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California Girl's Trip Report - Part 8 - Final
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California Girl
California Girl's Trip Report - Part 8 - Final
Trip Report - Part Eight - Friday, May 11th
I cannot believe how hard it rained this morning! Now I know what "monsoon" rains must be like. I liked it. I like it when it's hot, and humid, and it rains. It woke me up when it started raining around daylight, and it rained till around 8:30 a.m. We weren't sure if it was going to turn out to be a beach day or not, but we all got our gear together and headed to Trunk Bay to meet some of the DBFT-ers. I thought we'd get there earlier than we ended up getting there, and when we arrived, the party was in full swing and everyone was wondering where we had been. It was only about 11:00 you guys! I'm on Island Time, remember??
Let's see... who all was there??? Jorge & Barbara, Billy, Tim (Dr. Curly) & Kathy, Becky & Mike (nascarfan59), Paula, Patricia.... uh.. I think that's everyone.
BARBARA & JORGE
BECKY & MIKE
PAULA
It was so cool when everyone shifted to put us in the middle! We sat & talked for a while, then a bunch of us decided to go snorkeling. I was pokey, again, and just hung out, talking to Barbara, in the shallow water for a while, and everyone else went on ahead around the cay without me. No big. I was having so much fun talking to Barbara and taking my time. When I finally began to start snorkeling, Tim came along and snorkeled with me. Isn't that neat?
TIM
We saw lots of cool stuff and I don't think he minded too much that I'm such a slow poke. The wall of Silversides on the left side of the cay just blew my mind. I tried real hard to get a picture that would illustrate it.
THE SILVERSIDES AGAINST THE EMPTY WATER RIGHT NEXT TO THEM
ISN'T THIS COOL?!
Tim & I decided that instead of going around the far end of the cay, we'd swim back to the front and then go up the other side. But by the time we got back to the beginning, my knee was giving me some trouble (maybe I'll invest in some split fins to address this issue) so I just went back to shore. It was neat to have the National Park facilities there and be able to shower off all the salt water and rinse out my hair. When I was walking back from the showers, I saw Sharon in line at the snack bar and she said she'd get me a "St. John Style" smoothie. Well, I was on the other side of the railing when she got to the counter and I watched the lady make my smoothie and she didn't put any booze in. So when she brought it over, I said, as nice as I could, "There's rum in this, right?" and she got all embarrassed and said she was sorry and all that. I told her "no problem", I just wanted the rum! So she dumped it all back into the blender, added some more shave-ice and poured in the rum! I ended up with TWO smoothies for the same price. (and she got to keep the change
) So I went back to our little "camp" under the trees at the last entrance with a Pina Colada in each hand! And I drank 'em both, too!
We all packed up and left Trunk Bay about 1:30-ish and Sharon & Rick & I headed into Cruz Bay. We had to go to Connections and print our boarding passes for our flight out the next day & stop into St. John Spice and finish up the "loose ends" from our shopping spree the day before. Then we hoofed it down to Mongoose Junction to pick up a special cigar for a guy Rick works with.
At Mongoose we ran into the Jorge crew again and hung out for a while. I got a Lime n' Coconut at the Gecko Gazebo, and we wandered down to Deli Grotto for lunch. I wish I'd found that place sooner! They have some awesome-looking pastries and our sandwiches were just great! Hey, Carole... I think they have Ice Tea too, if I remember correctly!
On our way back to the car, we stopped at Uncle Joe's and put in an order for 1 rib dinner and 1 chicken dinner, then walked over to Mixology and picked up another 5-pack of Cruzan for the folks at home. When we got back to Uncle Joe's our dinner was ready and we walked back to Courtesy to pick up the car.
UNCLE JOE'S
Now, you guys must know how good a car full of Uncle Joe's smells, right? Well, call me a mean old lady, but I wasn't ready to go home yet! I was driving and I took a right at the Texaco instead of going left and heading up Centerline. We passed the Westin and just stayed on that road while it snaked up the side of the hill. Great views from up there. I don't know where the hell we were, but at the top, it was suggested by one of my esteemed traveling companions that it was time to turn around and head for the villa with the ribs & chicken! I wanted to see the "Fork in the Road" ... it is up there?
So back to the villa we went, with a stop at the Smoothie Truck... heh, heh!
At the villa I threw a load of clothes in the washer and we ate Uncle Joe's. Now, I can't offer an opinion as to whether or not it's better or worse than it used to be, since this was the first time we ever ate there. But until I try some other places, I will have to say we thought the food was super yummy. And 2 dinners was enough for the three of us with some left over. After dinner we decided that we'd really need more drinking water before we left in the morning, so Sharon & I made one last trip to Love City Mini Mart.
