Trip Report Day 2 4/28-5/6
Posted: Mon May 14, 2007 10:41 am
Day 2
We slept fairly well in our nice cold room at the hotel. Woke up feeling refreshed and ready to hop out of bed. It was only 6:30am. Hubby still sleeping and no word from the other room. I decided to throw on clothes and run down to the front desk to see if our missing luggage had been delivered. No luck. The woman at the desk says she's not surprised since it was Carnival and they probably didn't want to fight traffic. I head back to the room hoping that it will be delivered before we want to head for the ferry. The view from on top of the hill was gorgeous that morning. It was almost completely quiet and it seemed so secluded. I wandered the property a bit and decided time for hubby to get up! I went back to the room and he was ready to be up. Now, of our group he and I are the ones who are usually the ones who sleep in and everyone else is up and about. We found that not to be the case on this trip. I called the other room about 8:00 and they were up, but not moving fast. They wanted to know where we were going to eat breakfast. I was the travel director of course! I hadn't even considered breakfast. I was good with a granola bar and a ride to the ferry dock. They weren't so thrilled with that idea. Decided to wait a little longer hoping our luggage would arrive and then we'd get a taxi and head towards Red Hook. About 15 minutes later my mom called to say the front desk called them saying our luggage had arrived. I quickly ran down to the desk and it was there. I've never been so happy to see my clothes!! After having a choice of clothes. J and I were dressed and packed up and waiting on the curb for the rest of the crew. They arrived and we got in a taxi. Very nice woman driving who says Maggie Malone's serves breakfast and we can walk to the ferry dock from there. Sounds perfect and I'd heard good things about the restaurant. We had a good ride and hopped out of the van and put all our luggage on the stairs. The family was ecstatic because they could have their big breakfast. I was able to get down ½ BLT and the excitement was too great for anything more. Everyone thought their food was good and the prices were affordable. We really felt like we were on vacation by now! We drug our luggage back down to the dock and got in line for the tickets. Called Cimarron to tell them we'd be on the 11:00 ferry. The sun was beating down as we waited in line. The booth finally opened, bought tickets and bag tags and onward to the boat. Everything was going so smoothly it was almost scary!! Headed to the top deck of the ferry and the boat left pretty quick. The ride over was so perfect. I don't think any of our group stopped smiling the entire time! We enjoyed the views and in not time we were pulling up to St. John. My husband and bro's girlfriend were definitely amazed as we approached since they'd never been before.
We were the last people off the ferry and our luggage was there and ready to go. I saw a woman holding a sign with our name and she was laughing saying we had to be the group she was waiting on because everyone else was gone! Dad and I got in and went to get the cars from St. John Car Rental. The rest of the crew stayed with the luggage and I found out shortly grabbed some drinks while they waited. We got our vehicles. One Jeep Liberty and one four door Vitara. Both in very good condition and everything in working order. The Liberty only had 500 miles on it, but the Vitara had about 20,000. Headed back to the dock, threw the bags in and we were off. The rental agent drove in front pointing out several things along the way. It was so much fun to see all the restaurants, shops, etc that I'd read so much about come into view!
