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Betty Trip Review Part 2
Betty Trip Review Part 2
Monday the 22nd
Monday was to be our day out on Noah’s Little Arks, we arrived at Noah’s at 9:30 and the wind was starting to whip up. We asked the man in charge if he thought it was a good idea to go out and he said “sure, no problem”. Let me tell you, if there is any chop in the water, cancel your trip. Sis and bro hiked the Caneel Trail and some other trail, we were to meet them at Hawksnest. Jim and I set out in a 14ft dinghy with a 30hp motor. The dinghy’s at Noah’s are old and have taken a lot of use. The throttle spring is so tight that it takes a lot of physical effort to keep the throttle twisted for higher speeds. We tried to make it to Hawksnest but the waves kept us back, we called sis on her cell and told them to hike back to Caneel and we would pick them up at the dock. While we were heading back to Caneel it started to pour, our only rain of the week. It lasted about 45 minutes; Jim and I were soaked and not happy. We called Noah’s and asked if we could take the dinghy to the south shore, we wanted to salvage the day. We headed south and made it to Devers Bay and we realized we were almost out of gas, sigh. They hadn’t filled the tank before they let us go out. Last strike for me, Sis and I wanted off this 3 hour cruise.
I asked my husband to drop sis and me off at Chocolate Hole, we would snorkel home, and the boys returned the dinghy. We had been charged for a full day, the manager or whoever works there, never apologized or offered us our money back, and my husband didn’t want to get into a confrontation and ruin his vacation, so he just dropped it. Personally I think it was very poor judgment on the Noah guy to even let us out in sea’s like that. I probably would not rent a dinghy again; it is fairly easy to get to almost all of the beaches on St John by foot, even for someone that is not very active 
We spent the rest of the day enjoying Choc Hole and our villa pool, while I played bartender. We were all tired from our day and decided to get takeout from Joe’s. We shared 2 rib and 2 chicken platters amongst 4 and had left over’s. I made mashed taters and we got corn on the cob from Joes as our sides. Joe’s did not disappoint and the ribs were falling off the bone. I had fun trying to make BBC’s and Dirty Banana’s. We went to bed early and slept like babies after a crazy morning at sea.
Tuesday the 23rd we packed beers, sodas and waters, and picked up lunch at Grotto Deli and headed to the North Shore beaches. It was another crazy surf filled day, we payed to get into Trunk, as Sis and Bro had never been, but when we got in they had closed the snorkeling off, as we left I asked the attendant for a rain check and she said she couldn’t give one, but come see her Thursday morning and she would let us in for free. We decided to head to Salt Pond Bay and it was beautiful and calm. More crowded then usual for mid-week, but not too bad. We had a wonderful day snorkeling and sunning. Some of the snorkelers saw many large turtles here, we missed them though. Deli Grotto makes some of the best sandwiches ever, and they have excellent home made chocolate chip cookies. We stopped by the smoothie stand on the way home, Jim and sis had the banana smoothie with Meyers and bro and I had the Mango with Meyers, Yummy! Jim and sis switched to mango for the rest of the week, and it was a unanimous favorite. We had early reservations at Tage but we were all too spent from our day of sun, snorkel and drinks. We canceled our reservation and took naps instead. When we awoke around 7:30 we decided to try the Sushi and Martini Bar in the Marketplace. The food was very good and the staff was tops. The staff at Woody’s was at the next table for a staff dinner and the place was hopping. We ordered the Veggie/Seafood Tempura Entrée as an App to split and it was excellent, lots of shrimp, scallops and fish. We all had Sushi and it was very fresh, they have an excellent assortment of creative rolls. The one with King Crab on the top was my fave. I had a house Pinot Noir that was very good, Bro had beer, Hubby and sis opted for excellent Ginger Martini’s. They have a very nice home furnishing store in the Marketplace. A side note; we tried a couple of times to go to Baked in the Sun Bakery and it was always so busy/line out the door that we decided to skip it. With the lines it must be awesome, something to try next year.
Wednesday the 24th
Today we had to be up early as it was Ocean Runners day and hubby wanted us a the Ocean Runners location in Cruz Bay by 7:40 a.m. They do not start the rental process until 8 a.m., but hubby always has to be early … sigh!
