USVI-On-Line

Our flights were good, made our connections & arrived in STT at 2:00pm.
While waiting for our taxi, we hit the booze shop in the airport & picked up cigarettes, great price.
We had arranged for a private taxi to take us to Red Hook, it was OK to have the private taxi but we would not go this route again, not worth the price. Perhaps the only good thing was we made the 3:00 ferry, however as we were at there mercy we didn’t have time to grab a cold one before getting on the ferry.

As this was our first time to St John we were in awe, watching St John come into view. Arrived with a gentle rain that decided to evolve into a heavy rain. We took shelter at the bottom of St John’s Spice to wait for our Villa rep to pick us up. Eric from Donald Schnell’s took us back to the office to sign the papers & get the keys. Eric then drove us to the villa as we did not rent a car.
We rented Villa Bougainvilla thru Donald Schnell, it was in a great location, allowing us not to rent a car, yet still be able to get to a number of beaches & town. The villa I fell could use a little TLC & is really only comfortable for 2 people. The bathroom is very tiny. The bedrooms are a fair size as well as the rest of the villa.
The front stone deck is very big & provides a view off to St Thomas. The vegatation could use some trimming as it limits your view.

We had arranged with Mixology for a booze order & found it fantastic to open the fridge at the villa & there was our cold beer waiting for us. Mixology provided excellent service, down to putting some of the refreshments in the fridge prior to our arrival. Would highly recommend this company.

Once settled in the villa we ventured to town in search of something for dinner. We walked around trying to decide where we wanted to eat, but I had Uncle Joe’s on my mind to eat our first meal, so as we are walking & not knowing where we are really going we followed the smell of the BBQ to Uncle Joe’s.
We shared a meal of ribs & chicken with the side dishes & of course another cold beer.
We walked around in awe of every thing.This was going to be a great vacation.

As we had had an early flight,we were tired,so we headed back to the villa in the dark & actually found our way back, made a quick stop at the Gallow’s little store for a few things for the morning,back to the villa for a glass of wine & off to bed.

Day 1)Up early since we went to bed early,along with the excitement of our first full day in St John. Headed to town for breakfast at Chilly Billy’s, stopped the Dolphin for some groceries, then back to the villa. Made lunches & hit Frank Bay for the day. Frank Bay is very small & rocky but very quiet & private. Headed into town to hit Happy Hour at Woody’s (this would become a daily ritual).
While at Woody’s we met a great couple Amy & Dean from Chicago ( we would end up spending a great deal of time with them thru out the week).
Had dinner at the Fish Trap with our new friends. Service at the Fish Trap was not the best, I think it was the waitress & not the fault of the resteraunt. Dinner was good.

Day 2) Up early,light breakfast at the little café in Wharfside. Ran into Ron(aka St John Ruth’s other half). Booked a tour to go to the Westin for tomorrow.With the weather looking like rain we decided to stay close to the villa, headed back to Frank Bay for the day. Headed into Woody’s to meet Amy & Dean for happy hour. Walked our friends to ZOZO’s since it was on the way home. Back at the villa we BBQ steak for supper & enjoyed the view of the lights on St Thomas.

Day 3) Packed the cooler & headed into town to catch the cab to the Westin. We were not at all impressed with the tour of the Westin,they were very late getting an agent to talk with us. The did not show us a unit, just drove us around the grounds. It was not a hard sell tour.
After the tour we had made arrangements to meet up with our friends as they were staying at the Westin. Spent the day with them, saw the iguana feeding. Headed back to the villa to clean up & head to our daily watering hole.Dinner was again at Uncle Joe’s & then to the Balcony for a drink & a few dances.They had a great group of 4 people playing there.

Day 4) This would be the day that we fell in love with Saloman beach. We packed the cooler & headed into town with all the gear. Took the trail to Saloman just behind the National Park building. Now we really had no idea where we were going.Hubby read Feet, Fins & Four Wheel Drive, so we figured we would find the beach.Ran into some parks employee’s cutting the grass & they assured us we were on the right track.
The total walking time from our villa to the beach was 40 min, which we felt was pretty good.
Upon stepping foot onto the beach the view took our breath away. The bent palm tree is like a postcard picture, the beautiful white sand, the view of the islands. This was heaven.
The beach was not crowded at all,I would say there was maybe 10 people off & on there all day.
Left the beach at 3:00 & headed back into town, Stopped & picked up some stuff for dinner & had a quick drink at Woody’s & back to villa. Enjoyed a sunset BBQ.

Day 5)Off to Caneel Bay. With the cooler packed we walked into town & caught a Taxi to Caneel. Now not knowing/or realizing they have a number of beaches we hit the main beach. It was Ok, but nothing really special after Saloman Beach.Larry did some snorkeling & I relaxed on the beach reading. Dinner & drinks at Woody’s tonight with Amy & Dean.

Day 6) Off to Trunk. Took a taxi to Trunk. It is a beautiful beach as well, we arrived around 10;00 & it was not very busy. Larry did some snorkelling, didn’t see anything great, but enjoyed what he did see.
This beach does fill up with the cruise ship people, which made it loud. Arrived back at the villa to find a care package on our steps from Jayseadee, Thanks for the goodies.
Met up with our friends at Woody’s,had dinner together at the Pannani. Dinner & service was very good here. Had a great table overlooking the harbour.

