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12 Days, 11 nights, 9 Ferries--Part One
12 Days, 11 nights, 9 Ferries--Part One
12 Days, 11 nights, 9 Ferries
We had a great trip to STJ in late January/early February and I've been delinquent in providing a report. It was been a brutal winter in the Midwest and the trip could not have come at a more perfect time. We have been used to large traveling parties on our last several visits (21, I think, on our last STJ trip) so it seemed like we were very loose and carefree travelling with just one other couple (well, just one other couple at a tme) on this trip. Our friends Marc and Liz had been to STJ once and they were perfect candidates for the VI---they love the beach and the outdoors. Here we go.
Wednesday, January 27
Its a long haul from Iowa---our flights on AA went fine, but it takes 3 flights and after leaving Des Moines at 7 A.M. we arrived in STT just before 9 P.M. We caught the 10 P.M. ferry to STJ, were greeted nicely by the Carefree Getaways folks and headed to our villa on the south shore---Leeward. We were hungry, and without food or drink, so we basically looked around the house for 10 minutes and headed down to Cruz Bay for dinner. The Beach Bar kitchen closed at 11 but we had our first celebratory Red Stripe. The kitchen at Woody's was open and their blackened mahi-mahi never tasted so good. It felt like we were home.
Thursday, January 28
I thought we might sleep in but we were still too excited. We looked around our house in the daylight and loved it.
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/h3 ... site"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_2InZ4CRfSPI/S3c6C ... PG"></a><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/_J ... site"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_2InZ4CRfSPI/S3NiQ ... 1.JPG"></a>
I had good intentions of heading to the store this morning, but we decided to make do for awhile with what we had---coffee, guava juice, pineapple juice, rum and tostitos. A fine breakfast. We whipped up some makeshift rum punch, enjoyed the sunshine and some good music. A few hours later, we had shifted into island time.<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/2U ... site"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_2InZ4CRfSPI/S3bsY ... 5.JPG"></a>
We eventually made it to Deli Grotto for a take-out lunch (their chicken salad is delicious) and settled into our spots at Hawksnest. Marc and I swam over to Gibney and snorkeled a bit.<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/iT ... site"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_2InZ4CRfSPI/S52gk ... 0.JPG"></a>
Dinner that night was at Morgan's Mango. It was Margarita night so we enjoyed some mango margaritas:
Mark Wallace plays the guitar on Thursday, which adds a lot I think. The Voodoo Snapper was great---wish I had taken a picture---love that combination of grilled snapper, rice, black beans, pineapple salsa--tastes like the Caribbean to me. We stopped by the Beach Bar after dinner to hear some light music from a local band called the "Sex Machine Guns." A good day.
Friday, January 29
:
We awoke to a spectacular day and it stayed that way. Headed to the Caneel parking lot and walked over to my favorite STJ beach---Honeymoon. It was flat, calm and beautiful.There were a few charter catamarans unleashing hordes of snorkelers, but they were intermittent and stuck to the area near the reef that connects Honeymoon and Salomon. In order to eliminate our $10 parking charge we spent about $100 on lunch at Caneel. They do make a good rum punch, though, and lunch was tasty, reasonably healthy and came with an unforgettable view. We parked ourselves at Honeymoon for the rest of the day. Some of our best snorkeling of the trip was on the reef between Honeymoon and Salomon.<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/7M ... site"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_2InZ4CRfSPI/S3Ngc ... PG"></a><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/2K ... site"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_2InZ4CRfSPI/S3NW7 ... 3.JPG"></a>
Tonight was a big night--we were pumped to hear a reggae/soul/funk band from Boston---"Toussaint the Liberator with Buru Style" at the Beach Bar---Marc had downloaded their CD in preparation for the event. We had burgers at the house and a delicious black bean salsa they make at Deli Grotto. Toussaint seemed pleased that we knew a few of his songs and we traded fist bumps. We stayed out way too late given our plans for tomorrow.
