Trip Report - May 4-11
Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 9:07 pm
We returned to St. John on May 4th – our 6th trip, but our first visit since 2007. This was also our first trip with friends! So fun to show them the island!
Our flight from Chicago was uneventful. We met our friends at the airport where had planned a private taxi (Christopher’s) and private ferry (Dohm’s). All booked through Dohm’s (www. http://www.watertaxi-vi.com). With four of us, it really was the way to go. So much easier/quicker. Never had done this before when it was just two of us travelling.
When we arrived in St. John, there was some confusion with our villa representative regarding waiting for another group that was arriving, but ultimately this was resolved and we were off to Caribbean Jewels. We really liked this villa – great for four people. It has a wonderful deck with an amazing view of Coral Bay. There are two equal-sized bedrooms with en suite bathrooms – one bedroom (1st floor) has a king bed, while the 2nd floor bedroom has a queen. The only potential negative is there is a winding spiral staircase going upstairs – was a bit treacherous going up and down (and definitely hard to get luggage up and down).
Our first evening was spent eating dinner on the deck. We had brought a cooler and other snacks – so our dinner was smoked salmon, a crusty loaf of bread, cheese. We purchased beer and wine when we arrived to complement our food – wonderful!
Sunday – So Sunday morning starts out with my DH locking all of our valuables (money, jewelry, passports, credit cards, etc.) in the safe in our room. But he didn’t test it first – and didn’t reset the code. Yeah, he locked everything in the safe and we couldn’t open it. That was fun. Thankfully, there was a key to unlock the safe – unfortunately, when this was attempted the key broke in the lock. More fun. Haven’t heard so much profanity from DH in quite a while. Villa agency rescued us with an emergency code a couple hours later. Whew.
So our Sunday got started a bit later than planned, but we were still at Salt Pond by 10:00 and secured a place in the shade with a picnic table. Snorkeled and saw our first turtle (we actually saw a turtle every day we snorkeled on this trip…so fun). We hiked out to Drunk Bay, but recent rain/storms had demolished most of the figures that are so fun to see out there. Also hiked out to Ram Head (hot!). Lunch was at Skinny Legs – we always like to go here, but I have to say the food really is not that good. Two over-cooked hamburgers, a burnt hot dog and a dry fish sandwich. Two hours later and several rounds of yummy cocktails and we forgot about the mediocre food.
Back to the villa to relax at the pool. Dinner was at Morgan’s Mango. Generally a good meal (3 of the 4 of us liked what we got). Atmosphere was nice. Overall a good way to end the day.
Monday – We started at Trunk Bay….early. Had the beach almost to ourselves for almost an hour. Snorkeled (another turtle sighting), swam and ran down the beach. From there, we stopped at the villa for a snack/lunch. Then we headed to Coral Bay to hike the Johnny Horn Trail to Brown Bay. In the rain. Yep, it rained almost the entire time, which was actually a good thing since it kept us cool. That is really a tough hike. Lots of up and lots of down. Unlike in prior years when we have done this hike, we actually found that there were other people at Brown Bay when we got there. We enjoyed seeing all the conch at Brown Bay and wading in the water.
Monday night we went to the Caneel Grand Buffet (which explains our running on the beach and the long hike!). The food was excellent. It was pretty expensive ($89 a person I think), but a nice treat once in a while. I am not sure the gals really got our monies worth, but the boys may have come closer. We were also pleasantly surprised when the bartender gave us a free round of drinks before dinner…still not sure why, but it was very cool. Enjoyed cocktail hour watching the sky at sunset.
Tuesday – This could have been our favorite day. We went kayaking out in Elk Bay (http://www.hiddenreefecotours.com) – a three-hour kayak trip and snorkeling. We were in areas that I had never been to at St. John – saw some really cool things and had a great time. Lunch was at Vie’s (about 5 minutes from where the kayak trip started).
Wednesday – Today the group started at Frances. I got in a run on the roads between Maho and Annaberg – the only place I have really found to run in St. John! Great morning. Loved watching the pelicans fish right in front of us. The boys saw a shark when they were snorkeling. Lunch was smoothies at the smoothie stand (0.6 miles from our villa). The gals walked home and we spent the afternoon relaxing by the pool.
Thursday – The morning rained, rained, rained. We didn’t do too much, but got in run and lunch at Shipwreck Landings. Then a little hiking (Cinnamon Bay Trail)…then spent some time at Maho in the late afternoon. Dinner was at Rhumblines – a new place for us – really good. Even though it was raining and we were sitting outside, it was perfect! We shared a bunch of appetizers – all very good.
Friday – Our last full day. We started with a run, then headed out to Waterlemon. Got there early, but there was already a pretty big group out there. This was by far the busiest of the beaches during our trip. Good snorkeling…though a pretty tough swim back to shore. Tons of fish (and turtles) close to shore, was fun just sitting in our beach chairs and watching the barracudas (saw one HUGE barracuda) and other fish. Lunch at the smoothie stand. The afternoon was the Reef Bay Trail – to the bottom and back up – great hike! We had out good-bye dinner at Aqua Bistro – probably our favorite place all week.