We have rented from both Ocean Runners and Nauti-Nymph and find the Ocean Runner boats to be superior. Ocean Runner has Mako boats that are better suited to the ocean whereas Nauti-Nymph uses a brand of boat called a “Fountain” that seems better suited for a lake. The Ocean Runner boats are a better riding and a dryer boat (less ocean spray). One suggestion is go the day before and fill out the paperwork as it will save you about ½ hour of your rental time. You get the boat from 8-5, but we did not leave till 8:30, with all the customs forms we had to fill out. We got our boat Ocean Runner #3 and headed to Tortolla to clear customs. It took us at least another ½ hour to clear customs in Tortolla (very busy dock and harbor) and next time we will try and go directly to Virgin Gorda (our first destination) to clear customs. If anyone in your party has basic boating and chart reading / navigation skills, then renting without a Captain (Ocean Runner can supply one if requested) makes sense as the waters around the U.S and British Virgin Islands drop off rapidly from shore and, as such, are easy to navigate. Anyway, we finally cleared customs in Tortolla and headed up to “The Baths” located at the British Virgin Island - Virgin Gorda. The Baths are an incredible natural formation of Rocks along the shoreline of Virgin Gorda. You can walk in the sand … under and around the huge boulders as the tidal waters swirl around your feet … just incredible. There are mooring buoys just a couple hundred feet off shore and you can easily tie up and swim into the beach. It took us about .45 minutes of boating up the coastline of Tortolla until we reached Virgin Gorda and The Baths. As you approach The Baths you will see other boats that are tied up to the multiple mooring buoys. Tie up your boat, swim in to the beach and enjoy a delightful day. The water is warm, crystal clear and just simply enjoyable. Devils Bay on the right side of the Baths is a delightful beach and snorkeling spot without all of the Bath’s crowds. It is on the right when you are looking from the water in a boat. We stayed at the Baths for about 3+ hours and then backtracked along the coast of Tortolla. When we got back to the West end of Tortolla (just off the North shore of St. John) we headed off to the island of Jost Van Dyke to for lunch at my favorite island bar Foxy’s. It is just a short hop over to Foxy’s and the Harbor is easy to find and the dock has plenty of room for your boat. We tied up and sauntered down the sandy road to Foxy’s. Foxy’s is a magical place and you just need to visit and take in the island ambiance, good food, drink and music. I had the Chicken Roti that was really flavorful and flaky, the boys had burgers and sis had excellent fish of the day. Drinks are always good, I had a rum punch and the others had beers and painkillers with fresh grated nutmeg of course. After a couple of lazy hours at Foxy’s we got in the boat and headed back to St John, we wanted to view the Peter Bay/Beverly Hills from the water. It is hard to believe that it is part of St John. All in all a day on the water that had great swimming, incredibly beautiful scenery and just plain fun … I highly recommend it to all. We decided to make appetizers at home for dinner and spent the night playing a competitive game of hearts. Another early to bed night!
Thursday the 24th we headed out early, to Trunk Bay to use our get in free pass from Tuesday. The same woman remembered me and let us in for free. The beach was almost deserted at 9am and we enjoyed it immensely! The snorkeling was not as good as I remembered it in the past, I think all of the beginner snorkelers have beaten down the coral. When I was out there a man that could barely swim was trying to stand up on the reef because he was so tired. I told him he had no business being out there and he agreed with me. They should be policing the snorkelers better. About 11:00 the swarms from the cruise ships descended down upon us and we made a hasty retreat. We ended up at Maho and it was just a perfect day, not too crowded with very good snorkeling. We stayed a few hours and then headed up to Skinny Legs for lunch. The burgers are still excellent but we were disappointed with the drinks. The drink my husband and I ordered tasted like Bug Juice from summer camp, my sister in law had a very weak pina colada. My husband drank my drink (Jimmy will drink anything) and I switched to the Virgin Isle Pale Ale, it was very tasty but could have been colder. Nice tee shirts in their shops and an interesting local art gallery too. We decided to head back to the pool with a stop at our favorite smoothie stand. We swam played cribbage and napped in the late afternoon and then headed into town about 7:30 in search of food. We didn’t make reservations, we thought we would wing it, most nights the restaurants were only about half filled. LOL Well it all changed Thursday night, La Tapa had a 45 minute wait, Woody’s had a ½ hour wait, Tage couldn’t even seat us, so we headed over to Mongoose and got a table at Ocean Grill. We were all pleasantly surprised; the atmosphere is very nice and open. This is my review from the On-St John site, our meal was excellent, I had the lobster pizzeta, my husband the red curry mussels for app’s and we shared the Mahi Mahi entree, all cooked to perfection. The split Mahi Mahi entree was brought to the table on 2 plates perfectly arranged as if it were one; the veggies were very good too. Sis had the Rum soaked pork tenderloin and bro the seared Tuna, all delish. The wine list is very good, we shared a bottle of Mantanzas Creek Merlot 2002, I had ordered a bottle of Silverado Merlot and it did not taste right to me and they took it back without complaint. The best part of the dinner was desert, my husband and I split the Banana Cake and it was the best cake I ever had! Sis and bro had the cheesecake and they loved it, bro declared it a best cheesecake. If I was remarrying down in St John I would have the banana cake as my wedding cake. I have to say that Ocean Grill was our second best meal of the week. I seem to have caused a fuss at the http://www.on-stjohn.com/2007/01/25/cha ... ean-grill/ site, but hopefully they will realize I am real by looking at all of my old posts. Thank you Ruth for vouching for me! Home to bed after a wonderful day of sun, fun, food and drinks.