Saturday, January 30
Morning came too soon. I had heard the ferry to Jost had been known to leave early so we got to the dock shortly after 8 and grabbed the last available parking spot. We waited quite a while and the ferry ended up leaving around 9:15. Marc and Liz were planning on spending the night on Jost at Ivan's Campground so they brought their tent, which Marc had packed in their suitcase. We took a taxi over to White Bay and found some beach chairs at the Soggy Dollar.
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/lM ... site"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_2InZ4CRfSPI/S3NfR ... 0.JPG"></a>
I love White Bay but the afternoons get a little crazy---its perfect, though, in the morning. Marc and I chatted with Mic as we enjoyed some painkillers and rum punch. This nice photo is borrowed from Captain John Brandi's Facebook page:<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/bA ... site"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_2InZ4CRfSPI/S4VHj ... y.jpg"></a>
After a bit we walked down to One Love and compared their rum punch to Mic's. It was overly sweet and didn't fare well, but One Love is a cool spot anyway. I believe this is Seddy and Raquel's son that was climbing the tree.<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/sh ... site"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_2InZ4CRfSPI/S3Nf4 ... PG"></a><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/0E ... site"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_2InZ4CRfSPI/S3Ner ... 2.JPG"></a>
We completed our White Bay bar crawl by heading down to Ivan's. Marc and Liz had brought their tent in a backpack. I came barefoot, which was a mistake. We followed this sign--it could have also said "Warning Tourists---Very Sharp Rocks Ahead."
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Oo ... site"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_2InZ4CRfSPI/S3NhL ... 1.JPG"></a>
Marc and Liz looked around for a bare tent site---its first come, first served on tent sites--no reservations. I think when they had envisioned sleeping at Ivan's on the beach, they had not really fantasized about the tent being 10 feet from a large dumpster. But it was the only spot left and it was also 10 feet from the beach so they just vowed to look out at the beach instead of at the dumpster. <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/qj ... site"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_2InZ4CRfSPI/S3NfW ... 7.JPG"></a>
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/X5 ... tlinkJanie and I caught the afternoon ferry back to STJ. I understand Marc and Liz had a great night-----they opted for the simplicity of a candlelight dinner at Sandcastle rather than heading into Great Harbour. It poured that night on Jost---one of the only times on the whole trip we got rain.
Back in STJ, Janie and I cleaned up at the house and headed into town for a late dinner at Zozo's. We eat at Zozo's on every trip but honestly it was even better than I had remembered. The pappardelle and the mahi-mahi were wonderful. I was hungry for beef tenderloin---a pretty unimaginative choice, I admit---but the quality of the meat was fantastic.<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/xa ... site"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_2InZ4CRfSPI/S3Nhh ... PG"></a><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/NT ... site"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_2InZ4CRfSPI/S3Nhp ... 3.JPG"></a>
We had planned to head over to Larry's Landing after dinner but our waiter told us the big party in town would be at the Beach Bar tonight. It was BB owner Alan McPhee's "freedom party" and drinks were $3 all night. A good band was playing---Sol Driven Train (from South Carolina)---we had heard them briefly at Banana Deck earlier in the week. People were pretty pumped up for the evening, the cheap drinks were flowing, and the whole scene was highly entertaining.
We had a great trip to STJ in late January/early February and I've been delinquent in providing a report. It was been a brutal winter in the Midwest and the trip could not have come at a more perfect time. We have been used to large traveling parties on our last several visits (21, I think, on our last STJ trip) so it seemed like we were very loose and carefree travelling with just one other couple (well, just one other couple at a tme) on this trip. Our friends Marc and Liz had been to STJ once and they were perfect candidates for the VI---they love the beach and the outdoors. Here we go.
Wednesday, January 27
Its a long haul from Iowa---our flights on AA went fine, but it takes 3 flights and after leaving Des Moines at 7 A.M. we arrived in STT just before 9 P.M. We caught the 10 P.M. ferry to STJ, were greeted nicely by the Carefree Getaways folks and headed to our villa on the south shore---Leeward. We were hungry, and without food or drink, so we basically looked around the house for 10 minutes and headed down to Cruz Bay for dinner. The Beach Bar kitchen closed at 11 but we had our first celebratory Red Stripe. The kitchen at Woody's was open and their blackened mahi-mahi never tasted so good. It felt like we were home.
