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Lovermont's Trip Report - May 9 - 16, 2009
Lovermont's Trip Report - May 9 - 16, 2009
This trip was my annual Girls Trip. The cast of characters:
Baby-momma - who left her six-month old daughter at home, and was only scheduled to be with us for 4 days.
Mom-o-Caleb - Caleb being a dog who is terminally ill, thus causing his mom a fair amount of anxiety while she was trying to have a good time on STJ.
Birthday-girl - our girls trip often takes place around her birthday.
Lovermont - The girls also call me Julie the Cruise Director!
Saturday, May 9th
Three of us are from VT and drove down to Boston the night before our flight and met up with Baby-momma. We had to get on the road by 4:00am to check into our 5:35am flight. BM wasn't even scheduled to be on our flight, but she sweet-talked her way onto the flight to PHL, and then also got on the connecting flight to STT. We arrived on STT at 11:30. All of us carried our luggage on board, so we were off to Dependable Rent a Car to get our car before noon. Birthday-girl decided to drive and we set off straight to Red Hook with a stop at Food Center. We had lunch at a Burrito place in Red Hook, and were on the 3:00pm car barge. I took over the car once we reached STJ because I knew my way through Cruz Bay, and thought I'd let the other ladies take in the island.
We arrived at Cinnamon Bay campground and got all of our things to Cottage 7A. Once we got settled we went to the beach to decompress from the long day of traveling. The only thing we had on our agenda was going to dinner at Miss Lucy's as it was going to be a full moon that night. I had never been to Miss Lucy's and was pleasantly surprised by the food and $4 rum punches. Tasty food, nice music, great company.
Mom-o-Caleb, Baby-momma, and Birthday-girl at Miss Lucy’s
We stayed until we saw the moon come up, but were back in our cottage by 10pm. It had been a long day…
Sunday, May 10th
The day had started much earlier for Mom-o-Caleb than for the rest of us. She was up multiple times during the night feeling nauseous and getting sick. Baby-momma got up to be with her, and they tried to sit on the beach in the middle of the night, but the sand flies got to them. Our cottage was hot, she was worried about her dog, and also really anxious about the stresses of her job. I headed to the beach pretty early and went for a snorkel to Cinnamon Cay.
Our first morning at Cinnamon Bay
Later in the morning Mindehankins from the forum came over to introduce herself and give us a slew of supplies that she was not going to need anymore. Minde and her husband Blaine were returning home that day. Thank you Minde!
Today was Baby-momma’s first mother’s day, and she was no doubt missing her little girl. Birthday-girl is a mother of three children, so we tried to celebrate Mother’s Day for our two mothers. After a slow morning of visits to the beach and hiking the short Cinnamon Bay Self Guided Trail with Birthday-girl, we all headed to Caneel Bay Resort, where we parked and walked over to Honeymoon Beach. It was a gorgeous day.
Looking through the palm trees to Honeymoon Beach
I had purchased a Neat Sheet based on a suggestion from this forum. Thank you to whomever suggested it; it came in handy!
Birthday-girl and I hiked the Lind Point Trail over to Solomon and then to the overlook over Cruz Bay.
After hanging out until about 4pm we drove into Cruz Bay to do a little window-shopping and get a drink. I’m embarrassed to admit that we were having some conch fritters and rum drinks at High Tide, while the forum gathering was happening at the Beach Bar. I’m generally a fairly gregarious person, but it’s nearly impossible for me to walk into a crowd of people whom I don’t know. So, sorry forum folks; I’ll try to be more brave next time.
We returned to our cottage at Cinnamon Bay Campground and made fantastic Spicy Black Bean burgers for dinner. It’s funny how good things taste when you’re camping!
The best sunset we saw at Cinnamon Bay
Our night ended by heading up to the T’ree Lizard restaurant, where we thought we were going to hear some music. The band had already finished for the night, but we ended up having our own little party with four other campers. They had music and some impromptu dancing took place until we were told that it was “quiet time” at the campground.
Monday, May 11th
It threatened rain from the very beginning of the day. I walked the beautiful beach at Cinnamon Bay heading towards Maho. Just at the end of my morning walk, the skies opened. I headed back to our cottage to find the girls discussing playing some cards until the rain let up. It was at this point that I told them that conventional wisdom is that if it’s raining on the north shore, it’s often fine on the south shore. I suggested that we head down to Saltpond, and hike Ram Head. The suggestion was met with varying degrees of interest, but we packed our things up, and headed to the southeast. It was gray when we parked the car, but dry. Our hike out to Ram Head was beautiful and the views stunning.
