Trip Report - St John with my boys - Part one
Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 1:52 pm
Departure day 08/08
Up at 3:45 AM to be to the airport by 4:30. We were lucky to find an affordable flight out of our local airport, rather than having to leave from Detroit.
The flight left on time, and since it had wifi, I was able to finish a large amount of my work on the first leg. The flight change in Atlanta was uneventful and on time. For the limited amount of time I had wifi, I was able to finish up a little more work. The flight was a little rough and very hazy coming in, I blame the Sahara Dust. Regardless of the haze, it was a beautiful day to deplane, and we landed right on time at 1:30. We took our shot, grabbed our bags, and headed for Red Hook. We had hot dogs and beer at the dock, while waiting for the 3PM ferry. The crossing was beautiful and calm, and while my boys waiting on the dock for our luggage I went up to St John Spice to grab my VIOL bracelet.
A quick stop at Conrad Sutton to grab our Jeep (I chickened out of my idea to go a few days without one), and we were off behind our greeter up to Palm Breezes at Battery Hill. First impressions of the condo were positive, the view is great and the condo is lovely. We dropped our stuff and headed for Starfish for some shopping.
After putting the groceries away, we headed down to High Tide for dinner. I enjoy their conch fritters, so in addition to the appetizer order of conch fritters I shared with my boys, I had another order for my dinner. After a walk along the beach, we headed back up to the condo for the evening. My oldest headed off to bed, while my youngest son and I sat out on the deck with the cigars we had picked up earlier at Starfish Gourmet and enjoyed the twinkling lights of St Thomas in the distance and the music drifting up from the Beach Bar. After finishing up a bit more work, we went off to bed.
Friday 08/09
Up early and off to Maho. We arrived early enough to grab a front row parking spot and a great beach spot.
DSC_0001 by heidifunk, on Flickr
We grabbed our snorkel gear and headed for the water. A quick refresher course for my boys, since it had been a long time since they had snorkeled (13 years) and we were off. I didn't bring my camera with me for this snorkel, as I wanted to be focused on the boys and how they were doing. Turtles and rays were abundant on our way across the sea grass. The right side snorkel was a good one, with plenty of the usual suspects as well as an eel. We spent a good amount of time out there, then headed back to the beach because the boys were hungry (that would tun out to be a constant for this trip!) We enjoyed our water bottles filled with beer while soaking in the sun.
DSC_0004 by heidifunk, on Flickr
My oldest was pushing hard for more food than what we had packed, so we decided to stop at Pink Corner, since I wanted to show my boys the other side of the island, and my oldest wanted to try some true west indian food. We were greeted by Coral Bay's ever present donkey herd
DSC_0010 by heidifunk, on Flickr
My youngest and I, having been satisfied with the cooler sandwiches, had sour sop ice cream and tamarind juice. My oldest had the goat curry and a sour sop smoothie.
A quick scan of the sky showed it appeared to be a pretty clear day. We decided to head out to lamshur, since the morning had been dry. My boys enjoyed laughing at my angst with the hill. We had a lovely snorkel, as it was quite clear. I only took a few pictures though, as I was still focused on the kids. The usual school, just off the shoreline
150_0223 by heidifunk, on Flickr
We had some fun exploring the ruins
150_0239 by heidifunk, on Flickr
As we got back to our stuff, the sky opened up with a barrage of rain. I wanted to wait it out (fear of the hill in the rain), but my boys wanted to head out. I foolishly carried my shoes all the way to the car, and just before I got in, I stepped on a piece of a catch n keep branch. Although I pulled it off my foot, this would prove to be a mistake that would haunt me for the rest of my vacation.
I worried all the way to the hill about driving up it in the pouring rain, but with great timing the rain stopped just as we got to it. I was still a little apprehensive about it, as the the road was wet, but I forged ahead. I was feeling pretty good after that, since I conquered my fear of driving out there on wet roads.
We headed back to town, had showers, and met up with ERL for dinner at Sogos. It was a lovely evening, and we had the sweetest waitress that we chatted with for a long time after finishing our food. This was my first time to Sogos, but definitely won't be my last.
Back up to the condo, we enjoyed ERL's famous cookies that she was kind enough to bring us and had our first ever taste of Gnips. Both were delicious. We turned in early knowing we had to be up early for our BVI trip in the morning.