Friday the 26th our last full day in paradise! We were up with the roosters; I was not going to miss a minute of our last day. I checked online for the number to the Bongo Bongo rental manager to inquire if we could get a tour and found a review for the restaurant that we just ate at last night. Seeing how our experiences differed so, I felt compelled to respond as you probably read above. After that bit of business it was time to make everyone a good hearty breakfast of eggs, grits and muffins, I also wanted to start using up some of the groceries that we bought. I have to say that I definitely over bought on some items, in the future I would probably shop for 3 days at a time. That being said we decided not to pack a lunch, since we had decided that we were hanging at Gibney for the day, we would have our last lunch at Woody’s. We packed beers, sodas, water and snacks and headed out early to get parking at the gate. We set up camp in front of the Oppenheimer Yellow House and we had a wonderful day just snorkeling, swimming and sunning,
About 1:30 we decided it was Woody’s time so we headed back into town. The young kids that work at Woody’s are really great, and we had an excellent lunch, 3 burgers cooked to perfection, rare, medium rare and medium well. I ordered the onion rings and found them a little greasy, but they were cooked the way bro likes them, Jim adores the curly fries and sis had the, hmmm I forget, I know it was good! The drinks are excellent, I had a Patron Margarita that was potent, actually I had 2 . hubby and bro had Painkillers and sis had a Pina Colada, which she declared “a best of”. We sat outside, ate, drank, people watched and chilled to Steely Dan. All of a sudden we realized we had reservations at 5:45 for the sunset balcony dinner at Asolare. We quickly called and pushed our reservation to 8:30. It was now about 4:00 and it was time to go home for a swim and a nap before dinner. Actually Sis and I napped and the boys continued their cribbage rivalry. 
We headed out to Asolare about 8:00 and went to the bar, excellent drinks for all. The bartender is very nice and has been their since the beginning. She is fun to chat with when things are slow. The restaurant was packed but we were given the balcony table we had requested for the “Last Supper”. The ambience is so special here; it would be a great place to hold a wedding reception.
Monday night at Asolare was our best meal of the week, it was very slow that night and everything was perfection. Tonight it was excellent but for one complaint, the lamb came out rare almost raw when my husband ordered it medium, they took it back and fixed the problem. Sis declared it her best meal of the week; she had the seared Tuna I think it was soaked in green tea. Bro had the filet mignon and he said it was perfect. He requested the blue cheese mashed potatoes that usually come with the lamb and they gave it to him instead of the starch featured with the steak. Those blue cheese mashed potatoes are a little bit of heaven and I am planning on trying them at home soon. For apps we shared the pork dumplings with a velvety hot mustard sauce and the special sushi of the night. For desert we ordered 2 to share, the Chocolate Pyramid and the Spicy Bread Pudding with a White Chocolate Sauce, both were sinful! Stuffed, warm and glowing we headed back to Chocolate Hole for sweet dreams.
Saturday the 27th Time to pack and go home. We have a 10 am check out at Ebb Tide, they have new guests arriving at noon and only 2 hours to turn it around. We also have to have our car back to O’Connor at 10. Sgt Jim had his alarm set and it was revelry at 6 am, sigh
, Jim went to fill the car and vacuum the sand out at the car wash. O'Connor has a sign in the car that if it is not returned clean you will be charged $75 and up extra, 
I was home with orders to get up and pack. I am the planner of the vacation, I do all the research, plan each day, each meal and Jim just follows along confident in my vacation planning skills. But when it comes to leaving a vacation, he pulls the power trip and takes control of the situation 
He has been with me for 22 years and he knows I will procrastinate till the last moment to prolong my vacation. Jim had decided that we would be dropped off in shifts to the Westin with all of our luggage. I was deployed first, I asked the bellmen to hold our luggage while we went to breakfast, Sgt Jim went back to the house to get sis and bro and their luggage and brought them back to Westin. Sgt then went to drop off the car. This was all accomplished by 9 am, Sgt Jim was very proud of himself . We had a nice breakfast at the Westin, with our extra time; we could do a little more shopping in Cruz Bay and at St John Spice.
Said our good byes to Ruth and headed off for the 11:15 ferry. The ferry was packed; I think some missed the ferry because it sold out. Sgt Jim was on the ball and bought ferry ticket's before we went shopping. We had a nice spot under cover on the right hand side of the ferry for an approaching view of St Thomas. I really prefer this ferry versus going to Red Hook; it is so relaxing and a pretty ride.
Jim and I don’t fly together, so Jim was scheduled on the direct 1 something flight to Philly and I was scheduled to make a connection through Charlotte on the 3 something flight. Jim made his flight with only minutes to spare, he was held up in customs and security for a long time. I stayed in town and shopped. Jim took all the luggage with him. When I got to the airport, the US Air check in lady said “your going to Philly through Charlotte?”, “why don’t you take the 3:55 direct to Philly?” I didn’t know they had 2 direct flights, when I made my reservations in October there was only one direct flight. She found a seat for me and I was thrilled! I called my daughter at home and asked her to write down all the new flight info to leave for Daddy when he got home so he could pick me up. Well dear spacey 17 year old daughter thought she would cut corners and just call Daddy’s voice mail to get the information to him. She doesn’t realize that we are still coming off island time and not back into the check voice mail mode. Luckily again, they ran into each other just as Jim was thinking of taking a nap and Katy said shouldn’t you be going to get Mommy? Off the 2 raced to get me at Philly and they pulled up just as I was stepping outside. Back to the real, hard, cold world! But I still had butterflies when I saw my husbands tan handsome face smile at me through the window. This was our 20th wedding anniversary trip and we have been together for 22 years, sometimes I feel like selling him to the highest bidder, but after a magical week in St John we are 25, without a care in the world again! Hope you enjoyed my review; I love St John as all of you do. I give so much thanks to all the people of this forum that I have learned from, Rick you can plan my trips any day, Jorge you’re a blast and a fountain of info, (I am not referring to your fountain play at Bongo
), Ruth, I love your store and you contribute so much to this forum, Jan, Marybeth, Coden, Marcia and Pete, wontongirl, Pia, Bill in Va, Mia, liamsaunt, ScottB, promoguy, California girl, FlaGeorge, Bert,Bob and Anita, Tracy and of course Anthony for hosting this wonderful valuable site. I know I have forgotten some very important names but just know that everyone that contributes to this site and welcomes newbies like myself, I give thanks to you!
