TR - shark week for us on STJ
Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 2:02 pm
Hi all! Ooh we had such fun! STJ 8 days. First night on STT at the Inn at Villa Olga. Decent place IF you get rooms 1 through 4 (got that tip here!). Walked to the ferry in the morning and without the kids on this trip we were IN LOVE. ƒº Jeep at Conrad Sutton¡¦s and we thought he was, gulp, surprise, really nice! Drove to Coral Bay on North Shore road. Oh that road! So beautiful. I called out every beach (¡§next up, Gibney etc.) and my husband said, ¡§yep, you¡¦re obsessed.¡¨
We had our first of many mango smoothies at centerline road. YUM! House not ready until two o¡¦clock so we went out South side road. My honey, Rick, really loves St. John now that we¡¦ve been out that way. Deer crossing the dirt road, tunnel of green. He exclaimed that it is ¡§like the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia but in the Caribbean.¡¨ He¡¦s happy, I¡¦m happy! We backtracked to Miss Lucy¡¦s for lunch. What a lovely spot. Pelicans were diving, the breeze blowing, baby goats crying out. I had chicken roti, Rick had the grouper reuben. I kept thinking ¡§worms, is that the fish with the worms?¡¨ But I couldn¡¦t remember and he didn¡¦t care so we just snarfed up our lunch.
Grabbed provisions: water, beer, Ting and Rum mostly and off to the house, Tree Frog Cottage. If you are a couple who can handle a Jeep it is a perfect spot. Beauty view off the deck, pretty interior, everything you need. We agreed with this theory though: there are no atheists in foxholes, on deathbeds, or on St. John driveways!
We drop off our stuff, throw on the suits and head to the place we¡¦ve been dying to get to: Francis Bay. That beach is it for us. I know we all have our favorites so you know that feeling when you are finally THERE right? We snorkel away and see, well, nothing. Cloudy water. But, we¡¦re in the ocean and as landlocked Coloradoans that is a good thing. So we head for the north side and glad we did. Water cleared up. We see rays, turtles, fish galore, small barracuda. We¡¦re having a relaxing happy float when Rick says ¡§are, are.¡¨ I pull my head up and say ¡§what?¡¨ SHARK. We¡¦re only in 6 or 7 feet of water, out far on the north side near the shore and he sees an 8 foot shark. We later determine it was probably a nurse shark but it was big and moving fast in toward the shore then out again and away. I never even saw it. But I sure did make a wake swimming to the beach. I know I cannot out swim anything in the ocean but I tried. Of course that¡¦s when Rick, who much more calmly made his way to our towels saw (insert me sighing with relief) the biggest barracuda he¡¦s ever seen, big thick tarpon sized. And he saw (insert me sobbing) a huge spotted eagle ray. Yep, because I panicked I missed that. It was so close to him and so big that the two pictures (will post those later) don¡¦t show the whole creature! Lucky man! We relax in the water, only a couple other people on the whole beach, and watch the sunset until the noseeums show up uninvited. We went ¡§home¡¨ for a shower and some drinks with crackers and all sorts of toppings we bought. Humus, baba ganoush, good cheddar. I do miss our children but I know I will also miss St. John the minute I¡¦m on the ferry so I¡¦d better enjoy it while I can. Next up: Haulover north and south then Leinster Bay where I miss another shark sighting, lucky me!
Oh, I almost forgot. At Francis I was SO DUMB I forgot to take off my tiny gold hoop earrings. Normally shy fish, like needle fish, were sort of darting at my head and I didn¡¦t know wtf until later when I realized. Good one right?
And the poor owners of Tree Frog, like many others I¡¦ve since read about, also had a water delivery the day we arrived because they were out, dry, nada. If only we all knew what was to happen just a few days later! Bye, thanks for reading!
We had our first of many mango smoothies at centerline road. YUM! House not ready until two o¡¦clock so we went out South side road. My honey, Rick, really loves St. John now that we¡¦ve been out that way. Deer crossing the dirt road, tunnel of green. He exclaimed that it is ¡§like the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia but in the Caribbean.¡¨ He¡¦s happy, I¡¦m happy! We backtracked to Miss Lucy¡¦s for lunch. What a lovely spot. Pelicans were diving, the breeze blowing, baby goats crying out. I had chicken roti, Rick had the grouper reuben. I kept thinking ¡§worms, is that the fish with the worms?¡¨ But I couldn¡¦t remember and he didn¡¦t care so we just snarfed up our lunch.
Grabbed provisions: water, beer, Ting and Rum mostly and off to the house, Tree Frog Cottage. If you are a couple who can handle a Jeep it is a perfect spot. Beauty view off the deck, pretty interior, everything you need. We agreed with this theory though: there are no atheists in foxholes, on deathbeds, or on St. John driveways!
We drop off our stuff, throw on the suits and head to the place we¡¦ve been dying to get to: Francis Bay. That beach is it for us. I know we all have our favorites so you know that feeling when you are finally THERE right? We snorkel away and see, well, nothing. Cloudy water. But, we¡¦re in the ocean and as landlocked Coloradoans that is a good thing. So we head for the north side and glad we did. Water cleared up. We see rays, turtles, fish galore, small barracuda. We¡¦re having a relaxing happy float when Rick says ¡§are, are.¡¨ I pull my head up and say ¡§what?¡¨ SHARK. We¡¦re only in 6 or 7 feet of water, out far on the north side near the shore and he sees an 8 foot shark. We later determine it was probably a nurse shark but it was big and moving fast in toward the shore then out again and away. I never even saw it. But I sure did make a wake swimming to the beach. I know I cannot out swim anything in the ocean but I tried. Of course that¡¦s when Rick, who much more calmly made his way to our towels saw (insert me sighing with relief) the biggest barracuda he¡¦s ever seen, big thick tarpon sized. And he saw (insert me sobbing) a huge spotted eagle ray. Yep, because I panicked I missed that. It was so close to him and so big that the two pictures (will post those later) don¡¦t show the whole creature! Lucky man! We relax in the water, only a couple other people on the whole beach, and watch the sunset until the noseeums show up uninvited. We went ¡§home¡¨ for a shower and some drinks with crackers and all sorts of toppings we bought. Humus, baba ganoush, good cheddar. I do miss our children but I know I will also miss St. John the minute I¡¦m on the ferry so I¡¦d better enjoy it while I can. Next up: Haulover north and south then Leinster Bay where I miss another shark sighting, lucky me!
Oh, I almost forgot. At Francis I was SO DUMB I forgot to take off my tiny gold hoop earrings. Normally shy fish, like needle fish, were sort of darting at my head and I didn¡¦t know wtf until later when I realized. Good one right?
And the poor owners of Tree Frog, like many others I¡¦ve since read about, also had a water delivery the day we arrived because they were out, dry, nada. If only we all knew what was to happen just a few days later! Bye, thanks for reading!
that was a fun read...thanks for sharing; glad you had fun too...