Two more weeks in paradise, final

liamsaunt · Post by **liamsaunt** » Tue Jul 19, 2016 3:27 pm

Week two

We checked out of Serenata de la Playa and went to Honeymoon for the day while we waited to get in to our next villa.

Lunch was sushi at Caneel.

Conch fritters with banana ketchup

Tuna island

Yellowtail koi

Tuna tataki

Tuna niashi

Caribbean roll

Crunch roll

We checked in to our next villa and spent the afternoon and evening in the pool.

Villa view

June 19
We visited Catherineberg

And went into town for errands and lunch at Banana Deck. Conch fritters

Mozzarella sticks (my nice is currently obsessed with mozzarella sticks)

Chicken Caesar salad

Jerked mahi sandwich

Spicy mahi pineapple wrap

Crispy chicken salad

We went back to the house to snorkel at Francis. Lots of turtles and rays

Back to the villa for sunset

June 20

More of the same. Snorkeling at Francis, grilling on the deck, sunset. I guess I didn’t take any pictures!

June 21

Today was supposed to be our power boat day. Unfortunately, the captain had called me on Saturday to let me know the boat was broken and would not be fixed in time for our trip. I started looking into booking a replacement boat, but it got too annoying (there are seven of us so a lot of boats can’t take our group) so we decided to skip the boat this trip.

Instead, we ventured away from the villa. First we went over to Leinster but decided not to snorkel. It was very windy and there were whitecaps on the flats. This picture doesn’t really show it, but it was too choppy to snorkel.

Instead, we went over to check out the new facilities at Hansen Bay.

The owners welcomed us and charged us $2.50 each for parking. There was an honor bar set up, but we did not investigate that. I understand there is a cookout sometimes on a weekend as well. We were there for the snorkeling.
Queen angelfish

Green turtle

A smaller green turtle

We went to Miss Lucy’s for lunch. View

Sweet plantains

Johnnycakes

Conch fritters

An uninvited lunch guest

Grouper reuben

Crunch fish

West Indian fish fry plate

Back to the villa

June 22

I had to do some errands in town, so bribed the kids to come with me by offering to buy them breakfast. We went to Cruz Bay Landing

You will be shocked to hear that we returned to Maho for the day. Grouper

Scrawled filefish

Green turtle

Night sergeant

Another green turtle (we saw seven different green turtles on this snorkel!)

We had lunch at the Lime Inn. Cracked conch

Baked brie:

Lobster roll

Tuna melt

Mahi sandwich

Chicken sandwich

Back to the villa where I had this nature sighting

Sunset

June 23

Shocker, we went back to Francis. Tailless ray

Can you find the scorpionfish?

Palometas

We then headed back to the villa to get cleaned up because we were having a special treat that night. I had arranged for Ted Robinson from Ted’s Supper Club to come to the villa and cook for us. We started with pan-seared tuna dumplings with soy dipping sauce. I was not able to get a better picture before my niece pounced on these!

We ate the dumplings out on the pool deck while watching the sunset

He baked a skillet of his focaccia that I remembered from Tage

I don’t have photos of everything he cooked, unfortunately. I also can’t find the lovely handwritten menu he made for me. I have it somewhere, and wanted to show you a photo, but if I wait any longer to post this report I will forget more details than I already have. Here is the full menu:

Amuse: Pan Fried Tuna Dumplings, Lemon Ginger Soy Dipping sauce

Skillet Roasted Focaccia

First Pan seared Day Boat scallop - Smashed Fingerling Potato - Truffle Oil - aged Balsamic

or

Roasted Rock Lobster - Hand Cut Curry Pasta - Roasted Pepper Vin. - Arugula

Second: Marinated Tomato - Fresh Mozzarella - Flash Fried Eggplant - local Baby Greens

Main; Potato Wrapped Local Mahi roasted baby portabello - baby beans - sun burst tomato - charred lemon - EXVOO

(He also offered a beef option at this point, but I let him know in advance that we all preferred fish)

Sweets Chocolate Molten Cakes

Island Lime Tart w/ ginger snap crust fresh berries

The key lime tartlet

This was an amazing experience, highly recommended. I'll definitely be doing this again.

June 24

We started out the day at Gibney Beach

Lunch was at Waterfront Bistro again. This is my niece’s mac and cheese burger. She ate the whole thing!

My nephew’s peanut butter bacon burger

Tuna burger with wasabi mayo

Black bean burger

Soft shell crab sandwich

We went to Trunk for the afternoon and swam until it was close to sunset.