Saturday, May 12th - Our Last Day
Our plane was scheduled to leave St. Thomas at 12:50, so we were up and at'em at 7:00 a.m. The snorkel stuff was dry so it got packed and we packed up all of our left-over food (quite a bit, since the bbq-ing didn't work out like we expected it to) in a styrofoam container with our techni-ice and left it all with a friend on-island. I surely wasn't going to drag cold & frozen food home! We got to Cruz Bay about 8:30 and dropped off the car at Courtesy... again, no hassles. They're so easy to deal with. We walked over to St. John Spice and said goodbye to Ruth & Ron and then took the walk of woe and bought our ferry tickets for the 9:15 to Charlotte Amalie, and I wrote my name in the sand again.
THE WALK OF WOE
But our trip to St. John would not be complete without a proper send-off from who? No one but our friend, LUNA! Ah yes... she came to see us off at the ferry dock, didn't I tell you? We were inside near the first window, on the opposite side of the first bench, and I had my hat sitting on top of the backs of the benches.
In walks Luna and I see her eyeing my hat! Now let me tell you about this hat... it's really pretty. Handwoven. I bought it at the Renaissance Faire especially for St. John because it has a big, shady brim. It was also a HUGE mistake to drag it along, as it's completely impractical!
I ended up buying a ball cap on Jost to keep the sun out of my eyes! So, Luna's eyeing my hat and I instinctively make a move for it, but hesitate and don't do anything. I'm watching Luna because I'm thinking maybe she'll think it's free for the taking. So she walks over to the corner near the door to the ticket booth and leans back and looks me right in the eye and says, "That's a real pretty hat. Don't worry, I won't touch it." She was completely lucid and actually seemed harmless and nice. Maybe she remembered her meds today? We talked for a few seconds. She asked where I was from and when I said, "California," she said she had been to California... the Bay Area up near San Francisco. We didn't talk for long because I found an excuse to move away, but I was really surprised. Now I really feel sorry for her. I think there must be a nice person in there, but she's just really screwed up mentally. You are welcome to chime in on this one.
Once we got to Charlotte Amalie, we said goodbye to Sharon at the dock (she was staying an extra 3 days at the Galleon House and Best Western Emerald Beach), and got a cab to the airport. As we were pulling up in front of the airport, the cab driver asked if anyone wanted a porter. Well, I learned on this very forum that getting a porter was a good idea, so I said "Yes!" And it did, indeed, turn out to be a very good idea! The porter took our luggage on her cart and took us right to the front counter... only we were outside of the line at an empty counter. She brought us our customs form and we filled it out right there, then she took us directly past the line to customs, where she met us on the other side and gave us our baggage claim tickets. It was completely awesome. We tipped her $20.00. And we'd do it again! We went directly to the airport restaurant and I got a very good ham & cheese omelet from this guy who was set up on the side with an omelet station. I was very surprised at how good it was, and you get to choose your own fillings and he makes it right on the spot for you. Compared with everything else in that 'cafe' I was pleasantly surprised!
One last Lime n' Coconut and it's time for us to board our plane. I think this is the real walk of woe. Yeah, the ferry dock is bad, but the airport is just so.. so... so final. We just gotta' go back. I have pictures to take and restaurants to try! And most important of all, waters to snorkel!
Thanks for reading my ramblings, sorry I don't know how to keep it short n' sweet! Happy trails to you all!
I cannot believe how hard it rained this morning! Now I know what "monsoon" rains must be like. I liked it. I like it when it's hot, and humid, and it rains. It woke me up when it started raining around daylight, and it rained till around 8:30 a.m. We weren't sure if it was going to turn out to be a beach day or not, but we all got our gear together and headed to Trunk Bay to meet some of the DBFT-ers. I thought we'd get there earlier than we ended up getting there, and when we arrived, the party was in full swing and everyone was wondering where we had been. It was only about 11:00 you guys! I'm on Island Time, remember??
Let's see... who all was there??? Jorge & Barbara, Billy, Tim (Dr. Curly) & Kathy, Becky & Mike (nascarfan59), Paula, Patricia.... uh.. I think that's everyone.
BARBARA & JORGE
BECKY & MIKE
PAULA
It was so cool when everyone shifted to put us in the middle! We sat & talked for a while, then a bunch of us decided to go snorkeling. I was pokey, again, and just hung out, talking to Barbara, in the shallow water for a while, and everyone else went on ahead around the cay without me. No big. I was having so much fun talking to Barbara and taking my time. When I finally began to start snorkeling, Tim came along and snorkeled with me. Isn't that neat?
