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Trip Report - Beas Maison - 4/10 - 4/17
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coral babe
- Posts: 30
- Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2007 3:28 pm
- Location: Massachusetts
Trip Report - Beas Maison - 4/10 - 4/17
TRIP REPORT 4/10-4/17
As a long-time lurker, i felt compelled to share my trip report. Here it is.
Tuesday
In a ski jacket, me and my SO flew out of Logan at 6am to Dulles, at St. John Car Rental by 1:30, late lunch at Deli Grotto (thanks for the tip, chatters, great big delicious food). Dropped and broke my digital Nikon searching for an outside table at Mongoose, bought a disposable at Cruz Bay Photo later in the week. Was tempted to buy an Olympus for $249 right on the spot, but held back. Got memorable shots anyway. Don’t know how to load ‘em, sorry.
Stopped at Starfish for pasta, cereal, dairy, burgers, veggies, mangos (from Mexico), juices; strawberries were $7.
Drove Vitara to villa Beas Maison, overlooking John's Folly bay on Sugarbird Hill. Fabulous view of BVIs, stunning landscaping, tiled deck and hotub, granite counter kitchen, spent lots of time lolling about on the back patio hammock watching the hummingbirds on the vines. Manhattanite owners did it right, down to the organic household products and shampoos to minimize impact on the environment.
After unpacking, (hung the ski jacket in the closet) we hit Salt Pond right around the corner, for a dip and some of that white sand between the toes we'd been waiting for since our last visit in May 2004 (Little Plantation, it rained every day). This time, hot and sunny all week. Trust me, STJ is much more fun in the sun than the rain.
Made dinner in the gourmet kitchen. Anyone familiar with a Vita-Mix? It’s an industrial strength blender that makes the best mango rum smoothies on the planet. Beas Maison has one, i used it 3x a day, rum in the evening only, hee hee. Ground coffee beans in it too (Mary Beth?) as we brought a bag of Peet’s from home.
Fell dead asleep (up since 3am that morning) to the (loud) waves and palm tree breeze that kept us cool all week. By day 2, we used earplugs, slept like babies. Beautiful Hunter ceiling fans were whisper quiet.
Wednesday
Hung out staring at the boats circle Leduck Island. Went to Lamshur in the afternoon, yeah they really paved it over, we didn’t make it in 2004. Met a Canadian couple on the empty beach who hiked in from Reef Trail, very ambitious, they were staying at the Inn at Tamarind (it looked a little divey later in the week, is it?) Water very warm, drove down to VIERS, spoke to a volunteer, she noted there had been no rain since December, eek.
Pasta dinner at Beas Maison, checked out Dice K at Skinny’s, they even offered us free water, so friendly there. They were wearing hats and gloves at Fenway, i had shorts on in Coral Bay, Mo had already left for the Marathon. Mosquito Bites for ice cream cones. Our feeling about the new Cocoloba Plaza: they paved paradise, but we frequented the shops plenty. Looks like they built a new road up the hill next to Crabby’s -- Harold’s Way. Who’s Harold?
Thursday
Used binoculars from the deck to check out the action on Norman Island. Leaving for the beach, I locked us out of the house. So we went to Salt Pond around the corner, cooled off in the water, met Marge & Jones, the neighbors. They didn’t have a key. No worries, called the caretaker (massage therapists in Carolina), met us at Cocoloba at the end of the day (they just got back from STX as luck would have it). With a spare key, made the 10 minute trip winding past Sweet Plantains, St. Quacco, Hard Labor, Miss Lucy’s, The ‘Boom’, Dip signs, and the Bush Cat sign at Concordia. Cooked in once again. Tip: hide a key somewhere.
Friday
Did the first time hike to Honeymoon from the parking lot. Arrived right before the booze cruizers swarmed the shore, in an hour, they were all back on the boats eating lunch. Saved. Spent a sunny afternoon here, was starting to relax. Everything spread out on the Neat Sheet. Jumped over to Salomon, it was crowded.
