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EagleRayLover BD Trip Report Part I
EagleRayLover BD Trip Report Part I
Prologue: This was the eighth trip to STJ for EagleRayLover and myself, the third for our 19 year old son Jason, and the first for our soon-to-be 21 year old son Shane. The primary purpose (excuse?) for the trip was to celebrate one of those "milestone" birthdays for/with ERL (Leslie).
Tuesday, June 5 - Travel day. Other than not sleeping much at all the night before, the preparations for this trip couldn't have gone much smoother. By now we have a pretty good idea of what we need to bring, what we can bring if it's important enough to do so, and what to leave at home. With four travelers we are allotted eight carry on items - four carry on suitcases containing everyone's clothes, masks, snorkels, and a few miscellaneous items. A back pack had most of the electronics, a dive bag (the largest item - but it still fit longwise in the overhead bin) had four sets of fins, a small gym type bag with a bunch of snacks and dry food, and a 24 can polar bear cooler with frozen meat and some cheeses.
Drive to Miami was long, quiet (sleeping passengers), and uneventful. Made it to the off airport parking lot, to the airport, and into the slow moving security line without incident. The cooler usually gets flagged for a visual inspection, but not this time. Instead, the bag of metal washers that Jason had in his suitcase (part of our lionfish marker kits) got the scrutiny. Once they determined that he/they didn't pose any threat, we were on our way to the gate, with an hour until our flight began boarding.
The plane got to St. Thomas ahead of schedule, and in short order we were off of the plane, had partaken in the ritualistic rum shot samples (mango and coconut!) and saw Magdalena, from Amalie Car Rental, waving at us. After a quick orientation to make us aware of the new features of the new Jeep, we were off and eastbound in the direction of Red Hook! We made our customary stop at Cost-U-Less (which provided Shane with a newbies introduction to island time) then on to the car barge.
Before long we were underway, out of the harbor at Red Hook, and had St. John in sight! As is becoming our arrival day tradition, we parked at the lot just next to the barge dock and walked to High Tide for our initial on island drinks. Incidentally, since Shane was still a month shy of his 21st birthday, it was also his first (legal) adult beverage!
Leslie finally had to scratch the itch that had been afflicting her ever since she first saw that gorgeous water, which was during the plane's approach to STT!.
I ran upstairs to St. John Spice to get a few supplies for the week while the others finished their drinks, then it was back to the jeep and on our way across the island! Since we had plenty of time and it was Shane's first visit to the island, we had decided to forgo the Centerline route in favor of the incredibly scenic North Shore one. When I first drive through some of the canopies on North Shore Road is when I first feel that I am really here!
We had arranged to meet our greeter at Windspree's office in Coral Bay, in the building across the road from Skinny Legs. Unfortunately, she (Peggy) was on time, so we didn't get to loiter at Skinny's while waiting for her! We followed her back towards "the triangle", took a left, then passed a lot of our familiar landmarks (Love City Mini-Mart, Island Blues, Cocoloba Plaza, Shipwreck) until, just past the entrance to the Johnson Bay Estates, we took a right onto an unpaved road. After a couple hundred yards or so we hit pavement, and then began to climb. Wow - look at that villa directly above us. Guess what? That's "home" - Amarilla Villa!
After the greeter's orientation we quickly unloaded the jeep, unpacked our bags, and took advantage of the pool and the view.
As is our custom, we opted for dinner out, rather than cooking in, for our travel day. We had to go back to Windspree to get the key for the 3rd bedroom that they forgot to give to the greeter, then we stopped at Shipwreck, which was conveniently in our return path to the villa. We were able to get a table right away, and soon we had another round of drinks in front of us, followed shortly by a delicious assortment of culinary delights - citrus grilled mahi, curry nut-crusted mahi and chicken, and...a hamburger (there's always ONE!).
Back to the villa, and while I was doing some organizing in the room the rest of the gang went to work assembling lionfish markers.
Before we knew it night had fallen and a beautiful full moon began rising over Coral Bay. A mad scramble for cameras ensued - we weren't in time to capture the moonrise at its brilliant best, just above the horizon, but we did manage to get a few pictures when it darted out of the clouds!