Mom-o-Caleb, Birthday-girl, Baby-momma and Lovermont at Ram Head
Pelican in a tree at Saltpond Bay
By the time we returned to Saltpond Bay, everyone agreed that they were happy that we got moving in the morning. We didn’t stay at the beach at Saltpond Bay, because we were all too hungry. I would have loved to go to the Tourist Trap, but it was Monday, so I knew they'd be closed. Instead we went to Shipwreck Landing for a great lunch of Soft Fish Tacos and Mojitos. After a leisurely lunch we checked out the Jolly Dog, I purchased a pareo for myself and then we moseyed to Maho where we relaxed the afternoon away.
My husband had given me a new camera with underwater features for my birthday earlier this year. It was at Maho that I really began experimenting with it.
My first successful underwater shots
Turtle at Maho
One of many chickens at Maho that day
We returned to Cinnamon Bay, took our cold showers, prepared some rum-based drinks and went down to the beach to enjoy another sunset before heading out to Aqua Bistro for dinner.
Lovermont, Baby-momma, Mom-o-Caleb and Birthday-girl enjoying the evening at Cinnamon Bay
We liked the food at Aqua Bistro, but were annoyed at the portions. The dinner salad that BM ordered was enough for all four of us. So, we split it four ways, but wondered what we would have thought if we'd all ordered a salad. BG and I split a great dish of Mahi Mahi on black beans and rice, but when we asked where the plantains were that had been mentioned on the menu, we were just told in an offhanded fashion that they were out of plantains. MoC and BM both ordered what turned out to be a huge portion of pasta with scallops. They agreed that they could have easily split one order. All in all, we left there feeling that they could have executed things much better than they did. The idea of wasted food, especially when so much is flown in, seemed ridiculous to us.
The evening ended playing Euchre back at the campground. What had started as an iffy day proved to be fun-filled and quite beautiful.
Tuesday, May 12th
This was the day that we found out that MoC had decided to go home early. BM was already scheduled to leave on Wednesday, but MoC had originally been scheduled to stay with us until our trip back to VT on Saturday. MoC wasn’t very happy at Cinnamon Bay, was missing her very ill dog, and had a lot of worries about her job back home. She isn’t concerned about losing her job; she’s in Human Resources and knew she was going home to do the lay-offs. In the morning, BM and MoC also told us that they thought they’d be going over to STT at the end of the day (as opposed to early the next morning) to be closer to the airport, hopefully resulting in getting on earlier flights than they were booked on.
We decided to start their last day by walking out to Waterlemon Bay. By the time we arrived it was raining pretty steadily. We got the Neat Sheet out and tried to make a shelter with it and some tree branches. The result was that we got completely wet. After about 1/2 of an hour it lightened up enough and the decision was made that we’d be better in the water snorkeling. What an excellent idea. The water actually felt pretty warm because of the fact that we were getting a little chilled with the rain.
I knew we’d see some starfish around the Cay. My last visit I’d seen about 50 or so. This trip I only found 3.
We also saw turtles at Waterlemon.
And other photos from that day at Waterlemon
Birthday-girl and I then walked up to both sets of ruins above Waterlemon. By this time of the day it was pretty nice with plenty of sunshine.
This little guy was sunning himself on the ruins
The view from the first set of ruins looking over Leinster Bay
And looking toward Tortola from the higher set of ruins
We zoomed into the beach and could see BM and MoC from the higher ruins
Waterlemon Cay was gorgeous from above
Our original plan had been to go back to Cinnamon Bay and take some kayaks out for the afternoon, but the two travelers wanted to get packed up and catch a ferry before nighttime. So we headed back to the campground via a not-so-quick detour to the Smoothie stand on the Centerline road… yummy! Birthday-girl and I lounged on the beach at Cinnamon Bay while BM and MoC started packing. We had a visitor at the beach…
Iguana at Cinnamon Bay beach
We left for Cruz Bay around 4pm, had a few last drinks with BM and MoC at High Tide and then bid them adieu. We headed back to the campground and made veggie-burgers on the grill in front of our cottage. Man… they tasted so good. I washed my burger down with more rum-based drinks.