Monday was to be our day out on Noah’s Little Arks, we arrived at Noah’s at 9:30 and the wind was starting to whip up. We asked the man in charge if he thought it was a good idea to go out and he said “sure, no problem”. Let me tell you, if there is any chop in the water, cancel your trip. Sis and bro hiked the Caneel Trail and some other trail, we were to meet them at Hawksnest. Jim and I set out in a 14ft dinghy with a 30hp motor. The dinghy’s at Noah’s are old and have taken a lot of use. The throttle spring is so tight that it takes a lot of physical effort to keep the throttle twisted for higher speeds. We tried to make it to Hawksnest but the waves kept us back, we called sis on her cell and told them to hike back to Caneel and we would pick them up at the dock. While we were heading back to Caneel it started to pour, our only rain of the week. It lasted about 45 minutes; Jim and I were soaked and not happy. We called Noah’s and asked if we could take the dinghy to the south shore, we wanted to salvage the day. We headed south and made it to Devers Bay and we realized we were almost out of gas, sigh. They hadn’t filled the tank before they let us go out. Last strike for me, Sis and I wanted off this 3 hour cruise.
I asked my husband to drop sis and me off at Chocolate Hole, we would snorkel home, and the boys returned the dinghy. We had been charged for a full day, the manager or whoever works there, never apologized or offered us our money back, and my husband didn’t want to get into a confrontation and ruin his vacation, so he just dropped it. Personally I think it was very poor judgment on the Noah guy to even let us out in sea’s like that. I probably would not rent a dinghy again; it is fairly easy to get to almost all of the beaches on St John by foot, even for someone that is not very active We spent the rest of the day enjoying Choc Hole and our villa pool, while I played bartender. We were all tired from our day and decided to get takeout from Joe’s. We shared 2 rib and 2 chicken platters amongst 4 and had left over’s. I made mashed taters and we got corn on the cob from Joes as our sides. Joe’s did not disappoint and the ribs were falling off the bone. I had fun trying to make BBC’s and Dirty Banana’s. We went to bed early and slept like babies after a crazy morning at sea.
Tuesday the 23rd we packed beers, sodas and waters, and picked up lunch at Grotto Deli and headed to the North Shore beaches. It was another crazy surf filled day, we payed to get into Trunk, as Sis and Bro had never been, but when we got in they had closed the snorkeling off, as we left I asked the attendant for a rain check and she said she couldn’t give one, but come see her Thursday morning and she would let us in for free. We decided to head to Salt Pond Bay and it was beautiful and calm. More crowded then usual for mid-week, but not too bad. We had a wonderful day snorkeling and sunning. Some of the snorkelers saw many large turtles here, we missed them though. Deli Grotto makes some of the best sandwiches ever, and they have excellent home made chocolate chip cookies. We stopped by the smoothie stand on the way home, Jim and sis had the banana smoothie with Meyers and bro and I had the Mango with Meyers, Yummy! Jim and sis switched to mango for the rest of the week, and it was a unanimous favorite. We had early reservations at Tage but we were all too spent from our day of sun, snorkel and drinks. We canceled our reservation and took naps instead. When we awoke around 7:30 we decided to try the Sushi and Martini Bar in the Marketplace. The food was very good and the staff was tops. The staff at Woody’s was at the next table for a staff dinner and the place was hopping. We ordered the Veggie/Seafood Tempura Entrée as an App to split and it was excellent, lots of shrimp, scallops and fish. We all had Sushi and it was very fresh, they have an excellent assortment of creative rolls. The one with King Crab on the top was my fave. I had a house Pinot Noir that was very good, Bro had beer, Hubby and sis opted for excellent Ginger Martini’s. They have a very nice home furnishing store in the Marketplace. A side note; we tried a couple of times to go to Baked in the Sun Bakery and it was always so busy/line out the door that we decided to skip it. With the lines it must be awesome, something to try next year.
Wednesday the 24th
Today we had to be up early as it was Ocean Runners day and hubby wanted us a the Ocean Runners location in Cruz Bay by 7:40 a.m. They do not start the rental process until 8 a.m., but hubby always has to be early … sigh!