Wednesday, June 6. Aaahhh - how sweet it is to wake up on STJ! Apparently, the area we are staying in is prone to being windy, but it was crazy the way it howled all night, and it certainly showed no sign of abating at daylight. At least there was no need to turn on the AC in the bedroom! I got out of bed around 6:00, or roughly two hours after CrazyBananaquitLady, er, EagleRayLover!
Enjoyed breakfast and coffee on the breezy deck, and, while the boys slept in a little, we set to sorting out all of the cameras, computers, phones, chargers, etc. Eventually the itch to get wet got too strong so we woke up the slackers and began loading up for the initial snorkel of the trip. Based on the wind direction we decided to hit Francis Bay this morning, so we drove down the hill, past the triangle, up the hill, down the hill at the smoothie stand, and to the empty parking lot adjacent to the Francis Bay trail. A short hike later we were treated to this:
Francis isn't the most dramatic looking snorkel site on the island. You enter over sand, and kind of cruise by some alternatively rocky and grassy shallows as you make your way in the direction leading to Mary Point. That being said, we have often seen some interesting sea life here.
We hadn't been in the water very long at all when Jason got our attention and made the sign for "octopus". We swam over to where he was, expecting to have him point out a crevice where we could see whatever part of the creature was visible, but instead, saw....what? After looking intently at the rock he was pointing at for a bit I could see that some of that "rock" had eyes and legs, even though they blended in superbly with their surroundings!
We haven't seen that many octopi exposed like that in the daytime, so we all hung around for a few minutes, getting in the way of each other's picture taking attempts, and generally bumping in to one another. All of us but Leslie drifted off to see what else was on display, but she hung a bit longer and was rewarded when the octopus decided to change locations - and really showed off its "chameleon" skills!
We took our time and made it *most* of the way to Mary Point before some of our group decided that they'd likely be cold and/or tired by the time we completed the round trip, so we headed back towards our entry point. Even though the lack of any recent reports of manta sightings led us to believe that they had probably moved on, ERL and myself took the "deep route" back, further offshore, over sand and seagrass, in the faint hope that we may see them, or some other reasonable substitute, but alas, it wasn't to be this time.
After the hike back to the Jeep we headed to town and Starfish, where we stocked up on some needed (and some impulse buy) food items, then headed back, via Jacob's Ladder/Gifft Hill Rd./Centerline, towards Coral Bay. Stopped by Crabby's and bought some mask defog solution, then on to the villa for some serious chillin' by the pool.
As the sun set behind us, the presence of Sahara Dust was evident in the sky...
We were planning on grilling burgers, but ran into a snag. The auto-igniter on the grill didn't work, there were no matches at the villa, and where the grill was located between the living area building and the bedrooms was, in the current conditions, in a virtual wind tunnel. I thought about those ready to cook burger patties, as well as the still frozen steaks, chicken, pork tenderloins, etc., and thought that we would be royally screwed if we couldn't use that grill. Fortunately we had some creative and clever collective brainpower in our group, and we were able to figure out a method to get the grill lit - one that we would employ for the remainder of the trip!
We enjoyed the burgers, along with some oven roasted potatoes and grilled broccoli, and for dessert, some of Leslie's famous chocolate chip cookies!
Other than being briefly aware of a passing storm sometime during the night, we slept the sleep of happy vacationers!
Tuesday, June 5 - Travel day. Other than not sleeping much at all the night before, the preparations for this trip couldn't have gone much smoother. By now we have a pretty good idea of what we need to bring, what we can bring if it's important enough to do so, and what to leave at home. With four travelers we are allotted eight carry on items - four carry on suitcases containing everyone's clothes, masks, snorkels, and a few miscellaneous items. A back pack had most of the electronics, a dive bag (the largest item - but it still fit longwise in the overhead bin) had four sets of fins, a small gym type bag with a bunch of snacks and dry food, and a 24 can polar bear cooler with frozen meat and some cheeses.
Drive to Miami was long, quiet (sleeping passengers), and uneventful. Made it to the off airport parking lot, to the airport, and into the slow moving security line without incident. The cooler usually gets flagged for a visual inspection, but not this time. Instead, the bag of metal washers that Jason had in his suitcase (part of our lionfish marker kits) got the scrutiny. Once they determined that he/they didn't pose any threat, we were on our way to the gate, with an hour until our flight began boarding.