June 25

Time to go home

Banana Deck is always our traditional last meal. Conch fritters

Spicy chicken quesadilla

Spicy mahi wrap

And then it was time for the sight that we all hate to see…

Overall, it was a very relaxing trip. We snorkeled a lot less than other times, and spent more time at the villas than in prior trips, but that really worked for my group this time. I also cooked a lot less than I normally would. Our late lunches got us through most days. Maybe next trip we will be more adventurous. Or maybe not.

I’ve mentioned in prior reports that I like to collect sea glass. Here are my favorite finds from this trip. The round yellow one is a marble:

Bye for now from my crew…

Becky and John

cocosmom · Post by **cocosmom** » Tue Jul 19, 2016 8:27 pm

Thank you, I always enjoy your reports/pics !

shoemak38 · Post by **shoemak38** » Tue Jul 19, 2016 9:31 pm

fbo44 · Post by **fbo44** » Tue Jul 19, 2016 11:59 pm

Love your reports...thanks for taking the time to post them! One quick question: how do you take such colorful underwater pictures?

Wanda Creech · Post by **Wanda Creech** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 7:43 am

Always love your pictures. What was your second villa? We were there at the same time. I am ready to go back but it it have to wait until next summer. Thanks for the great report.

Suziekue · Post by **Suziekue** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 7:58 am

Thank you so much for my morning virtual vacation taken through your awesome trip report, I greatly appreciate you sharing your experiences!

kklay · Post by **kklay** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 10:58 am

Where do you have the most success finding seaglass? I am hoping to scour some beaches this fall during our visit.

PA Girl · Post by **PA Girl** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 12:05 pm

You are killing me with those food pictures! Especially the cracked conch and the soft shell crab. We need to add Waterfront Bistro to our lunch rotation.

Good to hear that Ted does a great in-villa meal, that gives me hope for our next trip.

HughA · Post by **HughA** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 2:25 pm

No comment at all on the second villa? Please share.

jmq · Post by **jmq** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 4:23 pm

Nice! Thanks.
That cracked conch at Lime Inn looked particularly good to me!
And fav photo of many great pix was the head on shot of the green turtle with front legs down - cool!

liamsaunt · Post by **liamsaunt** » Wed Jul 20, 2016 7:38 pm

The villa: sorry about that. the villa is On a Clear Day. We've stayed here the past couple of summers and I have written about it in the past so I just forgot to include that info.

Sea glass: any rocky beach is your best best. That said, I have also found glass on the North Shore beaches. I found four well weathered pieces in one walk down Maho this past trip. You just have to keep your eyes peeled.

Pickle · Post by **Pickle** » Thu Jul 21, 2016 1:16 pm

We would love to try Ted's Supper Club one of theses days. On our first trip to St. John, we ate at Paradiso where he was the chef at the time. We were impressed and went back a few nights later (we don't usually go to the same upscale restaurants twice on one trip).

I love that Francis location where you stayed. Appreciate your photos of the view (one of which, I think, included the villa where we stayed

). Hoping to stay in that area again next off-season. We could be neighbors... who knows!

Great trip report as always - thank you for posting!

Robin in NC · Post by **Robin in NC** » Fri Jul 22, 2016 10:40 am

Huzzah! Huzzah! I want to stowaway in your suitcase...

ColumbiaSCTraveler · Post by **ColumbiaSCTraveler** » Sat Jul 23, 2016 9:29 pm

Okay - first the food comments.

Caneel's conch fritters. They look much smaller than most we've had on island. Are they yummy? We love the ones at Banana Deck and Aqua Bistro, if that helps.

We still have YET to visit Miss Lucy's, but MAN! Your pictures make me wanna go for SURE this trip!!! Conch fritters AND sweet plantains?!? YES, PLEASE!

Since Cruz Bay Landing is still newish, we haven't been there yet. Heard they have good happy hour specials, too, so I think we'll hit that place up.

Lime Inn. Never been there, either. That cracked conch looks wonderful! How was the lobster roll? Since The Tourist Trap will be closing the day we arrive (boo-hooing), I need a substitute...although this one doesn't look nearly as good as Larry's. . .

We are having Ted (Ted's Supper Club) cook August 3 for my birthday dinner. CANNOT WAIT!!! Everything sounds amazing! When does he send you the proposed menu? A day or two out?

That mac and cheese burger from Waterfront Bistro - yummmmmmmmm!!!!!!

The new Hansen digs - is it $2.50 per person? And is it worth it? With all the other free places to go, just curious. (Have never been to Hansen, amazingly enough.)

Thank you SO much, as always, for sharing your trip with us! We appreciate you! I'm hoping to post a trip report, too, so stay tuned!

toni · Post by **toni** » Mon Jul 25, 2016 8:34 pm

thank you so much for taking the time to post! As always, a good read

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