20 days in paradise, part 5
Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 11:32 am
Day 10
Up at 6 AM, in time to see huge sweeping rains coming in:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/544766498/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1339/544 ... 712e7b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="mary point storms"></a>
The rain was drenching, and started pouring into the house. I got soaked closing up the doors! John was sleeping in so I had breakfast by myself and finished the book I was reading (Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, someone on here recommended it to me—thank you! I loved it.) John got up around 8 and we finished packing. At 9:15 we went down to pick up my parents, and despite the rainy weather, took them on a mini tour of the island. The jeep didn’t handle nearly as well as the Vitara did in previous years. In fact, on one of the switchbacks, we had to back up and start over! I think my parents were a little nervous, but they took it in stride.
Lisa had graciously allowed us to stay at Cinnamon Tarn until Argonauta was cleaned, so we then took them up to the villa to hang out. They were amazed by the beauty of the house and the views. I made everyone belt sandwiches (bacon, lettuce, egg, tomato, onion), and we just relaxed, looking out over Francis Bay. I was really sad to say goodbye to Cinnamon Tarn. It is by far the favorite house I have stayed in, but I felt that we had to switch to a house with central air for my parents (my father has a medical condition that can flare up if he is in the heat for extended periods, and especially if he is hot while sleeping).
Somehow we managed to cram all of the luggage, the water, food, and ourselves into the Jeep and we headed off to Argonauta. When I first walked in, I thought that Argonauta felt a little small after the open, sweeping views of Tarn. It was funny though, my Mom looked around, and moved some of the furniture in the great room, and suddenly the house felt bigger! Maybe she’s a feng shui expert or something. My Dad said that Argonauta was beautiful, but Tarn felt like a millionaire’s mansion. He could not believe it when I told him that Tarn was so much cheaper to rent.
Dinner was grilled steak (with Cruz Bay grill rub, of course!), a piece of grilled chicken for me, josephine’s mixed greens salad, and grilled bread with Mom’s world famous dipping oil. I made fufu drinks to order before dinner, and whipped up margaritas, bushwhackers, strawberry daiquiris, and pina coladas. After dinner we just relaxed on the deck and enjoyed the sparkly view of St. Thomas, then went to bed for 10 PM.
Day 11
Up early enough to watch the sunrise—it was too bad I left my camera in the other pod. Around 7 we headed next door and found my parents already up and ready to go. John wanted to go to Hawksnest, I wanted Gibney. I won because there was no shade at Hawksnest. We were the first people on the beach and it was beautiful:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/547387920/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1189/547 ... 8c33c7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="gibney towards hawksnest"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/547383910/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1072/547 ... ffa0d2.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="gibney"></a>
We snorkeled over to the right and founds lots of things to see: a school of baby needlefish, hogfish, lots of coral:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/547383930/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1317/547 ... 694dc8.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="gibney coral and worms"></a>
grasby, schools of grunts and tang:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/547387798/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1182/547 ... cee6e3.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="gibney fish"></a>
We swam through schools of fry being attacked by jacks:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/547387828/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1330/547 ... 1be93d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="gibney jacks and fry"></a>
and on the way back we found a smooth trunkfish and a flounder:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/547387816/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1248/547 ... 011e61.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="gibney flounder"></a>
The flounder was so confident in its disguise that it did not move, even when we dove right down to it. We swam for a few hours, and at about noon we headed home to clean up and then went into town for lunch. Gibney palms:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/547387902/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1222/547 ... 3b2d46.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="gibney palms"></a>
Note on Gibney: You are only supposed to park on the left side of the gate. No parking on the right side! If you park there, you block in the people parked on the left. There is even a sign that says “no parking” but some people (say, for example, a gray jeep that was rented at the Westin), ignore the sign. Grr.
John wanted to try High Tide, so we went there. I would say it was only OK. Our waitress must have been new, because she was really scatterbrained, bringing food without utensils or plates, forgetting drinks, etc. We split an order of conch fritters (undercooked), and then tried the mahi tacos. They were just so so—the mahi was badly overcooked, though it came with a very nice fruit salsa.
After lunch we headed back to the house and swam in the pool:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/547383828/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1237/547 ... 4464b7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="argonauta pool"></a>
then made a dinner of crabcakes over josephine’s microgreens, and some crusty grilled bread. Sunset:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/547390947/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1187/547 ... 0af047.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="argo sunset #1"></a>
With the help of Argonauta’s telescope, we saw some cruise ships coming in to St. Thomas, and then drifted off for an early rest.
