USVI-On-Line

Final installment. Remember , we are 3 couples staying at Island Horizons, and loving our trip. Weather has not been completely cooperative, but the front has moved on and Day 6 (Waterlemon) was just the most perfect day we could ask for. Here's the final 2 days on island.

Day 7 (Friday)
We decided to go to Jost Van Dyke for a day trip today. i know this is a USVI board, but allow me the quick diversion to describe this day. We left the villa early so we could get a parking spot along the road at the Dept. of Natural Resources road. Walked to the Cruz Bay Bakery and has some wonderful pastries for breakfast. The ferry was behind schedule, so they sent the Tortola passengers off on a different boat and we went directly to JVD to clear customs. Trip was quick, customs easy and we were soon at Ivan's Stress Free Bar and Campground. We just love Ivan's to get the day started. It is just beautiful with white sand, clear blue water, and everyone there is completely into doing absolutely nothing! We laid in the sun then cooled in the water until a little after 11am. I then introduced our "rookie couple" to the honor bar system. I made a round of Bananawackers for them and pulled an ice-cold Carib from the cooler for me. We then ordered our lunch from the grill. Took about a half-hour for the burgers (time - who cares about time?), and we all agreed that they were the best ever! The fact is they would have been crappy if served in Kentucky - but they were absolutely delicious on JVD (maybe the setting?).



Shortly after lunch we headed to the Soggy Dollar bar side of White Bay, hiking over the rocky trail that separates the 2 beaches. Soggy Dollar is just too busy for me. I go to JVD for the beauty and serenity and Soggy Dollar was extra busy today. We walked down the beach to Seddy's One Love to shop and have a drink. IT'S OFFICIAL: I have a new favorite Bushwacker site! Man-o-Man Seddy's wife made a blender full of Bushwackers and they were so tasty - strong - cold - flavorful. I could have just stayed there, but too many Bushwackers isn't good for me. We stayed till 2pm then took a taxi over to Foxy's. I'm not a big Foxy's fan for a daylight trip, but I wanted couple #3 to at least see it for reference.

Here are some other JVD photos:









Got back from JVD and went to Skinny Legs for dinner. Got there just in time as the band was playing (bluegrass with an island flair - is that possible?) and it filled up quickly. Had a great meal, good drinks, poor service, and left with no real desire to do it again - at least not on a Friday night.

Day 8 (Saturday)

Last day on STJ and were were hell-bent to have a great day at Cinnamon. The sun was out in full force, and so was the wind! Cinnamon tends to be more windy anyway, but it was really whipping around today. No fear - we just ignored it as best we could and enjoyed the sunshine and the water. Went snorkeling around the Cay in the morning, had a picnic lunch to finish-off the provisions we bought earlier in the week, then snorkeled all the way over to Little Cinnamon Beach in the afternoon. Wow! I had no idea that the snorkeling was that good over on the left side of the Bay. We spend probably 90 minutes snorkeling over, getting out on the beach and realizing that the water looked completely different from Little Cinnamon versus the bigger beach. We found the airplane engine/wing on the way back and just meandered our way back knowing this was our last chance to witness nature's underwater life. Here's a few photos of what we saw today.







This is the view from Little Cinnamon Beach


Today was Feb 14th and Valentine's Day, so we made reservations at Morgan's Mango for 7:30pm. We left Cinnamon, readied ourselves at the villa (only time I wore long pants all week) then went to Mongoose Junction for before-dinner shopping. We were seated just after 7:30 and we had a really great dinner. i had the Island Bowl seafood dish with large chunks of fish, large shrimp, and mussels all cooked in a tomato stock base. Very tasty and very filling. Key Lime Pie was served on an Oreo Cookie crust, but was still just "okay". Overall - it was an excellent dinner at one of our favorite places.

Departure Day (Sunday)
Performed our final villa clean-up duties and packed our bags for home. Left the villa at 10am and headed to the car ferry. Between the drive to Cruz Bay and the late start of the ferry, we didn't get to Red Hook until around 11:30. Drove to Havensight for shopping since our flights didn't depart until 5:20. Shopped awhile and got some pretty neat island/tropical stuff. We just built a new house with a swimming pool and needed some items to set around during the summer - got some good things on this trip - and cheap by my accounts. Had a really great lunch at Delly Deck. The frozen Raspberry drink was simply awesome. Food was all hot and fresh and delivered quickly. I'd definitely dine there again.

