Muhaha Trip Report Days 1-2 (1/22/11 and 1/23/11)
Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 12:03 pm
Hey everyone. This is my first trip report, so bear with me if pics don't format properly, etc. Some quick notes - all of these pics were taken with an Olympus Stylus Tough 8010 and have not yet been touched up. I have a number of photos on a Canon EOS 50D that I have not yet reviewed and may add later.
Checklist - mom makes it up from Houston to watch the tribe of 4 kids (check), packing all done (check), nervous wife has house totally STERILE for my mother (check), alarm clock set (check), batteries in phones and cameras recharged (check) - good to go.
Day One:
Today starts very early, up at 3:30am and we leave the house by 4:30am for our 1.5 hour drive to O'Hare. Man is it cold, well below zero with light snow and tough winds. Can't wait to get there. This is the start of our first "real" vacation together without hauling the kids. Don't get me wrong, we love our kids but we need this trip. The wife is already a bit teary eyed. This is clearly going to be harder on her than me
The airport is nearly deserted this Saturday morning, we find first row parking (a first) and no wait in security. We do the Kiosk-style check in at United and pleasantly discover that we got our complimentary auto upgrade and the flight is on time.
Everything feels much too perfect and we start wondering when the shoe would drop, what could possibly go wrong? Nothing. It was a perfect trip, with no delay. I love stepping off the plane in 85 degrees, smelling "summer", and throwing on the sunglasses. We grab our rental Wrangler from Discount (WONDERFUL those folks are) and find that it is nearly brand new, with about 500 miles on it.
The drive to Red Hook was actually enjoyable when not in the back of a cab/van. Off on the ferry with no delay and we land on STJ at 5:30pm. The wonderful folks from PHPV are waiting on us and take us on our journey to Sago Palms. The drive up to Sago is quite a challenge, but we just laugh at every bump. We finally arrive just after sunset and fall in love with the villa. More on the villa in a separate review...
Dinner time immediately calls and we head off to the Beach Bar for a casual meal and some drinks. Early night as we crash at 9pm after "unpacking" of course
DAY TWO:
I awake at the crack of dawn (6:15) and enjoy coffee and the next hour alone just sitting on the deck and watching the light gradually brighten the colors of the water and the view.
I also got a kick out of these bananaquits, and they evidently got a kick out of me (or was it the sugar?)
The wifey get's up a bit later and after breakfast we decide to head down to Jumbie for some snorkeling.
The view from the beach at Jumbie
The alien overmind?
I just love Jumbie
After a few hours of hanging at the beach, we take the beautiful drive down the North Shore and wrap it back around to Coral Bay for lunch at Shipwreck. Then a "what the heck" drive over to Salt Pond for a good sunset. I forgot the camera in the car, so no pics of Salt Pond.
The water at Jumbie was beautifully clear, but the water at Salt Pond had terrible visibility so we pretty much just soaked and enjoyed the sunset. We did manage to see some squid at Salt Pond, and that really made our day...
Returned to the villa and sat on the deck looking straight up. I'm not sure what it is, but for some reason the night sky at Sago is so much darker (and thus way more stars) than most anywhere on STJ. Perhaps it is ideally situated away from both Cruz Bay on one side and the lights of Tortola on the other. We spent an hour identifying constellations and watching for shooting stars while soaking in the hot tub.
Day three coming....
Checklist - mom makes it up from Houston to watch the tribe of 4 kids (check), packing all done (check), nervous wife has house totally STERILE for my mother (check), alarm clock set (check), batteries in phones and cameras recharged (check) - good to go.
Day One:
Today starts very early, up at 3:30am and we leave the house by 4:30am for our 1.5 hour drive to O'Hare. Man is it cold, well below zero with light snow and tough winds. Can't wait to get there. This is the start of our first "real" vacation together without hauling the kids. Don't get me wrong, we love our kids but we need this trip. The wife is already a bit teary eyed. This is clearly going to be harder on her than me
The airport is nearly deserted this Saturday morning, we find first row parking (a first) and no wait in security. We do the Kiosk-style check in at United and pleasantly discover that we got our complimentary auto upgrade and the flight is on time.
Everything feels much too perfect and we start wondering when the shoe would drop, what could possibly go wrong? Nothing. It was a perfect trip, with no delay. I love stepping off the plane in 85 degrees, smelling "summer", and throwing on the sunglasses. We grab our rental Wrangler from Discount (WONDERFUL those folks are) and find that it is nearly brand new, with about 500 miles on it.
The drive to Red Hook was actually enjoyable when not in the back of a cab/van. Off on the ferry with no delay and we land on STJ at 5:30pm. The wonderful folks from PHPV are waiting on us and take us on our journey to Sago Palms. The drive up to Sago is quite a challenge, but we just laugh at every bump. We finally arrive just after sunset and fall in love with the villa. More on the villa in a separate review...
Dinner time immediately calls and we head off to the Beach Bar for a casual meal and some drinks. Early night as we crash at 9pm after "unpacking" of course
DAY TWO:
I awake at the crack of dawn (6:15) and enjoy coffee and the next hour alone just sitting on the deck and watching the light gradually brighten the colors of the water and the view.
I also got a kick out of these bananaquits, and they evidently got a kick out of me (or was it the sugar?)
The wifey get's up a bit later and after breakfast we decide to head down to Jumbie for some snorkeling.
The view from the beach at Jumbie
The alien overmind?
I just love Jumbie
After a few hours of hanging at the beach, we take the beautiful drive down the North Shore and wrap it back around to Coral Bay for lunch at Shipwreck. Then a "what the heck" drive over to Salt Pond for a good sunset. I forgot the camera in the car, so no pics of Salt Pond.
The water at Jumbie was beautifully clear, but the water at Salt Pond had terrible visibility so we pretty much just soaked and enjoyed the sunset. We did manage to see some squid at Salt Pond, and that really made our day...
Returned to the villa and sat on the deck looking straight up. I'm not sure what it is, but for some reason the night sky at Sago is so much darker (and thus way more stars) than most anywhere on STJ. Perhaps it is ideally situated away from both Cruz Bay on one side and the lights of Tortola on the other. We spent an hour identifying constellations and watching for shooting stars while soaking in the hot tub.
Day three coming....