Later in the evening the family in the next cottage over from us invited us to join them for music and Tequila. We’d met them the night before, and enjoyed their company. I’d been drinking something from about 3pm on, and the Tequila shots got me a little loopy. Here’s what I remember about that evening: A group of 8 or so of us all dancing down at the beach in the starlight. What the heck… we were on vacation. Thankfully… no pictures of that!
Wednesday, May 13th
It must be said that deciding on plans for two people is much easier than for four. Birthday-girl and I have similar interests. We don’t really want to sit at the beach for hours on end, and enjoy hiking. So, this seemed like a good day to tackle the Lameshur Bay Trail to the Reef Bay Trail, with a quick diversion to the Reef Bay Great House and the Petroglyphs.
Ruins of the Reef Bay Great House
It was overcast all morning, which kept the heat of the sun off of us. I’d been to the ruins at Reef Bay on my first trip to STJ, and my husband took some great photos in the sunlight. The light on this day didn’t inspire a lot of photo taking. However, the gray skies did help to make the petroglyphs more visible.
Rock carvings attributed to early Arawak
This was the day the mosquitoes came out in full force. While we were bothered a bit while we were hiking, there was a good breeze most of the time, so we weren’t eaten alive. That is until we got back to our car at Lameshur Bay. You’ve never seen people eat their lunch as fast as the two of us! After a speedy sandwich, we hopped in the car, and headed over to Saltpond Bay. We were sort of tired from our six-mile hike, so we just lounged at Saltpond for an hour or two and then walked over to Trunk Bay to go visit the coral people.
…and the coral turtles
View of Trunk Bay
We were tired and headed back to Cinnamon Bay around 5pm and decided we’d get cleaned up and head to Skinny Legs for dinner. I’ve been there three times in my life, and all I’ve ever eaten is the Blue Cheese Burger. So, don’t ask me about the food at Skinny Legs, unless you want my opinion on the Blue Cheese Burger, which is EXCELLENT. Sorry… no food porn. I did not drink very much that night; Tuesday night had done me in.
Thursday, May 14th
This was the day that I’d planned to meet Pia (from the forum) and her husband Les along with their two dogs for their morning walk to Brown Bay. I’d had quite a few PM conversations with Pia over the last month, so it was a real pleasure to meet her. She really is as nice in person as she comes across on the forum.
Les & Pia, with their dogs Tiki and Coqui at Brown Bay
Birthday-girl and Lovermont at Brown Bay
While we were beyond Coral Bay, we thought we’d go check out Vie’s beach on the East End. You’ve got to pay $2.50 per person to cross her land to get to the beach, and we didn’t have any change. We ended up going to her beach without paying, knowing that we’d be having lunch there and could settle up with her later. She’s got lounge chairs on the beach, which we welcomed. One of the downsides of staying at a campground is that you don’t have access to all the beach paraphernalia that you get at a villa. We took full advantage of the chairs, and enjoyed the beach. Just after noon we went to visit Vie and ordered her Conch Fritters and an order of Garlic Chicken. Her fritters are the best; and the chickens know it.
The chicken that stole my fritter
When Vie found out I’d lost a conch fritter, she gave me another one. Such a nice lady!
The beautiful Vie
Our plans to go back to the beach after lunch for some snorkeling were dashed when the skies opened and rain poured on us while eating lunch. We were soaked and decided to head back towards Cinnamon Bay with no real plans for the afternoon. On the way home we diverted to the Anneberg ruins. The mosquitoes were so bad that we quickly walked up the road, saw all the ruins in a couple of minutes, and walked back to the safety of the car.
After showering in the cold shower at Cinnamon Bay Campground, we decided to head into Cruz Bay for the obligatory souvenir shopping. I picked up a nice pair of earrings at Caravan Gallery in Mongoose Junction. It was a little early for dinner, but it was the perfect time to try the Happy Hour at La Plancha del Mar in the Marketplace. We made a meal out of splitting three of their $5 appetizers, and partaking in the $2 beers and Sangria. Jason is adorable - a great host and so incredibly personable. We finished our early dinner off with Pineapple Flambé. Excellent!
We were back at the campground around dark, and I believe we went to bed around 8:30pm. The alcohol and activity was catching up with me.