Day 12
Up early again and off for the beach at 8 AM. Today we visited Francis:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/547383882/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1392/547 ... 0d382e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="francis far side"></a>
John was a little grumpy because it was raining a bit, and thundering from time to time, and he wanted to wait at the villa for it to blow over, but he was overruled. After about 10 minutes in the water, his usual sunny mood was back. The beach itself was a little buggy, but once in the water it was fine. There were lots of pelicans skimming the water, which was really calm and great for floating. Time to try and find some turtles, so we headed to the right side of the beach and started to walk in only to encounter a BIG HONKING BARRACUDA! Right at the shoreline! He was in water so shallow that his fin popped through the surface of the water.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/561444206/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1061/561 ... 17407f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="barracuda"></a>
Avoiding the barracuda, we headed in, finding a smaller barracuda, and a ray swimming along. Way out by the swim buoys we found two turtles, one medium sized, and one quite large with attached remora. The water was too murky for a good photo. The turtles didn’t stick around so we headed back to shore, finding sea cucumbers, trunkfish, etc. By the shore we found a fish that would bury itself in sand up to its head, and wait there for prey. We watched him for a while then headed in. There was a ghost crab by our stuff:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/547383896/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1403/547 ... 283b12.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="francis land crab"></a>
Back to the house for clean up and falcon avoidance. There is a pair of falcons nesting in the eaves to the bedroom pod, and they had been dive bombing us ever since we arrived—they must have babies in there. Here is the falcon, I am not sure exactly what kind it is:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/550233439/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/191/5502 ... c28813.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="falcon"></a>
John wanted to show my parents the Coral Bay side of the island so we drove over there and around, then stopped in for a late lunch at Skinny Legs. John really, really loves Skinny Legs. I will tell you the truth: for me it is just OK. The thing that bothers me is all of the little flies. My parents seem to enjoy their burgers though. I had a GTO which was just OK, the bread was a little stale. John and I brought my parents back to Argonauta then headed out to try and get fish at the fish trap market. They didn’t have anything though. We tried the guy that sells fish by the fruit stand but he only had kingfish, which I don’t like. Instead I made us shrimp scampi style over pasta, super cheesy garlic bread, and a salad from josephine’s arugula.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/547390490/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1396/547 ... 9fc5c0.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="shrimp scampi"></a>
Here are my happy parents:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/547390402/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1042/547 ... d0da61.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="happy parents"></a>
Tonight’s sunset was AMAZING:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/547390695/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1131/547 ... 215e86.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="argo #3"></a>
Up at 6 AM, in time to see huge sweeping rains coming in:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/544766498/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1339/544 ... 712e7b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="mary point storms"></a>
The rain was drenching, and started pouring into the house. I got soaked closing up the doors! John was sleeping in so I had breakfast by myself and finished the book I was reading (Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, someone on here recommended it to me—thank you! I loved it.) John got up around 8 and we finished packing. At 9:15 we went down to pick up my parents, and despite the rainy weather, took them on a mini tour of the island. The jeep didn’t handle nearly as well as the Vitara did in previous years. In fact, on one of the switchbacks, we had to back up and start over! I think my parents were a little nervous, but they took it in stride.
Lisa had graciously allowed us to stay at Cinnamon Tarn until Argonauta was cleaned, so we then took them up to the villa to hang out. They were amazed by the beauty of the house and the views. I made everyone belt sandwiches (bacon, lettuce, egg, tomato, onion), and we just relaxed, looking out over Francis Bay. I was really sad to say goodbye to Cinnamon Tarn. It is by far the favorite house I have stayed in, but I felt that we had to switch to a house with central air for my parents (my father has a medical condition that can flare up if he is in the heat for extended periods, and especially if he is hot while sleeping).
Somehow we managed to cram all of the luggage, the water, food, and ourselves into the Jeep and we headed off to Argonauta. When I first walked in, I thought that Argonauta felt a little small after the open, sweeping views of Tarn. It was funny though, my Mom looked around, and moved some of the furniture in the great room, and suddenly the house felt bigger! Maybe she’s a feng shui expert or something. My Dad said that Argonauta was beautiful, but Tarn felt like a millionaire’s mansion. He could not believe it when I told him that Tarn was so much cheaper to rent.
Dinner was grilled steak (with Cruz Bay grill rub, of course!), a piece of grilled chicken for me, josephine’s mixed greens salad, and grilled bread with Mom’s world famous dipping oil. I made fufu drinks to order before dinner, and whipped up margaritas, bushwhackers, strawberry daiquiris, and pina coladas. After dinner we just relaxed on the deck and enjoyed the sparkly view of St. Thomas, then went to bed for 10 PM.