Up at 3:45 AM to be to the airport by 4:30. We were lucky to find an affordable flight out of our local airport, rather than having to leave from Detroit.
The flight left on time, and since it had wifi, I was able to finish a large amount of my work on the first leg. The flight change in Atlanta was uneventful and on time. For the limited amount of time I had wifi, I was able to finish up a little more work. The flight was a little rough and very hazy coming in, I blame the Sahara Dust. Regardless of the haze, it was a beautiful day to deplane, and we landed right on time at 1:30. We took our shot, grabbed our bags, and headed for Red Hook. We had hot dogs and beer at the dock, while waiting for the 3PM ferry. The crossing was beautiful and calm, and while my boys waiting on the dock for our luggage I went up to St John Spice to grab my VIOL bracelet.
A quick stop at Conrad Sutton to grab our Jeep (I chickened out of my idea to go a few days without one), and we were off behind our greeter up to Palm Breezes at Battery Hill. First impressions of the condo were positive, the view is great and the condo is lovely. We dropped our stuff and headed for Starfish for some shopping.
After putting the groceries away, we headed down to High Tide for dinner. I enjoy their conch fritters, so in addition to the appetizer order of conch fritters I shared with my boys, I had another order for my dinner. After a walk along the beach, we headed back up to the condo for the evening. My oldest headed off to bed, while my youngest son and I sat out on the deck with the cigars we had picked up earlier at Starfish Gourmet and enjoyed the twinkling lights of St Thomas in the distance and the music drifting up from the Beach Bar. After finishing up a bit more work, we went off to bed.
Friday 08/09
Up early and off to Maho. We arrived early enough to grab a front row parking spot and a great beach spot.
DSC_0001 by heidifunk, on Flickr
We grabbed our snorkel gear and headed for the water. A quick refresher course for my boys, since it had been a long time since they had snorkeled (13 years) and we were off. I didn't bring my camera with me for this snorkel, as I wanted to be focused on the boys and how they were doing. Turtles and rays were abundant on our way across the sea grass. The right side snorkel was a good one, with plenty of the usual suspects as well as an eel. We spent a good amount of time out there, then headed back to the beach because the boys were hungry (that would tun out to be a constant for this trip!) We enjoyed our water bottles filled with beer while soaking in the sun.
DSC_0004 by heidifunk, on Flickr
My oldest was pushing hard for more food than what we had packed, so we decided to stop at Pink Corner, since I wanted to show my boys the other side of the island, and my oldest wanted to try some true west indian food. We were greeted by Coral Bay's ever present donkey herd
DSC_0010 by heidifunk, on Flickr
My youngest and I, having been satisfied with the cooler sandwiches, had sour sop ice cream and tamarind juice. My oldest had the goat curry and a sour sop smoothie.
A quick scan of the sky showed it appeared to be a pretty clear day. We decided to head out to lamshur, since the morning had been dry. My boys enjoyed laughing at my angst with the hill. We had a lovely snorkel, as it was quite clear. I only took a few pictures though, as I was still focused on the kids. The usual school, just off the shoreline
150_0223 by heidifunk, on Flickr
We had some fun exploring the ruins
150_0239 by heidifunk, on Flickr
As we got back to our stuff, the sky opened up with a barrage of rain. I wanted to wait it out (fear of the hill in the rain), but my boys wanted to head out. I foolishly carried my shoes all the way to the car, and just before I got in, I stepped on a piece of a catch n keep branch. Although I pulled it off my foot, this would prove to be a mistake that would haunt me for the rest of my vacation.
I worried all the way to the hill about driving up it in the pouring rain, but with great timing the rain stopped just as we got to it. I was still a little apprehensive about it, as the the road was wet, but I forged ahead. I was feeling pretty good after that, since I conquered my fear of driving out there on wet roads.
We headed back to town, had showers, and met up with ERL for dinner at Sogos. It was a lovely evening, and we had the sweetest waitress that we chatted with for a long time after finishing our food. This was my first time to Sogos, but definitely won't be my last.
Back up to the condo, we enjoyed ERL's famous cookies that she was kind enough to bring us and had our first ever taste of Gnips. Both were delicious. We turned in early knowing we had to be up early for our BVI trip in the morning.
