Trip Report - 6/13-6/17
Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 9:44 am
My wife and I spent our 4th anniversary on St. John.
Day 1, Wednesday, June 13th: We had a direct flight from Charlotte, NC to St. Thomas on U.S. Air. Everything went well and we landed on St. Thomas about 3:15. Bags arrived pretty quickly and we caught a taxi to Red Hook. We arrived there about 4:10 and were hoping that we would not have to wait until 5. Luckily, they ran a 4:30 ferry, so we were on St. John before 5. Lauren from Estate Lindholm picked us up at the ferry dock, which was very nice since we were not renting a vehicle. After unpacking we headed to The Lime Inn for all you can eat peel and eat shrimp night. The food and the service was excellent. $60 for meals + tip. After dinner we saw probably the funniest thing of the entire trip. As we were walking around town we saw a man walking a pig on a leash. I told my wife that was a "You might be a redneck" moment.
Day 2, Thursday, June 14th (our anniversary): After having breakfast at Estate Lindholm we headed down the Lind Point Trail to Saloman Beach. The hike is not bad if you are in shape, but I would not recommend it for small children or people who do not consider themselves to be "athletic or at least in shape". There were only 6-8 other people on the beach the entire day. Around lunch time a couple showed up and initially sat pretty close to us. After a little while they moved to the other end of the beach and within a couple of minutes the man was nekkid and the woman was topless. I thought that it was very considerate to move to the other end of the beach before they did this. Why is it always people that shouldn't get nekkid that do? Not that I really want to see anyone nekkid but my wife, but a 25 year old in great shape is much easier on the eyes than a 70 year old. We had a great day on the beach and left around 5 to get ready for dinner. We went to Zozo's for our anniversary dinner. We had the calamari for an appetizer. My wife had the pork chop for her meal and I had the scallops. My wife really liked her meal and mine was alright but expensive for 4 scallops. The service was not great, but I realized that was probably the case because we both had water. If we were both drinking alcohol I am sure they would have refilled us several times. $100 meals + tip. On our way back up to Estate Lindholm we stopped at a little yellow building on the right called "Our Market" and got milk shakes which were delicious.
Day 3, Friday, June 15th: We decided to go to Honeymoon today. The beach was not very crowded, maybe 30 other people at any point during the day. The weather was great. A stingray kept going up and down the beach almost the entire day. It was a fairly big one, maybe 2 1/2 feet in diameter. We are not big snorkelers and just enjoy being on the beach and in the water when we get hot. We stayed until around 5 again and went back to get ready for dinner. We went back to The Lime Inn. My wife had the peel and eat shrimp again and I had the crab stuffed filet mignon. Both were very good and we split a fudge brownie sundae for dessert. $80 meals + tip. We really enjoyed the food and service at The Lime Inn and would highly recommend them.
Day 4, Saturday, June 16th: We had scheduled a day sail to the BVI's with Captain Phil on the Wayward Sailor for Friday, but had to cancel and do the USVI day sail because my wife did not get her passport. Just to vent a little, we applied for passports on the same day in early March and I received mine about 6 weeks ago. We called and e-mailed the passport and let them know that we needed the passport by Monday, June 11th for our trip. When we arrived home on Sunday night the passport was there, it had been issued on June 13th and arrived at our house on Friday, June 15th. We probably won't be traveling much in the near future because we want to start a family, so I think I am going right off the money we paid for passports as a donation to the government on my taxes
Captain Phil met us at the ferry dock at 8:45 for our day sail. It was just us and one other couple on the trip. On our first snorkel stop, Captain Phil did a free dive and looked under a ledge and came back up and told us there was a 4 1/2 foot nurse shark under there. A little while later he did another free dive and found another nurse shark hiding. My wife almost freaked out. She asked me was I scared, and jokingly I said, "Since it is only 4 1/2 feet long I figure by the time it eats Captain Phil it will be full for the day and we will have time to get back to the boat." The snorkeling was great, even though I really don't have a lot to compare it too since we don't snorkel much. After lunch and picture demonstration by Captain Phil, we went out for a 2nd snorkel stop. My wife was not feeling very well so she stayed on the boat with the mate Tarn. I came back in early to see how she was doing and saw a flounder on my way in. All in all a good day sail. We arrived back at the ferry dock around 3 and went to a couple of the shops before going back to Estate Lindholm. After arriving back at Estate Lindholm we hung out at the pool for awhile before getting ready for dinner. We decided to try La Tapa and it did not disappoint. We both had the Linguine with Lobster and a couple of other seafood items for our meal. It was one of the best non-steak meals I have ever had. For dessert my wife had the chocolate tart and I had the apple tart. Great food and great service. $90 meals + tip.
