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Add It Up - Trip Report Wrap
Add It Up - Trip Report Wrap
Add It Up
Trip Report Wrap Up
This is just a collection of thoughts that might prove valuable to other newbies like myself, as they embark on their first St. John adventure. Also a few comments that have no value whatsoever, but I feel like blabbing.
First of all, I wanted to mention that this forum was instrumental in our decision to go to St. John. I figured anyplace that was so beloved had to be good. You were right. We loved it. Thanks for all the help.
CLOTHING
I brought three pairs of shorts: one was parachute material, which I also wore in the water, which dried quickly. One was a pair of men’s swim shorts with the built-in mesh panties. Who knew men had this delicious secret? It was breezy and cool. The other was a loose pair of gym shorts from Walmart for $5. They were baggy like skorts and soft brushed cotton. It was more than enough clothing. I had three Tshirts and a pair of jeans, and some long underwear.
Yes, long underwear from REI with a UPF 50 rash guard rating. I wore the black set in the water to prevent sunburn and scrapes and add a little warmth, and they worked admirably. I looked really stupid but hey this is ME we’re talking about. I didn’t care. I also had a white one of the same item, with long sleeves, which I wore on the beach or as a coverup.
I also brought a rayon pareo, to toss over my legs on the beach, to sit on the sand with when we didn’t have towels, to wrap around my shoulders when I was chilly, to wipe off my camera housings and to drape over my head to make an impromptu “darkroom” so I could see the display on my digital camera in the bright sunlight. On a couple of occasions I had nothing dry to change into, and made a wrap skirt out of it so I could step off the beach.
We didn’t go anywhere fancy to eat, so I felt fine being extremely casual.
SHOES
I had purchased a pair of Tevas, which proved to be very uncomfortable once they got wet and gritty with sand. I ditched them after the first day. I had a pair of Land’s End water shoes which were great with socks for airport and other hiking, but extremely scratchy on the inside for bare feet. I only wore those with socks after the first day, while dining or hiking on dry land. I had a pair of $5 watershoes from a sporting goods store that were extremely comfortable, quick drying, didn’t fill with sand, and that’s what I ended up using day after day. The bottoms were a little too soft for jaunts like walking down to Salt Pond on that rocky trail, but I just watched carefully where I put my feet.
FOOD
We stayed in Coral Bay, and did most of our eating there. We loved the breakfast at the Donkey Diner, and we also purchased food from Lily’s and Love City markets for breakfast and snacks. At home I’m into locally grown organic produce, grass fed meats, and simple fresh meals. When I travel I look for simple meals with a minimum of ingredients. I just basically want to fill the hole with something that isn’t revolting. We did an Alaskan cruise a few years back, and I lost a couple of pounds because the food was nasty. I maintained my weight in St. John, and I was happy with the simply prepared offerings in Coray Bay. Grilled mahi, grilled chicken, hamburgers. We found the prices to be not bad at all for the simple fare. I’m not really a fan of cooking on vacation, but I did some bacon and eggs, and we had bagels, cereal and fruit.
VILLAS
We loved Bo Atabey. If you are a newbie and thinking of renting a villa, be sure to ask the right questions. How many steps up or down from where you park the car to the living level? How scary is the driveway? How bad are the roads leading to the house? Does the pool get enough sun during the day to warm it up? Is there air conditioning? Is it windy? Noisy? Close to neighbors? Who will be there to help us if something goes wrong with the place? Are the screens good? Is there an indoor tub or shower as well as the outdoor one? How is the water for said shower heated?
SUN
I put sun tan lotion on my face, the backs of my hands, and top of my feet. I didn’t wear a hat. My rash guards took care of the rest. Except the one day I forgot the bottoms and snorkeled without them, and burned the backs of my legs. Younger daughter pre-tanned at home. Older daughter used spray on lotion and missed a few spots. Husband used lotion a little but got pretty pink in spots. If you are fishy belly white like we are, you will need to do something or suffer painfully.
BUGS
I wore spray the first night, but not after. There were few skeeters to speak of when we were outdoors at night. There is a huge collection of mosquitoes in the public bathrooms in Cruz Bay. There were some mosquitoes in our villa, but keeping the bedroom ceiling fans on at night helped blow them away from us. I got one bite, other members of my family got maybe a couple dozen bites.
