Trip Report
Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2011 11:58 pm
Hi everybody...
Just back from our first week long stay on St. John. We had a blast! Our flight arrived 30 minutes early and we had no problems getting our rental car from Hospitality Car Rental. I did think my husband was going to die when we had to find Thomas at a smoothie bar in the middle of town! He let me plan this whole trip and I'm sure he was expecting to rent a car from Hertz or Avis or something familiar sounding!
Off to our villa rental. We rented from Caribbean Villas (again, no problems!) and booked Splash Villa. It was a few houses from the Westin. We loved the location - being right on the water. Unfortunately, there wasn't much of a breeze to be found, so the house was very warm, very muggy...thankfully we had AC in the bedrooms. A bit buggy in the early mornings and later in the afternoon, but not too bad. The villa had bug spray for us to use. Loved having LOTS of iguanas laying around, sunning on the seawall. The house has an indoor pool - very cool...was nice when it rained Wednesday afternoon and we could hear the rain falling right into our pool. The house is beautifully decorated. Tons of bath towels, beach towels, coolers, beach chairs. The only thing we could have used were some matches or a lighter so we could light our BBQ...but we managed.
Headed down to Woody's for something quick to eat as we were starving. A little leery going in but we soon found out why the place is always jam-packed...it's fun! Lots of people watching and a great happy hour. Had my first Painkiller! Went to Starfish Market as soon as we unpacked at the Villa. Prices are a little shocking and we're from NY, so that says a lot! But it's an island, and we expected that. We packed a cooler full of filet mignons, shrimp, chicken, etc. We just needed a few items to supplement the rest. We had our first dinner in the villa. We wanted an early night because we were going out with Palm Tree Charters on Saturday (our first full day on island). Spoke to Sue from Palm Tree Charters on Friday and she is such a doll... so welcoming!!
We had the greatest time with Captain John on Saturday. Went to Tortola, shopping for a little while at Soper's Hole (hope I'm spelling that correctly), had lunch at Willy Ts (great video taken there of my hubby and our friends jumping off), wonderful snorkeling spots, and a few hours at Jost Van Dyke at the Soggy Dollar Bar. Awesome place!
Sunday was my hubby's birthday and also our anniversary..drove over to Coral Bay, had lunch at the bar at Aqua Grill... later on, we headed to the Beach Bar with our friends. Saw Innervisions and they were great. Place was packed and we found Captain John and his lovely wife, Sue. We hung out with them for a while...we were starting to feel like St. John regulars by this point!!!
Walked around Mongoose Junction and Wharfside Village on Monday...bought our kids some things since they're all in college and very jealous that Mom & Dad are living it up! Headed to Trunk Bay Beach later on...still cannot get over how beautiful it is there. Had dinner that night at Zozo's. What a view from the bar. Gorgeous sunset and very good food. Great service. Actually, we never found service to be slow at all anywhere we ate on the island. Pleasantly surprised by that.
We rented a dinghy on Tuesday. Packed up our snorkeling gear and a big lunch and had an absolute ball. The weather couldn't have been nicer. We had lunch on an almost deserted beach. A woman there said it was Cinnamon..but Cinnamon is much busier...this was right below Peter Bay...either way, it was gorgeous! Had dinner that night at The Banana Deck. Good food.
We hung out most of the day in our villa on Wednesday...our friends were leaving the island this day, so they packed up...we had a nice leftover lunch of steak, shrimp, grilled veggies, salad....even shared it with the gardeners who showed up! Went for a last drink (or two) at Woody's before their late afternoon ferry.
Headed over to Caneel Bay for a breakfast buffet on Thursday....we were going to go to Jake's but a sign said it was closed for the day -- yet I noticed the sign was still up this morning. Not sure if it's closed for good, or if this is just something businesses do down in the islands? Saw Mario Batali at Caneel's buffet. Was so tempted to ask him what he would recommend, but I didn't! Headed to Hawksnest Beach...gorgeous! Saw a bride & groom taking pics...ahhh, what an island to get married on!! Headed to Wharfside again to pick up the St. John hook bracelet that I had my eye on since we arrived last Friday. Stopped at The Lime Inn for a late lunch...just a bar menu but everything was delicious. Went to La Plancha then later at night for just dessert (Can you tell we like to eat?! The scary thing is - I'm missing some of the places we ate!)
We loved talking to everyone on St. John...everyone is super friendly and you can tell they just love being there! I've always been a massive Kenny Chesney fan and now some of his songs have special significance to me. Seeing boats sail in and out of Cinnamon Bay?? Yeah, now I have too...and I totally get it!
So sad to have to leave this morning. That taxi ride back to St. Thomas' airport was completely different from the taxi to Red Hook last Friday!
I hope this report isn't TOO long (I know it is!)....but I just want to thank everyone for all their advice, tips, hints, etc. This forum is essential to a first-timer and I appreciate how helpful you all are!!
I can't wait to come back...hopefully soon!!!!