Saturday – Home. The end.
I need to get my pictures online and get these shared, too!
Our flight from Chicago was uneventful. We met our friends at the airport where had planned a private taxi (Christopher’s) and private ferry (Dohm’s). All booked through Dohm’s (www. http://www.watertaxi-vi.com). With four of us, it really was the way to go. So much easier/quicker. Never had done this before when it was just two of us travelling.
When we arrived in St. John, there was some confusion with our villa representative regarding waiting for another group that was arriving, but ultimately this was resolved and we were off to Caribbean Jewels. We really liked this villa – great for four people. It has a wonderful deck with an amazing view of Coral Bay. There are two equal-sized bedrooms with en suite bathrooms – one bedroom (1st floor) has a king bed, while the 2nd floor bedroom has a queen. The only potential negative is there is a winding spiral staircase going upstairs – was a bit treacherous going up and down (and definitely hard to get luggage up and down).
Our first evening was spent eating dinner on the deck. We had brought a cooler and other snacks – so our dinner was smoked salmon, a crusty loaf of bread, cheese. We purchased beer and wine when we arrived to complement our food – wonderful!
Sunday – So Sunday morning starts out with my DH locking all of our valuables (money, jewelry, passports, credit cards, etc.) in the safe in our room. But he didn’t test it first – and didn’t reset the code. Yeah, he locked everything in the safe and we couldn’t open it. That was fun. Thankfully, there was a key to unlock the safe – unfortunately, when this was attempted the key broke in the lock. More fun. Haven’t heard so much profanity from DH in quite a while. Villa agency rescued us with an emergency code a couple hours later. Whew.
So our Sunday got started a bit later than planned, but we were still at Salt Pond by 10:00 and secured a place in the shade with a picnic table. Snorkeled and saw our first turtle (we actually saw a turtle every day we snorkeled on this trip…so fun). We hiked out to Drunk Bay, but recent rain/storms had demolished most of the figures that are so fun to see out there. Also hiked out to Ram Head (hot!). Lunch was at Skinny Legs – we always like to go here, but I have to say the food really is not that good. Two over-cooked hamburgers, a burnt hot dog and a dry fish sandwich. Two hours later and several rounds of yummy cocktails and we forgot about the mediocre food.
Back to the villa to relax at the pool. Dinner was at Morgan’s Mango. Generally a good meal (3 of the 4 of us liked what we got). Atmosphere was nice. Overall a good way to end the day.
Monday – We started at Trunk Bay….early. Had the beach almost to ourselves for almost an hour. Snorkeled (another turtle sighting), swam and ran down the beach. From there, we stopped at the villa for a snack/lunch. Then we headed to Coral Bay to hike the Johnny Horn Trail to Brown Bay. In the rain. Yep, it rained almost the entire time, which was actually a good thing since it kept us cool. That is really a tough hike. Lots of up and lots of down. Unlike in prior years when we have done this hike, we actually found that there were other people at Brown Bay when we got there. We enjoyed seeing all the conch at Brown Bay and wading in the water.
Monday night we went to the Caneel Grand Buffet (which explains our running on the beach and the long hike!). The food was excellent. It was pretty expensive ($89 a person I think), but a nice treat once in a while. I am not sure the gals really got our monies worth, but the boys may have come closer. We were also pleasantly surprised when the bartender gave us a free round of drinks before dinner…still not sure why, but it was very cool. Enjoyed cocktail hour watching the sky at sunset.
Tuesday – This could have been our favorite day. We went kayaking out in Elk Bay (http://www.hiddenreefecotours.com) – a three-hour kayak trip and snorkeling. We were in areas that I had never been to at St. John – saw some really cool things and had a great time. Lunch was at Vie’s (about 5 minutes from where the kayak trip started).
Wednesday – Today the group started at Frances. I got in a run on the roads between Maho and Annaberg – the only place I have really found to run in St. John! Great morning. Loved watching the pelicans fish right in front of us. The boys saw a shark when they were snorkeling. Lunch was smoothies at the smoothie stand (0.6 miles from our villa). The gals walked home and we spent the afternoon relaxing by the pool.
Thursday – The morning rained, rained, rained. We didn’t do too much, but got in run and lunch at Shipwreck Landings. Then a little hiking (Cinnamon Bay Trail)…then spent some time at Maho in the late afternoon. Dinner was at Rhumblines – a new place for us – really good. Even though it was raining and we were sitting outside, it was perfect! We shared a bunch of appetizers – all very good.
Friday – Our last full day. We started with a run, then headed out to Waterlemon. Got there early, but there was already a pretty big group out there. This was by far the busiest of the beaches during our trip. Good snorkeling…though a pretty tough swim back to shore. Tons of fish (and turtles) close to shore, was fun just sitting in our beach chairs and watching the barracudas (saw one HUGE barracuda) and other fish. Lunch at the smoothie stand. The afternoon was the Reef Bay Trail – to the bottom and back up – great hike! We had out good-bye dinner at Aqua Bistro – probably our favorite place all week.
Saturday – Home. The end.
I need to get my pictures online and get these shared, too!
