8 Tuff Miles Trip Report

[chicagoans]

Backstory:
Last year my friend Suzanne and I celebrated turning 50 by doing 8 Tuff for the first time. We loved it and decided to bring our families with us this year. It was my fourth trip to STJ, my family’s third trip, Suzanne’s second trip and her husband and daughter’s first. We pulled the kids out of school (no complaints from them) and enjoyed a week of fun and sun.

Three years of grueling cancer treatments have left my DH with very limited mobility and strength (and this is a guy who used to play basketball and softball several times/week.) Travel was really tough on him but he’s a champ and we all dearly wanted to do this trip with him. He cheered the rest of us on for running 8 Tuff.

Our group: dear friends Bill and Suzanne and their daughter Beth; my DH Rick (known as Gunner), kids Delaney and Nate, and me.

Sunday
We took Christopher Taxi and Dohm’s Water Taxi for the first time to make our travel faster and easier. Both were great.

We checked into Ixora – loved it!
Pool:


And view:


The kids and I went back to town for groceries and to meet our friends, who came in from MN on a later flight than ours.

We all had dinner at Skinny’s, which has been my first dinner for every trip to St. John.


Monday
The sunrise view from Ixora:


Monday’s beach was Maho, beautiful as always:



Here we are in all our pasty paleness, which was soon to become streaky sunburn. (TIP: don’t use spray on lotion on a breezy day!) Me, Bill, Beth, Delaney and Nate:


Happy beach bum kids:


Ixora is dangerously close to the Smoothie Stand. We went there almost every day.


Tuesday
Tuesday morning started a bit gray and rainy, so Suzanne and I drove out to Josephine’s farm. I love this sign on the way:


I asked her permission to take a picture and she obliged me by posing with a big bite of lettuce. She’s a doll and we got some tasty greens and tomatoes there.


The sun came out by the time we got back. Gunner and Nate stayed back at the house while the rest of headed over to Salt Pond Bay. Salt Pond is a favorite of mine.



We did the hike to Ram Head, which is also a favorite of mine.
Girls at Blue Cobblestone:


Enjoying the wind:


Me and my gorgeous girl:


Bill and Beth:


Just another beautiful St. John view…


After the beach, we met up with Gunner and Nate at the Tourist Trap. I gobbled down a delicious lobster roll and a couple of Drink Right Keep Lefts. Yum.

Wednesday
Sunrise view from the house:


We headed out to another favorite of mine, Little Lameshur:




Our group minus Gunner took the short trail over to the cove near Yawzi Point. Great snorkeling! We saw a group of squid right away.

After spending the day at the beach, we headed into town to pick up our 8 Tuff race numbers. En route we took pictures at the Trunk Bay overlook. We’ve all seen this view hundreds of times… but it’s gorgeous so here is another:


Although you wouldn’t know if from most of our pictures, we do occasionally clean up.

Bill, Beth, Suzanne:


Starting to show evidence of poor sunscreen management!


We had dinner at Rhumb Lines – delicious but pricey for a group of 7.

Thursday
We spent the day at Cinnamon. What a gorgeous beach!


Suzanne and the kids rented kayaks, and Bill and I rented stand up paddleboards. This was my first time on an SUP, but it doesn’t take long to get the hang of it. I had one graceless plunge off the board, but then figured it out.

We paddled over to Francis. The kayakers were ahead of us, but we caught up with the girls at Francis beach. Suzanne and Nate had paddled over to Whistling Cay to check out the ruins. The wind in our faces on the way there made it challenging but fun, and the way back was a piece of cake. I definitely want to go out on an SUP again.

Our kayakers:


After two hours paddling, we hung out and enjoyed beautiful Cinnamon Bay.


Some of us went over to Little Cinnamon to snorkel and look for the wreck of the Cessna. By this time the water was choppy and visibility was very poor, so we gave up on that and headed back to our chairs for more lounging.

We stayed until early evening. Cinnamon is pretty at any time of day.


Friday
Dinghy day! We rented two dinghies, grabbed some sandwiches at Deli Grotto, and headed over to Waterlemon.

Waterlemon Cay:


Really good snorkeling here, especially around the far side of the cay. Cool sightings included starfish and Suzanne saw an eagle ray.



The ruins near Waterlemon. I didn’t notice the two people there until I downloaded my pictures. It would be cool if they happened to be forumites.


Stopped at Trunk…


… and relaxed. Ahhh.


