Day 1: Travel Day, Stocking up & Settling in
Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:49 am
Friday, June 19 - Travel Day, Stocking Up, Settling in
Cast of Characters:
The Flip-Flops: Flip-Flop, Mr. Flip-Flop, Mini Flip & Belly Flop later joined by Gramma Flop
The Gromits: Gromit, Mr. Gromit, Mama Gromit, Aunt B & Amber (freshly graduated cousin of Gromit)
Mostly this is the Flip-Flop's version because we often diverted for the afternoon (or whole day) due to the "demands of little ones" (you know its rough having to head back to the house to float in the pool while the little one naps).
I will bore you with the details of our travel day, cause I like to share. Do not judge my grammar. I can write in real life, but I prefer to just roll with stream of consciousness on my trip reporting.
My sweet nephew slept over to be our shuttle to the airport. I was up at 4 after sleeping fitfully, I am always afraid I'll oversleep and miss my flight to heaven. I showered, finished last minute packing and roused the kids just before we left home at the crack of 4:45 am.
As we were unloading curbside, the Gromit's pulled in right behind us. The herd headed inside together to check our bags and for the first time EVER in my traveling with kids life the gate agent herder took us to the head of the line. My mouth dropped! 1) I never expect special treatment because I have a kid in tow, usually quite the opposite, I anticipate the dirty looks and sighs and 2) I never expect polite treatment from gate agents!! I smiled and took it. Belly Flop was in neutral so it mattered not to him, but it was a nice gesture. I had graciously let a guy traveling alone go in front of us just prior to being pulled out of line and he said it was my reward/good karma
The trip was off to a good start.
Waiting to Depart from DC
AA was right on time leaving DC and we were soon on our way. The kids settled in nicely. The plane was FULL!
Deplane-ing our first leg at Miami. He looks very serious but did really well on the flight.
Thanks to the special status of the Gromit's, we were able to hang out in style in the AA lounge in Miami. We got some drinks, a little lunch and relaxed until it was time for the next leg. Mini Flip-Flop was in awe, I just told her "when you travel with Gromit you do it right..." I am not sure she'll want to go without the lounge experience in the future
The 2nd leg from Miami to STT was uneventful. The boy crashed and the girl colored and before we knew it we landed at STT. Mmmmmmmmm....love the smell of fresh salt air and deisel in the afternoon. We loaded up a taxi and headed to the 4pm ferry at Red Hook. We had our doubts that we would make it by 4, but our taxi man said "No problem, I'll get you there" and shot the hills. We were there with about 10 minutes to spare!
Ferry Time ... STJ soon come. Flip-Flop getting closer to her happy place.
Bye St. Thomas
In our usual style, we hit STJ running. We wanted to get as much out of the way on Day 1, so that we didn't have to worry about any logistics come tomorrow.
The guys and kids loaded up the greeter's truck and took two of our three rentals and headed to the house while the girls headed to stock up. We had a little time until we needed to pick up Aunt B & Amber from the next ferry so, Gromit & Flipper decided to stock up at Pine Peace and fill in what we couldn't get there at Starfish. An overflowing basket full of food (PLUS three 12 packs of soda, a case of ting and all of our alcohol!) for 8 at Pine Peace $250. About 8 items at Starfish (chicken nuggets, yogurt, milk, and a few other things) over $100. We made the right decision. The guys at Pine Peace couldn't have been nicer and even helped us load the car.
Of course, we didn't forget anything important...and yes that is a $3.99 bottle of vodka. Do not judge us, that was for the jello shots!
Gromit in her happy place...
After stocking up at Pine Peace we headed to the dock to get the stragglers and I hopped out to put in our order at Uncle Joe's. This is the trick. Stop by around 5, put in your order, go do something else and when you come back it will be ready and waiting for you. In our case we finished our shopping at Starfish, rolled back by, picked up 3 orders of steak, 3 orders of ribs and 2 orders of chicken ($90) and headed to the house to chow.
By the time we made it to the house it was dark and rainy, but still beautiful!
We stayed at Casa Luna up in Upper Carolina. Absolutely LOVED the location - 5 minutes from Coral Bay and 10 minutes from Maho & Francis. I had heard virtually NOTHING about this house and was a bit worried because it seemed like a lot of house for not a lot of money. 5 bedrooms, 4 baths, a/c bedrooms, two living areas, a full kitchen and a kitchenette, wrap around decks, beautiful pool ... I was concerned it would be delapidated. Not at all! By no means super lux or fancy, but very comfortable and lots of space!
Night Pool
We laid our the Uncle Joe's spread and everyone ate up. We were very hungry from a long travel day. After dinner, we all got unpacked and mellowed into our first St. John night.
more tomorrow.....
