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Trip report - 4 nights at Caneel - part 2
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martini girl
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Trip report - 4 nights at Caneel - part 2
I left off my first installment with a beautiful sunset, so next up, our meals.
First night's dinner was at The Equator. We opted to stay on the property because our wagons were draggin' since we were on the road at 4 a.m. on our travel day. We had a table with a view, not quite at the rail, but a beautiful view nonetheless. I don't remember what everyone else had, but I had the mango-glazed chicken which was delicious. Everyone was satisfied with their meals and we received personable service from our waiter.
We woke up each morning, made coffee in our room and poured a mug to take out to the beach to watch the turtles pop their heads up at us. It was just heaven on earth. I think we might have seen just one or two other people on the beach in the morning with us. It was just my husband and me, the turtles, and a ray gliding along the shore line. This was our morning view:
We ate breakfast at Caneel's buffet every morning. It was $29 per person and offered a decent selection of breakfast foods, including made-to-order omelets, French toast, Belgian Waffles and Eggs Benedict. I found the juice bar to be exceptional (weird, I know) as it had papaya, pineapple, guava, grapefruit, orange and a few other juices on it. Yum for me.
For our next night, we started off having drinks at JJ's. I know most people speak highly of their breakfasts, but their drinks were quite good. I had a BBC...translation, dessert before dinner. It was excellent. Anybody recognize this guy?
He was stationed behind my husband's seat and I guess the BBC got to me more than I realized, I just found it funny. Our dinner reservation was at Waterfront Bistro. One word: fabulous. What an enjoyable meal we had there. The atmosphere was comfortable, the waiter was great, and the food was delicious. My husband had the lump crab tartine and I had the caramelized onion and chevre tartlett for appetizers. He said his crab tartine was outstanding. Following that, my husband ordered the special, some sort of pork loin, which was the highlight of the night for him. I had the filet mignon and too many glasses of wine, and as such, have no clue what our friends ordered for dinner. I do know that we all enjoyed our meal at Waterfront Bistro. One thing I remember is every time our waiter brought another drink to our table, he always said "cheers" before he walked away. Very endearing, after hearing it countless times that evening.
We decided on Zozo's for the next dinner. Again, we were not disappointed. We got a table by the railing overlooking Cruz Bay. What a lovely view. Our food and service were wonderful. No apps for us, but we all got the filet mignon, and our friends shared a lobster tail as well. The salad with gorgonzola cheese and mandarin oranges was superb. We totally loved Zozo's.
We definitely saved the best meal for last....La Tapa. Wow. What a night. We started out with a drink at Woody's, my first time there, sat outside and enjoyed the passers-by. Had a brief encounter with Luna who was asking for money for chicken fingers and to do her laundry. Our friend gave her 10 bucks and she was on her way. Onto La Tapa. Our table wasn't ready yet so we had a drink at the bar. I couldn't get over how small the restaurant was. They really jam the tables in there! I ordered the cheese plate and a salad for my dinner (I just get tired of eating by the end of our vacations) and my husband and our friend ordered the ribeye. My husband said it was the best steak he's had in years. The cheese plate was delicious. It looked rather small to me at first, but turned out to be just enough. They had great wines by the glass and the food was to die for. By far, our favorite place to eat on St. John.
After eating the breakfast buffet each morning, we typically were not hungry for a big lunch, so we just ordered room service later in the afternoon to eat on the beach. Talk about indulgent. A cheese plate here, a Panini there, maybe even some nachos thrown in for good measure. All were served within 20 minutes from the time we placed our call, brought to us directly on the beach. Simply amazing. WE LOVED ROOM SERVICE!!
The guy with the converted golf cart /drink cart was our friend each and every day. We kept him rather busy. The cart had a blender on it, which was put to good use. We never left Scott Beach to venture to any other beach at Caneel. Crazy I know, but to be able to just walk out of our room and be right on such a beautiful beach was just how we wanted it. We did wander over to Turtle Beach to take a peek, but each day we happy to hang out on Scott. The turtles and rays were ever-present and so enjoyable to watch. Saw my first starfish, a big guy, just hanging out on his own, really cool.
Everynight, at 6:00 pm, we met outside our rooms to watch the sunset, cocktails in hand; it was priceless. What a spectacular show. One of the reasons we selected the rooms on Scott was so that I could see the sunsets. They did not disappoint.
Here's a shot of our room at sunset:
I was really itching to do a little shopping in STT, so my husband and I decided to take the 8:30 a.m. Caneel ferry over and spend the morning shopping. Saw a gorgeous rainbow that morning.
It was a brisk, marathon-style morning of shopping, we covered a lot of ground in a short time as we wanted to get back to Scott Beach by lunch to spend the rest of the day as we had all the other days, just lounging. I learned something new that day, the National Park dock is not the same as the Red Hook dock. The Caneel ferry dropped us off at the downtown C.A. dock, (where we saw two dolphins playing around in the waters near the cruise ships!) but we were to depart from the National Park dock to get back to Caneel. I thought they were one in the same. Fortunately, when we were getting off the ferry, I asked one of the crew and he told me that they are two different docks. Turns out, the National Park dock is directly across the water from Red Hook. Good thing I asked or we'd be standing at Red Hook watching the Caneel ferry leave without us.
All in all, a very nice trip to STT, indeed.
That's all I have for now. My last installment will be my observations of Caneel. In short, what a wonderful place it is.