We have rented from both Ocean Runners and Nauti-Nymph and find the Ocean Runner boats to be superior. Ocean Runner has Mako boats that are better suited to the ocean whereas Nauti-Nymph uses a brand of boat called a “Fountain” that seems better suited for a lake. The Ocean Runner boats are a better riding and a dryer boat (less ocean spray). One suggestion is go the day before and fill out the paperwork as it will save you about ½ hour of your rental time. You get the boat from 8-5, but we did not leave till 8:30, with all the customs forms we had to fill out. We got our boat Ocean Runner #3 and headed to Tortolla to clear customs. It took us at least another ½ hour to clear customs in Tortolla (very busy dock and harbor) and next time we will try and go directly to Virgin Gorda (our first destination) to clear customs. If anyone in your party has basic boating and chart reading / navigation skills, then renting without a Captain (Ocean Runner can supply one if requested) makes sense as the waters around the U.S and British Virgin Islands drop off rapidly from shore and, as such, are easy to navigate. Anyway, we finally cleared customs in Tortolla and headed up to “The Baths” located at the British Virgin Island - Virgin Gorda. The Baths are an incredible natural formation of Rocks along the shoreline of Virgin Gorda. You can walk in the sand … under and around the huge boulders as the tidal waters swirl around your feet … just incredible. There are mooring buoys just a couple hundred feet off shore and you can easily tie up and swim into the beach. It took us about .45 minutes of boating up the coastline of Tortolla until we reached Virgin Gorda and The Baths. As you approach The Baths you will see other boats that are tied up to the multiple mooring buoys. Tie up your boat, swim in to the beach and enjoy a delightful day. The water is warm, crystal clear and just simply enjoyable. Devils Bay on the right side of the Baths is a delightful beach and snorkeling spot without all of the Bath’s crowds. It is on the right when you are looking from the water in a boat. We stayed at the Baths for about 3+ hours and then backtracked along the coast of Tortolla. When we got back to the West end of Tortolla (just off the North shore of St. John) we headed off to the island of Jost Van Dyke to for lunch at my favorite island bar Foxy’s. It is just a short hop over to Foxy’s and the Harbor is easy to find and the dock has plenty of room for your boat. We tied up and sauntered down the sandy road to Foxy’s. Foxy’s is a magical place and you just need to visit and take in the island ambiance, good food, drink and music. I had the Chicken Roti that was really flavorful and flaky, the boys had burgers and sis had excellent fish of the day. Drinks are always good, I had a rum punch and the others had beers and painkillers with fresh grated nutmeg of course. After a couple of lazy hours at Foxy’s we got in the boat and headed back to St John, we wanted to view the Peter Bay/Beverly Hills from the water. It is hard to believe that it is part of St John. All in all a day on the water that had great swimming, incredibly beautiful scenery and just plain fun … I highly recommend it to all. We decided to make appetizers at home for dinner and spent the night playing a competitive game of hearts. Another early to bed night!Thursday the 24th we headed out early, to Trunk Bay to use our get in free pass from Tuesday. The same woman remembered me and let us in for free. The beach was almost deserted at 9am and we enjoyed it immensely! The snorkeling was not as good as I remembered it in the past, I think all of the beginner snorkelers have beaten down the coral. When I was out there a man that could barely swim was trying to stand up on the reef because he was so tired. I told him he had no business being out there and he agreed with me. They should be policing the snorkelers better. About 11:00 the swarms from the cruise ships descended down upon us and we made a hasty retreat. We ended up at Maho and it was just a perfect day, not too crowded with very good snorkeling. We stayed a few hours and then headed up to Skinny Legs for lunch. The burgers are still excellent but we were disappointed with the drinks. The drink my husband and I ordered tasted like Bug Juice from summer camp, my sister in law had a very weak pina colada. My husband drank my drink (Jimmy will drink anything) and I switched to the Virgin Isle Pale Ale, it was very tasty but could have been colder. Nice tee shirts in their shops and an interesting local art gallery too. We decided to head back to the pool with a stop at our favorite smoothie stand. We swam played cribbage and napped in the late afternoon and then headed into town about 7:30 in search of food. We didn’t make reservations, we thought we would wing it, most nights the restaurants were only about half filled. LOL Well it all changed Thursday night, La Tapa had a 45 minute wait, Woody’s had a ½ hour wait, Tage couldn’t even seat us, so we headed over to Mongoose and got a table at Ocean Grill. We were all pleasantly surprised; the atmosphere is very nice and open. This is my review from the On-St John site, our meal was excellent, I had the lobster pizzeta, my husband the red curry mussels for app’s and we shared the Mahi Mahi entree, all cooked to perfection. The split Mahi Mahi entree was brought to the table on 2 plates perfectly arranged as if it were one; the veggies were very good too. Sis had the Rum soaked pork tenderloin and bro the seared Tuna, all delish. The wine list is very good, we shared a bottle of Mantanzas Creek Merlot 2002, I had ordered a bottle of Silverado Merlot and it did not taste right to me and they took it back without complaint. The best part of the dinner was desert, my husband and I split the Banana Cake and it was the best cake I ever had! Sis and bro had the cheesecake and they loved it, bro declared it a best cheesecake. If I was remarrying down in St John I would have the banana cake as my wedding cake. I have to say that Ocean Grill was our second best meal of the week. I seem to have caused a fuss at the http://www.on-stjohn.com/2007/01/25/cha ... ean-grill/ site, but hopefully they will realize I am real by looking at all of my old posts. Thank you Ruth for vouching for me! Home to bed after a wonderful day of sun, fun, food and drinks.