Day 7)Off to Salt Pond, Packed up the cooler headed to town to meet Amy & Dean for breaky at JJ’s before hopping on the bus to Salt Pond. Funny thing at JJ’s who was our waitress but the same girl we had at the Fish Trap the other night. Her attitude was no better.
While waiting for the bus we got to see Crazy Mary. Had a enjoyable ride to Salt Pond & really got to see the roads,was very glad we chose not to rent a car. Some of those hills & turns would have me yelling at Larry the whole time LOL….
The walk to the beach seemed very long in the hot sun,we were glad when the beach came into view.
We were the only people on the beach when we arrived so we grabbed a picnic table & had a swim.
Stayed until 1:00 & did the hike back up to catch the bus in to Skinny Legs for lunch.
I must say that Skinny Legs did not live up to our expectations, it was just OK in our opinion.
Caught the bus back into town & we all hit Woody’s for happy hour. Grabbed dinner to go from Woody’s.

Day Time to go BOO HOO…. Did the usual packing up, cleaning up. Headed to Frank Bay for an hour for our last beach fix. Back to the villa, grabbed our luggage, a travel drink & headed to town to catch the ferry to Red Hook.

To anyone who is contemplating a trip to St John it is possible to do it without renting a car. We were able to visit 5 beaches by either an affordable taxi, bus or walking. By not having a car it does put limitations on your villa rental location.

We had such an amazing time that we are already booked to come back with some friends April 27- May 5. We can’t wait to see their reaction to the Island. 94 sleeps to go.
So thanks to everyone on this forum for all the help & information in making this a most amazing vacation.

Ruth & Larry

Thanks for sharing your trip with us, Shopper! Sounds like you did things right, for not having a car. What will you do the next time you go? Car or no car? You 2nd time there will be just as awesome! When you are getting close to STJ on the ferry, you will say " I'm back!!!!" And won;t it be fun to show your friends around and share the beauty of STJ with them!

It sounds like you had an absolutely fabulous time! Evidenced by the fact that you're going back so soon! I hope I'm making plans for a 2nd trip during my plane ride home. But let's not rush leaving... I haven't even gotten there yet! LOL!

Sounds wonderful, Shopper! How great it is that you are returning in just a few months! Have fun planning again!

So...inquiring minds want to know...with your next trip in the planning....what will you do different & what will you do the same??

Thanks for sharing your report! Sounds like you guys really enjoyed your trip...and it's really great that you made friends to share it with!

Hi Sitter,

What would we do different: Probably not go to Caneel or the Westin. Take these days & explore some of the other beautiful beaches.Not take a private taxi from Red Hook. Find more time to explore Mongoose Junction( I know with a name like The Shopper )it is hard to beleive but I was not interested in shopping last trip, maybe this time LOL. Check out the StarFish market for groceries.

What would we do the same, Just about everything. Certainly not rent a car, hit as many beaches as we can while there.
I quess that is all that I can think of. For us we felt we did just what we wanted.
RR

we are renting villa bougainvilla also in july. would you rent it again? sounds like you had the downstairs unit, we are renting upstairs. any other input on the villa would be helpful. thanks

Hi Bill,
Yes we had the downstairs unit. Jayseadee had the top unit.

Would I rent it again, that is tuff, probably not. Don't get me wrong it was OK. The livingroom, kitchen & front room were great. The bedrooms were OK, but we did have water coming in the ceiling of the one bedroom. It is just the bathroom that I really had a problem with. The air-conditioning was not the best either.

We travel at least 3-4 times a year to many different Islands & I can honestly say we have never had a bathroom that small. It is a good thing that my hubby & I are not big people.
As for location, I don't think you can beat it, if you want to be close to town & not have to take a cab in all the time & if you wanted a cab it was a very short stoll into town to get one.

Hope this help.
Ruth

Thanks for the great report!
It sounds like youhad a great time!
Tell me more about Mixology.

I'd love to hear more about Mixology too!! Thanks!

We fell in love with Salomon Beach during our last trip in July! This was after 4 previous trips - somehow we never made it there until this one. Every trip we make it a point to visit at least one place we hadn't been to before - SO glad we hiked there. It will definitely be a regular stop from now on...

BTW - Woody's happy hour has been a regular stop for us since our 1998 trip. When we arrived this past July, we went straight from the ferry, called a friend back home, and made sure he heard the happy hour bell over the phone (he had been there with us on a previous trip, so he knew exactly what it was). We're kinda cruel that way.

Thanks for the great report!

We fell in love with Salomon Beach during our last trip in July! This was after 4 previous trips - somehow we never made it there until this one. Every trip we make it a point to visit at least one place we hadn't been to before - SO glad we hiked there. It will definitely be a regular stop from now on...

BTW - Woody's happy hour has been a regular stop for us since our 1998 trip. When we arrived this past July, we went straight from the ferry, called a friend back home, and made sure he heard the happy hour bell over the phone (he had been there with us on a previous trip, so he knew exactly what it was). We're kinda cruel that way.

Thanks for the great report!

Hi Ruth,

Nice report - you guys kept pretty busy; no wonder we hardly saw each other. Plus, as you happy houred at Woody's; we were at the Beach Bar.

Next time, go to Caneel, but take the trail over to Honeymoon beach; I think you'll enjoy that and Larry will enjoy the snorkeling.

For anyone renting a unit and is worried about neighbors, Ruth and Larry are model co-dwellers. We (we were in the upstairs unit) never knew anyone else was in the building.

Bill - I didn't get to see the Ruth's unit when we were there, but from her description, the loft is much larger. The master bath is a good size with double sinks; and the second bath is not tiny. She's right about the vegitation - it does need to be trimmed as it obstructs the view a bit. In thinking about renting this again - I would if I wanted something close to town and less expensive. As a home base, I think Bougainvillea is perfect; but, it's not a villa that you would want to spend whole days there. One drawback is the decks/balconies; neither is covered and both are surrounded by vegitation; so you get full sun and no breeze. Any time there would be spent in doors - the living room is quite pleasant to sit and read or chat.