On the hike back (wore hiking shoes, no flip flops here (sorry, Flip Flop). got lost and got sweaty (took a wrong turn at Margaret Hill). Rewarded with dinner at favorite Banana Deck, mahi mahi sandwich the best. Great view, breeze, prices. Went to Starfish for a restock, everything was a dollar more than Lily’s. Bought some fresh chicken, can’t get that in Coral Bay. Saw a Bongo boy at the checkout, i stared but didn’t approach him, silly me.
Saturday
Early morning hike around the corner to Concordia. We think we saw St, Croix in the distance. Someone in town said they were building a restaurant there, i didn’t see any construction. (Rick, sounds like you found it.) Back to the deck, where we saw the VITRAN wheeze its way up the road back and forth all day. Headed in to Keep Me Posted (baby) to check email, nice guy, $2 for 15 minutes. S.O. later wrote a blues song “Keep Me Posted Baby” on the small guitar he brought along. On to Little Maho, no problem parking, you guys. I sought shade, he did his first snorkel. I love that beach.
Dinner in house, went to Skinny’s after, heard about 4 feet of snow in Michigan, had a terrible mango rum drink there, my rum smoothies with the vita-mix can’t be beat. bought 2 tee shirts, I got a kid’s medium for myself. SO sat in with THE HOT CLUB OF CORAL BAY on harmonica. We saw a dude with grey hair, a bandana and a perfectly pressed shirt, we called him Pirate Bill. On the way back to the car, listened to the reggae band playing outside at Sputnik’s, $5 a person, but we sat in the car and grooved in the warm night air, Now this was a peak St, John moment.
Sunday
Spend entire day in the hammock, i was bagged with a head cold. SO went snorkeling at Salt Pond, Dinner at Shipwreck Landing, tuna salad here, mahi for the SO, the stalest rolls this side of Tortola. I never liked their food. SO sat in again with THE HOT CLUB. We saw them a few years back with a violin player, heard he moved to St. Croix. Heard chatter about ‘a 60 year storm’, ‘a nor’easter’ going up the coast; talk about closed airports, and cancelling the Boston Marathon sent me into a panic, as we we were flying home Tuesday. The good news, it barely affected our trip home,
Monday
Took Centerline road into Cruz Bay during am rush hour, got caught behind a garbage truck. It’s like the industrial route compared to the beach route, just as winding and way high up view. SO went kayaking with Arawak, he was at Henley Cay right during the earthquake, didn’t feel a thing. While he was on the water, i breakfasted at JJ’s, checked out the incredible resortwear on the first floor of mongoose junction, and visited the spot where my nikon bit the dust. Hot, i went up to the air conditioned ST JOHN SPICE, got my sample of cruz bay rub (check out the internet coupons - subsequently ordered 2 bags, it’s great for chicken-on-a-grillpan), bought one of those batik wraps for a bathing suit coverup (it looks great), met the famous ruth and ron. That’s a great store and a prime location. Lunch at deli grotto (they make a mean grilled cheese with veggies in there). back to coral bay for a little bit of packing and hot tubbing.
Dinner at Aqua Bistro, terrific mahi sandwich. the thing i like about st john, a mahi sandwich is gonna cost you $11 give or take a dollar, and it’s consistently good no matter where you go. made cell phone calls because the nearest place you can get bars IS THE PARKING LOT OF COCOLOBA!
Tuesday
Packed and cleaned. SO had buffed out the scratches that appeared on the car during the week (i swear it was from parking in the trees at maho), traveled past Crab Cove and Donkey Way for the last time, straight to Mosquito Bites for breakfast (the guy’s from Jamaica Plain). Stop in for a bagel and cream cheese! Had some time to kill so we did the barefoot walk of woe on little maho beach for awhile. We dropped the car at St. John Car Rental (tough parking there on the weekends, would hesitate to rent there again), hauled our gear to the ferry, and headed for the new red hook depot, very nice, new building with some shade to sit under. Our driver met us, then met bad traffic and took us over hill and dale on St. Thomas to get to the airport on time. With an hour to go and a huge customs line before our 3 pm flight (and surprise jaunt to Puerto Rico we found out) we panicked. One word saved us. P-O-R-T-E-R. The agent suggested we employ a PORTER to get our bags through, and we stood in a short line in a back corridor. How much should we give this porter. $100? $50? We got on that plane (and so did our bags) on time for a $20 tip, no questions asked. Has anyone experienced this porter thing? Or is it a well-known secret?
