Nikkiki Gets Her Fix – Day Two Trip Report 4/15-4/23
Posted: Fri May 02, 2014 2:08 pm
Link to Day One: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/v ... =1&t=26974
Day Two
Everyone is up around sunrise. Maybe it was the roosters, but I think we were all just so excited to start our vacation. We take some time to put together our beach bags, and head to Maho. I had already let everyone know that while the rest of our trip could be decided democratically, Maho was First Beach. End of story.
We arrive, grab our spot on the beach, and look around. I can barely suppress a giggle as I watch my friends’ faces: looks that seem to be equal parts disbelief and joy seem to be creeping over each of them. Last night, I had polled each friend to find out what they wanted out of today: Beth wanted a pretty place to read on the beach. Mike wanted to try snorkeling for the first time. Tony wanted photo opportunities. I think I hit a home run here. I make everyone listen to my carefully prepared “Never Touch Anything in the Ocean” speech for beginners, and then help Mike get started snorkeling. We head out and immediately see a few large stingrays. Mike manages to grab a picture of one:
Tony and Beth are enjoying themselves in the shallows, so I invite them to share my gear. Beth declines and heads to shore to read, but Tony (who has earlier declared “I don’t think I’ll be very interested in swimming or snorkeling”) puts on my gear. He heads out over the sea grass with Mike. I head to shore, sit on my towel, and try to keep yesterday's moronic grin from turning into tears of joy. I’m so glad, so lucky, so thrilled to be here at this moment. I haven’t been back to the Rock since my dad passed away. Sitting at Maho that morning, I remember dad’s incredible luck finding turtles and rays on our first trip together and spend a moment in grief, missing him. The guys come back to shore, wide-eyed. They have seen TWO turtles and more rays. They are hooked. They want to go to Crabby’s, NOW, and rent more gear.
Dependable Maho, always delivers for First Beach.
We decide to head into Cruz Bay for lunch and groceries first. When we all pile back into the Wrangler, the passenger seat will no longer recline. You can push it forward to get in the back seat but it won’t lean back. In such a small vehicle, this means the driver can’t see properly out that side anymore. Since we’re heading to Cruz Bay anyways, we decide to drop it off with Conrad, grab some lunch, and hope it can be fixed in that time.
We pull in to Conrad Sutton’s and explain the problem. We ask nicely “can you please look at it while we grab some lunch?” and receive a grunt and a nod. Um……ok. No problemo.
We have lunch at the High Tide Bar & Grill. Decent food, nothing particularly memorable. Maybe because we’re still on a beach high – the second our order is in, we run out to the beach to get our toes back in the sand and pose for Mama ifloat on the Spice Cam. Our food comes before I can swing on the rope tied to this tree.
We walk back to Conrad’s. He’s fixed the seat. Hooray! However, he is Very Angry with us because he feels that the seats and seat belt are too wet. We get a Very Serious Lecture (“Dammit Aimi!”). We tell him we just came from Maho, we were very careful to sit on dry towels, and we are Very Sorry. We create a Very Rude Nickname for Conrad.
Onward to Starfish to grab our groceries for the week. Our initial plan is to eat lunch out, and breakfast and dinner at the villa. We sort of stick to that plan. Back to the villa to drop off the groceries, and Beth (a great lover of naps), decides to spend the afternoon there. The guys and I head out for more beach adventures. We stop at Crabby’s to pick up a snorkel for Tony, and then head back to the North Shore – I’m hoping there might be a parking spot open at Jumbie.
There’s not, so we park up at Peace Hill. We walk down, and yep, there’s a spot now. Tony runs back up the hill to grab the car. He wants a quick exit so he can get some sunset shots later. As he is driving back down, another car wants to park in the empty spot. They happily work out a double park situation with us. Smiles all around, and I’m back on my favorite beach. I’m thrilled, as I’ve managed to get my favorite beach and my traditional First Beach fix on the same day. We have a good snorkel, lots of fish. Mike captures a portrait of this tiny creature.
We’re close to the Trunk Bay overlook, so we decide to make that our sunset spot.
Good choice. It’s a gorgeous sunset, and Tony captures it perfectly.
We can’t resist stopping at Maho one more time on the way home to take a few pictures between the palm trees. I've always wanted to take this picture, and it was worth every bug bite I got while taking it.
Tony takes a beautiful sunset shot, and then adds his wife to it later. To read how he did it, check out his blog at http://www.antonycaldaroni.com.
Back to the villa for burgers on the grill, homemade painkillers (thanks for the recipe shoemak38!), and Cards Against Humanity. Yes, I know, this is exactly what we ate last night at Skinny’s. Don’t judge us. We’re on vacation.
