Trip Report 4/21 - 4/29, Part I
Posted: Sat May 19, 2007 5:26 pm
Long overdue trip report. Sorry!!!
Day 1 - Sat., 4/21
Flying American Airlines. When we originally booked our flight, we were leaving on a non-stop flight at 9:30 out of Logan - but, by date of travel - it got moved to 10:40. Argh! - Oh, well - at least still a non-stop flight. Just disappointed to lose 1 hour in "paradise".
Longest security line we had ever seen at Logan. Really bizarre. Everyone else was remarking about it, as well. But, eventually made it through - and flight went beautifully.
Getting closer & closer to St. Thomas we get the confirmation that it is raining. Oh, well - how bad could that be? Little did we know what was to be ahead for us for the week. Oh - how naïve and innocent.
Anyway - had to be extra careful going down the "portable stairs" from the aircraft onto the tarmac, as it was quite wet, with the rain pouring down & all. Grabbed our rum punch & waited for our luggage. Not too long of a wait & off to grab a cab to Red Hook. We get virtually thrown into a full cab. I get to ride "shotgun" and hubby gets thrown in the "way back". Still raining - but, love all those hairpin turns up & around Mafolie. Great Views!!
Beautiful new ferry building at Red Hook - but, not any activity in it. While Jim waited with the luggage, I went to the ticket line for our ferry tickets & baggage tags. Struck up a really nice conversation with another woman. We were chit-chatting about this - that - and the other thing. Found out that she and her husband were going to St. John for the most part of the week - then to Secret Harbour for a couple of nights at the end of their trip. (Just like us!) And our days at Secret Harbour would overlap slightly - too cool. Then - don't ask me how - but, somehow "the forum" came into the conversation. And I said I was "Suefromma" and she said that she didn't post often - but, that her name was "saint". She was so nice. - And the funniest thing is that when my husband & I started talking a little bit about the van ride from the airport to Red Hook, he said that there was a really nice lady on the van who turned around & spoke with him - & of course, it was the same person. It is amazing what a small world it seems to be, when you are traveling on the islands.
The "4:00" Red Hook left at 4:30. Just a gentle reminder to us that we are now on "island time". Got rained on, again, as we approached Cruz Bay. Got that "all familiar" coming home feeling.
Saw some interesting activity on the water to the left of Cruz Bay Harbor. Saw a couple of marine patrol boats and snorkelers in the waters (in an area where snorkelers should not be). Thought that maybe the snorkelers were being told to get out of that area - yet they didn't seem to be stopping snorkeling. Didn't know what to make it. Much later in the week - saint's husband told us that he heard that it was the coast guard in the water snorkeling looking for a boater who got thrown from his boat while hitting a wave the wrong way, due to out of control speed. Brother - sad to hear that someone lost his life - but, as boater's ourselves, we are always amazed when we hear of instances, such as these, that could so easily have been avoided - if only common sense ruled instead of someone taking such foolish & dangerous risks.
Crazy mayhem in Cruz Bay as the tons of luggage got set on the dock & people were like vultures trying to snag their stuff. Unorganized chaos. Oh- well. Got ours & strolled off to St. John Car Rental. Very happy with their service - got a nice Jeep Wrangler & headed to Estate Lindholm. So, nice to know our way around.
Upon arriving at Estate Lindholm, we couldn't find the reception area - so, we ran into a nice couple who helped us. And - again, low and behold - really nice forum buddy "lavender" and her husband were the first people that we met at Estate Lindholm. They were so nice in helping us find the owner & not just letting us roam around aimlessly. Too cool that they were nice to us & they didn't even know at the time that we were "family".
Lauren, one of the owners, showed us around the lovely grounds & brought us to our room. Beautiful, simply decorated main room with gorgeous bed & super comfortable leather couch!! Nice little kitchenette area with refrigerator, microwave & coffeemaker. Spacious bathroom with huge shower with a wonderful view of St. Thomas & other little islands. Truly beautiful! - Also, a very nice-sized deck with lovely views of Cruz Bay & nieghboring islands. Truly lovely accomodations!
First walkway when you enter the grounds of Estate Lindholm
View from our balcony
After getting settled in our fantastic room - we went to the pool area to chill for a couple of minutes.
Our staircase to the grounds of Estate Lindholm
Gorgeous pool area
We had a wonderful time chatting with "lavender & hubby". I am telling you - this forum has the "nicest" people!! We could have hung out with them for hours - but, we were starving & wanted to head out for a bite to eat. They recommended Morgan's Mango. As we had never been there before, we decided to go.
