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The Fun Tourists Invade Coral Bay 12/4-18, 2010

Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 9:10 pm
by lazylane
Our 9th Trip to St. John
The Fun Tourists!
Ron & Deb
David & Susie
Coral Bay, Bay House
December 4-18, 2010

This is my first trip report and I am not much of a writer, but I crammed a lot in!!! It’s a daily journal of our 2 week trip with random photos at the end and I have also included a poem written by my brother while on island. Enjoy!


Saturday, December 4
• Travel day
• Our friends picked us up at 4AM in their Lincoln Town Car for the hour trip to CMH. We met my brother, David and sister-in-law Susie at the airport.
• No problems-went thru security without the body scanner, except for Ron, my husband, maybe he looked suspicious!!??
• Uneventful flight, movie was Eat, Pray, Love – disappointing.
• Got to Coral Bay - Bay House around 5PM
• Dinner (Mahi-mahi of course) at Island Blues
• Saw lots of familiar faces, so glad to be back “home”!!
• Ended the evening on the deck and the guys put up our Christmas lights on the deck railing! Perfect!

Sunday December 5
• Cooked brunch at the villa, eggs, bacon and toast
• Villa gravity day
• Pool is way too cold!
• Walked down the hill to Aqua Bistro for drinks and dinner at Aqua Bistro with Soleigha, a great gal and a fun bartender!
• More drinks at Island Blues
• Back up the hill for the night

Monday December 6
• Morning rituals: feed the bananaquits, check to see how many iguanas are hanging out on the limbs below our deck, coffee on the deck and watch the boats come and go.
• Went to Cruz Bay to get gas since the Domino is still closed in Coral Bay
• Never had a Jeep that wasn’t full when we picked it up??!!
• Had lunch at Cinnamon Bay Tree Lizards – great sandwiches there
• High surf at Cinnamon Bay – not much beach left
• Went to calmer Francis Bay
• Back to villa, cooked dinner, pork chops and scalloped potatoes and green beans
• Went to Skinny’s to watch Patriots/Jets game, but can you believe it – no game at Skinny’s –it was Monday movie night and NO GAME!!! WHAT?????
• Back to Island Blues and man did it get drunk out that night! Fun night and at one corner of the bar was a Spartan, a Wolverine and us Buckeyes!!! No apologies to the Wolverines for November!!!!!

Tuesday December 7
• Woke up slowly this morning, bagels at the villa
• Cloudy and gray today
• Harbor/boat watch most of the day! Here at Bay House you see all the action in Coral Bay
• Went to all the shops in Coral Bay in search of Christmas cards and found them at Mumbo Jumbo at Skinny’s
• Went to Colorful Corner on Bordeaux Mountain and drove up Bordeaux Mountain Rd.and explored a few other roads and found a few villas we have researched online
• Lunch and drinks at Shipwreck Landing
• Dinner at Island Blues
• Went to Shipwreck to hear Chris Carsel, but couldn’t hear the music so we left and came back to villa and partied some more

Wednesday December 8
• Slow waking up again – 9AM
• Wrote all our Christmas cards
• Brunch and Bloody Mary’s at Donkey Diner – does anyone know their secret ingredient in their Bloody Mary’s?? Surprising and very tasty!!!
• Finally – sun – so off to Lameshur we go, stingrays jumping out of the water, how cool !
• Stop at Tourist Trap for liquid refreshment and Larry’s Nachos
• Aqua Bistro for Happy Hour and drinks with Soleigha
• Swiss Steak and baked potatoes for supper at the villa

Thursday December 9
• Never going to see a sunrise at this rate, but I don’t get to sleep in at home!!!
• Hanging out a the villa until lunch
• Skinny’s for a late lunch – have to say not as good as usual IMO.
• Met Lovermont of VIOL at Skinny’s – so nice of her to recognize me!
• Took a drive to East End for some beach combing and found tons of sea glass at Hansen Bay
• Back to villa – leftovers for supper
• Dark & Stormy’s at the villa for the night

Friday December 10
• Morning rituals
• Pancakes, eggs and bacon at the villa
• Headed to Salt Pond for the day and ran in to Lovermont.
• Stopped at Tourist Trap for drinks and lobster roll – Caribbean lobster is a little different, but tasty!
• Computer died – took it to Coral Bay Computers for diagnosis
• Back to villa to rest for a while
• Donkey Diner for pizza and salad. EXCELLENT pizza, we had the Donkey Supreme – I highly recommend it. The salad was Josephine’s greens and so fresh.
• Stopped at Aqua Bistro for a little music and then to Island Blues for Open Mic night.

