2013 Michigan Girls trip report part four

[michigan girls]

Part one: http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/virgi ... =1&t=25215
Part two: http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/virgi ... =1&t=25219
Part three: http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/virgi ... =1&t=25226

Sunday
Started the day with brunch at Miss Lucy's. I had the Conchfritterdicts and a pina colada pancake (and a breakfast bloody mary) It was delicious. We got there about 1/2 an hour early, guaranteeing that we got a nice beachfront table and spent some time beachcombing while we waited to be able to order. We "bought" some crabs for the crab races which would start after the meal was over. The girls really enjoyed the crabmon, he let them play with the little guys and help him set up.

DSC_0017 by heidifunk, on Flickr
The crab races were fun, and we all won prizes. They ranged from Sarah's first prize of a full day sail with Wayward Sailor for one to my consolation prize of 20% off drinks at Morgan's Mango. Most of them we left at the villa for next people, but we did bring the day sail certificate home with us for next time.
After brunch we headed for Francis. It was a beautiful day for the beach, and the snorkeling was great. We went all the way around to Little Maho. A couple of barracudas, as well as all the usual suspects.

PICT0009 by heidifunk, on Flickr

PICT0019 by heidifunk, on Flickr

PICT0014 by heidifunk, on Flickr

PICT0017 by heidifunk, on Flickr
The water temp was perfect and it was a calm and sunny day. As always, the rest of the group couldn't handle the all day beach trip, so I drove them back up to the villa, then went back down to rejoin Sherry at Francis. The noseeums came out eventually. They don't seem to care for the taste of me, but they were really feasting on Sherry so we packed up and headed up the hill.

Dinner of ground pork tacos, which were super delicious, then off to bed.

Monday
Last full day Realizing that the rest of the group could not handle a full beach day, but sick of running whiners around, Sherry and I decided to take the morning for ourselves and spend it at Jumbie - my favorite. We arrived around 8AM and had it all to ourselves for over an hour - Bliss.

DSC_0002 by heidifunk, on Flickr
The snorkeling was exceptional - unfortunately I managed to kill my water camera the day before and my backup water camera after only about 3 minutes in, so no photos.
As we had seen on the other north shore beaches over the previous several days, there was a jellyfish warning posted here. I did get a couple very minor stings - only because I snorkeled a LONG time and kept swimming into clouds of them. The stings were nothing really - just like a mosquito bite. Lots of great fish and coral at Jumbie, I enjoy the snorkel there so much. Also found some little buddies to play with on the beach

DSC_0007 by heidifunk, on Flickr

DSC_0010 by heidifunk, on Flickr
Back up to the villa at noon to pick up the rest of the crew. We couldn't seem to agree on what beach to do in the afternoon, but against my instincts I agreed to go to Caneel. It's not that it's bad, in fact the grounds there are quite lovely.

DSC_0032 by heidifunk, on Flickr
And I do love this photo - maybe my favorite of the trip

DSC_0049 by heidifunk, on Flickr
It's just that I'm not a resort, manicured beach kinda girl. That said, however, the snorkeling was excellent, with octopus, squid, healthy coral and some good sized reef fish. And I did get an Iguana Colada from the bar which was very tasty.
From here, we headed over to the Westin so Andrew and the girls could go parasailing. I went along for the ride.

DSC_0068 by heidifunk, on Flickr
Love the look on Sarah's face in this photo

DSC_0081 by heidifunk, on Flickr
The crew on the boat was great - nice, funny guys. They dipped them into the water, making them scream, which was fun to watch

DSC_0076 by heidifunk, on Flickr

Met up with the rest of the crew at the pool bar, where we enjoyed a drink and a swim before heading back into town for dinner.

Dinner was Rhumb Lines. I love the atmosphere there, such a cool place. We had the alacarte appetizer platter to start and everything was really good (I think we ordered at least one of everything available). I had Stuffed Prawns for dinner, which were great.

DSC_0086 by heidifunk, on Flickr
I also really enjoyed my dad's tempura lobster

DSC_0093 by heidifunk, on Flickr
After dinner, back up to the villa to commence packing and cleaning
When we got up in the morning, Sherry swept our bedroom, then came out to help me in the kitchen. She went back into the bedroom 10 minutes later to find this on floor:

DSC_0003 by heidifunk, on Flickr
He was dead when we found him. The girls were staying in the loft above our bedroom. If you read the earlier parts of the trip report, you know that is where my daughter swore to us that a scorpion had grabbed her finger when she came across him in some pants that were laying on the floor. She was very happy to be proven right, as a lot of the group had not believed it had actually been a scorpion when we couldn't find one after going all through the loft. I don't know how it ended up dead on the floor below the loft several days later, but at least Emily had her proof.
We went into to town and returned our cars to Conrad Sutton. We stored our bags at Connections and headed to JJs Texas Cafe for breakfast. The next couple hours were spent on shopping and a short visit to The Parrot Club, then off the the national park dock to meet Dohm's for the trip back to Red Hook. The crossing was uneventful, much calmer than the trip over had been. Christopher Taxi was waiting at the dock to take us to the airport. We had a porter to help us there, which was great, as I discovered after we cleared customs that I had left my laptop bag at the ticketing counter. She sprinted back and got it for me, thus earning a nice tip. Nothing unusual about the trip home, we landed in Detroit at 11:35 and were back home and off to bed about 2:30AM

All in all, it was a great trip, just not quite as relaxing as I had hoped. The size of the group and the age of some of the travelers made that inevitable I suppose. Up next, villa review and review of goods and services...

[happycanesfan]

Loved your reports. Thanks so much.