Love that place! And their BBC's were fantastic!!! We also both had the Citrus Chicken which was really great. Only complaint - it is on the bone & takes a bit of work to get at all the meat - and I am a "lazy" boneless chicken girl. But, knew that I would enjoy the flavor - which I really did. Oh - and the music was great - Nora Jones, really nice & the balcony setting was lovely. You get that "cool" ambiance of the road traffic. Too funny that locale can actually be cool & charming - but that it was!
Headed to Mixology to grab a bottle of rum. Had a hard time finding it, but finally did. We parked up near Chilly Billy's and walked down. Of course, as we left the store, it started absolutely pouring - it was coming down in sheets. We were thinking "what the heck is this all about" - again, little did we know that this was to become a nightly occurance. We "bonded" with the owner of Mixlogy for about an hour - got to know him really well. Finally made it "home" to Estate Lindholm.
Day 2 - Sunday, April 22
Awoke to a lovely day. Picked up some complimentary beach towels, grabbed some beach chairs & a soft sided cooler. The amenities here at Estate Lindholm are fantastic.
Headed to Miss Lucy's for brunch. As always, love the drive out to Coral Bay.
Cactus on large boulder on the way to Coral Bay
Made a point to locate Shipwreck Landing, as we knew we wanted to try to get there this trip - based on all the glowing reviews.
Arrived at Miss Lucy's - goats running all around the place. Their pen had gotten flooded the night before - so, we were told that they were trying to keep them out of the pen til it dried up some more. I was actually surprised that the goats did not at all mill around the dining tables & we were not at all affected by them being out of their pen.
Great start to the day with a Mimosa & Pain Perdu at the water's edge.
Okay - here is our 1st Food Porn entry!
Pain Perdu at Miss Lucy's "Yummo!"
Jazz combo was good - but, all in all, not as memorable as our first experience there. Had a little dead battery problem with the Jeep - but, just attributed it to maybe leaving the lights on. Employees of Miss Lucy's gave us a complimentary jump - very nice guys - and we were on our way.
Where to go?? As it was our first full day - we didn't want to hop from place to place. So, we went to our "tried and true" Cinnamon. LOVE that beach. We had a blast playing in the waves. I swear some were at least 5 feet tall. Awesome. Didn't bother snorkeling, as it looked pretty rough out there. Plus - we were lazy & just wanted to enjoy the scenery & warm water & soft sand!!
Surf at Cinnamon Bay
Headed to the Beach Bar for a quick drink & to enjoy the Sunday Jazz band. Sorry folks - but, the BBC was not as good as Morgan's. The jazz band was just okay & of course, it started to sprinkle. Happy that being able to park at St. John Car Rental was so convenient.
We returned to Estate Lindhom & got all "glammed up" for our romantic dinner at Asolare. For those of you who might not know, Asolare is actually adjacent to Estate Lindhom and in reality was actually part of the entire property & owned by the grandfather of the current owners of Estate Lindholm. Anyway - great to be able to just "walk" to dinner.
We were seated at a lovely table with a great view. Took a couple of photos of the harbour. Had our waitress take our photo. Then ordered our drinks, appetizer & meal. Before we even were served our wine - all hell broke lose. It started with a little rain patter. Then the wind picked up. The staff started rolling down these rope/net-type blinds that I guess the intent or purpose is to "hold the rain out". But, in this case - it didn't work and actually made things worse. All it took was a few good gusts of wind and the blinds came whipping into the porch, knocking over drinking glasses & hurricane lamps. We heard glass breaking everywhere. Then they started to move us all to tables closer to the inside dining room. As it was pretty obvious to see that the weather looked like it was going to stay around and that we were all going to moved into a room that was most likely already reserved to capacity. We took this as our cue to make a reservation for another evening and hope for better weather and a better experience.
Asolare - incredible downpour & wind
We must have waited a good 30-45 minutes just waiting for the rain to let up a little. Finally did a little - so, we headed up to our jeep to head into town. Said a quick "hello" to "Lavender & hubby" and commiserated about the crappy weather. We tried to go to Café Roma - closed, we tried Banana Deck - closed, we tried Lime Inn - closed. That was it. By that time, I needed a drink & I knew where I could get a great one. So, back to Morgan's Mango for another BBC. We just had cheeseburgers - and they were great. And "yes" the BBC was just as good as the first night.
On a funny note - we started a conversation with a couple sitting at a table near-by. They were staying at Caneel (as a freebie from the wife's work - as she had qualified based on an incentive thing). Anyway, we are thinking "wow - you guys a so lucky". Then the husband asks where we are staying & we tell him & the first thing out of his mouth is "do you have a tv?". It was too funny. We would gladly have traded our tv to be able to stay at Caneel with turtles & fantastic snorkeling right off shore. I guess to each his own.
And - "Yes" you guessed it - as were were sitting on the balcony of Morgan's Mango, we were blessed with another downpour. But, by that point - it didn't bother us a bit. We were almost beginning to expect it.