Thursday, January 28
I thought we might sleep in but we were still too excited. We looked around our house in the daylight and loved it.
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/h3 ... site"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_2InZ4CRfSPI/S3c6C ... PG"></a><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/_J ... site"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_2InZ4CRfSPI/S3NiQ ... 1.JPG"></a>
I had good intentions of heading to the store this morning, but we decided to make do for awhile with what we had---coffee, guava juice, pineapple juice, rum and tostitos. A fine breakfast. We whipped up some makeshift rum punch, enjoyed the sunshine and some good music. A few hours later, we had shifted into island time.<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/2U ... site"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_2InZ4CRfSPI/S3bsY ... 5.JPG"></a>
We eventually made it to Deli Grotto for a take-out lunch (their chicken salad is delicious) and settled into our spots at Hawksnest. Marc and I swam over to Gibney and snorkeled a bit.<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/iT ... site"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_2InZ4CRfSPI/S52gk ... 0.JPG"></a>
Dinner that night was at Morgan's Mango. It was Margarita night so we enjoyed some mango margaritas:
Mark Wallace plays the guitar on Thursday, which adds a lot I think. The Voodoo Snapper was great---wish I had taken a picture---love that combination of grilled snapper, rice, black beans, pineapple salsa--tastes like the Caribbean to me. We stopped by the Beach Bar after dinner to hear some light music from a local band called the "Sex Machine Guns." A good day.
Friday, January 29
:
We awoke to a spectacular day and it stayed that way. Headed to the Caneel parking lot and walked over to my favorite STJ beach---Honeymoon. It was flat, calm and beautiful.There were a few charter catamarans unleashing hordes of snorkelers, but they were intermittent and stuck to the area near the reef that connects Honeymoon and Salomon. In order to eliminate our $10 parking charge we spent about $100 on lunch at Caneel. They do make a good rum punch, though, and lunch was tasty, reasonably healthy and came with an unforgettable view. We parked ourselves at Honeymoon for the rest of the day. Some of our best snorkeling of the trip was on the reef between Honeymoon and Salomon.<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/7M ... site"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_2InZ4CRfSPI/S3Ngc ... PG"></a><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/2K ... site"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_2InZ4CRfSPI/S3NW7 ... 3.JPG"></a>
Tonight was a big night--we were pumped to hear a reggae/soul/funk band from Boston---"Toussaint the Liberator with Buru Style" at the Beach Bar---Marc had downloaded their CD in preparation for the event. We had burgers at the house and a delicious black bean salsa they make at Deli Grotto. Toussaint seemed pleased that we knew a few of his songs and we traded fist bumps. We stayed out way too late given our plans for tomorrow.
Saturday, January 30
Morning came too soon. I had heard the ferry to Jost had been known to leave early so we got to the dock shortly after 8 and grabbed the last available parking spot. We waited quite a while and the ferry ended up leaving around 9:15. Marc and Liz were planning on spending the night on Jost at Ivan's Campground so they brought their tent, which Marc had packed in their suitcase. We took a taxi over to White Bay and found some beach chairs at the Soggy Dollar.
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/lM ... site"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_2InZ4CRfSPI/S3NfR ... 0.JPG"></a>
I love White Bay but the afternoons get a little crazy---its perfect, though, in the morning. Marc and I chatted with Mic as we enjoyed some painkillers and rum punch. This nice photo is borrowed from Captain John Brandi's Facebook page:<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/bA ... site"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_2InZ4CRfSPI/S4VHj ... y.jpg"></a>
After a bit we walked down to One Love and compared their rum punch to Mic's. It was overly sweet and didn't fare well, but One Love is a cool spot anyway. I believe this is Seddy and Raquel's son that was climbing the tree.<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/sh ... site"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_2InZ4CRfSPI/S3Nf4 ... PG"></a><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/0E ... site"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_2InZ4CRfSPI/S3Ner ... 2.JPG"></a>
We completed our White Bay bar crawl by heading down to Ivan's. Marc and Liz had brought their tent in a backpack. I came barefoot, which was a mistake. We followed this sign--it could have also said "Warning Tourists---Very Sharp Rocks Ahead."