We had planned to stay awhile at Hawksnest and do some more snorkeling, but the wind was up and it was rather chilly. So we headed over to Caneel. It started raining and felt chilly in the wind, so we parked at the Caneel dinghy dock and headed to the bar. The sun came out but we were happy relaxing with some beverages.


Near the dinghy dock:




Friday night we had dinner at Miss Lucy’s. This was our favorite dinner out and absolutely delicious. Suzanne and I split the paella (and still had leftovers) and Bill pronounced his fish the best he’d ever had. We gobbled it down before I had a chance to take any food porn pictures. Too bad, because it was beautiful as well as tasty.

Saturday – Race Day!
Race day was finally here! After a week of burgers, smoothies, and rum drinks I had a few extra pounds to carry across the rock. Oh well… time to burn some of those off.

Before the race:


My goal was to beat last my time from last year, and I did by more than 20 minutes! (Last year Suzanne and I both were recovering from injuries.) Nate beat us all.

Finish line euphoria, as broadcast on Skinny’s TV:


Here we are happy and recovering at Skinny’s. I'm so proud of the kids for doing this race and enjoying the heck out of it.


This was about the time the kids started asking about coming back for 8 Tuff next year. Count me in!

Two of our friends, Brian and Steve (brothers), did 8 Tuff last year and we shared a sail charter on that trip. We were really excited to meet up with them again this year, and as an added bonus we got to meet 2 more brothers and a friend of theirs too. Here’s the group (missing their friend) celebrating at Skinny’s.


We all cleaned up after the race, and then had the "brothers and others" over at Ixora for happy hour and dinner. We shared a lot of laughs (and wine, beer, and rum.) It was a great finish to race day.







As much as I enjoy eating out, my favorite dinners are relaxing and laughing at the villa.




Sunday: Walk of Woe
Sunday we headed into town and I got to see Ruth at her store. We hung out at High Tide until we had to get on the ferry and make our way back home.

Random shots of the kids at bars.
Aqua Bistro:


Caneel:


Skinny’s:



St. John has a big piece of my heart. I hope to soon be plotting my return!

[Knolmom]

So happy for youand your entourage. You enjoyed paradise with DH and got to do 8 Tuff with friends and family.

[ski2play]

Awesome pictures and commentary! Thanks for sharing. I hope to do the 8 Tuff miles race next year. Coming back from knee surgery has been a bear!

[michigan girls]

I sooooo needed a trip report on this cold and snowy Michigan morning - thanks!

[DonnaM]

Great TR! Was the island crowded that week? I have sworn off traveling Presidents week after some major travel snafus on my 40th bday trip to AXA. I wold love to do the race and celebrate my bday at the same time!

[Kevino]

Great TR!! Awesome memories.

[liamsaunt]

Great trip report! Congratulations on running the 8 Tuff.

I love your "random pictures of kids in bars" photos. I am glad you were able to make so many great memories with your family, and I hope you all get to go back again soon.

[Caw954s]

Loved your trip report...especially enjoyable since we had another foot of snow and its cold and windy outside. Thanks for sharing and I hope your hubby is doing well!

[54b]

Great trip report, thanks for sharing...can't believe you did the run at the end of the week instead of at the beginning. And I enjoy jogging and typically go two or three times when I'm on STJ, but I still don't see how people jog that first couple of miles on Centerline....heck the first half mile after the roundabout alone would be hard to do anything but hike up.

Good for you, your family and your friends...some of my best memories of STJ were from the trip when we went with 3 other couples. The best part of that week were the times at dusk when the 8 of us would just sit on the deck, enjoy the view (and a beverage), and just tell stories and laugh.

Those kind last a lifetime.

Thanks again.

[Pia]

Great report

I actually recognize your son from the photo - I remember seeing him as he ran past me at the bottom of my driveway as I was cheering people on.

Pia

[shoemak38]

Ixora is dangerously close to the Smoothie Stand. We went there almost every day.

like

[STJNewbie]

As a stj rookie, I especially enjoyed the details and pictures. Thank you for sharing!

[mindehankins]

What a terrific trip! Thank you so much for sharing! I hope that Gunner was soothed and strengthened by your precious family and friends trip!

[sherban]

Thanks for sharing, you have a wonderful family.

[Myheart'sinSTJ]

Great trip report, beautiful pics and families! You certainly jam packed alot into a week and congrats on making your goal with "8 Tuff miles" Thanks for sharing