CAMERAS
I brought two point and shoot digital cameras. It was very difficult to see the displays in the bright sun. I knew that ahead of time, and trained myself to work the controls by memorizing the actions beforehand. Most of the shooting was done on the program mode, but I learned the keystrokes to put it in macro mode or movie mode and back without being able to see what I was doing. Unfortunately, when the dead battery warning was blinking, I could not see it and lost some fine shots. With the wind and the waves you can’t hear the fake CLICK to tell you if the shutter has deployed or not.
Learn your camera’s strengths and weaknesses before you leave home, and learn to operate it with your eyes closed. I kept both of my cameras in housings ALWAYS to protect them from water and sand, only removing them to download the photos and change the batteries.
Second biggest mistake I made (after the dead battery thing) was not noticing that a spot of salt water had dried on the housing’s lens cover. This happened a couple of times, and I had blurry blobs on many pictures. I had brought along a microfiber cloth for that very reason, but forgot to use it.
Choose a camera that is good at what YOU like to take pictures of. I like still lifes, and I like mid-range light or low key renditions. I don’t take a lot of action photos. I LOVE macro pictures and wish I had taken more on my trip. My Canon A720IS takes great macro shots. It washes out whites. It focuses fairly well in low light. It has trouble tracking fast moving subjects and staying in focus, but that’s probably my lack of skills. Because it has two AA batteries, you can wait 15 seconds between flash shots. It turns on very quickly but there is still considerable shutter lag.
DON’T BE AFRAID TO PRESS THE BUTTON!!! You can snap something drab like this and crop it down to an interesting shot. Photoshop is your friend.
CAMERA BATTERIES
The one day I forgot to carry spares was the day I had some bad batteries in the camera. Some of my rechargeable AA’s had either discharged while sitting around for a few weeks before the trip, or fallen prey to battery memory failure. The charger I have does not have a discharge/refresh mode. I need to pick one up so I can recondition the batteries. The next batch I buy will probably be low-discharge Eneloop type batteries, so I can avoid the discharge and memory problems.
Some random thoughts.
As you may have noticed, I avoided putting up full frontal portraits of my family members to protect their privacy, so I had to exercise some creative cropping to post some of those pictures. Yes, I DO have some pictures of my family where their heads are not cut off, and I DO NOT always walk 20 paces behind them.
Showering outdoors in the cool rain, and outdoors in the bright hot sun, are two totally different experiences, but both pleasant in their own way.
There can be two spelling errors in the sign advertising that night’s entertainment, and not many people will notice.
Donkeys are fairly polite about taking no for an answer when they come up to ask you for a handout.
My husband is a very competitive driver, but he voluntarily pulled over to allow faster traffic to pass while we were on STJ.
Pelicans know they are scaring the hell out of people when they swoop right over your head.
Local ladies may sit in the park watching the tourists walk by, muttering "sluts!" under their breath when they observe women wearing unapproved clothing.
If you love animals, the critters on STJ will keep you entertained. If you don’t like critters, and are the type of person to squeal at bats and lizards and goats and feral chickens, this may not be the place for you. I was glad to see very few feral or stray dogs on the island.
Most of my trip report titles were song titles, TV episode titles, or movie titles.
We were polite to everyone, and everyone was polite to us.
Food service was generally quick and friendly in Coral Bay.
If you know in your heart that you can’t learn to drive on the left or on big hills, you are probably right.
Many people have asked if I want to go back to STJ...
Well, hell yes.
Trip Report Wrap Up
This is just a collection of thoughts that might prove valuable to other newbies like myself, as they embark on their first St. John adventure. Also a few comments that have no value whatsoever, but I feel like blabbing.
First of all, I wanted to mention that this forum was instrumental in our decision to go to St. John. I figured anyplace that was so beloved had to be good. You were right. We loved it. Thanks for all the help.
CLOTHING
I brought three pairs of shorts: one was parachute material, which I also wore in the water, which dried quickly. One was a pair of men’s swim shorts with the built-in mesh panties. Who knew men had this delicious secret? It was breezy and cool. The other was a loose pair of gym shorts from Walmart for $5. They were baggy like skorts and soft brushed cotton. It was more than enough clothing. I had three Tshirts and a pair of jeans, and some long underwear.
Yes, long underwear from REI with a UPF 50 rash guard rating. I wore the black set in the water to prevent sunburn and scrapes and add a little warmth, and they worked admirably. I looked really stupid but hey this is ME we’re talking about. I didn’t care. I also had a white one of the same item, with long sleeves, which I wore on the beach or as a coverup.
I also brought a rayon pareo, to toss over my legs on the beach, to sit on the sand with when we didn’t have towels, to wrap around my shoulders when I was chilly, to wipe off my camera housings and to drape over my head to make an impromptu “darkroom” so I could see the display on my digital camera in the bright sunlight. On a couple of occasions I had nothing dry to change into, and made a wrap skirt out of it so I could step off the beach.
