USVI-On-Line

I'm awful about writing trip reports. I love reading them. I never tire of hearing of people's adventures. They bore some folks, so this one goes out to those who are newbies or just love to reminisce or find new stuff.

I take notes every day, in a little notebook. I've done so since our first trip, and they always help me plan a little better for next year. Last year, I thought a park-sleep-fly was a waste of money (though we'd always done it before) so I went to bed when I got home from work, and planned to wake in the middle of the night and do the last minute stuff and drive a sleeping Blaine to the airport.

As I reviewed my notes from last year, though:



I reconsidered and booked a park-sleep-fly for less than our parking usually costs. Wouldn't stay there again, but got a little more sleep than 2011.
We book last minute, and never get to sit together on flights. Blaine got stuck with some awful seatmates on the flight from Newark, and was in a crappy mood on arrival on STT. Constantin and Magdalena's smiles and over-the-top friendliness turned his mood around in a hurry though. Amalie Car Rental can NOT be beat.

Last year as we were vacuuming our rental vehicle, we'd smelled something SO amazing that we'd been thinking about it ever since. A forumite told us it was the Lechon truck on STT, open only on Saturdays. We found it with a little difficulty. At first, the lady told us that they were out of meats, but my sad face convinced the male attendant to give us bits and pieces. We planned to eat at the condo, but we scarfed every bit down, on the car ferry. OMG. If you arrive early on a Saturday, this local food is tremendous. Rich and savory!

It was raining when we woke, but we eagerly packed for the beach and hit the road to Francis. Only on St. John is it perfectly legit to go to the beach in real rain Visibility was pretty good and we had a nice little snorkel to the left.







Eventually the sun came out.


We had a lovely long day, then headed in the early afternoon toward Coral Bay. A forumite had asked about Ekaete Pink Corner in Coral Bay. I read the article and thought it sounded like someplace we should try, and I'm SO glad we did!
This is our new favorite place to eat on St. John. Esther has local options and non-adventurous options, so we both could eat happy. The food was fabulous. I had the chicken roti (my first) and Blaine had the honey chicken, and we were both thrilled. Please note that the roti had bones in it. Every cook is a little different. Esther makes you feel like she invited you weeks ago, and has been eagerly awaiting your arrival. She was excited to tell us about her opening, her gardens, bring me fresh herbs and vegetables to sample. She was just a brilliant ray of light! We ended our lunch with homemade ice cream. I had the soursop and Blaine had chocolate. Y.U.M.








We ran into our BethCruz and hubby at the pool and told them about Pink Corner, and then relaxed at our condo and read. We hit the bed early, to be rested for our next day and our trip with Capt. Phil Chalker of Wayward Sailor.

Well, maybe not so quick

We scheduled a sailing/snorkel trip with Capt. Phil for early in our vacation. We chose Capt. Phil because he's known for being a patient teacher, and I had a specific skill I wanted to learn: free diving. Pia booked our trip and was just GREAT to work with! This was my first sun-exposureless trip ever, and Blaine was sunburnt, so we stopped at Cruz Bay Watersports and picked up a couple of rashguards, and then went to the park to meet Capt. Phil. We recognized him immediately, and had a wonderful, wonderful trip! Blaine's a shy guy, but Capt Phil chatted him up and Blaine just can't say enough about the guy. We went to Little St. James, where Capt. Phil put a 3# weight belt on me, and then patiently taught me to free dive. I'd get down about 6' and panic, time after time. Eventually, we had a "counselling session", during which I recalled a near drowning as a child. I relayed the story, and then my fear left me completely, and I could do it! I was SO excited to dive down to look under the rock ledges at Christmas Cove. It was a fabulous day, but I'd forgotten to put a fresh battery in the camera, so we have only two photos.




Capt. Phil even gave me a "certificate" for free diving LOL! And at the end of the day, he phoned Low Key and asked them to rent me a weight belt for the remainder of the trip. We also bought me some water shorts. Although I reapplied lotion very frequently, I still burnt my butt this day. I was getting more covered up, every day this trip. I feared I'd end it snorkeling in a burka.

We picked up our favorite ribs at Candi's for dinner and once again, tucked in early.

Great start Minde ! The free diving is interesting!

Another reason we booked our Capt. Phil trip for Monday was so we could go to Vie's beach when she re-opened on Tuesday. This has been our favorite beach AND place to eat, on our past trips, and we've always spent at least two days here. Love the trip across island. Was disappointed to run into this




But my best friend set himself up in the prime real estate, mid beach, and I set off with mask and fins.










I went to retrieve the conch fritters we'd been craving, and came back to find Angel's Rest had arrived.


I am SO not a fan! After lunch, we left. We stopped at Ether's for another round of homemade ice cream, and then "home" to the pool and reading for the day.

Enjoying reading your trip report.

Woke up to a beautiful day on Wednesday, Blaine's birthday! We had a new lesson...I mean EXPERIENCE...today.
This lesson was Brown Bay. More specifically, what you don't need to take to Brown Bay. You don't need most of what Blaine's carrying:

This is a long, steep hike for a couple in our "shape." It culminated in some beautiful views and what would have been pretty spectacular snorkeling if visibility would have been better.




We'll definitely come back, early in the trip and early in the day so I'm not too fatigued, and with much less "stuff."

It was a bit of a difficult exit, as well. There is a narrow strip of sand in the middle of the beach, to exit. There is very shallow sea grass and conch beds that make it difficult to find this path. Blaine ended up standing and locating the exit, then walking out and directing me. A couple went in later and we guided them out, when they were obviously having the same difficulty, floating around aimlessly in 8" of water!

Dinner was at Sogo's, where Blaine could have his FAVORITE food: a cheeseburger, and I could have local food: Roti. We like Sogo's alot. Good food, good prices, friendly service.

We thought we'd be exhausted after Wednesday, but woke up feeling energetic, so we headed to Maho to rent kayaks. I felt bad about Blaine being so overloaded the day before, so I came up with a revolutionary packing idea. It failed miserably. I'm going to keep working on it, though.
It was an easy paddle to the beach around Mary's Point, where we geared up to snorkel. This ended up being my snorkel outfit for the trip. I added the buff when my head burnt:

Visibility was AWFUL, so we got back in the yak and crossed to Whistling Cay. There was a family there, and after I offered to photograph them, they took a photo of us. As you're looking at my photos, you're probably thinking I did them no favors in pointing and shooting
I get it.
Here we are in the guard house (?)


And a few others:





I grilled speedies for dinner and then we read, surfed the net and rested before bed.

Thanks Minde.....enjoyed!!!!!

Lovin it!

thank you! I am enjoying your trip reports...

THANK YOU for this AWESOME trip report! Can't wait for more!

Could you please tell me a little more about renting kayaks from Maho? Sounds FUN!!!!!!!

Laughed when I saw the pic of Blaine on the way to Brown Bay...my wife has a picture just like it of me on the way out to Salomon, plus add a cooler and another set of fins....very John Candy-esque from Summer Rental:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090098/

Enjoying your TR and I like how you've got it on one thread...I think I like it this way better than the multiple posts for some reason, just easier to navigate.

You look/sound like you had a lot of fun

I like the "best friend" description-it's sweet.

Isn't Capt Phil good? I was terrified and he certainly helped ease my fears on snorkeling.