Friday, May 15th
Today was our Jost van Dyke day! We got up pretty early and made our way into town to make sure that we’d be able to park the car without any problem. The ferry ride was really pleasant; it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day.
Ferry ride to Jost; looking towards Tortola
Our first stop was at the Soggy Dollar Bar. It was quiet; it was only 10am. Is it wrong to drink Painkillers at 10am? Not when you’re grabbing a free one, courtesy of CaliforniaGirl and Kellyanna. I also paid one forward. If you’re on Jost in the near future, ask Mic if the Painkiller from Lovermont is still available for a VIOL forum member.
White Beach on Jost van Dyke is stunning. We soaked up the sun, and I was busy snapping photos with my iPhone to send to my husband who was in England, and to Baby-momma and Mom-o-Caleb to let them know what they were missing.
The view…
Lovermont pretending that she somehow belongs with that Catamaran
We walked down the beach for lunch and had a great Mahi Mahi sandwich at Seddie’s One Love Bar and Grill. Again, a great meal!
T-shirts hanging at the One Love Bar and Grill
It started to rain as we finished up our sandwich, so we bounced from bar to café trying to make our way back to our belongings, closer to the Soggy Dollar Bar. We got side-tracked at Gertrude’s. By this time it was raining hard, which meant we’d be staying under cover for a while. It’s only proper to order something to drink if you’re seeking shelter in a bar. When you order a Painkiller at Gertrude’s, she’ll hand you a cup with ice and a bottle of dark rum. She instructs you to pour as much rum as you think you’d like, and then she tops it up with the rest of the mix. Woah… that was a potent Painkiller!
We finally gathered our things up, and hopped into the cab to go back over the hill to check out Foxy’s. The skies were gray as we ferried back to STJ.
When we got back to Cruz Bay, we popped into Connections to print our boarding passes for the next day. Our plan was to carry our luggage onboard for our return flight home, so it made sense to get our boarding passes so that we could get through the airport in the most efficient manner.
Dinner that evening was at Joe’s BBQ. The food is plentiful, and the price is right. I find the barbeque a little too sweet, but it really hit the spot. We were back at the campground fairly early, and were in bed around 9pm.
Saturday, May 16th
Happy Birthday, Birthday-girl!
Our plan for the last morning was to pack up and be out of our cottage by 8am. We wanted to hit Trunk Bay for a couple of hours, take a quick shower and make the 11am car barge. I’m a fan of getting up early and packing things into the last day, because it still seems like a vacation day if you do something besides sit on an airplane seat.
Birthday-girl is the perfect companion to pack a lot into a short time frame. We arrived at Trunk around 8:15am. It’s a great time to be there. I did the last bit of snorkeling, and took a few last pictures.
You’ve heard of “toes in the sand”; this is “toes floating above water”
A quiet morning at Trunk Bay
Our original plan was to just shower at Trunk Bay, but the showers there have signs that instruct you to not use soap or shampoo. It’s more of a “rinse the sea water off of you” type of shower. We had long hours of traveling in front of us, and wanted a real shower. So, we drove back to Cinnamon Bay Campground and showered there. It all made sense, because we’d forgotten to give back our key to the cottage when we left earlier in the morning. The mosquitoes swarmed us as we took our final cold shower. Birthday-girl came out of her shower saying that she almost started crying because of the darn mosquitoes. It was bad; I really don’t miss the showers at Cinnamon Bay Campground!
Why am I smiling as I’m leaving on the car barge?
We caught the 11am car barge, and made it back to Dependable to drop off the car without incident. The airport was crazy, and we were glad that we were carrying luggage onboard and had our boarding passes printed.
Our flights went smoothly, and we landed in Boston about 15 minutes early. My husband had returned from England about 6 hours before us, and spent the afternoon with friends in Boston. He picked us up at 10pm and drove us all the way home – a four hour journey. When we arrived at 2am, his body was saying it was 7am England time. He’d been awake for 27 hours… what a sport!
My husband and I are already making plans for our next trip to STJ; it looks like this December. Yeah!
Lovermont
Baby-momma - who left her six-month old daughter at home, and was only scheduled to be with us for 4 days.
Mom-o-Caleb - Caleb being a dog who is terminally ill, thus causing his mom a fair amount of anxiety while she was trying to have a good time on STJ.