We took the road past the Westin to get to our Villa and it we had some crazy laughs as we took a couple of switchbacks and marveled that our car could actually get us there. We came to the gate of Villa Capiz and I think we were almost awestruck from that moment. The cleaning service was still at the Villa since we arrived so early. She had all of the wooden doors open so there was a terrific view of the water and hills all around. I can't say enough about this Villa. It's an older Villa, but in good condition. The pool and the two decks and hot tub were fantastic. The upstairs had a kitchen and dining/living area with furniture all in good condition. Then a smaller bedroom with a queen bed and a bathroom. The hot tub and great seating area were on the top deck. Then you took the stairs down on either side of the deck to the two king bed suites. Mom and Dad were in one and we were in the other. Both were almost identical except one had a stereo and the other a tv. Each had it's own bathroom with large showers that had doors that opened to the view! Loved taking showers with the doors open. The bedrooms were separated in a way that we found to be plenty private. The pool and lounge chairs were on the lower deck. We stood on the deck and just let it all sink in for quite awhile. Then, we needed to get out of the maid's way so we unloaded our luggage and headed back out to find drinks and a meal. Our villa agent had tried to tell me how to use Centerline to get into Cruz Bay. Well, I found Centerline, but turned right instead of left and I knew we were headed towards Coral Bay when we came to Chateau Bordeaux. I kept going and they kept following. It was fun because we were seeing the island and we really didn't care about anything else. Came to Skinny Legs and stopped. Drinks were ordered and some water was gulped down. I don't even remember what drinks, but they were good! I orderd the bleu cheese burger and it was soooo good. A big tropical shower came threw while we ate and it was so cool to sit there with good company and good food/drinks while feeling the cool breeze and smelling the rain. Can't beat it. Shower past and we shopped a bit before hitting the road. They had Reef flip flops on clearance for 20 bucks. Two of us bought pairs and headed back to the villa. We hit the pool, had more drinks, hit the hot tub, continued with drinks. Oh yeah, we'd placed an order with Mixology prior to arrival and it had all been delivered to the villa. Very convenient! We also had stopped at Pine Peace and Dolphin to get a couple of things. The evening went on like that and about 8:00 a few people decided they wanted dinner. Of course no one wanted to go get food! Dad and I finally decided to try to hunt something up to bring back. Not entirely easy on a Sunday night. BBQ not open, we headed to Starfish and we were going to buy sandwich stuff if nothing else. We were very impressed with Starfish Market. I also found a lot of the prices there to be cheaper than at the smaller stores. Surprising! We ended up finding the Chinese place and ordered a few of their dinners to take back for a Chinese Buffet. We enjoyed the food and watched a little tv. At this point we started to realize if we were outside we were getting bit regardless of the bug spray! It was such a perfect arrival day and we couldn't have been happier!
We slept fairly well in our nice cold room at the hotel. Woke up feeling refreshed and ready to hop out of bed. It was only 6:30am. Hubby still sleeping and no word from the other room. I decided to throw on clothes and run down to the front desk to see if our missing luggage had been delivered. No luck. The woman at the desk says she's not surprised since it was Carnival and they probably didn't want to fight traffic. I head back to the room hoping that it will be delivered before we want to head for the ferry. The view from on top of the hill was gorgeous that morning. It was almost completely quiet and it seemed so secluded. I wandered the property a bit and decided time for hubby to get up! I went back to the room and he was ready to be up. Now, of our group he and I are the ones who are usually the ones who sleep in and everyone else is up and about. We found that not to be the case on this trip. I called the other room about 8:00 and they were up, but not moving fast. They wanted to know where we were going to eat breakfast. I was the travel director of course! I hadn't even considered breakfast. I was good with a granola bar and a ride to the ferry dock. They weren't so thrilled with that idea. Decided to wait a little longer hoping our luggage would arrive and then we'd get a taxi and head towards Red Hook. About 15 minutes later my mom called to say the front desk called them saying our luggage had arrived. I quickly ran down to the desk and it was there. I've never been so happy to see my clothes!! After having a choice of clothes. J and I were dressed and packed up and waiting on the curb for the rest of the crew. They arrived and we got in a taxi. Very nice woman driving who says Maggie Malone's serves breakfast and we can walk to the ferry dock from there. Sounds perfect and I'd heard good things about the restaurant. We had a good ride and hopped out of the van and put all our luggage on the stairs. The family was ecstatic because they could have their big breakfast. I was able to get down ½ BLT and the excitement was too great for anything more. Everyone thought their food was good and the prices were affordable. We really felt like we were on vacation by now! We drug our luggage back down to the dock and got in line for the tickets. Called Cimarron to tell them we'd be on the 11:00 ferry. The sun was beating down as we waited in line. The booth finally opened, bought tickets and bag tags and onward to the boat. Everything was going so smoothly it was almost scary!! Headed to the top deck of the ferry and the boat left pretty quick. The ride over was so perfect. I don't think any of our group stopped smiling the entire time! We enjoyed the views and in not time we were pulling up to St. John. My husband and bro's girlfriend were definitely amazed as we approached since they'd never been before.