The plane got to St. Thomas ahead of schedule, and in short order we were off of the plane, had partaken in the ritualistic rum shot samples (mango and coconut!) and saw Magdalena, from Amalie Car Rental, waving at us. After a quick orientation to make us aware of the new features of the new Jeep, we were off and eastbound in the direction of Red Hook! We made our customary stop at Cost-U-Less (which provided Shane with a newbies introduction to island time) then on to the car barge.
Before long we were underway, out of the harbor at Red Hook, and had St. John in sight! As is becoming our arrival day tradition, we parked at the lot just next to the barge dock and walked to High Tide for our initial on island drinks. Incidentally, since Shane was still a month shy of his 21st birthday, it was also his first (legal) adult beverage!
Leslie finally had to scratch the itch that had been afflicting her ever since she first saw that gorgeous water, which was during the plane's approach to STT!.
I ran upstairs to St. John Spice to get a few supplies for the week while the others finished their drinks, then it was back to the jeep and on our way across the island! Since we had plenty of time and it was Shane's first visit to the island, we had decided to forgo the Centerline route in favor of the incredibly scenic North Shore one. When I first drive through some of the canopies on North Shore Road is when I first feel that I am really here!
We had arranged to meet our greeter at Windspree's office in Coral Bay, in the building across the road from Skinny Legs. Unfortunately, she (Peggy) was on time, so we didn't get to loiter at Skinny's while waiting for her! We followed her back towards "the triangle", took a left, then passed a lot of our familiar landmarks (Love City Mini-Mart, Island Blues, Cocoloba Plaza, Shipwreck) until, just past the entrance to the Johnson Bay Estates, we took a right onto an unpaved road. After a couple hundred yards or so we hit pavement, and then began to climb. Wow - look at that villa directly above us. Guess what? That's "home" - Amarilla Villa!
After the greeter's orientation we quickly unloaded the jeep, unpacked our bags, and took advantage of the pool and the view.
As is our custom, we opted for dinner out, rather than cooking in, for our travel day. We had to go back to Windspree to get the key for the 3rd bedroom that they forgot to give to the greeter, then we stopped at Shipwreck, which was conveniently in our return path to the villa. We were able to get a table right away, and soon we had another round of drinks in front of us, followed shortly by a delicious assortment of culinary delights - citrus grilled mahi, curry nut-crusted mahi and chicken, and...a hamburger (there's always ONE!).
Back to the villa, and while I was doing some organizing in the room the rest of the gang went to work assembling lionfish markers.
Before we knew it night had fallen and a beautiful full moon began rising over Coral Bay. A mad scramble for cameras ensued - we weren't in time to capture the moonrise at its brilliant best, just above the horizon, but we did manage to get a few pictures when it darted out of the clouds!
Wednesday, June 6. Aaahhh - how sweet it is to wake up on STJ! Apparently, the area we are staying in is prone to being windy, but it was crazy the way it howled all night, and it certainly showed no sign of abating at daylight. At least there was no need to turn on the AC in the bedroom! I got out of bed around 6:00, or roughly two hours after CrazyBananaquitLady, er, EagleRayLover!
Enjoyed breakfast and coffee on the breezy deck, and, while the boys slept in a little, we set to sorting out all of the cameras, computers, phones, chargers, etc. Eventually the itch to get wet got too strong so we woke up the slackers and began loading up for the initial snorkel of the trip. Based on the wind direction we decided to hit Francis Bay this morning, so we drove down the hill, past the triangle, up the hill, down the hill at the smoothie stand, and to the empty parking lot adjacent to the Francis Bay trail. A short hike later we were treated to this:
Francis isn't the most dramatic looking snorkel site on the island. You enter over sand, and kind of cruise by some alternatively rocky and grassy shallows as you make your way in the direction leading to Mary Point. That being said, we have often seen some interesting sea life here.
We hadn't been in the water very long at all when Jason got our attention and made the sign for "octopus". We swam over to where he was, expecting to have him point out a crevice where we could see whatever part of the creature was visible, but instead, saw....what? After looking intently at the rock he was pointing at for a bit I could see that some of that "rock" had eyes and legs, even though they blended in superbly with their surroundings!
We haven't seen that many octopi exposed like that in the daytime, so we all hung around for a few minutes, getting in the way of each other's picture taking attempts, and generally bumping in to one another. All of us but Leslie drifted off to see what else was on display, but she hung a bit longer and was rewarded when the octopus decided to change locations - and really showed off its "chameleon" skills!
