Umbrellas? We don't need no stinkin' umbrellas!(Pt. VIII)
Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 3:56 pm
Final Installment:
Link to Pt. I - http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/forum ... hp?t=17481
Link to Pt. II - http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/forum ... hp?t=17483
Link to Pt. III - http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/forum ... hp?t=17487
Link to Pt. IV - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=17493
Link to Pt. V - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=17586
Link to Pt. VI - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=17587
Link to Pt. VII - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=17591
Departure day/Walk of Woe/Retrospective - No pictures
Tuesday, 7/20 - This is a day that I imagine will live in St. John lore for a long time. And no, not just due to the celebrations of us leaving the island!
If you've read the previous installments of this report you may recall repeated references to us waking up to rainy skies. I take all of them back. Today we woke up to rainy skies. Instantly, it made the decision to pack up the snorkel gear look brilliant since we wouldn't be trying to squeeze one last adventure in, but at the same time foolish since we might need to snorkel our way to the parking lot!
We finished up the last of the breakfast items, bagged the garbage, and staged our luggage so that if there came a break in the deluge we could make a mad dash to the jeep.
Eventually it slowed down enough that we were willing to risk it, and we didn't get THAT wet in the 10 seconds or so it took to get from the porch of the condo to the jeep - WHEW!
We had a lot of time so we decided to take one last jaunt down North Shore to head back towards town. I was amazed at all of the roadside waterfalls we could see - many of them in places where there weren't supposed to be waterfalls! So we didn't get that last look at the unmatched beauty of the north shore - but we did see a possibly once-in-a-lifetime look at a very wet, and getting wetter by the minute north shore. Which was cool in its own way.
We found a place to park near the VINP office, then realized that we should have tried to find a place in the lot by the Customs building (right - has anyone on here EVER found a spot in that lot?). Since we had time we were going to Customs to get our LBO - Local Boater Option - cards. Jay told us about this program on Sunday. You register with Customs and they link your LBO number to your passport. If everyone on a boat that's returning to US waters has this card, you are allowed/encouraged to phone in to clear customs rather than having to physically check in. They have the right to tell you to come and check in personally, but Jay said he was scolded for not having his card by a Customs agent, who said he was "wasting her time". I don't know if we'll ever get to use this, but I know that we won't ever be the ones on a vessel that are responsible for not being able to bypass the physical check in!
After we were done we walked/ran/skipped through puddles to Mongoose Junction, where we ordered sandwiches to go to eat in the airport. A quick stop by St. John Spice to goodbye to Ruth (walk of woe pictures here - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=17357 ), and one last check at the info booth, and - lo and behold! Pia was there! So we got to say hi/bye to her and introduce her to Jason, then it was off to Enighed Pond and the car barge. We didn't have to wait to get on, and didn't have to wait long before the barge left, and St. John slowly got smaller and smaller in our view.
On the way back to Charlotte Amalie we missed a left turn up a hill which meant that we returned via the route that takes you by Cost-U-Less. That missed turn was a blessing in disguise (or maybe just the best way to go?) since we didn't have to go by the Havensight pier and its attendant cruise day traffic snarl.
We did make a detour - I dropped Leslie and Jason off at the straw market so that he could buy a hat like the ones he had seen the locals wearing all week. It took me forever to find a parking place, and it was several blocks away, but we managed to find each other, get back to the car, and get it and us back to Dependable without incident. I paid for the rental, made my reservations for October (are we really going twice in one year?!?!), and we hopped back in the jeep and were driven to the airport.
Our early arrival had us ahead of the rush, so we made it through check in, customs, and security in a relatively short amount of time.
Then we waited as the terminal got fuller and fuller. And waited some more. It was raining in solid sheets of water outside, so it was no surprise that most, if not all of the outgoing flights were being delayed. I was actually surprised that ours was only delayed by an hour or so. We boarded in the rain (the only time I really missed STT not having a jetway) then had an uneventful flight home.
Reality/re-entry is Miami rush hour traffic. At least it wasn't raining!
Wrap up/reflections:
A rainy week on St. John is still a good week. We were still able to snorkel a lot, and we hit a window where the mosquitoes weren't too bad.
In my opinion, the reward of carry on only outweighed the hassle.
We did a lot of "first time" things for us on this trip, but still have a lot more to look forward to.
I would love our time on St. John even if we didn't know another soul, but there is something special about seeing our on island friends, our forum friends, and making new friends that takes our vacations there to another level.
I really appreciate everyone that made Jason feel so welcome. Since he's a teenage boy it is sometimes hard to get a read on him, but you should have seen him light up when describing the trip to his brother.
I wish Shane had been there with us, but he'll have his first time, and maybe there's something to be said for them having that experience separately.
The gray skies may have been symbolically appropriate. The first day of our trip was also the day that funeral services were being held at home for one of Jason's friends, who was killed in a car crash just a few days prior. It was also our first time on island since Mr. B's passing. We had a quiet few moments to remember Myles at the same time his service was scheduled to start. And Leslie and I, when we were enjoying a place where we had previously spent time with John, thought of him and of Amy. If there's any place that can help one appreciate the fact that every day, particularly a day with loved ones, is a gift, St. John is such a place. It's a healing place, a place to let petty differences go, and a place whose pace and attitude force us to slow down and live in the moment.
So trip number four is history. We're not newbies anymore, but we love seeing the island through the eyes and the stories of those who are. We certainly aren't super experienced long time visitors or locals, but we appreciate the hospitality, guidance, and patience with us of those that are. And I know that we're blessed to be able to not only say that we plan to return, but that we're already scheduled to do so.
And in case any of you were wondering, Canon replaced Leslie's camera free of charge because they didn't have the parts on hand to make the needed repairs. So be ready for a LOT of pictures in November!
