Spring Break 2011 on STJ - Part III
Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 4:00 pm
(Link to previous installments at bottom of the page):
Woke up early Wednesday morning to an unusual sound - rain. Not just rain, but hard rain - and thunder!
It certainly wasn't going to ruin our day, much less our trip. The last two times down here, in July and November of 2010, we had seen quite a bit of the wet stuff, and judging from the brown hillsides we'd been looking at, we knew this had to be a welcome sight to all of the locals, with the possible exception of the companies that own the water trucks.
Once again, some of the fine VIOL forum peeps had come through, offering up possible solutions to the non-functioning camera situation. We were given a name of a store on St. Thomas that may carry them, but when I called, they told me that they were out of stock. At least I saved myself a round trip ferry ride to St. Thomas. I wondered what my other options might be.
But all of that would have to wait. The sun was out, and our son was up - so it was time to strike while the iron was hot, and get wet!
My plan for today was to head out towards the east end, and hopefully, to snorkel at Haulover Bay North. We had tried this on a couple of occasions the previous July, but conditions wouldn't allow it. When Leslie and I finally made it there, in November, we were delighted with the abundance and condition of the coral there! After parking across the road under a tree adjacent to Haulover Bay South and taking the trail to the beach, we were happy to see that we'd be able to get in the water here today. There's a tree and what looks to be a little lean-to type of shelter down the beach to the right, so that's where we set up "camp".
We'd only snorkeled the left side before, so we opted to try the right side this time. We had a very nice snorkel, working our way out close to the point. We were in the water for almost an hour before we got out - needless to say we were a little chilled by then. I saw one of the biggest coral banded shrimp I'd ever seen. Jason and Leslie were too far out in front of me to get their attention when I first spotted it, so I concentrated on what the rock looked like that he was under, and what the surrounding area looked like, to see if I could find it again on the way back in, and to my surprise, I was able to!
After taking a topside break Jason and I decided to snorkel the left side. Leslie was unsure about how cold she'd be, so she decided to remain on shore. Within two minutes after entering the water I was shivering, almost uncontrollably. Eventually the chill subsided - I don't know if I just got used to it, or if we moved to a spot where the water was a bit warmer. In any event, when I told Leslie about it she was glad that she had decided to stay warm and dry. The two sides of the bay were very different from one another, but I really enjoyed snorkeling both of them.
We headed back to Mill Ridge and had sandwiches for lunch (love that freshly baked multigrain bread from Deli Grotto!). We had another message, letting us know that the Royal Caribbean store in Mongoose Junction often carried the D10, and that their sister store on St. Thomas might have it in stock if they didn't. I was told that you may even be able to buy one from the STT store and they'd send it by ferry to the STJ store - sounded promising. But alas, the guy I spoke to on the phone in Mongoose Junction said that both stores were out of those, but said if I was looking for an underwater camera to use when snorkeling they did have some other brands in stock. I thought about it for a little bit, then came to the decision that we didn't really want to spend the rest of this visit not being able to take pictures, so we piled into the jeep and, in a driving rain (and the locals said "hallelujah!"), made the drive across the island to Cruz Bay.
In short order we decided on the Olympus Tough 8100. The poor salesman kept pointing out its features and highlights and I just wanted him to wrap it up, and...wrap it up!
But while he was going through his script, Jason overheard a couple negotiating jewelry prices with another salesman. He alerted Leslie, and I could tell from the looks on their faces that something unusual was up. Turns out that this guy, after buying some obscenely priced bauble for his wife, was trying to talk the salesman down to $5K, from a marked price of $12K, on a diamond and sapphire bracelet for...their corgi!
We got our camera and went outside, back to the world of sane people, then headed back, still in the rain, to Coral Bay and Mill Ridge. I want to point out, that driving back up this steep, unpaved, and now muddy mountain (notice how it was a hill before?) in the rain was the only time I put the jeep into four wheel drive the entire trip!
It was going to take a while for the battery in the camera to get its initial charge, we were pleasantly full, and the weather wasn't real suitable for exploring, so we took the opportunity to enjoy some villa gravity time. Jason got his computer out - he was going to study some and work on a paper that he wanted to get a head start on.
Eventually, the new "toy" was ready to play with.
Here's a picture of Jason "studying":
Here's Leslie looking as content and relaxed as one can be:
When it was time for happy hour Jason was a willing participant:
Tonight's dinner, which we ate al fresco on the gazebo, featured steak, tater tots, and steamed veggies:
Dinner was early enough that well before bedtime we got the feeling that dessert sounded good to us. Not having anything of that sort on hand, we set out to see what Coral Bay may have on offer after 9PM on a weeknight. We struck gold on our first attempt - when we walked into Shipwreck Landing we were told "the kitchen has just closed, but we're still serving drinks and dessert" - bulls-eye!
Leslie and Jason awaiting dessert
Steve's Chocolate Decadence Cake
The dessert run was a huge success! The lighting didn't allow for a very good picture of Leslie's, and Jason ate his peanut butter pie, both pieces, too fast for them to be photographed!
Our sweet tooth(s) sated, it was back home to Mill Ridge for the night!