Cast of Characters:
The Flip-Flops: Flip-Flop, Mr. Flip-Flop, Mini Flip & Belly Flop later joined by Gramma Flop
The Gromits: Gromit, Mr. Gromit, Mama Gromit, Aunt B & Amber (freshly graduated cousin of Gromit)
Mostly this is the Flip-Flop's version because we often diverted for the afternoon (or whole day) due to the "demands of little ones" (you know its rough having to head back to the house to float in the pool while the little one naps).
I will bore you with the details of our travel day, cause I like to share. Do not judge my grammar. I can write in real life, but I prefer to just roll with stream of consciousness on my trip reporting.
My sweet nephew slept over to be our shuttle to the airport. I was up at 4 after sleeping fitfully, I am always afraid I'll oversleep and miss my flight to heaven. I showered, finished last minute packing and roused the kids just before we left home at the crack of 4:45 am.
As we were unloading curbside, the Gromit's pulled in right behind us. The herd headed inside together to check our bags and for the first time EVER in my traveling with kids life the gate agent herder took us to the head of the line. My mouth dropped! 1) I never expect special treatment because I have a kid in tow, usually quite the opposite, I anticipate the dirty looks and sighs and 2) I never expect polite treatment from gate agents!! I smiled and took it. Belly Flop was in neutral so it mattered not to him, but it was a nice gesture. I had graciously let a guy traveling alone go in front of us just prior to being pulled out of line and he said it was my reward/good karma
The trip was off to a good start.
Waiting to Depart from DC
AA was right on time leaving DC and we were soon on our way. The kids settled in nicely. The plane was FULL!
Deplane-ing our first leg at Miami. He looks very serious but did really well on the flight.
Thanks to the special status of the Gromit's, we were able to hang out in style in the AA lounge in Miami. We got some drinks, a little lunch and relaxed until it was time for the next leg. Mini Flip-Flop was in awe, I just told her "when you travel with Gromit you do it right..." I am not sure she'll want to go without the lounge experience in the future
The 2nd leg from Miami to STT was uneventful. The boy crashed and the girl colored and before we knew it we landed at STT. Mmmmmmmmm....love the smell of fresh salt air and deisel in the afternoon. We loaded up a taxi and headed to the 4pm ferry at Red Hook. We had our doubts that we would make it by 4, but our taxi man said "No problem, I'll get you there" and shot the hills. We were there with about 10 minutes to spare!
Ferry Time ... STJ soon come. Flip-Flop getting closer to her happy place.
Bye St. Thomas
In our usual style, we hit STJ running. We wanted to get as much out of the way on Day 1, so that we didn't have to worry about any logistics come tomorrow.
The guys and kids loaded up the greeter's truck and took two of our three rentals and headed to the house while the girls headed to stock up. We had a little time until we needed to pick up Aunt B & Amber from the next ferry so, Gromit & Flipper decided to stock up at Pine Peace and fill in what we couldn't get there at Starfish. An overflowing basket full of food (PLUS three 12 packs of soda, a case of ting and all of our alcohol!) for 8 at Pine Peace $250. About 8 items at Starfish (chicken nuggets, yogurt, milk, and a few other things) over $100. We made the right decision. The guys at Pine Peace couldn't have been nicer and even helped us load the car.
Of course, we didn't forget anything important...and yes that is a $3.99 bottle of vodka. Do not judge us, that was for the jello shots!
Gromit in her happy place...
After stocking up at Pine Peace we headed to the dock to get the stragglers and I hopped out to put in our order at Uncle Joe's. This is the trick. Stop by around 5, put in your order, go do something else and when you come back it will be ready and waiting for you. In our case we finished our shopping at Starfish, rolled back by, picked up 3 orders of steak, 3 orders of ribs and 2 orders of chicken ($90) and headed to the house to chow.
By the time we made it to the house it was dark and rainy, but still beautiful!
We stayed at Casa Luna up in Upper Carolina. Absolutely LOVED the location - 5 minutes from Coral Bay and 10 minutes from Maho & Francis. I had heard virtually NOTHING about this house and was a bit worried because it seemed like a lot of house for not a lot of money. 5 bedrooms, 4 baths, a/c bedrooms, two living areas, a full kitchen and a kitchenette, wrap around decks, beautiful pool ... I was concerned it would be delapidated. Not at all! By no means super lux or fancy, but very comfortable and lots of space!
Night Pool
We laid our the Uncle Joe's spread and everyone ate up. We were very hungry from a long travel day. After dinner, we all got unpacked and mellowed into our first St. John night.
more tomorrow.....
