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Trip Report- 6/18 - 6/25- Days Five through Eight
Trip Report- 6/18 - 6/25- Days Five through Eight
Day Five- We again had breakfast at the villa and decided to try Cinnamon Bay for the day. Like all of the North Shore beaches we have visited it was very nice. We stayed for about 5 hours and headed back for the little guy to nap. For dinner we went to The Lime Inn for all you can eat shrimp. My wife and I did this the previous two trips and we had talked about it since this trip was planned. The food was very good and service was good also. We got milkshakes again from Our Market and they were great once again. Back to the villa for CWS game.
Day Six- After breakfast at the villa, we decided to try Maho. As we traveled along the north shore road between Hawksnest and Trunk we got behind a HUGE truck that was barely moving. After spending about 15 minutes behind the truck and maybe going 150 yards we decided to turn around and go back to Hawksnest. Not completely sure why but the beach was extremely crowded on this day. I would say at least 250 people, mainly families with kids. Not sure if others encountered the truck like we did or what. It was without a doubt the most people we had ever seen on a beach in St. John. In fact it almost brought back memories of Myrtle Beach. As usual we stayed for about 4.5 hours and then back to the villa. My sister, brother-in-law, wife, and myself had a sunset sail with Captain Phil on the Wayward Sailor scheduled. My mom and dad watched the little guy for us. The ladies wanted to do a little jewelry shopping before we met Captain Phil so we went to Jewels. My sister asked to see a pair of earrings and was told the best they could do on them was $18200.
She is a pharmacist so she could probably afford them but decided not to. My wife found a ring that she liked so she bought it , but it was much less than the earrings. The sunset sail seemed as though it was going to end up being a cloud sail, but just as we were getting ready to go back into Cruz Bay Mr. Sun made an appearance and we did get some pretty good pictures. We really enjoyed the sail and as my brother-in-law said it is almost worth the cost of the trip to hear the stories that Captain Phil has. I would definitely recommend the Wayward Sailor for a sunset sail. My mom had called in our dinner order at Woody's and we picked it up on our way back to Cocotier. The food was very good, but I am definitely glad we did takeout instead of trying to eat there. We saw one guy leaving that could not even walk and I just don't think it would be a good place to take 2.5 year old. Not that there is anything wrong with the "bar" atmosphere just not our cup of tea since we don't drink at all.
Day Seven- Our last full day on island. Since our Maho plans were scratched the previous day, we decided to give it a try again. Maho is definitely a place we will go back to on the next trip. It was the favorite beach for my mom, dad, and sister. Incredibly calm and clear water. We stayed on the beach a little longer this day and our little guy napped for an hour or so in one of our lounge chairs. We debated going out to dinner or just ordering takeout, not sure how the final decision was actually made but we went with takeout from JJ's. The food was average, it probably would have been better at the restaurant when it just came out of the kitchen. We began packing for departure the next day.
Day Eight- Travel Day. We loaded everything in our Traverse and headed to town. We had 6.5 people, 4 large suitcases, 7 carry-on bags, a diaper bag, and of course the ladies pocket books in the car. Our villa rep was amazed at how much stuff we fit into one vehicle. She said we should take a picture and I wish we would have when we went to put things back in and it took us 20 minutes to figure how to arrange things so it would all fit.
We decided to try Jake's for breakfast and the omelets were great. Unfortunately now for the worst part of the trip, catching the car ferry to leave paradise. We caught the 11:30 ferry and got to the airport around 12:40. I returned the car to Discount and our flight left St. Thomas around 3:15. Our little guy fell asleep as soon as we got in the air and slept for 2 hours and 15 minutes. We had a 3.5 hour layover in Atlanta which really didn't seem that long as we had a nice sit down dinner at Chili's. Our flight to Charlotte was scheduled to leave at 10:20, but we were on the plane for a little over an hour before we were able to take off. Once we got to Charlotte they did not have a gate open for us, so we had to wait again. We finally got off of the plane around 12:00 and finally got our luggage around 12:45. We stayed at the Quality Inn in Charlotte and were told that they had a 24 hour airport shuttle which technically was correct. What we did not know was that the shuttle also serviced a couple of other hotels and they only had one van and one driver running at most times. Once we came out of the airport a van was leaving and the driver said he would be right back to get us. At 1:30 he still had not gotten back. Amazingly, our little boy was still going strong playing imaginery baseball with his mulch bat. Finally about 1:40 the van returned, we checked in and got to bed around 2:15.
Summary: The villa was nice and we would probably stay there again depending on how many people we were traveling with. Still my favorite beach is Honeymoon, although most of the first-timers said they liked Maho best because it is much more convenient. Favorite food for the group seemed to be Cafe Roma and The Lime Inn, but we really didn't have any bad meals or service anywhere we went. I felt so blessed to be able to go on a trip like this with my family and hope to return SOON!!!!
