The British are coming!
Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2013 4:23 pm
We enjoyed a long awaited reunion with our friends, Nigel and Sally, who flew from blustery London to spend 6 days with us in STJ. We met them in St. Lucia 6 years ago and have been great friends ever since.
11/8 was travel day. We flew EWR-SJU-STT with no issues. We made the 4pm ferry and picked up our jeep from Penn's by 4:30. We stopped at Starfish to get breakfast food, snacks and drinks since we planned on eating meals out. We arrived at the house shortly after. In 2011, we bought our own little piece of the rock. It was unfinished so we had a builder finish it and add a pool. We moved in last November and it took 2 more short trips to complete the builder's punch list but it is done. We unpacked the suitcases, made some drinks and snacks and settled in to wait for the Rileys to arrive on the 11pm ferry.
11/9 - we woke to a beautiful day! We were truly fortunate with the weather in that we only had showers at night except for 1 brief afternoon shower. Anyway, we embarked on a jeep tour of the island. We traveled the North Shore Rd. stopping at the overlooks and Peace Hill. We managed to see all the island fauna during their stay:deer, mongoose, cows, donkeys, goats, sheep, coconut retrievers, iguanas, and hermit crabs. We chose Francis Bay for the first island snorkel since we usually have very good luck seeing turtles there. About 5 minutes in, we saw our first turtle! We also saw barracudas, a porcupinefish, bar jacks, and more turtles. We continued the tour and made our way to Shipwreck Tavern for lunch. Sally and I had the special mahi tacos which were great! I had a very good cocktail but I can't remember what it was! A Passionfruit daquiri, maybe? It wasn't frozen. We then drove back so we could check out the East End Rd. We finished the tour along the Centerline Rd. and passed the fork which I see has since been replaced! Time for a short nap which we all needed after the long travel the previous day. We drove to Cruz Bay intending to have a drink at Motu before dinner but it was packed. So, we just wandered early up to La Tapa and they were able to seat us right away. I had made reservations for most of the nights but I don't know if any were needed, except for Zozo's ( actually, since it is dark in there, I don't even know if that was full ). All of our meals were excellent. I had wahoo crudo and a pasta with vegetables dish.
11/10 - another clear day! We drove out to Annaberg and toured the ruins. We then made our way down the trail to Waterlemon. We swam out around the cay and it was awesome as usual, though it was probably the strongest current we have had out there. We saw all the usual suspects ( smooth trunkfish, parrotfish-stoplight, princess and striped, bluestriped grunt, puddingwife, a huge scrawled filefish,) and I saw my first Queen Angelfish! So exciting! Then we swam over towards the point but it was getting pretty rough. We spotted 2 starfish, a needlefish and a stingray along the way. We swam back along the rocky coast. After packing up, we cut through the trees to walk along the path so we wouldn't have to step over people on the beach. I had never seen the little ruin back there before. Strange noises were coming from it which turned out to be hundreds of hermit crabs. The long swim made us all hungry so off we went to Aqua Bistro. We sat at the bar so we had a lovely water view. I had a conch sandwich and washed it down with some cold Presidentes. Back to the house for pool time! Dinner that evening was at Rhumb Lines. We shared a bunch of their pupu menu items which were all good. I had the Sing's 410 steak with the potato gratin which was excellent. The others had mahi ( special and menu version ).
11/11 - Palm Tree Charters day! We had a great day on the water with John. We snorkeled the Indians and the Caves and then did a drift snorkel at Norman Island where we saw a nurse shark. Then we went to the Willy T for lunch. Wahoo sandwiches and painkillers - yum! We had one more snorkel stop and finished the day at the Soggy Dollar. Dinner that night was at Fatty Crab which is definitely one of our favorites! They have a great cocktails menu and the menu is out of this world. We ordered a bunch of dishes to share and everything was excellent!
11/12 - My husband had to work at the house so we packed up some chairs, drinks and snacks and went to Maho. There was hardly anyone there and Sally and I enjoyed some beach time while Nigel snorkeled. He was thrilled to discover multiple huge tarpons along the right hand side of the beach. Sally and I joined him and we swam with them too. The bait fish made it hard to see much else but we did see a few things. We picked up Doug and went to lunch at Banana Deck. We sat up top for the view and were entertained by several iguanas in the yard. We went to Hawksnest after lunch and had a nice snorkel there. Lots of baby fish. We planned on going to Virgin Fire for dinner but they had a wedding reception so we tried Ocean Grill instead. Highlights were the grilled Brie sandwich appetizer, panko eggplant tower app, and a proscuitto stuffed chicken entree that was fantastic! My tuna special was good but I think the other fish special that Sally had was better.
11/13 - We drove out to Salt Pond and hiked the Ram Head trail. It was longer than we thought but not too difficult. Really beautiful views at the end! We snorkeled after but the visibility wasn't great. We had a great lunch at the Tourist Trap and a nice conversation with Mary! Back to the house for some rum punch and a book by the pool. Dinner was at Zozo's. What a beautiful setting and view! We had champagne and toasted our friendship. I had the pappardelle and the swordfish which were both excellent. Doug had a spring roll app and the jumbo shrimp with risotto. It was a wonderful finale to the trip.
11/14 - departure day. We picked up sandwiches at Deli Grotto to take over to STT since the airport food isn't very good. We had flights only 25 minutes apart so we bid goodbye to Nigel and Sally and flew home to EWR. Nigel and Sally made it to MIA where their connecting flight was canceled because of engine trouble so they got an extra day in the sun. Lucky them!