We were the last people off the ferry and our luggage was there and ready to go. I saw a woman holding a sign with our name and she was laughing saying we had to be the group she was waiting on because everyone else was gone! Dad and I got in and went to get the cars from St. John Car Rental. The rest of the crew stayed with the luggage and I found out shortly grabbed some drinks while they waited. We got our vehicles. One Jeep Liberty and one four door Vitara. Both in very good condition and everything in working order. The Liberty only had 500 miles on it, but the Vitara had about 20,000. Headed back to the dock, threw the bags in and we were off. The rental agent drove in front pointing out several things along the way. It was so much fun to see all the restaurants, shops, etc that I'd read so much about come into view!
We took the road past the Westin to get to our Villa and it we had some crazy laughs as we took a couple of switchbacks and marveled that our car could actually get us there. We came to the gate of Villa Capiz and I think we were almost awestruck from that moment. The cleaning service was still at the Villa since we arrived so early. She had all of the wooden doors open so there was a terrific view of the water and hills all around. I can't say enough about this Villa. It's an older Villa, but in good condition. The pool and the two decks and hot tub were fantastic. The upstairs had a kitchen and dining/living area with furniture all in good condition. Then a smaller bedroom with a queen bed and a bathroom. The hot tub and great seating area were on the top deck. Then you took the stairs down on either side of the deck to the two king bed suites. Mom and Dad were in one and we were in the other. Both were almost identical except one had a stereo and the other a tv. Each had it's own bathroom with large showers that had doors that opened to the view! Loved taking showers with the doors open. The bedrooms were separated in a way that we found to be plenty private. The pool and lounge chairs were on the lower deck. We stood on the deck and just let it all sink in for quite awhile. Then, we needed to get out of the maid's way so we unloaded our luggage and headed back out to find drinks and a meal. Our villa agent had tried to tell me how to use Centerline to get into Cruz Bay. Well, I found Centerline, but turned right instead of left and I knew we were headed towards Coral Bay when we came to Chateau Bordeaux. I kept going and they kept following. It was fun because we were seeing the island and we really didn't care about anything else. Came to Skinny Legs and stopped. Drinks were ordered and some water was gulped down. I don't even remember what drinks, but they were good! I orderd the bleu cheese burger and it was soooo good. A big tropical shower came threw while we ate and it was so cool to sit there with good company and good food/drinks while feeling the cool breeze and smelling the rain. Can't beat it. Shower past and we shopped a bit before hitting the road. They had Reef flip flops on clearance for 20 bucks. Two of us bought pairs and headed back to the villa. We hit the pool, had more drinks, hit the hot tub, continued with drinks. Oh yeah, we'd placed an order with Mixology prior to arrival and it had all been delivered to the villa. Very convenient! We also had stopped at Pine Peace and Dolphin to get a couple of things. The evening went on like that and about 8:00 a few people decided they wanted dinner. Of course no one wanted to go get food! Dad and I finally decided to try to hunt something up to bring back. Not entirely easy on a Sunday night. BBQ not open, we headed to Starfish and we were going to buy sandwich stuff if nothing else. We were very impressed with Starfish Market. I also found a lot of the prices there to be cheaper than at the smaller stores. Surprising! We ended up finding the Chinese place and ordered a few of their dinners to take back for a Chinese Buffet. We enjoyed the food and watched a little tv. At this point we started to realize if we were outside we were getting bit regardless of the bug spray! It was such a perfect arrival day and we couldn't have been happier!