First night's dinner was at The Equator. We opted to stay on the property because our wagons were draggin' since we were on the road at 4 a.m. on our travel day. We had a table with a view, not quite at the rail, but a beautiful view nonetheless. I don't remember what everyone else had, but I had the mango-glazed chicken which was delicious. Everyone was satisfied with their meals and we received personable service from our waiter.
We woke up each morning, made coffee in our room and poured a mug to take out to the beach to watch the turtles pop their heads up at us. It was just heaven on earth. I think we might have seen just one or two other people on the beach in the morning with us. It was just my husband and me, the turtles, and a ray gliding along the shore line. This was our morning view:
We ate breakfast at Caneel's buffet every morning. It was $29 per person and offered a decent selection of breakfast foods, including made-to-order omelets, French toast, Belgian Waffles and Eggs Benedict. I found the juice bar to be exceptional (weird, I know) as it had papaya, pineapple, guava, grapefruit, orange and a few other juices on it. Yum for me.
For our next night, we started off having drinks at JJ's. I know most people speak highly of their breakfasts, but their drinks were quite good. I had a BBC...translation, dessert before dinner. It was excellent. Anybody recognize this guy?
He was stationed behind my husband's seat and I guess the BBC got to me more than I realized, I just found it funny. Our dinner reservation was at Waterfront Bistro. One word: fabulous. What an enjoyable meal we had there. The atmosphere was comfortable, the waiter was great, and the food was delicious. My husband had the lump crab tartine and I had the caramelized onion and chevre tartlett for appetizers. He said his crab tartine was outstanding. Following that, my husband ordered the special, some sort of pork loin, which was the highlight of the night for him. I had the filet mignon and too many glasses of wine, and as such, have no clue what our friends ordered for dinner. I do know that we all enjoyed our meal at Waterfront Bistro. One thing I remember is every time our waiter brought another drink to our table, he always said "cheers" before he walked away. Very endearing, after hearing it countless times that evening.
We decided on Zozo's for the next dinner. Again, we were not disappointed. We got a table by the railing overlooking Cruz Bay. What a lovely view. Our food and service were wonderful. No apps for us, but we all got the filet mignon, and our friends shared a lobster tail as well. The salad with gorgonzola cheese and mandarin oranges was superb. We totally loved Zozo's.
We definitely saved the best meal for last....La Tapa. Wow. What a night. We started out with a drink at Woody's, my first time there, sat outside and enjoyed the passers-by. Had a brief encounter with Luna who was asking for money for chicken fingers and to do her laundry. Our friend gave her 10 bucks and she was on her way. Onto La Tapa. Our table wasn't ready yet so we had a drink at the bar. I couldn't get over how small the restaurant was. They really jam the tables in there! I ordered the cheese plate and a salad for my dinner (I just get tired of eating by the end of our vacations) and my husband and our friend ordered the ribeye. My husband said it was the best steak he's had in years. The cheese plate was delicious. It looked rather small to me at first, but turned out to be just enough. They had great wines by the glass and the food was to die for. By far, our favorite place to eat on St. John.
After eating the breakfast buffet each morning, we typically were not hungry for a big lunch, so we just ordered room service later in the afternoon to eat on the beach. Talk about indulgent. A cheese plate here, a Panini there, maybe even some nachos thrown in for good measure. All were served within 20 minutes from the time we placed our call, brought to us directly on the beach. Simply amazing. WE LOVED ROOM SERVICE!!
The guy with the converted golf cart /drink cart was our friend each and every day. We kept him rather busy. The cart had a blender on it, which was put to good use. We never left Scott Beach to venture to any other beach at Caneel. Crazy I know, but to be able to just walk out of our room and be right on such a beautiful beach was just how we wanted it. We did wander over to Turtle Beach to take a peek, but each day we happy to hang out on Scott. The turtles and rays were ever-present and so enjoyable to watch. Saw my first starfish, a big guy, just hanging out on his own, really cool.
Everynight, at 6:00 pm, we met outside our rooms to watch the sunset, cocktails in hand; it was priceless. What a spectacular show. One of the reasons we selected the rooms on Scott was so that I could see the sunsets. They did not disappoint.
Here's a shot of our room at sunset:
I was really itching to do a little shopping in STT, so my husband and I decided to take the 8:30 a.m. Caneel ferry over and spend the morning shopping. Saw a gorgeous rainbow that morning.
It was a brisk, marathon-style morning of shopping, we covered a lot of ground in a short time as we wanted to get back to Scott Beach by lunch to spend the rest of the day as we had all the other days, just lounging. I learned something new that day, the National Park dock is not the same as the Red Hook dock. The Caneel ferry dropped us off at the downtown C.A. dock, (where we saw two dolphins playing around in the waters near the cruise ships!) but we were to depart from the National Park dock to get back to Caneel. I thought they were one in the same. Fortunately, when we were getting off the ferry, I asked one of the crew and he told me that they are two different docks. Turns out, the National Park dock is directly across the water from Red Hook. Good thing I asked or we'd be standing at Red Hook watching the Caneel ferry leave without us.
All in all, a very nice trip to STT, indeed.
That's all I have for now. My last installment will be my observations of Caneel. In short, what a wonderful place it is.
Sounds like a perfectly relaxing time martini girl. Thanks so much for following up. I have a question if it's not too personal. When you go shopping on STT what are you shopping for? I'm always curious about that. Are you looking for something in particular of just browsing? I know that STT is famous for good prices on gems, jewelry and watches. I happen to love the sea leathers. I noticed a shop on a coner with pretty Irish linens. I love the old maps and prints but never leave enough time to really explore the shops. I just can't seem to leave STJ once I get there. Would you give us the martini girl power shopping report?