Day 11
Up early enough to watch the sunrise—it was too bad I left my camera in the other pod. Around 7 we headed next door and found my parents already up and ready to go. John wanted to go to Hawksnest, I wanted Gibney. I won because there was no shade at Hawksnest. We were the first people on the beach and it was beautiful:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/547387920/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1189/547 ... 8c33c7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="gibney towards hawksnest"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/547383910/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1072/547 ... ffa0d2.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="gibney"></a>
We snorkeled over to the right and founds lots of things to see: a school of baby needlefish, hogfish, lots of coral:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/547383930/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1317/547 ... 694dc8.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="gibney coral and worms"></a>
grasby, schools of grunts and tang:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/547387798/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1182/547 ... cee6e3.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="gibney fish"></a>
We swam through schools of fry being attacked by jacks:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/547387828/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1330/547 ... 1be93d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="gibney jacks and fry"></a>
and on the way back we found a smooth trunkfish and a flounder:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/547387816/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1248/547 ... 011e61.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="gibney flounder"></a>
The flounder was so confident in its disguise that it did not move, even when we dove right down to it. We swam for a few hours, and at about noon we headed home to clean up and then went into town for lunch. Gibney palms:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/547387902/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1222/547 ... 3b2d46.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="gibney palms"></a>
Note on Gibney: You are only supposed to park on the left side of the gate. No parking on the right side! If you park there, you block in the people parked on the left. There is even a sign that says “no parking” but some people (say, for example, a gray jeep that was rented at the Westin), ignore the sign. Grr.
John wanted to try High Tide, so we went there. I would say it was only OK. Our waitress must have been new, because she was really scatterbrained, bringing food without utensils or plates, forgetting drinks, etc. We split an order of conch fritters (undercooked), and then tried the mahi tacos. They were just so so—the mahi was badly overcooked, though it came with a very nice fruit salsa.
After lunch we headed back to the house and swam in the pool:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/547383828/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1237/547 ... 4464b7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="argonauta pool"></a>
then made a dinner of crabcakes over josephine’s microgreens, and some crusty grilled bread. Sunset:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/547390947/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1187/547 ... 0af047.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="argo sunset #1"></a>
With the help of Argonauta’s telescope, we saw some cruise ships coming in to St. Thomas, and then drifted off for an early rest.
Day 12
Up early again and off for the beach at 8 AM. Today we visited Francis:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/547383882/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1392/547 ... 0d382e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="francis far side"></a>
John was a little grumpy because it was raining a bit, and thundering from time to time, and he wanted to wait at the villa for it to blow over, but he was overruled. After about 10 minutes in the water, his usual sunny mood was back. The beach itself was a little buggy, but once in the water it was fine. There were lots of pelicans skimming the water, which was really calm and great for floating. Time to try and find some turtles, so we headed to the right side of the beach and started to walk in only to encounter a BIG HONKING BARRACUDA! Right at the shoreline! He was in water so shallow that his fin popped through the surface of the water.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/561444206/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1061/561 ... 17407f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="barracuda"></a>
Avoiding the barracuda, we headed in, finding a smaller barracuda, and a ray swimming along. Way out by the swim buoys we found two turtles, one medium sized, and one quite large with attached remora. The water was too murky for a good photo. The turtles didn’t stick around so we headed back to shore, finding sea cucumbers, trunkfish, etc. By the shore we found a fish that would bury itself in sand up to its head, and wait there for prey. We watched him for a while then headed in. There was a ghost crab by our stuff:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/547383896/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1403/547 ... 283b12.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="francis land crab"></a>
Back to the house for clean up and falcon avoidance. There is a pair of falcons nesting in the eaves to the bedroom pod, and they had been dive bombing us ever since we arrived—they must have babies in there. Here is the falcon, I am not sure exactly what kind it is:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/550233439/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/191/5502 ... c28813.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="falcon"></a>
John wanted to show my parents the Coral Bay side of the island so we drove over there and around, then stopped in for a late lunch at Skinny Legs. John really, really loves Skinny Legs. I will tell you the truth: for me it is just OK. The thing that bothers me is all of the little flies. My parents seem to enjoy their burgers though. I had a GTO which was just OK, the bread was a little stale. John and I brought my parents back to Argonauta then headed out to try and get fish at the fish trap market. They didn’t have anything though. We tried the guy that sells fish by the fruit stand but he only had kingfish, which I don’t like. Instead I made us shrimp scampi style over pasta, super cheesy garlic bread, and a salad from josephine’s arugula.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/547390490/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1396/547 ... 9fc5c0.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="shrimp scampi"></a>
Here are my happy parents:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/547390402/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1042/547 ... d0da61.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="happy parents"></a>
Tonight’s sunset was AMAZING:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/547390695/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1131/547 ... 215e86.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="argo #3"></a>