Delays at Dulles, circling at Logan until 1am, but i was back, ski jacket back on, tan firmly in place. In the market for a new camera, Nikon says it’ll cost $146 to fix it. At least it met its demise at beautiful Mongoose Junction.
Thanks to everyone for enhancing our trip with all your little tips and tricks over the years.
As a long-time lurker, i felt compelled to share my trip report. Here it is.
Tuesday
In a ski jacket, me and my SO flew out of Logan at 6am to Dulles, at St. John Car Rental by 1:30, late lunch at Deli Grotto (thanks for the tip, chatters, great big delicious food). Dropped and broke my digital Nikon searching for an outside table at Mongoose, bought a disposable at Cruz Bay Photo later in the week. Was tempted to buy an Olympus for $249 right on the spot, but held back. Got memorable shots anyway. Don’t know how to load ‘em, sorry.
Stopped at Starfish for pasta, cereal, dairy, burgers, veggies, mangos (from Mexico), juices; strawberries were $7.
Drove Vitara to villa Beas Maison, overlooking John's Folly bay on Sugarbird Hill. Fabulous view of BVIs, stunning landscaping, tiled deck and hotub, granite counter kitchen, spent lots of time lolling about on the back patio hammock watching the hummingbirds on the vines. Manhattanite owners did it right, down to the organic household products and shampoos to minimize impact on the environment.
After unpacking, (hung the ski jacket in the closet) we hit Salt Pond right around the corner, for a dip and some of that white sand between the toes we'd been waiting for since our last visit in May 2004 (Little Plantation, it rained every day). This time, hot and sunny all week. Trust me, STJ is much more fun in the sun than the rain.
Made dinner in the gourmet kitchen. Anyone familiar with a Vita-Mix? It’s an industrial strength blender that makes the best mango rum smoothies on the planet. Beas Maison has one, i used it 3x a day, rum in the evening only, hee hee. Ground coffee beans in it too (Mary Beth?) as we brought a bag of Peet’s from home.
Fell dead asleep (up since 3am that morning) to the (loud) waves and palm tree breeze that kept us cool all week. By day 2, we used earplugs, slept like babies. Beautiful Hunter ceiling fans were whisper quiet.
Wednesday
Hung out staring at the boats circle Leduck Island. Went to Lamshur in the afternoon, yeah they really paved it over, we didn’t make it in 2004. Met a Canadian couple on the empty beach who hiked in from Reef Trail, very ambitious, they were staying at the Inn at Tamarind (it looked a little divey later in the week, is it?) Water very warm, drove down to VIERS, spoke to a volunteer, she noted there had been no rain since December, eek.
Pasta dinner at Beas Maison, checked out Dice K at Skinny’s, they even offered us free water, so friendly there. They were wearing hats and gloves at Fenway, i had shorts on in Coral Bay, Mo had already left for the Marathon. Mosquito Bites for ice cream cones. Our feeling about the new Cocoloba Plaza: they paved paradise, but we frequented the shops plenty. Looks like they built a new road up the hill next to Crabby’s -- Harold’s Way. Who’s Harold?
Thursday
Used binoculars from the deck to check out the action on Norman Island. Leaving for the beach, I locked us out of the house. So we went to Salt Pond around the corner, cooled off in the water, met Marge & Jones, the neighbors. They didn’t have a key. No worries, called the caretaker (massage therapists in Carolina), met us at Cocoloba at the end of the day (they just got back from STX as luck would have it). With a spare key, made the 10 minute trip winding past Sweet Plantains, St. Quacco, Hard Labor, Miss Lucy’s, The ‘Boom’, Dip signs, and the Bush Cat sign at Concordia. Cooked in once again. Tip: hide a key somewhere.