~Regina
Just back from our first week long stay on St. John. We had a blast! Our flight arrived 30 minutes early and we had no problems getting our rental car from Hospitality Car Rental. I did think my husband was going to die when we had to find Thomas at a smoothie bar in the middle of town! He let me plan this whole trip and I'm sure he was expecting to rent a car from Hertz or Avis or something familiar sounding!
Off to our villa rental. We rented from Caribbean Villas (again, no problems!) and booked Splash Villa. It was a few houses from the Westin. We loved the location - being right on the water. Unfortunately, there wasn't much of a breeze to be found, so the house was very warm, very muggy...thankfully we had AC in the bedrooms. A bit buggy in the early mornings and later in the afternoon, but not too bad. The villa had bug spray for us to use. Loved having LOTS of iguanas laying around, sunning on the seawall. The house has an indoor pool - very cool...was nice when it rained Wednesday afternoon and we could hear the rain falling right into our pool. The house is beautifully decorated. Tons of bath towels, beach towels, coolers, beach chairs. The only thing we could have used were some matches or a lighter so we could light our BBQ...but we managed.
Headed down to Woody's for something quick to eat as we were starving. A little leery going in but we soon found out why the place is always jam-packed...it's fun! Lots of people watching and a great happy hour. Had my first Painkiller! Went to Starfish Market as soon as we unpacked at the Villa. Prices are a little shocking and we're from NY, so that says a lot! But it's an island, and we expected that. We packed a cooler full of filet mignons, shrimp, chicken, etc. We just needed a few items to supplement the rest. We had our first dinner in the villa. We wanted an early night because we were going out with Palm Tree Charters on Saturday (our first full day on island). Spoke to Sue from Palm Tree Charters on Friday and she is such a doll... so welcoming!!
We had the greatest time with Captain John on Saturday. Went to Tortola, shopping for a little while at Soper's Hole (hope I'm spelling that correctly), had lunch at Willy Ts (great video taken there of my hubby and our friends jumping off), wonderful snorkeling spots, and a few hours at Jost Van Dyke at the Soggy Dollar Bar. Awesome place!
Sunday was my hubby's birthday and also our anniversary..drove over to Coral Bay, had lunch at the bar at Aqua Grill... later on, we headed to the Beach Bar with our friends. Saw Innervisions and they were great. Place was packed and we found Captain John and his lovely wife, Sue. We hung out with them for a while...we were starting to feel like St. John regulars by this point!!!
Walked around Mongoose Junction and Wharfside Village on Monday...bought our kids some things since they're all in college and very jealous that Mom & Dad are living it up! Headed to Trunk Bay Beach later on...still cannot get over how beautiful it is there. Had dinner that night at Zozo's. What a view from the bar. Gorgeous sunset and very good food. Great service. Actually, we never found service to be slow at all anywhere we ate on the island. Pleasantly surprised by that.
We rented a dinghy on Tuesday. Packed up our snorkeling gear and a big lunch and had an absolute ball. The weather couldn't have been nicer. We had lunch on an almost deserted beach. A woman there said it was Cinnamon..but Cinnamon is much busier...this was right below Peter Bay...either way, it was gorgeous! Had dinner that night at The Banana Deck. Good food.
We hung out most of the day in our villa on Wednesday...our friends were leaving the island this day, so they packed up...we had a nice leftover lunch of steak, shrimp, grilled veggies, salad....even shared it with the gardeners who showed up! Went for a last drink (or two) at Woody's before their late afternoon ferry.
Headed over to Caneel Bay for a breakfast buffet on Thursday....we were going to go to Jake's but a sign said it was closed for the day -- yet I noticed the sign was still up this morning. Not sure if it's closed for good, or if this is just something businesses do down in the islands? Saw Mario Batali at Caneel's buffet. Was so tempted to ask him what he would recommend, but I didn't! Headed to Hawksnest Beach...gorgeous! Saw a bride & groom taking pics...ahhh, what an island to get married on!! Headed to Wharfside again to pick up the St. John hook bracelet that I had my eye on since we arrived last Friday. Stopped at The Lime Inn for a late lunch...just a bar menu but everything was delicious. Went to La Plancha then later at night for just dessert (Can you tell we like to eat?! The scary thing is - I'm missing some of the places we ate!)
We loved talking to everyone on St. John...everyone is super friendly and you can tell they just love being there! I've always been a massive Kenny Chesney fan and now some of his songs have special significance to me. Seeing boats sail in and out of Cinnamon Bay?? Yeah, now I have too...and I totally get it!
So sad to have to leave this morning. That taxi ride back to St. Thomas' airport was completely different from the taxi to Red Hook last Friday!
I hope this report isn't TOO long (I know it is!)....but I just want to thank everyone for all their advice, tips, hints, etc. This forum is essential to a first-timer and I appreciate how helpful you all are!!
I can't wait to come back...hopefully soon!!!!
~Regina
