10 days on the rock - part 1
Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 3:52 pm
We're on Island now and having a wonderful time. I'll take a stab at a "trip in progress" report.
After 8 months away from STJ the wait has been pure torture, think Dick Chenny approved water boarding. Up Saturday morning at 4:00 am, only for St John is such an ungodly hour tolerated. Unfortunately I'm feeling rotten, some kind of stomach bug. We try to head out the door and it just isn't going to work. On the phone to Delta and God bless some sweet soul there, she rebooks us for the next day. The tickets we purchased carried a $150 per ticket up charge to change and an increase in air fare so the total hit was going to be $750. We hit the lotto on ticket agents and she goes to her manager and gets us changed free of charge. After squaring the tickets away it is back to the sick bed for the day.
Sunday we're up at 3:00 am as the new flight arrangements leave an hour earlier than the original flights. Damn the bad luck! But there is an up side. We get in an hour and 20 minutes earlier than originally planned. Now we're talking!
The flights down were great. Both actually left a few minutes early. I'm a big guy and I spring for 1st class when traveling any distance, just makes it much more comfortable, and it was.
We arrive STT a few minutes early. We traveled carry on only so we were off the plane in a jiffy! We had Christopher's taxi pick us up at the airport and he shoots us over to Dohm's water taxi dock pronto. The water taxi was waiting on us and it is a BIG water taxi. They had just brought a big group in from Virgin Gorda. We jump on the taxi and it is full speed to Cruz Bay. Faster than you can say,damn I love this place, we're on Island. Pick up the car at Cool Breeze and are in Coral Bay in less than an hour and a half from touch down. Love it!
Up the hill to the house and toss our stuff on the floor and it's off to skinny's for a burger. Ahhhh, life be good.
The next day is spent lounging around the pool and boring ourselves silly by commenting on how absolutely wonderful the weather is in season. It really is great. No humidity and the breezes are to die for.
We did make a run to Lilly's grocery. Drained my 401K to load up on groceries for the week!
That night it is off to Shipwreck Landing for blackened Mahi Mahi. Yum, with a capital YUM!
We've lost count of the exact number of times we've been here but it is sneaking up on a dozen. In all that time we've never stayed on the Coral Bay side before. We generally stay oven near Ditfliff. On this visit we plan to see the things we've not seen before.
Tuesday starts with Haulover. We snorkeled the South side. The water temp is glorious. Didn't see much in the way of fish but it didn't matter. Just being in that water, seeing that blue and enjoying the moment. It was great. We walked over to North Haulover but the water was a bit choppy. So it is off to Vie's for Conch Fritters. What a pleasant way to spend the afternoon. Sitting on the picnic table at Vie's just wasting time. Back to the house for a nap and conversations about how lucky we are.
Tuesday for dinner we decide to stay in. Kate, my darling bride, if you read this please know I love you dearly, but that was the worst meal either of us has cooked in 33 years of marriage, and that counts the time you tried to poison me on our honeymoon with those lethal chili dogs you cooked while we were camping in the great wild north! Folks dinner last night consisted of Mac and Cheese with some corn and carrots thrown in. While that will never get a 5 star rating it doesn't come close to describing how terrible this meal was. Apparently there must have been some worker dissent at the Kraft factory the day this particular box of Mac and Cheese was made because the Mac portion was apparently ground up rubber tires. The "Cheese" portion resembled orange concrete mortar mix. (NOTE TO SELF: Tonight we're going out!) However the entire night was not a culinary loss as desert was a banana and Oreo cookies.
Today I got out the St. John off the beaten path book and looked up favorite snorkel spots. We decided Tektite looked interesting. We started at Lameshur, another first and snorkeled over to Tektite. It was a nice snorkel. Saw some turtles and a couple of 'Cudas. If you haven't snorkeled from Lameshur to Tektite before it is a nice snorkel but keep in mind that you have to swim back from hence you started (oops forgot that part). It's a good haul for a couple of old farts. Once we drug our beaten old bodies back on the beach and caught our breath we figured we had a well deserved meal coming our way. Off to Miss Lucy's for lunch. The food was good and the location...... well you know the location, it just can't be beat.
We're back at the house now and my darling bride is crashed out and taking it easy. I'm just sitting here on the porch making a very poor attempt to let you all know just how wonderful it is here today. The breezes are the best on any trip we've had here. The humidity is a non-factor and life is good.
