50th Annv. Trip 5/29/19 - 6/12/19

Travel discussion for St. John
User avatar
BAILEYBAY
Posts: 115
Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2008 10:39 am
Location: Indiana

50th Annv. Trip 5/29/19 - 6/12/19

Post by BAILEYBAY »

Wed. 5.29.19 Left home at 4:30am (after a sleepless night). Our Delta flight out of FWA, Ft Wayne, IN , left on time at 6:55am. We had a 56 minute layover in ATL. My husband needs a wheelchair to get from point A to B and it was not waiting on us. They called and in about 10 minutes it arrived and we made it to our connection without any further delays. Landed on St Thomas at 1:15pm. Got to Red Hook about 2:15, took the 3:00 ferry and we are back to our happy place by 3:15. Emily from Grande Bay was waiting on us. Very nice young lady! She took me to Connections to pick up the 2 boxes I had shipped (Connections charged $20 and $25) and then dropped me at Cool Breeze to get our little Jimney. My husband then went on to Grande Bay. This is the 1st time we have stayed at Grande Bay and our condo "Sunswept" was beautiful. King bed (very comfortable), washer/dryer, this was a real treat as we do carryon only for a 2 weeks stay. It also includes a wonderful parking space right next to the elevator. This was the deciding factor in choosing this condo. The photos on VRBO are very accurate and we dealt directly with the owners Anna May & Peter Charrington. They made it so easy and I would most definitely recommend them. The view from our covered deck was stunning. We ordered Ronnies Pizza delivered to the condo and we were in bed by 7:30pm!! Slept till 7 the next morning and had our 1st coffee overlooking busy Cruz Bay dock. Its good to be back.
Attachments
thumbnail_IMAG0670.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG0660.jpg
Image
User avatar
BAILEYBAY
Posts: 115
Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2008 10:39 am
Location: Indiana

Re: 50th Annv. Trip 5/29/19 - 6/12/19

Post by BAILEYBAY »

The beaches we visited this year were Hawksnest (4 times), Jumbie (1), Maho (3), Trunk (3), and Honeymoon (1). All these beaches are easy access, except for Jumbie, so it made it easier for my husband. Walking on the sand is a little more difficult for him. We always made it to the beach by 8:30 so we never had a problem with parking and could find some shade. Most nights we drove down to Frank Bay for the gorgeous sunsets and a few peacock sightings.
Attachments
thumbnail_IMAG0797.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG0755.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG0754.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG0708.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG0673.jpg
Image
User avatar
BAILEYBAY
Posts: 115
Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2008 10:39 am
Location: Indiana

Re: 50th Annv. Trip 5/29/19 - 6/12/19

Post by BAILEYBAY »

.
Attachments
thumbnail_IMAG0885.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG0876.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG0868.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG0857.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG0818.jpg
Image
User avatar
BAILEYBAY
Posts: 115
Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2008 10:39 am
Location: Indiana

Re: 50th Annv. Trip 5/29/19 - 6/12/19

Post by BAILEYBAY »

.
Attachments
thumbnail_IMAG0944.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG0936.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG0906.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG0898.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG0890.jpg
Image
User avatar
BAILEYBAY
Posts: 115
Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2008 10:39 am
Location: Indiana

Re: 50th Annv. Trip 5/29/19 - 6/12/19

Post by BAILEYBAY »