We didn’t go anywhere fancy to eat, so I felt fine being extremely casual.
SHOES
I had purchased a pair of Tevas, which proved to be very uncomfortable once they got wet and gritty with sand. I ditched them after the first day. I had a pair of Land’s End water shoes which were great with socks for airport and other hiking, but extremely scratchy on the inside for bare feet. I only wore those with socks after the first day, while dining or hiking on dry land. I had a pair of $5 watershoes from a sporting goods store that were extremely comfortable, quick drying, didn’t fill with sand, and that’s what I ended up using day after day. The bottoms were a little too soft for jaunts like walking down to Salt Pond on that rocky trail, but I just watched carefully where I put my feet.
FOOD
We stayed in Coral Bay, and did most of our eating there. We loved the breakfast at the Donkey Diner, and we also purchased food from Lily’s and Love City markets for breakfast and snacks. At home I’m into locally grown organic produce, grass fed meats, and simple fresh meals. When I travel I look for simple meals with a minimum of ingredients. I just basically want to fill the hole with something that isn’t revolting. We did an Alaskan cruise a few years back, and I lost a couple of pounds because the food was nasty. I maintained my weight in St. John, and I was happy with the simply prepared offerings in Coray Bay. Grilled mahi, grilled chicken, hamburgers. We found the prices to be not bad at all for the simple fare. I’m not really a fan of cooking on vacation, but I did some bacon and eggs, and we had bagels, cereal and fruit.
VILLAS
We loved Bo Atabey. If you are a newbie and thinking of renting a villa, be sure to ask the right questions. How many steps up or down from where you park the car to the living level? How scary is the driveway? How bad are the roads leading to the house? Does the pool get enough sun during the day to warm it up? Is there air conditioning? Is it windy? Noisy? Close to neighbors? Who will be there to help us if something goes wrong with the place? Are the screens good? Is there an indoor tub or shower as well as the outdoor one? How is the water for said shower heated?
SUN
I put sun tan lotion on my face, the backs of my hands, and top of my feet. I didn’t wear a hat. My rash guards took care of the rest. Except the one day I forgot the bottoms and snorkeled without them, and burned the backs of my legs. Younger daughter pre-tanned at home. Older daughter used spray on lotion and missed a few spots. Husband used lotion a little but got pretty pink in spots. If you are fishy belly white like we are, you will need to do something or suffer painfully.
BUGS
I wore spray the first night, but not after. There were few skeeters to speak of when we were outdoors at night. There is a huge collection of mosquitoes in the public bathrooms in Cruz Bay. There were some mosquitoes in our villa, but keeping the bedroom ceiling fans on at night helped blow them away from us. I got one bite, other members of my family got maybe a couple dozen bites.
CAMERAS
I brought two point and shoot digital cameras. It was very difficult to see the displays in the bright sun. I knew that ahead of time, and trained myself to work the controls by memorizing the actions beforehand. Most of the shooting was done on the program mode, but I learned the keystrokes to put it in macro mode or movie mode and back without being able to see what I was doing. Unfortunately, when the dead battery warning was blinking, I could not see it and lost some fine shots. With the wind and the waves you can’t hear the fake CLICK to tell you if the shutter has deployed or not.
Learn your camera’s strengths and weaknesses before you leave home, and learn to operate it with your eyes closed. I kept both of my cameras in housings ALWAYS to protect them from water and sand, only removing them to download the photos and change the batteries.
Second biggest mistake I made (after the dead battery thing) was not noticing that a spot of salt water had dried on the housing’s lens cover. This happened a couple of times, and I had blurry blobs on many pictures. I had brought along a microfiber cloth for that very reason, but forgot to use it.
Choose a camera that is good at what YOU like to take pictures of. I like still lifes, and I like mid-range light or low key renditions. I don’t take a lot of action photos. I LOVE macro pictures and wish I had taken more on my trip. My Canon A720IS takes great macro shots. It washes out whites. It focuses fairly well in low light. It has trouble tracking fast moving subjects and staying in focus, but that’s probably my lack of skills. Because it has two AA batteries, you can wait 15 seconds between flash shots. It turns on very quickly but there is still considerable shutter lag.
DON’T BE AFRAID TO PRESS THE BUTTON!!! You can snap something drab like this and crop it down to an interesting shot. Photoshop is your friend.