Friday the 26th our last full day in paradise! We were up with the roosters; I was not going to miss a minute of our last day. I checked online for the number to the Bongo Bongo rental manager to inquire if we could get a tour and found a review for the restaurant that we just ate at last night. Seeing how our experiences differed so, I felt compelled to respond as you probably read above. After that bit of business it was time to make everyone a good hearty breakfast of eggs, grits and muffins, I also wanted to start using up some of the groceries that we bought. I have to say that I definitely over bought on some items, in the future I would probably shop for 3 days at a time. That being said we decided not to pack a lunch, since we had decided that we were hanging at Gibney for the day, we would have our last lunch at Woody’s. We packed beers, sodas, water and snacks and headed out early to get parking at the gate. We set up camp in front of the Oppenheimer Yellow House and we had a wonderful day just snorkeling, swimming and sunning,
About 1:30 we decided it was Woody’s time so we headed back into town. The young kids that work at Woody’s are really great, and we had an excellent lunch, 3 burgers cooked to perfection, rare, medium rare and medium well. I ordered the onion rings and found them a little greasy, but they were cooked the way bro likes them, Jim adores the curly fries and sis had the, hmmm I forget, I know it was good! The drinks are excellent, I had a Patron Margarita that was potent, actually I had 2
. hubby and bro had Painkillers and sis had a Pina Colada, which she declared “a best of”. We sat outside, ate, drank, people watched and chilled to Steely Dan. All of a sudden we realized we had reservations at 5:45 for the sunset balcony dinner at Asolare. We quickly called and pushed our reservation to 8:30. It was now about 4:00 and it was time to go home for a swim and a nap before dinner. Actually Sis and I napped and the boys continued their cribbage rivalry. We headed out to Asolare about 8:00 and went to the bar, excellent drinks for all. The bartender is very nice and has been their since the beginning. She is fun to chat with when things are slow. The restaurant was packed but we were given the balcony table we had requested for the “Last Supper”. The ambience is so special here; it would be a great place to hold a wedding reception.
Monday night at Asolare was our best meal of the week, it was very slow that night and everything was perfection. Tonight it was excellent but for one complaint, the lamb came out rare almost raw when my husband ordered it medium, they took it back and fixed the problem. Sis declared it her best meal of the week; she had the seared Tuna I think it was soaked in green tea. Bro had the filet mignon and he said it was perfect. He requested the blue cheese mashed potatoes that usually come with the lamb and they gave it to him instead of the starch featured with the steak. Those blue cheese mashed potatoes are a little bit of heaven and I am planning on trying them at home soon. For apps we shared the pork dumplings with a velvety hot mustard sauce and the special sushi of the night. For desert we ordered 2 to share, the Chocolate Pyramid and the Spicy Bread Pudding with a White Chocolate Sauce, both were sinful! Stuffed, warm and glowing we headed back to Chocolate Hole for sweet dreams.
Saturday the 27th Time to pack and go home. We have a 10 am check out at Ebb Tide, they have new guests arriving at noon and only 2 hours to turn it around. We also have to have our car back to O’Connor at 10. Sgt Jim had his alarm set and it was revelry at 6 am, sigh
, Jim went to fill the car and vacuum the sand out at the car wash. O'Connor has a sign in the car that if it is not returned clean you will be charged $75 and up extra, I was home with orders to get up and pack. I am the planner of the vacation, I do all the research, plan each day, each meal and Jim just follows along confident in my vacation planning skills. But when it comes to leaving a vacation, he pulls the power trip and takes control of the situation He has been with me for 22 years and he knows I will procrastinate till the last moment to prolong my vacation. Jim had decided that we would be dropped off in shifts to the Westin with all of our luggage. I was deployed first, I asked the bellmen to hold our luggage while we went to breakfast, Sgt Jim went back to the house to get sis and bro and their luggage and brought them back to Westin. Sgt then went to drop off the car. This was all accomplished by 9 am, Sgt Jim was very proud of himself . We had a nice breakfast at the Westin, with our extra time; we could do a little more shopping in Cruz Bay and at St John Spice.Said our good byes to Ruth and headed off for the 11:15 ferry. The ferry was packed; I think some missed the ferry because it sold out. Sgt Jim was on the ball and bought ferry ticket's before we went shopping. We had a nice spot under cover on the right hand side of the ferry for an approaching view of St Thomas. I really prefer this ferry versus going to Red Hook; it is so relaxing and a pretty ride.
