5pm St. John time and we would wave to them and write a message in the sand. The Beach Bar was getting pretty crowded and we figured we'd lose our chairs if we just left them there to get to the spice cam so we brought the chairs with us!! Got a few stares from folks at Joe's Rum Hut and Waterfront Bistro as we drqgged the chairs down the beach but oh well. We waved to our peeps back home and talked to some of them on the phone and wrote a message in the sand. Did anyone seet it?
It was this:
Xoxo
J&j
We (heart) you
Back to the Beach Bar where, if there were any forumites there last night, we missed meeting them. But I did see St. John Ruth and Ron with the two guys from Bongo Bongo. Said hi to them and they continued on their way. We met a nice couple from Iowa who are here for six weeks! Six weeks people! We had a great time sharing St. J stories and then the four of us went upstairs to The Balcony for a bite to eat. Now, we have been coming to St. J for a long time. The first time was for our 25th wedding anniversary which was 15 years ago today. We skipped a few years but have been coming back for the last 8 or so years every year and 25 years ago Pusser's was where The Balcony is today. I don't know why but we have not been to The Balcony in the last 8 years or so. The food was really good. I had the garlic ginger chicken satay skewers and a delicious salad with blue cheese, candied walnuts, poached pears dressed in balsamic and mrdndw/l had crab cakes and the same salad. I think we'll be back and I recommend it. Our new Iowa friends have offered to take us around looking at some two bedroom houses for us to check out for next year. We are going with the on Tuesday.
Today is our 40th wedding anniversary. Lord, where does the time go?! Happy Anniversary mrdndw/l. Having coffee on our little deck right now. He's reading and I'm typing away. We think we'll head out to Hawksnest today. Hawksnest has a very special place in our hearts. It was the first beach we stopped at on our first morning here fifteen years ago. I can still remember how I felt when we walked out onto that beach. The color of the water.....well, you all know what I'm talking about.
Off to breakfast and the beach.