Day 1 - Sat., 4/21
Flying American Airlines. When we originally booked our flight, we were leaving on a non-stop flight at 9:30 out of Logan - but, by date of travel - it got moved to 10:40. Argh! - Oh, well - at least still a non-stop flight. Just disappointed to lose 1 hour in "paradise".
Longest security line we had ever seen at Logan. Really bizarre. Everyone else was remarking about it, as well. But, eventually made it through - and flight went beautifully.
Getting closer & closer to St. Thomas we get the confirmation that it is raining. Oh, well - how bad could that be? Little did we know what was to be ahead for us for the week. Oh - how naïve and innocent.
Anyway - had to be extra careful going down the "portable stairs" from the aircraft onto the tarmac, as it was quite wet, with the rain pouring down & all. Grabbed our rum punch & waited for our luggage. Not too long of a wait & off to grab a cab to Red Hook. We get virtually thrown into a full cab. I get to ride "shotgun" and hubby gets thrown in the "way back". Still raining - but, love all those hairpin turns up & around Mafolie. Great Views!!
Beautiful new ferry building at Red Hook - but, not any activity in it. While Jim waited with the luggage, I went to the ticket line for our ferry tickets & baggage tags. Struck up a really nice conversation with another woman. We were chit-chatting about this - that - and the other thing. Found out that she and her husband were going to St. John for the most part of the week - then to Secret Harbour for a couple of nights at the end of their trip. (Just like us!) And our days at Secret Harbour would overlap slightly - too cool. Then - don't ask me how - but, somehow "the forum" came into the conversation. And I said I was "Suefromma" and she said that she didn't post often - but, that her name was "saint". She was so nice. - And the funniest thing is that when my husband & I started talking a little bit about the van ride from the airport to Red Hook, he said that there was a really nice lady on the van who turned around & spoke with him - & of course, it was the same person. It is amazing what a small world it seems to be, when you are traveling on the islands.
The "4:00" Red Hook left at 4:30. Just a gentle reminder to us that we are now on "island time". Got rained on, again, as we approached Cruz Bay. Got that "all familiar" coming home feeling.
Saw some interesting activity on the water to the left of Cruz Bay Harbor. Saw a couple of marine patrol boats and snorkelers in the waters (in an area where snorkelers should not be). Thought that maybe the snorkelers were being told to get out of that area - yet they didn't seem to be stopping snorkeling. Didn't know what to make it. Much later in the week - saint's husband told us that he heard that it was the coast guard in the water snorkeling looking for a boater who got thrown from his boat while hitting a wave the wrong way, due to out of control speed. Brother - sad to hear that someone lost his life - but, as boater's ourselves, we are always amazed when we hear of instances, such as these, that could so easily have been avoided - if only common sense ruled instead of someone taking such foolish & dangerous risks.
Crazy mayhem in Cruz Bay as the tons of luggage got set on the dock & people were like vultures trying to snag their stuff. Unorganized chaos. Oh- well. Got ours & strolled off to St. John Car Rental. Very happy with their service - got a nice Jeep Wrangler & headed to Estate Lindholm. So, nice to know our way around.
Upon arriving at Estate Lindholm, we couldn't find the reception area - so, we ran into a nice couple who helped us. And - again, low and behold - really nice forum buddy "lavender" and her husband were the first people that we met at Estate Lindholm. They were so nice in helping us find the owner & not just letting us roam around aimlessly. Too cool that they were nice to us & they didn't even know at the time that we were "family".
Lauren, one of the owners, showed us around the lovely grounds & brought us to our room. Beautiful, simply decorated main room with gorgeous bed & super comfortable leather couch!! Nice little kitchenette area with refrigerator, microwave & coffeemaker. Spacious bathroom with huge shower with a wonderful view of St. Thomas & other little islands. Truly beautiful! - Also, a very nice-sized deck with lovely views of Cruz Bay & nieghboring islands. Truly lovely accomodations!
First walkway when you enter the grounds of Estate Lindholm
View from our balcony
After getting settled in our fantastic room - we went to the pool area to chill for a couple of minutes.
Our staircase to the grounds of Estate Lindholm
Gorgeous pool area
We had a wonderful time chatting with "lavender & hubby". I am telling you - this forum has the "nicest" people!! We could have hung out with them for hours - but, we were starving & wanted to head out for a bite to eat. They recommended Morgan's Mango. As we had never been there before, we decided to go.
Love that place! And their BBC's were fantastic!!! We also both had the Citrus Chicken which was really great. Only complaint - it is on the bone & takes a bit of work to get at all the meat - and I am a "lazy" boneless chicken girl. But, knew that I would enjoy the flavor - which I really did. Oh - and the music was great - Nora Jones, really nice & the balcony setting was lovely. You get that "cool" ambiance of the road traffic. Too funny that locale can actually be cool & charming - but that it was!