Day Six- After breakfast at the villa, we decided to try Maho. As we traveled along the north shore road between Hawksnest and Trunk we got behind a HUGE truck that was barely moving. After spending about 15 minutes behind the truck and maybe going 150 yards we decided to turn around and go back to Hawksnest. Not completely sure why but the beach was extremely crowded on this day. I would say at least 250 people, mainly families with kids. Not sure if others encountered the truck like we did or what. It was without a doubt the most people we had ever seen on a beach in St. John. In fact it almost brought back memories of Myrtle Beach. As usual we stayed for about 4.5 hours and then back to the villa. My sister, brother-in-law, wife, and myself had a sunset sail with Captain Phil on the Wayward Sailor scheduled. My mom and dad watched the little guy for us. The ladies wanted to do a little jewelry shopping before we met Captain Phil so we went to Jewels. My sister asked to see a pair of earrings and was told the best they could do on them was $18200.
She is a pharmacist so she could probably afford them but decided not to. My wife found a ring that she liked so she bought it , but it was much less than the earrings. The sunset sail seemed as though it was going to end up being a cloud sail, but just as we were getting ready to go back into Cruz Bay Mr. Sun made an appearance and we did get some pretty good pictures. We really enjoyed the sail and as my brother-in-law said it is almost worth the cost of the trip to hear the stories that Captain Phil has. I would definitely recommend the Wayward Sailor for a sunset sail. My mom had called in our dinner order at Woody's and we picked it up on our way back to Cocotier. The food was very good, but I am definitely glad we did takeout instead of trying to eat there. We saw one guy leaving that could not even walk and I just don't think it would be a good place to take 2.5 year old. Not that there is anything wrong with the "bar" atmosphere just not our cup of tea since we don't drink at all. Day Seven- Our last full day on island. Since our Maho plans were scratched the previous day, we decided to give it a try again. Maho is definitely a place we will go back to on the next trip. It was the favorite beach for my mom, dad, and sister. Incredibly calm and clear water. We stayed on the beach a little longer this day and our little guy napped for an hour or so in one of our lounge chairs. We debated going out to dinner or just ordering takeout, not sure how the final decision was actually made but we went with takeout from JJ's. The food was average, it probably would have been better at the restaurant when it just came out of the kitchen. We began packing for departure the next day.
Day Eight- Travel Day. We loaded everything in our Traverse and headed to town. We had 6.5 people, 4 large suitcases, 7 carry-on bags, a diaper bag, and of course the ladies pocket books in the car. Our villa rep was amazed at how much stuff we fit into one vehicle. She said we should take a picture and I wish we would have when we went to put things back in and it took us 20 minutes to figure how to arrange things so it would all fit.
We decided to try Jake's for breakfast and the omelets were great. Unfortunately now for the worst part of the trip, catching the car ferry to leave paradise. We caught the 11:30 ferry and got to the airport around 12:40. I returned the car to Discount and our flight left St. Thomas around 3:15. Our little guy fell asleep as soon as we got in the air and slept for 2 hours and 15 minutes. We had a 3.5 hour layover in Atlanta which really didn't seem that long as we had a nice sit down dinner at Chili's. Our flight to Charlotte was scheduled to leave at 10:20, but we were on the plane for a little over an hour before we were able to take off. Once we got to Charlotte they did not have a gate open for us, so we had to wait again. We finally got off of the plane around 12:00 and finally got our luggage around 12:45. We stayed at the Quality Inn in Charlotte and were told that they had a 24 hour airport shuttle which technically was correct. What we did not know was that the shuttle also serviced a couple of other hotels and they only had one van and one driver running at most times. Once we came out of the airport a van was leaving and the driver said he would be right back to get us. At 1:30 he still had not gotten back. Amazingly, our little boy was still going strong playing imaginery baseball with his mulch bat. Finally about 1:40 the van returned, we checked in and got to bed around 2:15. Summary: The villa was nice and we would probably stay there again depending on how many people we were traveling with. Still my favorite beach is Honeymoon, although most of the first-timers said they liked Maho best because it is much more convenient. Favorite food for the group seemed to be Cafe Roma and The Lime Inn, but we really didn't have any bad meals or service anywhere we went. I felt so blessed to be able to go on a trip like this with my family and hope to return SOON!!!!
-
msgcolleen
- Posts: 1497
- Joined: Thu Oct 05, 2006 8:33 am
- Location: Allen, Texas
Thanks for the nice trip report jadkins!
Sounds like everyone had a great time! So nice to have mom & dad right there to watch your little guy during the sunset sail. Hope you get back to our sweet little island soon~
Sounds like everyone had a great time! So nice to have mom & dad right there to watch your little guy during the sunset sail. Hope you get back to our sweet little island soon~
I've got 2 tickets to paradise~Pack your bags we'll leave tonight!
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