On Island Report

[hoosierdaddy]

So the weather is perfect but whould yo expect anything different?

Travel day yesterday was perfect. Ok, so getting up at 3:30 am to catch a flight may not be perfect but the payoff was arriving on St. Thomas at 12:10. 5 minutes earlier than expected. We rented our car from Amelies for the first time. I read the great report about them but didn't realize how awesome they were. We had our car and leaving the airport in under 10 minutes. We drove to Redhook and had lunch at Molly Malone's. Great first meal. Then we headed to the Carribean surf shop across the street for skim board materials. We caught the 3:00 ferry and were in our villa by 4:00. The place is great and when we get back I will do a review and trip report. We swam and hung out by the pull until sunset and then headed into town. Starfish Market first and then the Beach Bar. My teenagers loved the beach Bar. It was loud and there were a few characters that caught their attention. Headed back and had snacks at the villa and played games while watching some basketball.

I love Paradise.

[hoosierdaddy]

Day One

Start with a 4 mile run from Hawks Hill to the top of Great Cruz Bay road and back. Lots of people out and its 75 degrees. Im wearing shorts! Back to the villa for pancakes and bacon then we head for Cinnamon. Water is a bit rough and snorkeling is short but the sun is shining. After 4 hours it is time for Shipwreck Landing. Then we head to Trunk Bay. Beautiful beach and by that time not to many people on the beach. By the time we leave there is a weading party and about 10 others on the beach. Back to the villa for a quick dip in the pool and now getting ready to head to the Banana Deck.

Sorry we didn't make it to the Beach Bar for the get together but Trunk Bay was so BEAUTIFUL we could not get away.

[Pia]

Were you on the AA flight from Miami by chance - if so we were on the same flight

Glad you are having fun

Pia

[hoosierdaddy]

No we were on the Delta Flight from Atlanta. 41 degrees in the moring and 83 degrees by noon.
I Love St. John

[PaminMaine]

No we were on the Delta Flight from Atlanta. 41 degrees in the moring and 83 degrees by noon.
I Love St. John

In reverse.... 89* Saturday to 43* in Maine today.

[hoosierdaddy]

Sorry Pam. I hear reports of Snow storms back in the states. People from Pittsburgh and Rochester New York reporting 8 inches.

Today was Reef Bay Hike in the morning. It was interesting and we are glad we did it but the hiking was slow. We had lunch from the Deli Grotto. At the end of the hike some of us swam to the boat but most took the dingy. We were back to the National Park Headquarters by 2:15. We then headed to Hawksnest for some relaxation. Not good snorkeling but I did go over to Gibney and walked the beach. It was beautiful. No wonder some people say it is their favorite beach. Diner was Joe's BBQ and Ronnie's Pizza. So long for now.

[shoemak38]

No we were on the Delta Flight from Atlanta. 41 degrees in the moring and 83 degrees by noon.
I Love St. John

In reverse.... 89* Saturday to 43* in Maine today.

welcome back, bright side you missed a storm

[pk14]

Hoosierdaddy,

Sounds like you're having a blast! The real question I have for you is were you able to catch IU's big win on Sunday while on St. John?!

I'll be heading down to STJ in mid-April, staying out near Coral Bay and can't wait....be sure to keep my seat warm for me and hope you have a great vacation...

Go IU!

[mindehankins]

Sounds fun, Hoosierdaddy!
What didn't you like about the Reef Bay hike? Were you bored, waiting for people to keep up? I'm not sure if we're the ones who'd be ahead and waiting, or the ones holding people up.... We're booked for our upcoming trip, and if there was an AWFUL lot of standing-around-waiting time, I might be happier just spending that day on a beach!
Can I ask another question? Did you find the rope swing on Gibney beach? And if so, where?

Thank you for the intel!!!

[hoosierdaddy]

pk14 - Of course we watched the win! Sweet sixteen! Headed to the Final Four after this coming weekend.

Mande - Waiting was the only thing we didn't enjoy. We like to hike and it was just slower than what we are use to. I have heard of people doing the hike and at the begining walking ahead and not listening to any of the educational information and then spending more time at Genti Bay swimming. About Gibney, I thought it was beautiful and would like to go back and spend some time there. I didn't know about a tire swing and don't remember seeing one.

[mindehankins]

I would resent standing around for a long time, I think, when I could be on a beautiful beach somewhere. But I wouldn't walk ahead of the ranger because then what's the point? Were things labelled well enough that if you pushed ahead, you'd still learn from the hike?
And I couldn't find the tire swing either, but that's where I'm told it is!

[Caw954s]

I would resent standing around for a long time, I think, when I could be on a beautiful beach somewhere. But I wouldn't walk ahead of the ranger because then what's the point? Were things labelled well enough that if you pushed ahead, you'd still learn from the hike?
And I couldn't find the tire swing either, but that's where I'm told it is!

Minde, we did the Reef Bay hike and I'm glad we did. You know how tours can be and we wouldn't do it again, but our guide was a cool lady, she has lived on STJ for more than 30 years, she really knew her plants, and what STJ natives use the plants for (medicinal, teas, herbs, etc). We talked about the different trees, how they got to STJ, what they were used for, we saw the petroglyphs...which were very cool! We saw things we would not know about had we not gone on this hike (I saw some bats too down in the sugar house...plus Lady Bird Johnson's outhouse, you CAN'T miss that??...ha!) You can hike the trail on your own, but the climb back up is STEEP and stuff is not well marked. Plus, getting a boat ride back was fun, we had nice conversations with other people from around the world, we did not stand around very much and yes there were some stragglers but, I'll tell you, this lady moved us along! So, for us it was time well spent. The other hike I really want to do next time is the birding trail with a NPS gal that offers it for free on certain mornings...if you want more info about that look on their website, cause I can't remember the day and time...but we found out about it too late on our last trip and missed it. If you enjoy birding that is...Have a wonderful time!!

[hoosierdaddy]

Sorry no report yesterday. We spent the morning Doing stand up paddle boarding at Maho. We loved it. We went over to Francis and back and just chilled out past the boats sunning on the boards. We then went to the Tourist trap and loved it. Next was Trunk until sunset. Morgan s Mango for a late supper.

Today was Jost and Ronnie's Pizza. We love it here and feel like we are at home.

[hoosierdaddy]

Last full day today. We had to vacate our villa today. We were staying at Villa Seransipity. We thought it was a great place for us. We headed to Grand Bay. Laurie was great. She took our bags and allowed us to take chairs, cooler and towels so we can enjoy one last day at the beach. The kids wanted to head back to Cinamon Bay. We were there until 4:00. Very crowded. Not much sunlight in the early afternoon. Headed back and stopped at C&D Bakery for Snacks. We ate at Cafe Roma. It was one of our favorite meals of the week. We are now watching the Hoosiers play Syracuse. Elite Eight here we come.
Catching the 10:00 car ferry and eating at Tickles in Crown Point. Flight out at 2:15. It has been a wonderful week. Hopefully when we get back a trip report won't be far behind.

[hoosierdaddy]

We really enjoyed our one night stay at Grand Bay. The unit we rented had a sea kayak that was available. This morning at 7:00 I was out touring Cruz Bay. It was a nice way to end a fabulous week.