Part I: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=19951
Part II: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=19954
Woke up early Wednesday morning to an unusual sound - rain. Not just rain, but hard rain - and thunder!
It certainly wasn't going to ruin our day, much less our trip. The last two times down here, in July and November of 2010, we had seen quite a bit of the wet stuff, and judging from the brown hillsides we'd been looking at, we knew this had to be a welcome sight to all of the locals, with the possible exception of the companies that own the water trucks.
Once again, some of the fine VIOL forum peeps had come through, offering up possible solutions to the non-functioning camera situation. We were given a name of a store on St. Thomas that may carry them, but when I called, they told me that they were out of stock. At least I saved myself a round trip ferry ride to St. Thomas. I wondered what my other options might be.
But all of that would have to wait. The sun was out, and our son was up - so it was time to strike while the iron was hot, and get wet!
My plan for today was to head out towards the east end, and hopefully, to snorkel at Haulover Bay North. We had tried this on a couple of occasions the previous July, but conditions wouldn't allow it. When Leslie and I finally made it there, in November, we were delighted with the abundance and condition of the coral there! After parking across the road under a tree adjacent to Haulover Bay South and taking the trail to the beach, we were happy to see that we'd be able to get in the water here today. There's a tree and what looks to be a little lean-to type of shelter down the beach to the right, so that's where we set up "camp".
We'd only snorkeled the left side before, so we opted to try the right side this time. We had a very nice snorkel, working our way out close to the point. We were in the water for almost an hour before we got out - needless to say we were a little chilled by then. I saw one of the biggest coral banded shrimp I'd ever seen. Jason and Leslie were too far out in front of me to get their attention when I first spotted it, so I concentrated on what the rock looked like that he was under, and what the surrounding area looked like, to see if I could find it again on the way back in, and to my surprise, I was able to!
After taking a topside break Jason and I decided to snorkel the left side. Leslie was unsure about how cold she'd be, so she decided to remain on shore. Within two minutes after entering the water I was shivering, almost uncontrollably. Eventually the chill subsided - I don't know if I just got used to it, or if we moved to a spot where the water was a bit warmer. In any event, when I told Leslie about it she was glad that she had decided to stay warm and dry. The two sides of the bay were very different from one another, but I really enjoyed snorkeling both of them.
We headed back to Mill Ridge and had sandwiches for lunch (love that freshly baked multigrain bread from Deli Grotto!). We had another message, letting us know that the Royal Caribbean store in Mongoose Junction often carried the D10, and that their sister store on St. Thomas might have it in stock if they didn't. I was told that you may even be able to buy one from the STT store and they'd send it by ferry to the STJ store - sounded promising. But alas, the guy I spoke to on the phone in Mongoose Junction said that both stores were out of those, but said if I was looking for an underwater camera to use when snorkeling they did have some other brands in stock. I thought about it for a little bit, then came to the decision that we didn't really want to spend the rest of this visit not being able to take pictures, so we piled into the jeep and, in a driving rain (and the locals said "hallelujah!"), made the drive across the island to Cruz Bay.
In short order we decided on the Olympus Tough 8100. The poor salesman kept pointing out its features and highlights and I just wanted him to wrap it up, and...wrap it up!
But while he was going through his script, Jason overheard a couple negotiating jewelry prices with another salesman. He alerted Leslie, and I could tell from the looks on their faces that something unusual was up. Turns out that this guy, after buying some obscenely priced bauble for his wife, was trying to talk the salesman down to $5K, from a marked price of $12K, on a diamond and sapphire bracelet for...their corgi!
We got our camera and went outside, back to the world of sane people, then headed back, still in the rain, to Coral Bay and Mill Ridge. I want to point out, that driving back up this steep, unpaved, and now muddy mountain (notice how it was a hill before?) in the rain was the only time I put the jeep into four wheel drive the entire trip!
It was going to take a while for the battery in the camera to get its initial charge, we were pleasantly full, and the weather wasn't real suitable for exploring, so we took the opportunity to enjoy some villa gravity time. Jason got his computer out - he was going to study some and work on a paper that he wanted to get a head start on.
Eventually, the new "toy" was ready to play with.
Here's a picture of Jason "studying":
Here's Leslie looking as content and relaxed as one can be:
When it was time for happy hour Jason was a willing participant:
Tonight's dinner, which we ate al fresco on the gazebo, featured steak, tater tots, and steamed veggies:
Dinner was early enough that well before bedtime we got the feeling that dessert sounded good to us. Not having anything of that sort on hand, we set out to see what Coral Bay may have on offer after 9PM on a weeknight. We struck gold on our first attempt - when we walked into Shipwreck Landing we were told "the kitchen has just closed, but we're still serving drinks and dessert" - bulls-eye!
Leslie and Jason awaiting dessert
Steve's Chocolate Decadence Cake
The dessert run was a huge success! The lighting didn't allow for a very good picture of Leslie's, and Jason ate his peanut butter pie, both pieces, too fast for them to be photographed!
Our sweet tooth(s) sated, it was back home to Mill Ridge for the night!
Part I: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=19951
Part II: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=19954