Tomorrow we're off to Honeymoon and Salomon.[/img]
After 8 months away from STJ the wait has been pure torture, think Dick Chenny approved water boarding. Up Saturday morning at 4:00 am, only for St John is such an ungodly hour tolerated. Unfortunately I'm feeling rotten, some kind of stomach bug. We try to head out the door and it just isn't going to work. On the phone to Delta and God bless some sweet soul there, she rebooks us for the next day. The tickets we purchased carried a $150 per ticket up charge to change and an increase in air fare so the total hit was going to be $750. We hit the lotto on ticket agents and she goes to her manager and gets us changed free of charge. After squaring the tickets away it is back to the sick bed for the day.
Sunday we're up at 3:00 am as the new flight arrangements leave an hour earlier than the original flights. Damn the bad luck! But there is an up side. We get in an hour and 20 minutes earlier than originally planned. Now we're talking!
The flights down were great. Both actually left a few minutes early. I'm a big guy and I spring for 1st class when traveling any distance, just makes it much more comfortable, and it was.
We arrive STT a few minutes early. We traveled carry on only so we were off the plane in a jiffy! We had Christopher's taxi pick us up at the airport and he shoots us over to Dohm's water taxi dock pronto. The water taxi was waiting on us and it is a BIG water taxi. They had just brought a big group in from Virgin Gorda. We jump on the taxi and it is full speed to Cruz Bay. Faster than you can say,damn I love this place, we're on Island. Pick up the car at Cool Breeze and are in Coral Bay in less than an hour and a half from touch down. Love it!
Up the hill to the house and toss our stuff on the floor and it's off to skinny's for a burger. Ahhhh, life be good.
The next day is spent lounging around the pool and boring ourselves silly by commenting on how absolutely wonderful the weather is in season. It really is great. No humidity and the breezes are to die for.
We did make a run to Lilly's grocery. Drained my 401K to load up on groceries for the week!
That night it is off to Shipwreck Landing for blackened Mahi Mahi. Yum, with a capital YUM!
We've lost count of the exact number of times we've been here but it is sneaking up on a dozen. In all that time we've never stayed on the Coral Bay side before. We generally stay oven near Ditfliff. On this visit we plan to see the things we've not seen before.
Tuesday starts with Haulover. We snorkeled the South side. The water temp is glorious. Didn't see much in the way of fish but it didn't matter. Just being in that water, seeing that blue and enjoying the moment. It was great. We walked over to North Haulover but the water was a bit choppy. So it is off to Vie's for Conch Fritters. What a pleasant way to spend the afternoon. Sitting on the picnic table at Vie's just wasting time. Back to the house for a nap and conversations about how lucky we are.
Tuesday for dinner we decide to stay in. Kate, my darling bride, if you read this please know I love you dearly, but that was the worst meal either of us has cooked in 33 years of marriage, and that counts the time you tried to poison me on our honeymoon with those lethal chili dogs you cooked while we were camping in the great wild north! Folks dinner last night consisted of Mac and Cheese with some corn and carrots thrown in. While that will never get a 5 star rating it doesn't come close to describing how terrible this meal was. Apparently there must have been some worker dissent at the Kraft factory the day this particular box of Mac and Cheese was made because the Mac portion was apparently ground up rubber tires. The "Cheese" portion resembled orange concrete mortar mix. (NOTE TO SELF: Tonight we're going out!) However the entire night was not a culinary loss as desert was a banana and Oreo cookies.
Today I got out the St. John off the beaten path book and looked up favorite snorkel spots. We decided Tektite looked interesting. We started at Lameshur, another first and snorkeled over to Tektite. It was a nice snorkel. Saw some turtles and a couple of 'Cudas. If you haven't snorkeled from Lameshur to Tektite before it is a nice snorkel but keep in mind that you have to swim back from hence you started (oops forgot that part). It's a good haul for a couple of old farts. Once we drug our beaten old bodies back on the beach and caught our breath we figured we had a well deserved meal coming our way. Off to Miss Lucy's for lunch. The food was good and the location...... well you know the location, it just can't be beat.
We're back at the house now and my darling bride is crashed out and taking it easy. I'm just sitting here on the porch making a very poor attempt to let you all know just how wonderful it is here today. The breezes are the best on any trip we've had here. The humidity is a non-factor and life is good.
Tomorrow we're off to Honeymoon and Salomon.[/img]