TIM
We saw lots of cool stuff and I don't think he minded too much that I'm such a slow poke. The wall of Silversides on the left side of the cay just blew my mind. I tried real hard to get a picture that would illustrate it.
THE SILVERSIDES AGAINST THE EMPTY WATER RIGHT NEXT TO THEM
ISN'T THIS COOL?!
Tim & I decided that instead of going around the far end of the cay, we'd swim back to the front and then go up the other side. But by the time we got back to the beginning, my knee was giving me some trouble (maybe I'll invest in some split fins to address this issue) so I just went back to shore. It was neat to have the National Park facilities there and be able to shower off all the salt water and rinse out my hair. When I was walking back from the showers, I saw Sharon in line at the snack bar and she said she'd get me a "St. John Style" smoothie. Well, I was on the other side of the railing when she got to the counter and I watched the lady make my smoothie and she didn't put any booze in. So when she brought it over, I said, as nice as I could, "There's rum in this, right?" and she got all embarrassed and said she was sorry and all that. I told her "no problem", I just wanted the rum! So she dumped it all back into the blender, added some more shave-ice and poured in the rum! I ended up with TWO smoothies for the same price. (and she got to keep the change
) So I went back to our little "camp" under the trees at the last entrance with a Pina Colada in each hand! And I drank 'em both, too!We all packed up and left Trunk Bay about 1:30-ish and Sharon & Rick & I headed into Cruz Bay. We had to go to Connections and print our boarding passes for our flight out the next day & stop into St. John Spice and finish up the "loose ends" from our shopping spree the day before. Then we hoofed it down to Mongoose Junction to pick up a special cigar for a guy Rick works with.
At Mongoose we ran into the Jorge crew again and hung out for a while. I got a Lime n' Coconut at the Gecko Gazebo, and we wandered down to Deli Grotto for lunch. I wish I'd found that place sooner! They have some awesome-looking pastries and our sandwiches were just great! Hey, Carole... I think they have Ice Tea too, if I remember correctly!
On our way back to the car, we stopped at Uncle Joe's and put in an order for 1 rib dinner and 1 chicken dinner, then walked over to Mixology and picked up another 5-pack of Cruzan for the folks at home. When we got back to Uncle Joe's our dinner was ready and we walked back to Courtesy to pick up the car.
UNCLE JOE'S
Now, you guys must know how good a car full of Uncle Joe's smells, right? Well, call me a mean old lady, but I wasn't ready to go home yet! I was driving and I took a right at the Texaco instead of going left and heading up Centerline. We passed the Westin and just stayed on that road while it snaked up the side of the hill. Great views from up there. I don't know where the hell we were, but at the top, it was suggested by one of my esteemed traveling companions that it was time to turn around and head for the villa with the ribs & chicken! I wanted to see the "Fork in the Road" ... it is up there?
So back to the villa we went, with a stop at the Smoothie Truck... heh, heh!
At the villa I threw a load of clothes in the washer and we ate Uncle Joe's. Now, I can't offer an opinion as to whether or not it's better or worse than it used to be, since this was the first time we ever ate there. But until I try some other places, I will have to say we thought the food was super yummy. And 2 dinners was enough for the three of us with some left over. After dinner we decided that we'd really need more drinking water before we left in the morning, so Sharon & I made one last trip to Love City Mini Mart.Saturday, May 12th - Our Last Day
Our plane was scheduled to leave St. Thomas at 12:50, so we were up and at'em at 7:00 a.m. The snorkel stuff was dry so it got packed and we packed up all of our left-over food (quite a bit, since the bbq-ing didn't work out like we expected it to) in a styrofoam container with our techni-ice and left it all with a friend on-island. I surely wasn't going to drag cold & frozen food home! We got to Cruz Bay about 8:30 and dropped off the car at Courtesy... again, no hassles. They're so easy to deal with. We walked over to St. John Spice and said goodbye to Ruth & Ron and then took the walk of woe and bought our ferry tickets for the 9:15 to Charlotte Amalie, and I wrote my name in the sand again.
THE WALK OF WOE
But our trip to St. John would not be complete without a proper send-off from who? No one but our friend, LUNA! Ah yes... she came to see us off at the ferry dock, didn't I tell you? We were inside near the first window, on the opposite side of the first bench, and I had my hat sitting on top of the backs of the benches.