Day Two
Everyone is up around sunrise. Maybe it was the roosters, but I think we were all just so excited to start our vacation. We take some time to put together our beach bags, and head to Maho. I had already let everyone know that while the rest of our trip could be decided democratically, Maho was First Beach. End of story.
We arrive, grab our spot on the beach, and look around. I can barely suppress a giggle as I watch my friends’ faces: looks that seem to be equal parts disbelief and joy seem to be creeping over each of them. Last night, I had polled each friend to find out what they wanted out of today: Beth wanted a pretty place to read on the beach. Mike wanted to try snorkeling for the first time. Tony wanted photo opportunities. I think I hit a home run here. I make everyone listen to my carefully prepared “Never Touch Anything in the Ocean” speech for beginners, and then help Mike get started snorkeling. We head out and immediately see a few large stingrays. Mike manages to grab a picture of one:
Tony and Beth are enjoying themselves in the shallows, so I invite them to share my gear. Beth declines and heads to shore to read, but Tony (who has earlier declared “I don’t think I’ll be very interested in swimming or snorkeling”) puts on my gear. He heads out over the sea grass with Mike. I head to shore, sit on my towel, and try to keep yesterday's moronic grin from turning into tears of joy. I’m so glad, so lucky, so thrilled to be here at this moment. I haven’t been back to the Rock since my dad passed away. Sitting at Maho that morning, I remember dad’s incredible luck finding turtles and rays on our first trip together and spend a moment in grief, missing him. The guys come back to shore, wide-eyed. They have seen TWO turtles and more rays. They are hooked. They want to go to Crabby’s, NOW, and rent more gear.
Dependable Maho, always delivers for First Beach.
We decide to head into Cruz Bay for lunch and groceries first. When we all pile back into the Wrangler, the passenger seat will no longer recline. You can push it forward to get in the back seat but it won’t lean back. In such a small vehicle, this means the driver can’t see properly out that side anymore. Since we’re heading to Cruz Bay anyways, we decide to drop it off with Conrad, grab some lunch, and hope it can be fixed in that time.
We pull in to Conrad Sutton’s and explain the problem. We ask nicely “can you please look at it while we grab some lunch?” and receive a grunt and a nod. Um……ok. No problemo.
We have lunch at the High Tide Bar & Grill. Decent food, nothing particularly memorable. Maybe because we’re still on a beach high – the second our order is in, we run out to the beach to get our toes back in the sand and pose for Mama ifloat on the Spice Cam. Our food comes before I can swing on the rope tied to this tree.
We walk back to Conrad’s. He’s fixed the seat. Hooray! However, he is Very Angry with us because he feels that the seats and seat belt are too wet. We get a Very Serious Lecture (“Dammit Aimi!”). We tell him we just came from Maho, we were very careful to sit on dry towels, and we are Very Sorry. We create a Very Rude Nickname for Conrad.
Onward to Starfish to grab our groceries for the week. Our initial plan is to eat lunch out, and breakfast and dinner at the villa. We sort of stick to that plan. Back to the villa to drop off the groceries, and Beth (a great lover of naps), decides to spend the afternoon there. The guys and I head out for more beach adventures. We stop at Crabby’s to pick up a snorkel for Tony, and then head back to the North Shore – I’m hoping there might be a parking spot open at Jumbie.
There’s not, so we park up at Peace Hill. We walk down, and yep, there’s a spot now. Tony runs back up the hill to grab the car. He wants a quick exit so he can get some sunset shots later. As he is driving back down, another car wants to park in the empty spot. They happily work out a double park situation with us. Smiles all around, and I’m back on my favorite beach. I’m thrilled, as I’ve managed to get my favorite beach and my traditional First Beach fix on the same day. We have a good snorkel, lots of fish. Mike captures a portrait of this tiny creature.
We’re close to the Trunk Bay overlook, so we decide to make that our sunset spot.
Good choice. It’s a gorgeous sunset, and Tony captures it perfectly.
We can’t resist stopping at Maho one more time on the way home to take a few pictures between the palm trees. I've always wanted to take this picture, and it was worth every bug bite I got while taking it.
Tony takes a beautiful sunset shot, and then adds his wife to it later. To read how he did it, check out his blog at http://www.antonycaldaroni.com.
Back to the villa for burgers on the grill, homemade painkillers (thanks for the recipe shoemak38!), and Cards Against Humanity. Yes, I know, this is exactly what we ate last night at Skinny’s. Don’t judge us. We’re on vacation.
Maybe we'll try again this year.