Juice & Tracy's Trip Report - part 1

[Tracy in WI]

St. John January 13- 20, 2007
Day One

We (Tracy and Juice (aka Mike)) just returned from our 7th trip to St. John and as normal, we are eager for a return visit. We never get tired of the island, the beaches, the restaurants, the total relaxation. It had been a difficult several months prior to this trip and we were in need of some time during which we could relax and not think about things back home. We were not disappointed.

We flew on Spirit Air out of Chicago with no problems at all. We had a connection both ways in Ft. Lauderdale. We have flown Spirit a few times and on this trip, I noticed there were no blankets or pillows and no entertainment at all. Usually I can plug in a set of headphones and lean over on a pillow for an hour or two – especially on a 6 am flight. I guess I’ll have to break down and get me one of those Ipod thingys and one of those head pillows sold at the airport for our next trip!

We landed on St. Thomas at 2:30 and a brief rain shower welcomed us. There was no notice of the blast of hot tropical air as we have experienced on our other trips. While we were waiting for our luggage, I made my husband go and buy us a few beers. For some reason he hesitated but did as his smart wife asked. In addition to the free rum punch, this got us fully into vacation mode! I don’t think the rum punch is actually free anymore. There was a tip jar and a definite indication that tips are expected in order to enjoy a small cup as you head for the baggage area. It is worth it!

Juice with those requested beers!



We boarded a taxi van to Red Hook for the 4:00 ferry and made it there easily. There was quite a line for tickets, and unlike Traveler22, we did not experience any overzealous porters. We did enjoy the new, almost completed Red Hook facility and the bathrooms available for our use. While I stood in line, Juice went to a local restaurant/bar and ordered us a few pina coladas for the ride.

Nearly completed Red Hook facility



We sat on the top deck of the ferry and enjoyed the view as St. John came slowly closer and closer. The site of the island never gets tiring – we love this place! After retrieving our bags, I waved to the webcam and then noticed Ruth looking out over her deck. A quick introduction and hello and we were off to get our rental car.

Arriving on St. John



We rented through Denzil Clyne and received a two door Vitara with over 30,000 miles on it and no radio. It was a bit run down, but made it up and down all of the hills nicely. Due to booking so late, I believe we received the last one available. We parked each night in their lot – which is across from the old car ferry dock. Several nights, in the same parking lot, we had to walk past groups of local young men often smoking something funny. But we were fine and so was our car. I was very happy with the service at Denzil Clyne, when asked about out return flight, we were automatically given a 12:00 return time for the car. This allowed us some extra beach time on our last day. Unfortunately, with plans for a new post office or shopping area, they may be moving to a new undetermined location. This may affect being able to park in a lot in town, which is very important to us.

Our car for the week



While I filled out the paperwork, Juice walked over to Dolphin Market for some staples to get us through the night and next day.

While at Denzil Clyne’s office, we met James Walgenwitt, the owner of Rendezvous Cottage. This would be our home away from home for the week. We booked our lodging at the last minute and received a good rate. The property is offered through Book-it-VI, but we went directly through the owner. This is a three-unit property and includes a shared pool. The cottage is a stand-alone unit below the pool level and includes one bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and a nice sized screened in porch/living room. One of the reasons we chose this property is because we knew the other two units were not rented for our week. This turned out to be a big benefit since we had the entire pool and pool deck area to ourselves for the entire week. This is by no means a luxury villa, but it was nice, clean, well supplied, and affordable.

The pool at Rendezvous



After arriving at our cottage, we had a snack and cleaned up a bit. We decided to head to the Lime Inn for dinner. In the past we have had many good meals here with a few not so good. I ordered the Reef and Cay, which was a NY strip steak with four blackened shrimp. The shrimp were delicious but the steak was almost inedible. I ordered it medium and it was very well done – difficult to eat. I should have sent it back. Juice ordered a bleu cheese stuffed filet mignon and said his was pretty good. Despite this usually being one of our favorite on-island restaurants, we never did go back during the week.

After our long day of travel, we were worn out and eager to get a good night’s rest for the next day!

Up next: Miss Lucy’s Sunday Brunch, Haulover North, Francis Bay and Sunday Jazz Jam at the Beach Bar with fellow forumites!

Any tip on how to get these images larger would be appreciated!!!! I have them on webshots and I can't figure it out![/img]

[mark & susan]

Thanks! Love the way you integrated the pictures.

What is the tarp like structure in the air near the pool, a sunshade?

Keep them coming!

[robncindi]

Great trip report so far! We look forward to more

[traveler22]

Tracy
Trip reports sound great so far , keep'em coming. We had the same Vitara as you did but in Silver, lots of miles,radio turned on but couldn't get a station but it sure climbed the hills great (loved it). Also that guy with the red Stripes look familar, had to see him somewhere!
Scott

[waterguy]

Thanks Tracy for making me look bad I promise I'll get to mine this weekend Looking good don't tell all our secrets.
Tom

[sea-nile]

Thanks for the report! I like the pictures too.
It sounds like you had a great time.

[Tracy in WI]

Thanks!

Those tarps above the pool were really pretty cool. There were two of them and they were like awning type material. They helped alot when the sun was blaring.

Traveler22 - Do you think you might recognize the guy with the red stripes because it is a mirror image of yourself on vacation?! We enjoyed them!

Also, it was hard choosing which pictures to use - I only took close to 800 during our short week! That new underwater case was lots of fun!

Tracy

[Nic in KC]

Great report so far! I'm devouring the reports as soon as they are up as we anxiously await our April/May trip.

[Amy]

Great report so far, Tracy! We've used Denzil Clyne twice now with no problems at all, although I've heard some bad reviews from others. We called the smoking dudes in the parking lot the "Ganja Guys," and they never bothered us. I think they sort of guard the lot, and they helped us maneuver out of our tight space a couple of times! We thought the location of the parking lot was great, so I'm sorry to hear they might be moving. We're always on the lookout for less expensive accomodations, so it was nice to hear about Rendezvous Cottage.

[liamsaunt]

Great start and nice pictures too! Looking forward to the rest.

[tarheelgirl]

My rowdy sisters and I stayed in the middle unit at Rendezvous. Can't say enough great things about the place! Boy, does that shot of the pool bring back memories of us drinking, swimming, and dancing!

[Pete (Mr. Marcia)]

Thanks for the report. Man, it makes me so anxious for April.

[Bob & Anita]

Looking forward to the next addition.

[Jan&MikeVa]

This is a good start.................more, more.

That is really cool how you lucked out at Rendevous, the pool looks really nice. Thanks for the pics too.

WHEN do we get to hear about the forumite gathering?? And did you guys take pics??

Jan (akaCharlie)

[waterguy]

Hi Tracy I like your pic's the size they are all you have to do is clock on them and it takes you to webshots and a bigger one neat.
Tom