Birthday-girl - our girls trip often takes place around her birthday.
Lovermont - The girls also call me Julie the Cruise Director!
Saturday, May 9th
Three of us are from VT and drove down to Boston the night before our flight and met up with Baby-momma. We had to get on the road by 4:00am to check into our 5:35am flight. BM wasn't even scheduled to be on our flight, but she sweet-talked her way onto the flight to PHL, and then also got on the connecting flight to STT. We arrived on STT at 11:30. All of us carried our luggage on board, so we were off to Dependable Rent a Car to get our car before noon. Birthday-girl decided to drive and we set off straight to Red Hook with a stop at Food Center. We had lunch at a Burrito place in Red Hook, and were on the 3:00pm car barge. I took over the car once we reached STJ because I knew my way through Cruz Bay, and thought I'd let the other ladies take in the island.
We arrived at Cinnamon Bay campground and got all of our things to Cottage 7A. Once we got settled we went to the beach to decompress from the long day of traveling. The only thing we had on our agenda was going to dinner at Miss Lucy's as it was going to be a full moon that night. I had never been to Miss Lucy's and was pleasantly surprised by the food and $4 rum punches. Tasty food, nice music, great company.
Mom-o-Caleb, Baby-momma, and Birthday-girl at Miss Lucy’s
We stayed until we saw the moon come up, but were back in our cottage by 10pm. It had been a long day…
Sunday, May 10th
The day had started much earlier for Mom-o-Caleb than for the rest of us. She was up multiple times during the night feeling nauseous and getting sick. Baby-momma got up to be with her, and they tried to sit on the beach in the middle of the night, but the sand flies got to them. Our cottage was hot, she was worried about her dog, and also really anxious about the stresses of her job. I headed to the beach pretty early and went for a snorkel to Cinnamon Cay.
Our first morning at Cinnamon Bay
Later in the morning Mindehankins from the forum came over to introduce herself and give us a slew of supplies that she was not going to need anymore. Minde and her husband Blaine were returning home that day. Thank you Minde!
Today was Baby-momma’s first mother’s day, and she was no doubt missing her little girl. Birthday-girl is a mother of three children, so we tried to celebrate Mother’s Day for our two mothers. After a slow morning of visits to the beach and hiking the short Cinnamon Bay Self Guided Trail with Birthday-girl, we all headed to Caneel Bay Resort, where we parked and walked over to Honeymoon Beach. It was a gorgeous day.
Looking through the palm trees to Honeymoon Beach
I had purchased a Neat Sheet based on a suggestion from this forum. Thank you to whomever suggested it; it came in handy!
Birthday-girl and I hiked the Lind Point Trail over to Solomon and then to the overlook over Cruz Bay.
After hanging out until about 4pm we drove into Cruz Bay to do a little window-shopping and get a drink. I’m embarrassed to admit that we were having some conch fritters and rum drinks at High Tide, while the forum gathering was happening at the Beach Bar. I’m generally a fairly gregarious person, but it’s nearly impossible for me to walk into a crowd of people whom I don’t know. So, sorry forum folks; I’ll try to be more brave next time.
We returned to our cottage at Cinnamon Bay Campground and made fantastic Spicy Black Bean burgers for dinner. It’s funny how good things taste when you’re camping!
The best sunset we saw at Cinnamon Bay
Our night ended by heading up to the T’ree Lizard restaurant, where we thought we were going to hear some music. The band had already finished for the night, but we ended up having our own little party with four other campers. They had music and some impromptu dancing took place until we were told that it was “quiet time” at the campground.
Monday, May 11th
It threatened rain from the very beginning of the day. I walked the beautiful beach at Cinnamon Bay heading towards Maho. Just at the end of my morning walk, the skies opened. I headed back to our cottage to find the girls discussing playing some cards until the rain let up. It was at this point that I told them that conventional wisdom is that if it’s raining on the north shore, it’s often fine on the south shore. I suggested that we head down to Saltpond, and hike Ram Head. The suggestion was met with varying degrees of interest, but we packed our things up, and headed to the southeast. It was gray when we parked the car, but dry. Our hike out to Ram Head was beautiful and the views stunning.