Friday
Did the first time hike to Honeymoon from the parking lot. Arrived right before the booze cruizers swarmed the shore, in an hour, they were all back on the boats eating lunch. Saved. Spent a sunny afternoon here, was starting to relax. Everything spread out on the Neat Sheet. Jumped over to Salomon, it was crowded.
On the hike back (wore hiking shoes, no flip flops here (sorry, Flip Flop). got lost and got sweaty (took a wrong turn at Margaret Hill). Rewarded with dinner at favorite Banana Deck, mahi mahi sandwich the best. Great view, breeze, prices. Went to Starfish for a restock, everything was a dollar more than Lily’s. Bought some fresh chicken, can’t get that in Coral Bay. Saw a Bongo boy at the checkout, i stared but didn’t approach him, silly me.
Saturday
Early morning hike around the corner to Concordia. We think we saw St, Croix in the distance. Someone in town said they were building a restaurant there, i didn’t see any construction. (Rick, sounds like you found it.) Back to the deck, where we saw the VITRAN wheeze its way up the road back and forth all day. Headed in to Keep Me Posted (baby) to check email, nice guy, $2 for 15 minutes. S.O. later wrote a blues song “Keep Me Posted Baby” on the small guitar he brought along. On to Little Maho, no problem parking, you guys. I sought shade, he did his first snorkel. I love that beach.
Dinner in house, went to Skinny’s after, heard about 4 feet of snow in Michigan, had a terrible mango rum drink there, my rum smoothies with the vita-mix can’t be beat. bought 2 tee shirts, I got a kid’s medium for myself. SO sat in with THE HOT CLUB OF CORAL BAY on harmonica. We saw a dude with grey hair, a bandana and a perfectly pressed shirt, we called him Pirate Bill. On the way back to the car, listened to the reggae band playing outside at Sputnik’s, $5 a person, but we sat in the car and grooved in the warm night air, Now this was a peak St, John moment.
Sunday
Spend entire day in the hammock, i was bagged with a head cold. SO went snorkeling at Salt Pond, Dinner at Shipwreck Landing, tuna salad here, mahi for the SO, the stalest rolls this side of Tortola. I never liked their food. SO sat in again with THE HOT CLUB. We saw them a few years back with a violin player, heard he moved to St. Croix. Heard chatter about ‘a 60 year storm’, ‘a nor’easter’ going up the coast; talk about closed airports, and cancelling the Boston Marathon sent me into a panic, as we we were flying home Tuesday. The good news, it barely affected our trip home,
Monday
Took Centerline road into Cruz Bay during am rush hour, got caught behind a garbage truck. It’s like the industrial route compared to the beach route, just as winding and way high up view. SO went kayaking with Arawak, he was at Henley Cay right during the earthquake, didn’t feel a thing. While he was on the water, i breakfasted at JJ’s, checked out the incredible resortwear on the first floor of mongoose junction, and visited the spot where my nikon bit the dust. Hot, i went up to the air conditioned ST JOHN SPICE, got my sample of cruz bay rub (check out the internet coupons - subsequently ordered 2 bags, it’s great for chicken-on-a-grillpan), bought one of those batik wraps for a bathing suit coverup (it looks great), met the famous ruth and ron. That’s a great store and a prime location. Lunch at deli grotto (they make a mean grilled cheese with veggies in there). back to coral bay for a little bit of packing and hot tubbing.
Dinner at Aqua Bistro, terrific mahi sandwich. the thing i like about st john, a mahi sandwich is gonna cost you $11 give or take a dollar, and it’s consistently good no matter where you go. made cell phone calls because the nearest place you can get bars IS THE PARKING LOT OF COCOLOBA!