Jim and I don’t fly together, so Jim was scheduled on the direct 1 something flight to Philly and I was scheduled to make a connection through Charlotte on the 3 something flight. Jim made his flight with only minutes to spare, he was held up in customs and security for a long time. I stayed in town and shopped. Jim took all the luggage with him. When I got to the airport, the US Air check in lady said “your going to Philly through Charlotte?”, “why don’t you take the 3:55 direct to Philly?” I didn’t know they had 2 direct flights, when I made my reservations in October there was only one direct flight. She found a seat for me and I was thrilled! I called my daughter at home and asked her to write down all the new flight info to leave for Daddy when he got home so he could pick me up. Well dear spacey 17 year old daughter thought she would cut corners and just call Daddy’s voice mail to get the information to him. She doesn’t realize that we are still coming off island time and not back into the check voice mail mode. Luckily again, they ran into each other just as Jim was thinking of taking a nap and Katy said shouldn’t you be going to get Mommy? Off the 2 raced to get me at Philly and they pulled up just as I was stepping outside. Back to the real, hard, cold world! But I still had butterflies when I saw my husbands tan handsome face smile at me through the window. This was our 20th wedding anniversary trip and we have been together for 22 years, sometimes I feel like selling him to the highest bidder, but after a magical week in St John we are 25, without a care in the world again! Hope you enjoyed my review; I love St John as all of you do. I give so much thanks to all the people of this forum that I have learned from, Rick you can plan my trips any day, Jorge you’re a blast and a fountain of info, (I am not referring to your fountain play at Bongo
), Ruth, I love your store and you contribute so much to this forum, Jan, Marybeth, Coden, Marcia and Pete, wontongirl, Pia, Bill in Va, Mia, liamsaunt, ScottB, promoguy, California girl, FlaGeorge, Bert,Bob and Anita, Tracy and of course Anthony for hosting this wonderful valuable site. I know I have forgotten some very important names but just know that everyone that contributes to this site and welcomes newbies like myself, I give thanks to you!
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Kentuckygirl
- Posts: 1903
- Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2006 10:17 am
- Location: Kentucky
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Tracy in WI
- Posts: 1624
- Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 8:39 am
- Location: Wisconsin
Hi Betty---great trip report. Liked your detailed recounting of your Ocean Runners day. We're renting a boat from them in a couple of weeks and I couldn't decide if it was too far to go to Virgin Gorda, but it looked easily do-able based on your report, so I think we'll give it a try (my problem will be getting everyone in our group up that early).
I also liked the trouble you caused on the other site with your Ocean Grill review. We have a reservation there in a couple of weeks also. I trust your food judgment since you ordered a bottle of one of my favorite wines(our other favorite vacation spot is the Sonoma Valley and Matanzas Creek is one of my favorite wineries).
Sorry to hear about Zozo's---we've always had a great time there.
I also liked the trouble you caused on the other site with your Ocean Grill review. We have a reservation there in a couple of weeks also. I trust your food judgment since you ordered a bottle of one of my favorite wines(our other favorite vacation spot is the Sonoma Valley and Matanzas Creek is one of my favorite wineries).
Sorry to hear about Zozo's---we've always had a great time there.
---Jim
Thanks for the reports, Betty! Great job!
I'm sorry to hear that you had issues with Noah's Little Arks. They are very highly recommended here and we were planning on doing a 1/2 day rental from them. I am glad that you enjoyed the boat rental from Ocean Runner. We're also planning on doing that one day.
The exchange regarding Ocean Grill was interesting reading. Do people think that there is no way to get online from the island? Seems kind of silly to me!
I'm sorry to hear that you had issues with Noah's Little Arks. They are very highly recommended here and we were planning on doing a 1/2 day rental from them. I am glad that you enjoyed the boat rental from Ocean Runner. We're also planning on doing that one day.
The exchange regarding Ocean Grill was interesting reading. Do people think that there is no way to get online from the island? Seems kind of silly to me!
...ron
Time to start working on convincing the wife that we have to go back soon!
Time to start working on convincing the wife that we have to go back soon!
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madforstjohn
- Posts: 31
- Joined: Wed Nov 29, 2006 5:32 pm
- Location: Massachusetts
Betty, Thank you so much for your wonderful trip report. I especially liked the fact you still get butterflies with your husband. St John is magical enough to put romance into a 20 yr marriage!!
We had a great experience with Noah's Little Arks a few years ago. Last year we rented at the Westin so I am not sure which it was, Nauti Nymph or Ocean Runner. We were only brave enough to go to Waterlemon and Foxy's and I think the caves. My husband is the navigator. I just nod my head and say whatever. I think with your encouragement we will try the BAths in April. When we went to Foxy's we cleared customs at the dock there and it was really quick. Do you think this would be a better choice then the Tortolla customs?
Oh and I will definitely try Ocean Grill and the Sushi place. We are fish lovers and you made them both sound great.
We had a great experience with Noah's Little Arks a few years ago. Last year we rented at the Westin so I am not sure which it was, Nauti Nymph or Ocean Runner. We were only brave enough to go to Waterlemon and Foxy's and I think the caves. My husband is the navigator. I just nod my head and say whatever. I think with your encouragement we will try the BAths in April. When we went to Foxy's we cleared customs at the dock there and it was really quick. Do you think this would be a better choice then the Tortolla customs?