Mom-o-Caleb, Birthday-girl, Baby-momma and Lovermont at Ram Head
Pelican in a tree at Saltpond Bay
By the time we returned to Saltpond Bay, everyone agreed that they were happy that we got moving in the morning. We didn’t stay at the beach at Saltpond Bay, because we were all too hungry. I would have loved to go to the Tourist Trap, but it was Monday, so I knew they'd be closed. Instead we went to Shipwreck Landing for a great lunch of Soft Fish Tacos and Mojitos. After a leisurely lunch we checked out the Jolly Dog, I purchased a pareo for myself and then we moseyed to Maho where we relaxed the afternoon away.
My husband had given me a new camera with underwater features for my birthday earlier this year. It was at Maho that I really began experimenting with it.
My first successful underwater shots
Turtle at Maho
One of many chickens at Maho that day
We returned to Cinnamon Bay, took our cold showers, prepared some rum-based drinks and went down to the beach to enjoy another sunset before heading out to Aqua Bistro for dinner.
Lovermont, Baby-momma, Mom-o-Caleb and Birthday-girl enjoying the evening at Cinnamon Bay
We liked the food at Aqua Bistro, but were annoyed at the portions. The dinner salad that BM ordered was enough for all four of us. So, we split it four ways, but wondered what we would have thought if we'd all ordered a salad. BG and I split a great dish of Mahi Mahi on black beans and rice, but when we asked where the plantains were that had been mentioned on the menu, we were just told in an offhanded fashion that they were out of plantains. MoC and BM both ordered what turned out to be a huge portion of pasta with scallops. They agreed that they could have easily split one order. All in all, we left there feeling that they could have executed things much better than they did. The idea of wasted food, especially when so much is flown in, seemed ridiculous to us.
The evening ended playing Euchre back at the campground. What had started as an iffy day proved to be fun-filled and quite beautiful.
Tuesday, May 12th
This was the day that we found out that MoC had decided to go home early. BM was already scheduled to leave on Wednesday, but MoC had originally been scheduled to stay with us until our trip back to VT on Saturday. MoC wasn’t very happy at Cinnamon Bay, was missing her very ill dog, and had a lot of worries about her job back home. She isn’t concerned about losing her job; she’s in Human Resources and knew she was going home to do the lay-offs. In the morning, BM and MoC also told us that they thought they’d be going over to STT at the end of the day (as opposed to early the next morning) to be closer to the airport, hopefully resulting in getting on earlier flights than they were booked on.
We decided to start their last day by walking out to Waterlemon Bay. By the time we arrived it was raining pretty steadily. We got the Neat Sheet out and tried to make a shelter with it and some tree branches. The result was that we got completely wet. After about 1/2 of an hour it lightened up enough and the decision was made that we’d be better in the water snorkeling. What an excellent idea. The water actually felt pretty warm because of the fact that we were getting a little chilled with the rain.
I knew we’d see some starfish around the Cay. My last visit I’d seen about 50 or so. This trip I only found 3.
We also saw turtles at Waterlemon.
And other photos from that day at Waterlemon
Birthday-girl and I then walked up to both sets of ruins above Waterlemon. By this time of the day it was pretty nice with plenty of sunshine.
This little guy was sunning himself on the ruins
The view from the first set of ruins looking over Leinster Bay
And looking toward Tortola from the higher set of ruins
We zoomed into the beach and could see BM and MoC from the higher ruins
Waterlemon Cay was gorgeous from above
Our original plan had been to go back to Cinnamon Bay and take some kayaks out for the afternoon, but the two travelers wanted to get packed up and catch a ferry before nighttime. So we headed back to the campground via a not-so-quick detour to the Smoothie stand on the Centerline road… yummy! Birthday-girl and I lounged on the beach at Cinnamon Bay while BM and MoC started packing. We had a visitor at the beach…
Iguana at Cinnamon Bay beach
We left for Cruz Bay around 4pm, had a few last drinks with BM and MoC at High Tide and then bid them adieu. We headed back to the campground and made veggie-burgers on the grill in front of our cottage. Man… they tasted so good. I washed my burger down with more rum-based drinks.
Later in the evening the family in the next cottage over from us invited us to join them for music and Tequila. We’d met them the night before, and enjoyed their company. I’d been drinking something from about 3pm on, and the Tequila shots got me a little loopy. Here’s what I remember about that evening: A group of 8 or so of us all dancing down at the beach in the starlight. What the heck… we were on vacation. Thankfully… no pictures of that!
