USVI-On-Line

Debbie and I returned late last night to Hartford, CT, and I refused to wear shoes. The shorts and flip flops worked fine for 15 days- why stop? Yes, it is possible to do CARRY ON ONLY!!!! Thanks, Forum! Linda, sorry I didn;t get to talk with you at the photography class.
First and foremost- THANK YOU to all of the Forumites who have posted MANY useful tips. We found tips from the Forum to be to MOST useful tips for our 15 day 25th Anniv. Trip to STJ. Thanks to a Forum tip, we took a class on photography given by Steve Simonsen. I must say that our pics for the 2nd week were MUCH better than week #1. I will take time to put together a TR with details, and pics!
Highlights: a first stab and the top 10!
1. Getting locked out of our room on our first night at Cinnamon Bay Campground...naked at midnight! (I won't disclose why I was naked)
2. A Claddagh ring from my wife
3. Simonsen Photography class
4. Snorkeling on the Angels Rest boat with Peter Hochsl (a real hoot! He is nuts, and I love it!)
5. Reef Bay Hike
6. Ranger programs...ranger programs...ranger programs! DO THEM!!!
7. Castlestjohn.com Check out this villa!
8. "Fins, Feet, and 4 wheel drive"....re-reading on the plane on the way home, and realizing how much of a help it was! (Again, thank you Forum for this tip!)
9 This book really helped me prepare, and I learned alot- "St. John...Off the Beaten Track" (Again, thank you Forum for this tip!)
10. The Smoothie stand on a hot day! (A great reminder to not miss the turn!)

I will put together a Trip Report, and have lots to do getting ready for Thanksgiving. Thank you again to ALL of you! The Cinnamon Bay tips were fantastic....
Tom in CT

Great to hear from you! I'm sorry also that we were so close and yet so far during the class! Then hunger stepped in, and we zipped into town!
Did you get the pic I sent by text??? Will send it again here later.

So glad that you had a super two weeks... welcome home!

Linda

Hi Linda,
Thanks for the reply.... yes, so close, but so far! We didn't realize how dinky our cmaera woyuld be compared to everyone's "Real" cameras! But, our Canon had many ore features than we knew about. We used tips from Steve's class, and got many good pics after the class! My phone got wet, and I have to send it back to get a new phone, so I never got your text.
Tom

Glad to hear you had such a great trip. Also, sorry for not being able to chat more during the class and missed you at the Beach Bar.

We only had 2 days to practice better photography - looking forward to your TR.

Yay!! Glad you had a great trip. I've been slowing dragging everyone from the NW corner to STJ and now you can start on the Hartford area. Sorry I missed you at the airport with my hip flask....hahahahaha!!!!

Im glad you all had a great time...I had been thinking about you all and curious to know if you all were enjoying yourselves...sounds like a good time was had...

Glad to hear you had a fantastic trip. I can't wait for the trip report, I love seeing STJ through a 1st timers eyes.

What ranger programs did you like? The theme, so to speak, of our upcoming trip is to do things we haven't tried yet. Our son will be 7.5yo during our trip.

PA Girl....
I DL'ed all of the Ranger Programs offered.... We LOVE National Parks, which is why we chose STJ. Your child can do the Junior Ranger Program, too. We did the Reef Bay Trail ($30/person well worth it), Stargazing at Cinnamon Bay, History Culture at Cinnamon, Water Walk near Lamshur, Birdwatching at Francis Bay were all excellent. Go to: http://www.nps.gov/viis/forkids/index.htm for more info on Junior Ranger. All 4 of our kids wanted to be a Ranger when they grew up.
Tom

We will definately do the Jr. Ranger thing. He did it last year in San Juan and I could get the badge off of him! I was worried he would lose it.

We are going to do the Reef Bay hike. I was pregnant with him last time we did it so it will be new for him.

All three of us would enjoy the birding.

I keep checking the Friends site for the upcoming seminar series but nothing is posted yet.