Restaurants this trip: The Tap Room was awesome. Air conditioned, attentive wait staff, and really good food. Pizza, pork nachos,ribs with mac & cheese and their root beer were all fantastic. Loved them! High Tide never disappoints and you can't beat the view. Ocean 362 was a bit of a let down this year. Food was just okay. Jill, the bartender, was on her own and she did her best. It was our most expensive meal but it did not measure up. We also ate at Sundog (The Burrito that ate Cruz Bay), Skinney Legs, Tap & Still, Cruz Bay Landing (Good breakfast),Grengoes (horrible service), Café Roma ( they had no lasagna or pizza the night we were there), 420 to Center was a big surprise ( $6 for a big juicy burger AND fries), Banana Deck where I ordered a BBC and was informed they had NO BANANAS...kind of ironic, right? We got sandwiches every morning from North Shore Deli to take to the beach, muffins and fruit from Starfish Market or St John Market. One of our favorite places Joe's BBQ was closed the entire 2 weeks we were on island along with the Beach Bar and Joe's Rum Hut...very disappointing. We had Starfish deliver some provisions to the condo. We have used them the last few years and would recommend them. It's nice to have some soda and "snacks" waiting for you after a long travel day.
Attachments
thumbnail_IMAG0685.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG0780.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG0778.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG0786.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG0784.jpg
Image
User avatar
BAILEYBAY
Posts: 115
Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2008 10:39 am
Location: Indiana

Re: 50th Annv. Trip 5/29/19 - 6/12/19

Post by BAILEYBAY »

Friday, June 7th, is our 50th wedding anniversary and we are celebrating by having Yelena Rogers take sunset photos on Trunk Bay. Both my husband and I have been looking forward to this photo shoot and Yelena did not disappoint. I cannot say enough good things about her. She is wonderful and put us at ease immediately. And if I do say so myself, I think our photos turned out pretty darn fabulous!! Thank you Yelena...we will treasure the experience and our beautiful photos. Also, I wanted to mention that earlier in the afternoon I did something that I have never done in my entire life...I had my make-up done! Michelle, owner of Grapevine Salon, was awesome. It was fun and relaxing at the same time. I even got false eye lashes Oh La La!!

We started our day, as usual, on our deck with morning coffee. Then headed to Cruz Bay Landing for a relaxed late breakfast. Back to the pool at Grande Bay where we were the only 2 which was a little surprising but very nice. After our photo shoot we finished up the evening with dinner at High Tide. It was a beautiful, memorable day from start to finish. Happy 50th Anniversary!!
Attachments
thumbnail_IMAG0769.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG0692.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG0834.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG0923.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG0828.jpg
Image
User avatar
BAILEYBAY
Posts: 115
Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2008 10:39 am
Location: Indiana

Re: 50th Annv. Trip 5/29/19 - 6/12/19

Post by BAILEYBAY »

.
Attachments
thumbnail_IMAG0805.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG0839.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG1007.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG1006.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG1003.jpg
Image
User avatar
BAILEYBAY
Posts: 115
Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2008 10:39 am
Location: Indiana

Re: 50th Annv. Trip 5/29/19 - 6/12/19

Post by BAILEYBAY »

June 12th our last day. Got up at 6 and started a load of towels. I had already washed and dryed all the beach towels the nite b4. Took our coffee and o.j. out to the deck. Honestly could set here for hours but still have to empty the trash and put towels in to dry. One last long look from our deck and a quick check to make sure nothing is left behind and we are out the door by 9:30. Dropped hubby and our luggage off at the park and then returned "Gracie" (our Jimney) to Cool Breeze. Went to High Tide for our last breakfast. Took 11:00 ferry to Red Hook and had the absolute worst taxi ever in over 25 years. There was this strange huge wooden box between the 2 front seats that I had to crawl over with barely enough room for my feet to squeeze on the floor. But wait, that's not the worst of it. This driver obviously had a couple (or 3 or 4) bean burritos for lunch...oh my good lord. If that wasn't horrible enough he was driving like a maniac. We were hanging on for dear life. Thankfully, there was heavy traffic which forced him to slow down. YAY!! we get to be enclosed in the stinky bean burrito taxi longer..UGH. Made it to downtown and found my hubby a shady place to sit with our luggage while I did a little shopping. Headed to the airport arounf 2pm for our 3:30 Delta flight home.