Wednesday, May 13th
It must be said that deciding on plans for two people is much easier than for four. Birthday-girl and I have similar interests. We don’t really want to sit at the beach for hours on end, and enjoy hiking. So, this seemed like a good day to tackle the Lameshur Bay Trail to the Reef Bay Trail, with a quick diversion to the Reef Bay Great House and the Petroglyphs.
Ruins of the Reef Bay Great House
It was overcast all morning, which kept the heat of the sun off of us. I’d been to the ruins at Reef Bay on my first trip to STJ, and my husband took some great photos in the sunlight. The light on this day didn’t inspire a lot of photo taking. However, the gray skies did help to make the petroglyphs more visible.
Rock carvings attributed to early Arawak
This was the day the mosquitoes came out in full force. While we were bothered a bit while we were hiking, there was a good breeze most of the time, so we weren’t eaten alive. That is until we got back to our car at Lameshur Bay. You’ve never seen people eat their lunch as fast as the two of us! After a speedy sandwich, we hopped in the car, and headed over to Saltpond Bay. We were sort of tired from our six-mile hike, so we just lounged at Saltpond for an hour or two and then walked over to Trunk Bay to go visit the coral people.
…and the coral turtles
View of Trunk Bay
We were tired and headed back to Cinnamon Bay around 5pm and decided we’d get cleaned up and head to Skinny Legs for dinner. I’ve been there three times in my life, and all I’ve ever eaten is the Blue Cheese Burger. So, don’t ask me about the food at Skinny Legs, unless you want my opinion on the Blue Cheese Burger, which is EXCELLENT. Sorry… no food porn. I did not drink very much that night; Tuesday night had done me in.
Thursday, May 14th
This was the day that I’d planned to meet Pia (from the forum) and her husband Les along with their two dogs for their morning walk to Brown Bay. I’d had quite a few PM conversations with Pia over the last month, so it was a real pleasure to meet her. She really is as nice in person as she comes across on the forum.
Les & Pia, with their dogs Tiki and Coqui at Brown Bay
Birthday-girl and Lovermont at Brown Bay
While we were beyond Coral Bay, we thought we’d go check out Vie’s beach on the East End. You’ve got to pay $2.50 per person to cross her land to get to the beach, and we didn’t have any change. We ended up going to her beach without paying, knowing that we’d be having lunch there and could settle up with her later. She’s got lounge chairs on the beach, which we welcomed. One of the downsides of staying at a campground is that you don’t have access to all the beach paraphernalia that you get at a villa. We took full advantage of the chairs, and enjoyed the beach. Just after noon we went to visit Vie and ordered her Conch Fritters and an order of Garlic Chicken. Her fritters are the best; and the chickens know it.
The chicken that stole my fritter
When Vie found out I’d lost a conch fritter, she gave me another one. Such a nice lady!
The beautiful Vie
Our plans to go back to the beach after lunch for some snorkeling were dashed when the skies opened and rain poured on us while eating lunch. We were soaked and decided to head back towards Cinnamon Bay with no real plans for the afternoon. On the way home we diverted to the Anneberg ruins. The mosquitoes were so bad that we quickly walked up the road, saw all the ruins in a couple of minutes, and walked back to the safety of the car.
After showering in the cold shower at Cinnamon Bay Campground, we decided to head into Cruz Bay for the obligatory souvenir shopping. I picked up a nice pair of earrings at Caravan Gallery in Mongoose Junction. It was a little early for dinner, but it was the perfect time to try the Happy Hour at La Plancha del Mar in the Marketplace. We made a meal out of splitting three of their $5 appetizers, and partaking in the $2 beers and Sangria. Jason is adorable - a great host and so incredibly personable. We finished our early dinner off with Pineapple Flambé. Excellent!
We were back at the campground around dark, and I believe we went to bed around 8:30pm. The alcohol and activity was catching up with me.
Friday, May 15th
Today was our Jost van Dyke day! We got up pretty early and made our way into town to make sure that we’d be able to park the car without any problem. The ferry ride was really pleasant; it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day.