Link to Pt. I - http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/forum ... hp?t=17481
Link to Pt. II - http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/forum ... hp?t=17483
Link to Pt. III - http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/forum ... hp?t=17487
Link to Pt. IV - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=17493
Link to Pt. V - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=17586
Link to Pt. VI - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=17587
Link to Pt. VII - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=17591
Departure day/Walk of Woe/Retrospective - No pictures
Tuesday, 7/20 - This is a day that I imagine will live in St. John lore for a long time. And no, not just due to the celebrations of us leaving the island!
If you've read the previous installments of this report you may recall repeated references to us waking up to rainy skies. I take all of them back. Today we woke up to rainy skies. Instantly, it made the decision to pack up the snorkel gear look brilliant since we wouldn't be trying to squeeze one last adventure in, but at the same time foolish since we might need to snorkel our way to the parking lot!
We finished up the last of the breakfast items, bagged the garbage, and staged our luggage so that if there came a break in the deluge we could make a mad dash to the jeep.
Eventually it slowed down enough that we were willing to risk it, and we didn't get THAT wet in the 10 seconds or so it took to get from the porch of the condo to the jeep - WHEW!
We had a lot of time so we decided to take one last jaunt down North Shore to head back towards town. I was amazed at all of the roadside waterfalls we could see - many of them in places where there weren't supposed to be waterfalls! So we didn't get that last look at the unmatched beauty of the north shore - but we did see a possibly once-in-a-lifetime look at a very wet, and getting wetter by the minute north shore. Which was cool in its own way.
We found a place to park near the VINP office, then realized that we should have tried to find a place in the lot by the Customs building (right - has anyone on here EVER found a spot in that lot?). Since we had time we were going to Customs to get our LBO - Local Boater Option - cards. Jay told us about this program on Sunday. You register with Customs and they link your LBO number to your passport. If everyone on a boat that's returning to US waters has this card, you are allowed/encouraged to phone in to clear customs rather than having to physically check in. They have the right to tell you to come and check in personally, but Jay said he was scolded for not having his card by a Customs agent, who said he was "wasting her time". I don't know if we'll ever get to use this, but I know that we won't ever be the ones on a vessel that are responsible for not being able to bypass the physical check in!
After we were done we walked/ran/skipped through puddles to Mongoose Junction, where we ordered sandwiches to go to eat in the airport. A quick stop by St. John Spice to goodbye to Ruth (walk of woe pictures here - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=17357 ), and one last check at the info booth, and - lo and behold! Pia was there! So we got to say hi/bye to her and introduce her to Jason, then it was off to Enighed Pond and the car barge. We didn't have to wait to get on, and didn't have to wait long before the barge left, and St. John slowly got smaller and smaller in our view.
On the way back to Charlotte Amalie we missed a left turn up a hill which meant that we returned via the route that takes you by Cost-U-Less. That missed turn was a blessing in disguise (or maybe just the best way to go?) since we didn't have to go by the Havensight pier and its attendant cruise day traffic snarl.
We did make a detour - I dropped Leslie and Jason off at the straw market so that he could buy a hat like the ones he had seen the locals wearing all week. It took me forever to find a parking place, and it was several blocks away, but we managed to find each other, get back to the car, and get it and us back to Dependable without incident. I paid for the rental, made my reservations for October (are we really going twice in one year?!?!), and we hopped back in the jeep and were driven to the airport.
Our early arrival had us ahead of the rush, so we made it through check in, customs, and security in a relatively short amount of time.
Then we waited as the terminal got fuller and fuller. And waited some more. It was raining in solid sheets of water outside, so it was no surprise that most, if not all of the outgoing flights were being delayed. I was actually surprised that ours was only delayed by an hour or so. We boarded in the rain (the only time I really missed STT not having a jetway) then had an uneventful flight home.
Reality/re-entry is Miami rush hour traffic. At least it wasn't raining!
Wrap up/reflections:
A rainy week on St. John is still a good week. We were still able to snorkel a lot, and we hit a window where the mosquitoes weren't too bad.
In my opinion, the reward of carry on only outweighed the hassle.
We did a lot of "first time" things for us on this trip, but still have a lot more to look forward to.
I would love our time on St. John even if we didn't know another soul, but there is something special about seeing our on island friends, our forum friends, and making new friends that takes our vacations there to another level.
I really appreciate everyone that made Jason feel so welcome. Since he's a teenage boy it is sometimes hard to get a read on him, but you should have seen him light up when describing the trip to his brother.
I wish Shane had been there with us, but he'll have his first time, and maybe there's something to be said for them having that experience separately.
The gray skies may have been symbolically appropriate. The first day of our trip was also the day that funeral services were being held at home for one of Jason's friends, who was killed in a car crash just a few days prior. It was also our first time on island since Mr. B's passing. We had a quiet few moments to remember Myles at the same time his service was scheduled to start. And Leslie and I, when we were enjoying a place where we had previously spent time with John, thought of him and of Amy. If there's any place that can help one appreciate the fact that every day, particularly a day with loved ones, is a gift, St. John is such a place. It's a healing place, a place to let petty differences go, and a place whose pace and attitude force us to slow down and live in the moment.
So trip number four is history. We're not newbies anymore, but we love seeing the island through the eyes and the stories of those who are. We certainly aren't super experienced long time visitors or locals, but we appreciate the hospitality, guidance, and patience with us of those that are. And I know that we're blessed to be able to not only say that we plan to return, but that we're already scheduled to do so.
And in case any of you were wondering, Canon replaced Leslie's camera free of charge because they didn't have the parts on hand to make the needed repairs. So be ready for a LOT of pictures in November!
It got worse later in the day! It was great seeing you and your family and snorkeling with you at Waterlemon! Great reports! I have to say I was lazy this time with my reports. 
pictures.