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Oo ... site"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_2InZ4CRfSPI/S3NhL ... 1.JPG"></a>
Marc and Liz looked around for a bare tent site---its first come, first served on tent sites--no reservations. I think when they had envisioned sleeping at Ivan's on the beach, they had not really fantasized about the tent being 10 feet from a large dumpster. But it was the only spot left and it was also 10 feet from the beach so they just vowed to look out at the beach instead of at the dumpster. <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/qj ... site"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_2InZ4CRfSPI/S3NfW ... 7.JPG"></a>
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/X5 ... tlinkJanie and I caught the afternoon ferry back to STJ. I understand Marc and Liz had a great night-----they opted for the simplicity of a candlelight dinner at Sandcastle rather than heading into Great Harbour. It poured that night on Jost---one of the only times on the whole trip we got rain.
Back in STJ, Janie and I cleaned up at the house and headed into town for a late dinner at Zozo's. We eat at Zozo's on every trip but honestly it was even better than I had remembered. The pappardelle and the mahi-mahi were wonderful. I was hungry for beef tenderloin---a pretty unimaginative choice, I admit---but the quality of the meat was fantastic.<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/xa ... site"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_2InZ4CRfSPI/S3Nhh ... PG"></a><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/NT ... site"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_2InZ4CRfSPI/S3Nhp ... 3.JPG"></a>
We had planned to head over to Larry's Landing after dinner but our waiter told us the big party in town would be at the Beach Bar tonight. It was BB owner Alan McPhee's "freedom party" and drinks were $3 all night. A good band was playing---Sol Driven Train (from South Carolina)---we had heard them briefly at Banana Deck earlier in the week. People were pretty pumped up for the evening, the cheap drinks were flowing, and the whole scene was highly entertaining.
---Jim
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msgcolleen
- Posts: 1497
- Joined: Thu Oct 05, 2006 8:33 am
- Location: Allen, Texas
WOW! What a great start to a great 12 day vacation! So far so good and you couldn't ask for better weather.
Your friends sure are adventurous sleeping in a tent on JVD. . . Leeward looks a bit more comfortable! Beautiful pics
Your friends sure are adventurous sleeping in a tent on JVD. . . Leeward looks a bit more comfortable! Beautiful pics
I've got 2 tickets to paradise~Pack your bags we'll leave tonight!
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). Going to STJ, from Clive, in a couple of months.
Great start to your report and great photos!
We had a blast at the Beach Bar at Alan's freedom party too. It was nice seeing some of the old familiar faces - like Dave who fly in from the party from CA (former bartender).
Look forward to the rest of your report. Now, I'm feeling more pressure to work on mine
We had a great time meeting you and your lovely wife!
We had a blast at the Beach Bar at Alan's freedom party too. It was nice seeing some of the old familiar faces - like Dave who fly in from the party from CA (former bartender).
Look forward to the rest of your report. Now, I'm feeling more pressure to work on mine
We had a great time meeting you and your lovely wife!
NancyB
Thanks for the trip report, with a little over a week to go your trip report is making it hard to concentrate at work.
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Trip report, yay!
That mahi at Zozos is one of my all time favorite St. John meals (in the fancy category!)
Leeward has been on our short list for years. I would like to hear more about it and see some more pictures if you have any. How did you like the swimming pool? I've read complaints that it is too small, but it looks OK to me.
That mahi at Zozos is one of my all time favorite St. John meals (in the fancy category!)
Leeward has been on our short list for years. I would like to hear more about it and see some more pictures if you have any. How did you like the swimming pool? I've read complaints that it is too small, but it looks OK to me.
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.