Ferry ride to Jost; looking towards Tortola
Our first stop was at the Soggy Dollar Bar. It was quiet; it was only 10am. Is it wrong to drink Painkillers at 10am? Not when you’re grabbing a free one, courtesy of CaliforniaGirl and Kellyanna. I also paid one forward. If you’re on Jost in the near future, ask Mic if the Painkiller from Lovermont is still available for a VIOL forum member.
White Beach on Jost van Dyke is stunning. We soaked up the sun, and I was busy snapping photos with my iPhone to send to my husband who was in England, and to Baby-momma and Mom-o-Caleb to let them know what they were missing.
The view…
Lovermont pretending that she somehow belongs with that Catamaran
We walked down the beach for lunch and had a great Mahi Mahi sandwich at Seddie’s One Love Bar and Grill. Again, a great meal!
T-shirts hanging at the One Love Bar and Grill
It started to rain as we finished up our sandwich, so we bounced from bar to café trying to make our way back to our belongings, closer to the Soggy Dollar Bar. We got side-tracked at Gertrude’s. By this time it was raining hard, which meant we’d be staying under cover for a while. It’s only proper to order something to drink if you’re seeking shelter in a bar. When you order a Painkiller at Gertrude’s, she’ll hand you a cup with ice and a bottle of dark rum. She instructs you to pour as much rum as you think you’d like, and then she tops it up with the rest of the mix. Woah… that was a potent Painkiller!
We finally gathered our things up, and hopped into the cab to go back over the hill to check out Foxy’s. The skies were gray as we ferried back to STJ.
When we got back to Cruz Bay, we popped into Connections to print our boarding passes for the next day. Our plan was to carry our luggage onboard for our return flight home, so it made sense to get our boarding passes so that we could get through the airport in the most efficient manner.
Dinner that evening was at Joe’s BBQ. The food is plentiful, and the price is right. I find the barbeque a little too sweet, but it really hit the spot. We were back at the campground fairly early, and were in bed around 9pm.
Saturday, May 16th
Happy Birthday, Birthday-girl!
Our plan for the last morning was to pack up and be out of our cottage by 8am. We wanted to hit Trunk Bay for a couple of hours, take a quick shower and make the 11am car barge. I’m a fan of getting up early and packing things into the last day, because it still seems like a vacation day if you do something besides sit on an airplane seat.
Birthday-girl is the perfect companion to pack a lot into a short time frame. We arrived at Trunk around 8:15am. It’s a great time to be there. I did the last bit of snorkeling, and took a few last pictures.
You’ve heard of “toes in the sand”; this is “toes floating above water”
A quiet morning at Trunk Bay
Our original plan was to just shower at Trunk Bay, but the showers there have signs that instruct you to not use soap or shampoo. It’s more of a “rinse the sea water off of you” type of shower. We had long hours of traveling in front of us, and wanted a real shower. So, we drove back to Cinnamon Bay Campground and showered there. It all made sense, because we’d forgotten to give back our key to the cottage when we left earlier in the morning. The mosquitoes swarmed us as we took our final cold shower. Birthday-girl came out of her shower saying that she almost started crying because of the darn mosquitoes. It was bad; I really don’t miss the showers at Cinnamon Bay Campground!
Why am I smiling as I’m leaving on the car barge?
We caught the 11am car barge, and made it back to Dependable to drop off the car without incident. The airport was crazy, and we were glad that we were carrying luggage onboard and had our boarding passes printed.
Our flights went smoothly, and we landed in Boston about 15 minutes early. My husband had returned from England about 6 hours before us, and spent the afternoon with friends in Boston. He picked us up at 10pm and drove us all the way home – a four hour journey. When we arrived at 2am, his body was saying it was 7am England time. He’d been awake for 27 hours… what a sport!
My husband and I are already making plans for our next trip to STJ; it looks like this December. Yeah!
Lovermont
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cypressgirl
- Posts: 2178
- Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2006 2:42 pm
- Location: houston
Welcome to the forum lust4life!lust4life wrote:Pictures were awesome and loved the daily logs. Camping and the cold showers don't sound too appealing to me.
My husband is really the vacation photographer in our household, and since he'd just given me this new camera I felt like I had to produce some worthy photos.
I was quite happy camping, but the cold showers were really tough. Man, that first warm shower when I got home was awesome!
Next time we go, we're going to take a step up in accommodations... LOL!
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hoosierdaddy
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- Location: Indiana
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tinajohnson
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- Location: Dallas, TX