Saturday December 11
• Morning rituals and the harbor is very busy on Saturday mornings. Love watching the action. We have never been this close before so we really get to “feel” and see the action. I must say that I think the noseeums are worse than when you are higher up on the hill. The winds up there sure are better and help with the bugs a lot!
• Villa gravity day hanging out and napping, etc.
• Picked up computer – Doug was excellent and found my problem
• Had a late afternoon bite at Aqua Bistro
• More villa gravity
• Chicken/Rice/Broccoli casserole for supper at the villa
• Had made plans to go to the All Island Holiday Party, but just couldn’t get with it to get ready and make the drive to Cruz Bay – you get zoned out here in Coral Bay and really don’t want to deal with the “crowds” of Cruz Bay!!! 
• Walked down the hill later for drinks at Island Blues and came back early for more deck sitting for the night


Sunday December 12
• Woke up to the sounds of the church bells in Coral Bay, peaceful sounds along with the roosters! Somewhere, someone was playing a flute very early this morning, also.
• Coffee on the deck and morning rituals
• Off to Miss Lucy’s for Sunday brunch. Eggs benedict, fresh fruit, home fries and Bloody Mary’s. What a nice way to start a relaxing Sunday. The Seagrape tree was really damaged in the storm so it looks a lot different and not much shade now.
• Back to villa and then we decided to head to Francis Bay
• Looked like there was a local event possibly at Francis – local cars/Jeeps were parked all the way out to the main road.
• So we headed to Hawksnest for a while, surf was rolling in.
• Back to villa, refresh and relax.
• Island Blues for dinner and live music
• Early night, back at villa as tomorrow we head out with Captain John Brandi of Palm Tree Charters

Monday December 13
• Up early for our BVI trip with John
• Grab a quick cup of coffee and head to Cruz Bay
• Breakfast sandwiches at Joe’s Diner
• Meet John at National Park dock and we’re off
• North shore of St. John, head to Soper’s Hole to check in to customs, a little shopping, on to the Indians for some snorkeling, crowded there so we headed to the Caves. Ron and David snorkeled and I swam for a while. On to Pirates Bight/Norman Island for drinks and a little beach time, lunch (Mahi)on the Willy-T, then on to Jost van Dyke and Soggy Dollar for Painkillers, hammocks, beach time and more painkillers.
• Sad to end the day with Captain John. Sue met us at the dock when we returned. Such great folks!
• Stop by Chelsea Drug Store to pick up a prescription for my brother who made a trip to the clinic the previous day due to a severe allergic reaction to no-see-ums
• Drive back to Coral Bay, showers and relax
• Head to Island Blues for supper, drinks and the whole bar was singing to Paul’s(bartender) I-pod all night!! Another great night at Island Blues, which in case you haven’t figured out is our favorite hang-out!! O-H-I-O is in the house!!!! We learn from a waitress that Soleigha has dubbed us “the fun tourists”!!! What a compliment!! Now we have a name for this year’s vacation!!
• So, after another rum-induced stupor we head back up the hill for the night.

Tuesday December 14
• I’m always the last one up, but my brother got some great sunrise shots this morning
• Coffee, coffee, coffee and pancakes and bacon at the villa
• Reading on the deck
• Nap time
• Grilled chicken sandwiches for lunch at the villa.
• Took a ride, stopped at a few shops for T-shirts
• Back to villa just hanging out
• Hamburger Pie and salad for supper at the villa
• Chocolate ice cream for dessert
• We can hear the music from down below, but decide to make it an alcohol free day to rest up for tomorrow’s festivities!