11/8 was travel day. We flew EWR-SJU-STT with no issues. We made the 4pm ferry and picked up our jeep from Penn's by 4:30. We stopped at Starfish to get breakfast food, snacks and drinks since we planned on eating meals out. We arrived at the house shortly after. In 2011, we bought our own little piece of the rock. It was unfinished so we had a builder finish it and add a pool. We moved in last November and it took 2 more short trips to complete the builder's punch list but it is done. We unpacked the suitcases, made some drinks and snacks and settled in to wait for the Rileys to arrive on the 11pm ferry.
11/9 - we woke to a beautiful day! We were truly fortunate with the weather in that we only had showers at night except for 1 brief afternoon shower. Anyway, we embarked on a jeep tour of the island. We traveled the North Shore Rd. stopping at the overlooks and Peace Hill. We managed to see all the island fauna during their stay:deer, mongoose, cows, donkeys, goats, sheep, coconut retrievers, iguanas, and hermit crabs. We chose Francis Bay for the first island snorkel since we usually have very good luck seeing turtles there. About 5 minutes in, we saw our first turtle! We also saw barracudas, a porcupinefish, bar jacks, and more turtles. We continued the tour and made our way to Shipwreck Tavern for lunch. Sally and I had the special mahi tacos which were great! I had a very good cocktail but I can't remember what it was! A Passionfruit daquiri, maybe? It wasn't frozen. We then drove back so we could check out the East End Rd. We finished the tour along the Centerline Rd. and passed the fork which I see has since been replaced! Time for a short nap which we all needed after the long travel the previous day. We drove to Cruz Bay intending to have a drink at Motu before dinner but it was packed. So, we just wandered early up to La Tapa and they were able to seat us right away. I had made reservations for most of the nights but I don't know if any were needed, except for Zozo's ( actually, since it is dark in there, I don't even know if that was full ). All of our meals were excellent. I had wahoo crudo and a pasta with vegetables dish.
11/10 - another clear day! We drove out to Annaberg and toured the ruins. We then made our way down the trail to Waterlemon. We swam out around the cay and it was awesome as usual, though it was probably the strongest current we have had out there. We saw all the usual suspects ( smooth trunkfish, parrotfish-stoplight, princess and striped, bluestriped grunt, puddingwife, a huge scrawled filefish,) and I saw my first Queen Angelfish! So exciting! Then we swam over towards the point but it was getting pretty rough. We spotted 2 starfish, a needlefish and a stingray along the way. We swam back along the rocky coast. After packing up, we cut through the trees to walk along the path so we wouldn't have to step over people on the beach. I had never seen the little ruin back there before. Strange noises were coming from it which turned out to be hundreds of hermit crabs. The long swim made us all hungry so off we went to Aqua Bistro. We sat at the bar so we had a lovely water view. I had a conch sandwich and washed it down with some cold Presidentes. Back to the house for pool time! Dinner that evening was at Rhumb Lines. We shared a bunch of their pupu menu items which were all good. I had the Sing's 410 steak with the potato gratin which was excellent. The others had mahi ( special and menu version ).
11/11 - Palm Tree Charters day! We had a great day on the water with John. We snorkeled the Indians and the Caves and then did a drift snorkel at Norman Island where we saw a nurse shark. Then we went to the Willy T for lunch. Wahoo sandwiches and painkillers - yum! We had one more snorkel stop and finished the day at the Soggy Dollar. Dinner that night was at Fatty Crab which is definitely one of our favorites! They have a great cocktails menu and the menu is out of this world. We ordered a bunch of dishes to share and everything was excellent!
11/12 - My husband had to work at the house so we packed up some chairs, drinks and snacks and went to Maho. There was hardly anyone there and Sally and I enjoyed some beach time while Nigel snorkeled. He was thrilled to discover multiple huge tarpons along the right hand side of the beach. Sally and I joined him and we swam with them too. The bait fish made it hard to see much else but we did see a few things. We picked up Doug and went to lunch at Banana Deck. We sat up top for the view and were entertained by several iguanas in the yard. We went to Hawksnest after lunch and had a nice snorkel there. Lots of baby fish. We planned on going to Virgin Fire for dinner but they had a wedding reception so we tried Ocean Grill instead. Highlights were the grilled Brie sandwich appetizer, panko eggplant tower app, and a proscuitto stuffed chicken entree that was fantastic! My tuna special was good but I think the other fish special that Sally had was better.
11/13 - We drove out to Salt Pond and hiked the Ram Head trail. It was longer than we thought but not too difficult. Really beautiful views at the end! We snorkeled after but the visibility wasn't great. We had a great lunch at the Tourist Trap and a nice conversation with Mary! Back to the house for some rum punch and a book by the pool. Dinner was at Zozo's. What a beautiful setting and view! We had champagne and toasted our friendship. I had the pappardelle and the swordfish which were both excellent. Doug had a spring roll app and the jumbo shrimp with risotto. It was a wonderful finale to the trip.
11/14 - departure day. We picked up sandwiches at Deli Grotto to take over to STT since the airport food isn't very good. We had flights only 25 minutes apart so we bid goodbye to Nigel and Sally and flew home to EWR. Nigel and Sally made it to MIA where their connecting flight was canceled because of engine trouble so they got an extra day in the sun. Lucky them!