In walks Luna and I see her eyeing my hat! Now let me tell you about this hat... it's really pretty. Handwoven. I bought it at the Renaissance Faire especially for St. John because it has a big, shady brim. It was also a HUGE mistake to drag it along, as it's completely impractical!
I ended up buying a ball cap on Jost to keep the sun out of my eyes! So, Luna's eyeing my hat and I instinctively make a move for it, but hesitate and don't do anything. I'm watching Luna because I'm thinking maybe she'll think it's free for the taking. So she walks over to the corner near the door to the ticket booth and leans back and looks me right in the eye and says, "That's a real pretty hat. Don't worry, I won't touch it." She was completely lucid and actually seemed harmless and nice. Maybe she remembered her meds today? We talked for a few seconds. She asked where I was from and when I said, "California," she said she had been to California... the Bay Area up near San Francisco. We didn't talk for long because I found an excuse to move away, but I was really surprised. Now I really feel sorry for her. I think there must be a nice person in there, but she's just really screwed up mentally. You are welcome to chime in on this one.
Once we got to Charlotte Amalie, we said goodbye to Sharon at the dock (she was staying an extra 3 days at the Galleon House and Best Western Emerald Beach), and got a cab to the airport. As we were pulling up in front of the airport, the cab driver asked if anyone wanted a porter. Well, I learned on this very forum that getting a porter was a good idea, so I said "Yes!" And it did, indeed, turn out to be a very good idea! The porter took our luggage on her cart and took us right to the front counter... only we were outside of the line at an empty counter. She brought us our customs form and we filled it out right there, then she took us directly past the line to customs, where she met us on the other side and gave us our baggage claim tickets. It was completely awesome. We tipped her $20.00. And we'd do it again! We went directly to the airport restaurant and I got a very good ham & cheese omelet from this guy who was set up on the side with an omelet station. I was very surprised at how good it was, and you get to choose your own fillings and he makes it right on the spot for you. Compared with everything else in that 'cafe' I was pleasantly surprised!
One last Lime n' Coconut and it's time for us to board our plane. I think this is the real walk of woe. Yeah, the ferry dock is bad, but the airport is just so.. so... so final. We just gotta' go back. I have pictures to take and restaurants to try! And most important of all, waters to snorkel!
Thanks for reading my ramblings, sorry I don't know how to keep it short n' sweet! Happy trails to you all!
Last edited by California Girl on Sat Jun 16, 2007 1:44 pm, edited 2 times in total.
What a great ending to an awesome trip!!
I have to agree with you about Luna. I never look at her with anything but sad eyes. I am sad for her that she is unable to control her disease. Imagine what it must feel like to be a good person traped in an unsound mind? I always smile at her when I see her and she usually smiles back (and then bums a cigarette but what the heck)!
Anyway, again great report and thanks for sharing your trip with us!
XOXO
Bug
I have to agree with you about Luna. I never look at her with anything but sad eyes. I am sad for her that she is unable to control her disease. Imagine what it must feel like to be a good person traped in an unsound mind? I always smile at her when I see her and she usually smiles back (and then bums a cigarette but what the heck)!
Anyway, again great report and thanks for sharing your trip with us!
XOXO
Bug
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California Girl
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Xislandgirl
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nothintolose
- Posts: 1960
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- Location: New Orleans, LA
CaliforniaGirl - all of those silversides remind me of Finding Nemo when they make shapes. Last time I was at Trunk, and they were all there, I kept waiting for them to make shapes 
We also saw two HUGE A$$ tarpon swimming around in them!
nothintolose
p.s. I remember when you texted me from Trunk...I was dying!!! Loved the pic of you and Jorge you tested me too!
We also saw two HUGE A$$ tarpon swimming around in them!
nothintolose
p.s. I remember when you texted me from Trunk...I was dying!!! Loved the pic of you and Jorge you tested me too!
Awesome report. Your photo of the walkway to Trunk is so pretty. I remembered your shot of that from last year and tried to replicate it, but mine came out all dark.
In all the time I have spent on St. John, I have never seen Luna once. I've never seen Patrina either, to my knowledge. Lindy's the only character I've seen around. It is sad that there is no mental health care for people on the island.
Thanks for taking the time to share your trip with us, it sounds like you had a great time!
In all the time I have spent on St. John, I have never seen Luna once. I've never seen Patrina either, to my knowledge. Lindy's the only character I've seen around. It is sad that there is no mental health care for people on the island.
Thanks for taking the time to share your trip with us, it sounds like you had a great time!
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
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cypressgirl
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California Girl