Had a 47 minute layover in ATL. I was a tad bit worried but never fear. The Delta helper pushing my husbands wheelchair was about 7 ft tall with legs that were 6 ft long. I'm 5'4". I was running behind him in flip flops, carrying my ginormous purse on one shoulder and another bag on my other shoulder. Let's just say, I won't be winning any marathons. Made it to our gate in record time and landed in FWA at 10:25pm. Our son was waiting on us and 40 minutes later pulled in our driveway. Our beautiful vacation has come to an end...back to the real world.

A few final thoughts. We have never come this late in the year. In the past 25 years vacationed in March, April or May. The weather was beautiful but HOT with high humidity everyday. Lots of rain right before we arrived so the island was green! The beaches are as stunning as ever but I do miss all the palms and seagrapes(they are starting to come back). We have always been budget travelers so we could stay longer than a week. Tamarind Inn, Hillcrest Guest House,St John Inn, Cruz Views, etc. This year, with the help of our generous kids, we stayed at "Sunswept" at Grande Bay. Loved.Everything.About.It.

3 years ago my husband was very,very ill and I wasn't sure what our future would be. Thankfully, we got to celebrate our "50"th wedding anniversary on our favorite spot on earth. We have had many, many wonderful memories and some very hilarious ones too!! WE LOVE YOU ST JOHN.
Attachments
thumbnail_IMAG1002.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG0980.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG0970.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG0773.jpg
thumbnail_IMAG0745.jpg
Image
User avatar
Suziekue
Posts: 189
Joined: Wed Aug 08, 2007 1:51 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: 50th Annv. Trip 5/29/19 - 6/12/19

Post by Suziekue »

Beautiful trip report Baileybay, I’m so happy for you both! It sounds like you had a wonderful celebration for your 50th, I wish for many more for you. Thank you for sharing & you’re right your pictures are gorgeous.
Soarin' with the eagles all week long, and this is all that we've learned about living - VACATION!

Image
inuny
Posts: 222
Joined: Wed Jul 14, 2010 9:57 pm
Location: New York

Re: 50th Annv. Trip 5/29/19 - 6/12/19

Post by inuny »

Thank you for sharing your story and pictures. It was a pleasant way to start my morning
User avatar
RickG
Posts: 5396
Joined: Wed Aug 23, 2006 3:06 pm
Location: Coral Bay, St. John

Re: 50th Annv. Trip 5/29/19 - 6/12/19

Post by RickG »

Great trip report, thanks for writing!

Cheers, RickG
S/V Echoes - Coral Bay - St. John, VI
User avatar
Pickle
Posts: 794
Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 12:00 am

Re: 50th Annv. Trip 5/29/19 - 6/12/19

Post by Pickle »

Thank you for your trip report. We are leaving for St. John soon and your trip report couldn’t have come at a better time for me. Enjoyed reading it and seeing your photos and the photos that commemorate your 50th anniversary. Congratulations and many, many more!
User avatar
StJohnbum
Posts: 172
Joined: Wed May 14, 2008 11:16 pm
Location: Southern Indiana

Re: 50th Annv. Trip 5/29/19 - 6/12/19

Post by StJohnbum »

Thanks for posting a great trip report. It's nice to see the forum picking up more activity lately. Congratulations on 50 years together!
User avatar
shoemak38
Posts: 2370
Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2007 12:55 pm
Location: Southern New Hamphire

Re: 50th Annv. Trip 5/29/19 - 6/12/19

Post by shoemak38 »

:D :D :D
User avatar
Ed S
Posts: 270
Joined: Wed Dec 19, 2012 11:23 am
Location: Brick, NJ

Re: 50th Annv. Trip 5/29/19 - 6/12/19

Post by Ed S »

Congrats on your 50th and great trip report!
Hey, if you want a sure-fire way of seeing peacocks next time, at dusk, stand in the Gallows Point parking lot with your back to Ocean 362 and look up in the tree(s). They fly up there and perch/roost for the night. We saw as many as a dozen many nights last December (we always stay right there at Gallows Point and never realized this until someone pointed it out). Next time.....
Image[/url]
Post Reply