Tuesday
Packed and cleaned. SO had buffed out the scratches that appeared on the car during the week (i swear it was from parking in the trees at maho), traveled past Crab Cove and Donkey Way for the last time, straight to Mosquito Bites for breakfast (the guy’s from Jamaica Plain). Stop in for a bagel and cream cheese! Had some time to kill so we did the barefoot walk of woe on little maho beach for awhile. We dropped the car at St. John Car Rental (tough parking there on the weekends, would hesitate to rent there again), hauled our gear to the ferry, and headed for the new red hook depot, very nice, new building with some shade to sit under. Our driver met us, then met bad traffic and took us over hill and dale on St. Thomas to get to the airport on time. With an hour to go and a huge customs line before our 3 pm flight (and surprise jaunt to Puerto Rico we found out) we panicked. One word saved us. P-O-R-T-E-R. The agent suggested we employ a PORTER to get our bags through, and we stood in a short line in a back corridor. How much should we give this porter. $100? $50? We got on that plane (and so did our bags) on time for a $20 tip, no questions asked. Has anyone experienced this porter thing? Or is it a well-known secret?
Delays at Dulles, circling at Logan until 1am, but i was back, ski jacket back on, tan firmly in place. In the market for a new camera, Nikon says it’ll cost $146 to fix it. At least it met its demise at beautiful Mongoose Junction.
Thanks to everyone for enhancing our trip with all your little tips and tricks over the years.
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Teresa_Rae
- Posts: 2053
- Joined: Mon Oct 09, 2006 5:44 pm
- Location: Downstate IL
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wontongirl
- Posts: 518
- Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2006 1:19 pm
Hey guys tell me more about this porter thing. We usually check in at counter and then drag our bags to the room where you fill out the customs paper. Talk to customs guy and them give the security people our bags and go through the xray/metal detectors. Is there an easier way? We usually get there early to miss the lines but I hate that part because you just trade one line for another-ie. the snack bar line, while you wait freaking forever for your plane.
I would love to hear another scenario.
I would love to hear another scenario.
When you get to the airport look for some one pushing a cart They will be asking if people need a porter. They will get you r boarding passes and luggage tags so you don't have to go thru the check in line and they have a back way to get around the lines for customs they will take your luggage to tsa area and load it on the belts.
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wontongirl
- Posts: 518
- Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2006 1:19 pm
you have been lurking! thanks for thinking of me with the coffee beans! that's funny! I will be packing my travel grinder with me this time - I figured once was enough to make an A$$ out of myself asking for a grinder!
Unless of course RUTH wants to do it for me
Sounds like a great time. Too bad about your camera. I would have bought on the spot, no doubt about it!
Unless of course RUTH wants to do it for me
Sounds like a great time. Too bad about your camera. I would have bought on the spot, no doubt about it!
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StJohnRuth
- Posts: 1989
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 8:42 pm
- Location: St. John, VI
Re: Trip Report - Beas Maison - 4/10 - 4/17
I'm so glad you put that in your report. I've been cracking up about it for two weeks.coral babe wrote:TRIP REPORT 4/10-4/17
Saw a Bongo boy at the checkout, i stared but didn’t approach him, silly me.
World-Wide Celebrities probably won't want you to say "hey" at Starfish. If they go to Starfish. ("Other people go to Starfish for me.")
Normal people probably won't mind. The Bongo Bongo guys would probably tell you that themselves, but I think they're still having trouble logging in here.
Someone from the forum (from New Hampshire) recognized me at Starfish a few days ago and said hello, and it was very nice.
Thanks for the report, it was fun. See you next time!
-Ruth
Coral Babe (love your screen name......wished I'd thought of it first 
)
I'd like to know more about the porter at the aiport. I think I've got my husband talked into using one this in June. We leave STT on a Saturday and so I'm sure the airport will be jammed. Did you tip him $20 or pay him $20 total? How many bags did you have?
pswlrw mentioned that she also used the porter. Tell me more about your experience. I'm lovin' the idea of not standing in line!!
)I'd like to know more about the porter at the aiport. I think I've got my husband talked into using one this in June. We leave STT on a Saturday and so I'm sure the airport will be jammed. Did you tip him $20 or pay him $20 total? How many bags did you have?
pswlrw mentioned that she also used the porter. Tell me more about your experience. I'm lovin' the idea of not standing in line!!
but we gave him $20 for 5 bags and he seemed happy with that. I don't know if there is a set fee, or it's just a tip.