CAMERA BATTERIES
The one day I forgot to carry spares was the day I had some bad batteries in the camera. Some of my rechargeable AA’s had either discharged while sitting around for a few weeks before the trip, or fallen prey to battery memory failure. The charger I have does not have a discharge/refresh mode. I need to pick one up so I can recondition the batteries. The next batch I buy will probably be low-discharge Eneloop type batteries, so I can avoid the discharge and memory problems.
Some random thoughts.
As you may have noticed, I avoided putting up full frontal portraits of my family members to protect their privacy, so I had to exercise some creative cropping to post some of those pictures. Yes, I DO have some pictures of my family where their heads are not cut off, and I DO NOT always walk 20 paces behind them.
Showering outdoors in the cool rain, and outdoors in the bright hot sun, are two totally different experiences, but both pleasant in their own way.
There can be two spelling errors in the sign advertising that night’s entertainment, and not many people will notice.
Donkeys are fairly polite about taking no for an answer when they come up to ask you for a handout.
My husband is a very competitive driver, but he voluntarily pulled over to allow faster traffic to pass while we were on STJ.
Pelicans know they are scaring the hell out of people when they swoop right over your head.
Local ladies may sit in the park watching the tourists walk by, muttering "sluts!" under their breath when they observe women wearing unapproved clothing.
If you love animals, the critters on STJ will keep you entertained. If you don’t like critters, and are the type of person to squeal at bats and lizards and goats and feral chickens, this may not be the place for you. I was glad to see very few feral or stray dogs on the island.
Most of my trip report titles were song titles, TV episode titles, or movie titles.
We were polite to everyone, and everyone was polite to us.
Food service was generally quick and friendly in Coral Bay.
If you know in your heart that you can’t learn to drive on the left or on big hills, you are probably right.
Many people have asked if I want to go back to STJ...
Well, hell yes.
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NoWorriesMom
- Posts: 150
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 4:45 pm
- Location: Boulder, Colorado
Re: Add It Up - Trip Report Wrap
The Singing Eunuchs?ifloat wrote:
Great TR - you get it.
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
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John LMBZ06
- Posts: 286
- Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2009 11:52 am
- Location: Frisco, TX
Re: Add It Up - Trip Report Wrap
Welllll, maybe they were altered boys and it was the Rever and Raven that were performing......Chet wrote:The Singing Eunuchs?ifloat wrote:
Great TR - you get it.
Nice reporting ifloat! Good tips on the cameras, too. You like to take still life, I like to take nude photos....but, I can't stand the laughter, so i wear clothes now......
Can't wait til your next trip!
-Bert
The liver is evil, it must be punished!
My mom also wears long underwear, tops and bottoms, while snorkelling for both warmth and sun protection. Don't know the brand (high tec ski stuff) and she swears by it.
My husband teases her to no end. She does look a bit funny when trying to put wet bottoms on in an attempt to not get sand inside.
My husband teases her to no end. She does look a bit funny when trying to put wet bottoms on in an attempt to not get sand inside.
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chicagoans
- Posts: 1586
- Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2007 2:51 pm
- Location: IL
Thanks ifloat for all your great TRs! I have enjoyed them immensely.
I noticed the "Reverand" (Reverend) and "Alter" (Altar) but I'm pretty anal about that stuff. (Grew up with teachers in the family – that’ll do it.)
I thought I had a pretty good packing list (I pack light, like you) but you have added 2 items that will be handy: a pareo and a soft cloth for wiping the camera. Thanks for those tips!
And for whatever it's worth, my Keens are very comfortable when wet or dry. I have worn them like crazy and think they are great. Might be worth considering if you are looking to replace your Tevas.
I noticed the "Reverand" (Reverend) and "Alter" (Altar) but I'm pretty anal about that stuff. (Grew up with teachers in the family – that’ll do it.)
I thought I had a pretty good packing list (I pack light, like you) but you have added 2 items that will be handy: a pareo and a soft cloth for wiping the camera. Thanks for those tips!
And for whatever it's worth, my Keens are very comfortable when wet or dry. I have worn them like crazy and think they are great. Might be worth considering if you are looking to replace your Tevas.
Maybe the band "deliberitly mispelled" their name?? Like Led Zeppelin or Def Leppard??? Just a thought...
Great report ifloat! Being back to reality bites, doesn't it?
Great report ifloat! Being back to reality bites, doesn't it?
Last edited by bevm on Thu Apr 02, 2009 8:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
So glad you had such a good time. Some people get it and some don't. You've been bit by the STJ bug and you'll be back. Thanks for posting all that you did.