Headed to Mixology to grab a bottle of rum. Had a hard time finding it, but finally did. We parked up near Chilly Billy's and walked down. Of course, as we left the store, it started absolutely pouring - it was coming down in sheets. We were thinking "what the heck is this all about" - again, little did we know that this was to become a nightly occurance. We "bonded" with the owner of Mixlogy for about an hour - got to know him really well. Finally made it "home" to Estate Lindholm.
Day 2 - Sunday, April 22
Awoke to a lovely day. Picked up some complimentary beach towels, grabbed some beach chairs & a soft sided cooler. The amenities here at Estate Lindholm are fantastic.
Headed to Miss Lucy's for brunch. As always, love the drive out to Coral Bay.
Cactus on large boulder on the way to Coral Bay
Made a point to locate Shipwreck Landing, as we knew we wanted to try to get there this trip - based on all the glowing reviews.
Arrived at Miss Lucy's - goats running all around the place. Their pen had gotten flooded the night before - so, we were told that they were trying to keep them out of the pen til it dried up some more. I was actually surprised that the goats did not at all mill around the dining tables & we were not at all affected by them being out of their pen.
Great start to the day with a Mimosa & Pain Perdu at the water's edge.
Okay - here is our 1st Food Porn entry!
Pain Perdu at Miss Lucy's "Yummo!"
Jazz combo was good - but, all in all, not as memorable as our first experience there. Had a little dead battery problem with the Jeep - but, just attributed it to maybe leaving the lights on. Employees of Miss Lucy's gave us a complimentary jump - very nice guys - and we were on our way.
Where to go?? As it was our first full day - we didn't want to hop from place to place. So, we went to our "tried and true" Cinnamon. LOVE that beach. We had a blast playing in the waves. I swear some were at least 5 feet tall. Awesome. Didn't bother snorkeling, as it looked pretty rough out there. Plus - we were lazy & just wanted to enjoy the scenery & warm water & soft sand!!
Surf at Cinnamon Bay
Headed to the Beach Bar for a quick drink & to enjoy the Sunday Jazz band. Sorry folks - but, the BBC was not as good as Morgan's. The jazz band was just okay & of course, it started to sprinkle. Happy that being able to park at St. John Car Rental was so convenient.
We returned to Estate Lindhom & got all "glammed up" for our romantic dinner at Asolare. For those of you who might not know, Asolare is actually adjacent to Estate Lindhom and in reality was actually part of the entire property & owned by the grandfather of the current owners of Estate Lindholm. Anyway - great to be able to just "walk" to dinner.
We were seated at a lovely table with a great view. Took a couple of photos of the harbour. Had our waitress take our photo. Then ordered our drinks, appetizer & meal. Before we even were served our wine - all hell broke lose. It started with a little rain patter. Then the wind picked up. The staff started rolling down these rope/net-type blinds that I guess the intent or purpose is to "hold the rain out". But, in this case - it didn't work and actually made things worse. All it took was a few good gusts of wind and the blinds came whipping into the porch, knocking over drinking glasses & hurricane lamps. We heard glass breaking everywhere. Then they started to move us all to tables closer to the inside dining room. As it was pretty obvious to see that the weather looked like it was going to stay around and that we were all going to moved into a room that was most likely already reserved to capacity. We took this as our cue to make a reservation for another evening and hope for better weather and a better experience.
Asolare - incredible downpour & wind
We must have waited a good 30-45 minutes just waiting for the rain to let up a little. Finally did a little - so, we headed up to our jeep to head into town. Said a quick "hello" to "Lavender & hubby" and commiserated about the crappy weather. We tried to go to Café Roma - closed, we tried Banana Deck - closed, we tried Lime Inn - closed. That was it. By that time, I needed a drink & I knew where I could get a great one. So, back to Morgan's Mango for another BBC. We just had cheeseburgers - and they were great. And "yes" the BBC was just as good as the first night.
On a funny note - we started a conversation with a couple sitting at a table near-by. They were staying at Caneel (as a freebie from the wife's work - as she had qualified based on an incentive thing). Anyway, we are thinking "wow - you guys a so lucky". Then the husband asks where we are staying & we tell him & the first thing out of his mouth is "do you have a tv?". It was too funny. We would gladly have traded our tv to be able to stay at Caneel with turtles & fantastic snorkeling right off shore. I guess to each his own.
And - "Yes" you guessed it - as were were sitting on the balcony of Morgan's Mango, we were blessed with another downpour. But, by that point - it didn't bother us a bit. We were almost beginning to expect it.
It was great meeting you and hubby!