Wednesday December 15
• What a great Coral Bay morning it is!
• Since it’s Wednesday, that means Donkey Diner is open for breakfast
• After breakfast we head to Vie’s beach for the day
• So peaceful and calm here today
• We learn from Vie that it has been raining in Cruz Bay all morning, how lucky we are to be on East End!
• Head back to villa to shower and relax a while
• Head to Cruz Bay for dinner and Wednesday Night Jam at Gecko Gazebo/Sun Dog Café
• Shopping at Mongoose Junction, appetizers and drinks
• Dinner was excellent, our group’s choices were French Country Turnover-that night’s choice was Chicken Pesto served with Caesar Salad, another had Jamaican Jerk Pork Tenderloin Grilled and served with fresh baked apples and grilled smashed potatoes and another had Spinach and Mushroom Quesadillas. All excellent choices, no complaints!
• Wednesday Night Jam featured several local musicians and we partied the night along with some of our Coral Bay friends and some new friends we met earlier in the day at Vie’s were there too, Gigi from VIOL!!
• Headed back to Coral Bay for night time on the deck around 10PM or so.
• Everyone has gone to bed, but I couldn’t make myself go to bed tonight, reading until about 2AM. Will be sorry tomorrow!!

Thursday December 16
• Ok, now this is weird – I am the first one up!!
• A little shower passes thru this morning.
• Coffee, feed the bananaquits, only 2 iguanas this morning.
• Late breakfast of bacon and eggs this morning at the villa
• Off we go to Vie’s again, kind of cloudy and windy, but once we get there the sun breaks thru for part of the day, but it remained very windy so we got sand-blasted every once in a while
• Sea glass abounds at this beach! I think I have found over 70 pieces total this trip!
• The sun is starting to go down so we head back to the villa and take a cruise up Dreekets Bay Estates road for some gorgeous views and sunset.
• Watched a couple mega yachts moor for the night
• Late supper at the villa of salad, filet mignon, baked potato and green beans.
• Walk down the hill for drinks at Aqua Bistro and chat with Soleigha
• Walked to Island Blues only to find they were closing at 10PM – come on, the “fun tourists” are here!!!!!
• Back to Aqua Bistro to close it up for the night!

Friday December 17
• Up late again, coffee at villa
• Doing some laundry and packing up to get a jump on it for morning
• Donkey Diner for breakfast, scrambled eggs, ham, fried potatoes and English Muffin, yummy!
• Take a walk to see if Mr. Guy Benjamin has his book outside on the stand, but none there again. We were hoping to get an autographed copy!
• Stop in all the shops, more t-shirts!
• Off to Francis and to gas up the Jeep.
• Francis is very rough today and I actually got knocked down.
• Head in to get gas, stopped by High Tide for drinks and chips/salsa.
• Frank Bay for a gorgeous sunset, but OMG were the bugs bad!!!!
• Back to villa where we find supper almost ready! My brother fixed pork tenderloin, Lipton onion potatoes and apricot glazed carrots! More yummy!
• Shower and down the hill to say goodbye to our new found Island Blues buddies!
• Back to villa with Kenny on the I-pod and a relaxing evening on the deck, star gazing and reflecting on yet another beautiful stay on St. John.
• We leave tomorrow afternoon, but I told all our old and new friends “see you next year”, so knowing we’ll be back eases the sadness somewhat.

Saturday December 18
• Up and at ‘em this morning for travel day
• Laze on deck for a short while and another gorgeous Coral Bay morning
• Clean out frig and finish up a little packing
• Say goodbye to Bay House and as we pull down the driveway we have 4 donkeys coming to say goodbye to us! Perfect!
• The guys drop off us in town and they take back Jeeps
• When they return, we go to JJ’s for breakfast
• Hanging out in the park, lots of crafters and artists set up in the park, got some really cool made from coconut earrings from Yolanda’s booth!
• Shopping around Wharfside Village and waiting on ferry and people watching!
• Met Jerry from Soggy Dollar at Freebird! So nice to meet the owner!
• 2PM ferry to Red Hook, taxi ride to airport
• Met Villa Andara owner(Goldendays on VIOL) on taxi ride and had a nice chat about our favorite obsession, St. John.
• Make it to the airport at 3:30PM for our 5:17PM flight
• Sandwiches at airport and off we go !
• Made it back to Columbus at 11:35PM and it is 9 degrees – what a shock to the system! I miss Coral Bay already…….planning next year already….