We took our time and made it *most* of the way to Mary Point before some of our group decided that they'd likely be cold and/or tired by the time we completed the round trip, so we headed back towards our entry point. Even though the lack of any recent reports of manta sightings led us to believe that they had probably moved on, ERL and myself took the "deep route" back, further offshore, over sand and seagrass, in the faint hope that we may see them, or some other reasonable substitute, but alas, it wasn't to be this time.
After the hike back to the Jeep we headed to town and Starfish, where we stocked up on some needed (and some impulse buy) food items, then headed back, via Jacob's Ladder/Gifft Hill Rd./Centerline, towards Coral Bay. Stopped by Crabby's and bought some mask defog solution, then on to the villa for some serious chillin' by the pool.
As the sun set behind us, the presence of Sahara Dust was evident in the sky...
We were planning on grilling burgers, but ran into a snag. The auto-igniter on the grill didn't work, there were no matches at the villa, and where the grill was located between the living area building and the bedrooms was, in the current conditions, in a virtual wind tunnel. I thought about those ready to cook burger patties, as well as the still frozen steaks, chicken, pork tenderloins, etc., and thought that we would be royally screwed if we couldn't use that grill. Fortunately we had some creative and clever collective brainpower in our group, and we were able to figure out a method to get the grill lit - one that we would employ for the remainder of the trip!
We enjoyed the burgers, along with some oven roasted potatoes and grilled broccoli, and for dessert, some of Leslie's famous chocolate chip cookies!
Other than being briefly aware of a passing storm sometime during the night, we slept the sleep of happy vacationers!
Last edited by augie on Fri Jun 29, 2012 10:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Come see us!
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michigancouple
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mindehankins
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EagleRayLover
- Posts: 1474
- Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 8:56 pm
- Location: St. John -WooHoo!!
Thanks I took a million octo shots-he was so cool- changed colors about four times! Amarliia isn't in the boonies- just a skip from Shipwreck, very convenient to Salt Pond!! You will love it! Better have sugar and like cats!chrisn wrote:Great Octopus shots! We're staying at Amarilla next month. Is it way out in the boonies? LOL!
Leslie, Kids Night In Babysitting
I was debating whether or not to go public with this, but here goes...PA Girl wrote:What was your grill lighting method?
There were a bunch of wooden skewers, so dipping the end of one in vegetable oil gave us something that approximated a long matchstick. We'd use one of the gas burners on the stovetop to light the stick, use the stick to light a candle, and then use the flame from the candle to light the end of the stick when we were ready to light the grill.
But the biggest problem was the wind. We tried holding up big towels to create a wind break, but nothing would allow the flame to stay lit long enough.
Until Jason said..."the downstairs (ground level) bedroom has an outside door to the shower. Why don't we roll the grill into the shower, light it, and roll it back outside as soon as the burners ignite?
Voila!
Come see us!
That's awesome! Note to self..pack matches!augie wrote:I was debating whether or not to go public with this, but here goes...PA Girl wrote:What was your grill lighting method?
There were a bunch of wooden skewers, so dipping the end of one in vegetable oil gave us something that approximated a long matchstick. We'd use one of the gas burners on the stovetop to light the stick, use the stick to light a candle, and then use the flame from the candle to light the end of the stick when we were ready to light the grill.
But the biggest problem was the wind. We tried holding up big towels to create a wind break, but nothing would allow the flame to stay lit long enough.
Until Jason said..."the downstairs (ground level) bedroom has an outside door to the shower. Why don't we roll the grill into the shower, light it, and roll it back outside as soon as the burners ignite?
Voila!
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ColumbiaSCTraveler
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YAY! A trip report!
We're getting so close to this year's trip, so reading your TR is so amazing!
How early were y'all at Francis? Reading "empty parking lot" makes me think pretty early! We are early morning risers on-island. LOVE being the first ones at a beach!
Looking forward to the upcoming TR installments! Thanks for sharing!
We're getting so close to this year's trip, so reading your TR is so amazing!
How early were y'all at Francis? Reading "empty parking lot" makes me think pretty early! We are early morning risers on-island. LOVE being the first ones at a beach!
Looking forward to the upcoming TR installments! Thanks for sharing!
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snorkelqueen
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- Joined: Tue May 29, 2007 12:33 pm
- Location: california