Oh and I will definitely try Ocean Grill and the Sushi place. We are fish lovers and you made them both sound great.
Mad for St John ... The customs in Jost sounds much faster, Totolla is very slow. Ocean Runner is the company in Cruz Bay and # 3 is one of their better boats, make sure they fix the ladder, we were having some issues with it. Part of the problem with Noah is the weather, do not got out if the water is choppy. Also we had the dinghy with the bigger motor and it was very hard to hold for 2 very strong athletic men, they had to take turns switching off. Also make sure they fill you up with gas, my hubby just assumed they did and you know what happens when you ASSume
Ron... maybe you should see if Noah's will let you take a test drive to see how difficult it would be to operate the dinghy.
Iowa ... I was very sad to have to report a bad review on ZoZo's I really thought it was going to be my new fave place with all of the great things I have read about it and the great atmosphere. I didn't make a comment about the staff in my review and I want to note that the maitre d and wait staff and bartender were all as nice as could be. In other reviews that i have read people have said that there is too much attitude with the staff and i didn't see that at all. I felt so bad about disliking my meal I turned my clams upside down so the server wouldnt feel bad that I didn't eat them. The Baths and Jost are very do-able and really a blast, have fun!
To Ruth if your reading this .. sorry I didnt get back to you in part 1 about Vie's, my sister in law said nothing had changed, it was all the same. She also commented that this part of the island, East End is probably the only area that still feels the same 17 years later. I hear that Vie is looking for someone to help her fix up her shacks in exchange for housing. Maybe you know of someone that would be able to help her.
Ron... maybe you should see if Noah's will let you take a test drive to see how difficult it would be to operate the dinghy.
Iowa ... I was very sad to have to report a bad review on ZoZo's I really thought it was going to be my new fave place with all of the great things I have read about it and the great atmosphere. I didn't make a comment about the staff in my review and I want to note that the maitre d and wait staff and bartender were all as nice as could be. In other reviews that i have read people have said that there is too much attitude with the staff and i didn't see that at all. I felt so bad about disliking my meal I turned my clams upside down so the server wouldnt feel bad that I didn't eat them. The Baths and Jost are very do-able and really a blast, have fun!
To Ruth if your reading this .. sorry I didnt get back to you in part 1 about Vie's, my sister in law said nothing had changed, it was all the same. She also commented that this part of the island, East End is probably the only area that still feels the same 17 years later. I hear that Vie is looking for someone to help her fix up her shacks in exchange for housing. Maybe you know of someone that would be able to help her.
Betty, thanks for sharing another great trip report! Much needed on a Monday. I especially enjoyed your day trip to the Baths and Jost. Sorry to hear about your dingy rental. We did the dingy rental from Noah's in December and it worked out great for us. The water was a little choppy that day too, in fact one of the rentals behind us turned around and headed back due to the water conditions. As I recall, we ended up with a little rain shower later in the day. Sounds like you had a great week...wishing you many more!!!
STJ - I "get it"
Hi Betty,
Thanks for posting such a great and detailed trip report.
Sorry to here that you had a disappointing meal at ZoZo's; I know it is a favorite of many on this forum. Even though we walked by it everyday in November, we never stopped in. I was disappointed that we didn't fit it in, but would have been more disappointed if it didn't live up to expectations.
I have to think that "not loving the Patriots" was a little less painful from St. John; I'm still not quite over it
Thanks for posting such a great and detailed trip report.
Sorry to here that you had a disappointing meal at ZoZo's; I know it is a favorite of many on this forum. Even though we walked by it everyday in November, we never stopped in. I was disappointed that we didn't fit it in, but would have been more disappointed if it didn't live up to expectations.
I have to think that "not loving the Patriots" was a little less painful from St. John; I'm still not quite over it
janet
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silverheels
- Posts: 890
- Joined: Thu Aug 10, 2006 10:18 am
- Location: The Nutmeg State
Betty,
Loved your reports. I think that you must have exceptional taste in wine and food. My husband and I do not eat out very much when we are on island.just because we like things done our way and always seem to be disappointed in restaurant meals. I think it's mostly us and not the norm. I love to cook and cooking on the boat creates a challenge for me that I really relish.
Loved your reports. I think that you must have exceptional taste in wine and food. My husband and I do not eat out very much when we are on island.just because we like things done our way and always seem to be disappointed in restaurant meals. I think it's mostly us and not the norm. I love to cook and cooking on the boat creates a challenge for me that I really relish.
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Jan&MikeVa
- Posts: 1084
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 5:32 pm
- Location: The Chesapeake Bay
Wow, what a great trip report. How wonderful for you and your husband to still have the magic. The Island does has some special magic it works on happy couples. We've been married 31 years, and feel like honeymooners on STJ.
Thanks again, sounds like a wonderful time (well except for the dinghy deal).
Jan (akaCharlie)
P.S. Thanks for all the honest reviews too!
Thanks again, sounds like a wonderful time (well except for the dinghy deal).
Jan (akaCharlie)
P.S. Thanks for all the honest reviews too!