Bay House comments:
• Loved the convenient location of this villa and all the activity of Coral Bay residents and harbor.
• Villa was “adequate” for our needs, but guests comforts are definitely lacking and I am not a picky person, but the furnishings, kitchenware, etc. all need updated drastically.
• Our king bed was comfy enough and basic bath and a/c did work great for sleeping comfort.
• Favorite part was the deck of course!
• Pool was very COLD, but I think other times of the year the sun would hit it more.
• Parking perfect for 2 Jeeps and driveway was no issue
• Easy walking down to Island Blues and Aqua Bistro, back up was sometimes another story, but with enough rum very doable!!!



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A FINE DAY IN CORAL BAY

Waking up with the sun in Coral Bay
You know it’s going to be a really fine day

There are beaches to be walked
And conversations to be talked

As you gaze across the harbor
All your troubles couldn’t be farther

Even if it rains, it will be just fine
I think they call it liquid sunshine

Goats and donkeys they freely roam
The whole island is their home

As you wind around the road
There’s a beauty overload

All the cactus and all the birds
Hard to describe with only words

The sugar mills are in the past
But their memories will always last

When the sun sets over Coral Bay
You know it’s been a really fine day

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 8:06 am
by Lovermont
Fantastic! Not only did our paths cross a few times, but after reading your TR, it looks like we barely missed each other some other times.

I'm pretty sure that we saw 'your' crab on Lameshur, and we were lucky enough to catch that amazing sunrise from a different angle on the other side of Coral Bay.

David's poem is awesome. Thanks for sharing your trip and photos.

Lovermont

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 9:59 am
by PA Girl
That is an amazing sunset picture!

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 11:27 am
by Barb Y
Beautiful! Thanks so much for sharing!

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 11:48 am
by cool breeze
Great report we are staying at the Bay House in April. This will be our first stay in Coral Bay and we are looking very forward to it. We have always stayed on the south side around the chocolate hole area. After reading your report I wish we could speed up time we definately will be following your lead! Looking very forward to Aqua Bistro and Island Blues based on your reporting. We have never visited or indulged to much on Coral Bay mainly due to the long drive back to the south side so it will be a treat to be able to walk to the establishments. Anyhow glad you all had a wonderful time.
Have A Happy New Year Ron, Deb, Dave & Susie :lol:

John

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 12:34 pm
by liamsaunt
Sounds like a wonderful trip! Thanks for sharing.

I really love your sunset picture.

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 2:46 pm
by lazylane
thanks, guys! Actually those are both sunrise photos!(of which I only saw thru photos!!) Sunsets weren't so great from our location.

Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 7:55 am
by JT
What a great trip report, terrific pictures, and poem. Sounded an awful lot like our Coral Bay times in that you made the most of all phases while staying over on the Far Side for almost the entire trip.
Thanks for taking the time to post!

Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 6:04 pm
by Sara-J
Great report, pictures and poem! We were there part of the time you were and went to many of those places on the same days, but did not see you fun ones! Glad you had a good trip!

Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 6:46 pm
by lisa mcg
Great fun reading your report..thank you so much:)

Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 7:33 pm
by Tracy in WI
Thanks for the fun report from the "Fun Tourists"! What a great honor for your group!

And that Pizza looks really yummy!

Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 7:46 am
by cptnkirk
Sounds like you had a blast :D I see you found a peice of the seldomly seen extremly rare Penis Erectus coral :lol: We are staying in Coral Bay for the first time this summer can't wait. Go Bucks! man we need to win this for the Big Ten this year.

Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 8:59 am
by lazylane
Hey, Cptnkirk, GO BUCKS!!! I almost spit coffee all over the screen with your Penis Erectus coral comment!!! Glad you noticed and got a kick out of it!!! We sure did!!