Got to the airport at 2:50 for our 5:20 flight. Really glad we got there early! The US AIR line was about 50 people deep and wasn't moving at all. I turned the Budget car information in while the others waited in the check-in line. We got to the front after 45 minutes and then stood there trying our best to check in for another 20 minutes! The ticket agent was a recent transfer from Continental and she had absolutely no idea how the US Air computer worked. Anyway - no problem because we cleared customs quickly and were sitting in the airport bar 60 minutes before departure. Normally - the airlines begin boarding 30 minutes before the flight is scheduled to depart, so I stayed with our carry-on stuff while the others went to the bookstore to look around. They came back with 40 minutes left before scheduled departure and asked me where all the passengers went! I couldn't see anything from inside the bar/restaurant area so I peeked out and sure enough NOBODY was in the terminal. I asked the ticket guy what was going on and he told me to hurry up because they want to leave early. Wow! i never expected that. Got on the plan (obviously the last ones on) and everything was smooth going home from there.

Well - that's it. It's all done. Kind of sad for me because this puts a sort of "finality" to this trip. Oh well - guess I'll have to start daydreaming about next year!

Hope you enjoyed at least some of it!

That was a great report!

I enjoyed it all. Thanks for sharing.

Great review. How did you like island horizons? We are staying there in April for our 20yr anniversary. I liked your description of the driveway, did it get easier as the week went on? Any thing you would like to share about the villa would be great. Thanks for taking the time to post your review.

Nancy

The villa is really nice. Photos on the website are very representative. It's new and clean and very well maintained.

We had 3 couples so we used all 3 bedrooms. Wife and I stayed on the lower level and while it was a little inconvenient to go up/down stairs it was an excellent room with much privacy.

Yes - the driveway got easier as the week went on. They do have a turnaround area (made of rock) that helps a lot. Nonetheless, do be careful especially going DOWN to the villa - it is really steep and has a pretty sharp left hand turn mid-way down. Another helpful hint: pay attention to how you got there the first time! We actually got lost on Day 2 and had to really look around to find the paved road up to the villa.

There is construction next door. I hope they already told you that. Here's a picture;



They didn't get much done while we were there because of the rain. I'm not sure what they'll be doing when you are there, but if there's concrete involved - it could be noisy and an issue with the road. If they did not tell you about the construction, I recommend you call them and at least get a small discount (we got a 10% reduction just by asking - they didn't like it, but they gave it anyway). Just FYI.

The kitchen is well-stocked. The cookware is pretty good. If you're going to cook in you'll need to get some butter or oil or Pam spray - there's none in the villa.

Feel free to PM me with any other specific questions you may have. You'll really love it!

VI

Thanks for taking the time to post a great TR and pics!

Thanks for the report. Great pics. Going over to Jost is always one of my favorite days. I'll have to check out that Bushwhacker!

I have not heard of a new carry-on baggage policy for US Air...what did they tell you?

Thanks for the heads up on the construction. I had no idea. By the looks of the photo they just started. Hopefully they use the full island time rule and don't get much farther before the end of April.

Nancy

Thanks for the great TR snd you are right about Raquel, she does make the best Bushwackers on the planet!!

XoXO
Bug

Nice reports and pictures.

Nice. Wow - Soggy Dollar was crowded.

Just caught up on the whole report. Thanks so much for sharing your trip. I'm so glad to hear that you had a good experience at Morgan's. Years ago it was our favorite then we had a few bad experiences and haven't been back for a couple of years. Maybe it's time to give them another shot. I do love that front porch.

"hope you enjoyed some of it"...? Loved the whole darn thing!! Thanks!!!

Great trip report - thank you!

My husband and I were on island the first part of your week (we left on the 11th). We were on Maho the same day as you We were bummed about the rain as it was our last full day. We packed it up and headed to Skinny's for burgers.

Thanks for your report. I enjoyed reading it, and looking at your photos. Soggy Dollar was so crowded! I thought it was crowded the time we went there, but I guess not!

If anyone was wondering, the blue villa that you see in the construction photo is Waterlemon Villa. We were there in November 2008 pre construction. Great villa!