Day 5, Sunday, June 17th: Our flight was not scheduled to leave until 4:15 so we packed Saturday night which allowed us to go to the beach for awhile. We had a pretty good thunderstorm this morning around 6:30-7. We thought it had moved out so we headed for Honeymoon and arrived there about 8:45. This was the worst weather day of our stay, it would rain for a few minutes, then be sunny for a few minutes, and then rain again. We stayed at the beach until about 11:30 and went back to get ready for our flight. I had told my wife that she could look for an anniversary present at the jewelry stores if she wanted and she decided to do that right before we got on the ferry. I waited with our luggage and she came back and said that the only thing she found she really liked was $8k
, which was a little out of my price range. I told her if she would have looked earlier maybe we could have negotiated to get at least close to our price range. Maybe next year 
Everything went well with our flight and we arrived back in Charlotte around 7:30.
Summary:
We would highly recommend Estate Lindholm for couples that want a laid back atmosphere. Lauren and Brion are excellent people and really care about their guests.
Captain Phil and Tarn run a great day sail and we would recommend them for any sailing trips.
We thought The Lime Inn and La Tapa were a step above Zozo's for both food and service. I hope my wife's pork chop on Thursday night was not on a leash Wednesday night
We hated to see the new condos going up on the hill. For people who want a crowded island and something going on all the time they have St. Thomas, why not let St. John remain for us people who enjoy a quiet, laid back vacation.
I would be happy to answer any questions. Thanks and God bless you all.
Jeremy
Day 1, Wednesday, June 13th: We had a direct flight from Charlotte, NC to St. Thomas on U.S. Air. Everything went well and we landed on St. Thomas about 3:15. Bags arrived pretty quickly and we caught a taxi to Red Hook. We arrived there about 4:10 and were hoping that we would not have to wait until 5. Luckily, they ran a 4:30 ferry, so we were on St. John before 5. Lauren from Estate Lindholm picked us up at the ferry dock, which was very nice since we were not renting a vehicle. After unpacking we headed to The Lime Inn for all you can eat peel and eat shrimp night. The food and the service was excellent. $60 for meals + tip. After dinner we saw probably the funniest thing of the entire trip. As we were walking around town we saw a man walking a pig on a leash. I told my wife that was a "You might be a redneck" moment.
Day 2, Thursday, June 14th (our anniversary): After having breakfast at Estate Lindholm we headed down the Lind Point Trail to Saloman Beach. The hike is not bad if you are in shape, but I would not recommend it for small children or people who do not consider themselves to be "athletic or at least in shape". There were only 6-8 other people on the beach the entire day. Around lunch time a couple showed up and initially sat pretty close to us. After a little while they moved to the other end of the beach and within a couple of minutes the man was nekkid and the woman was topless. I thought that it was very considerate to move to the other end of the beach before they did this. Why is it always people that shouldn't get nekkid that do? Not that I really want to see anyone nekkid but my wife, but a 25 year old in great shape is much easier on the eyes than a 70 year old. We had a great day on the beach and left around 5 to get ready for dinner. We went to Zozo's for our anniversary dinner. We had the calamari for an appetizer. My wife had the pork chop for her meal and I had the scallops. My wife really liked her meal and mine was alright but expensive for 4 scallops. The service was not great, but I realized that was probably the case because we both had water. If we were both drinking alcohol I am sure they would have refilled us several times. $100 meals + tip. On our way back up to Estate Lindholm we stopped at a little yellow building on the right called "Our Market" and got milk shakes which were delicious.
Day 3, Friday, June 15th: We decided to go to Honeymoon today. The beach was not very crowded, maybe 30 other people at any point during the day. The weather was great. A stingray kept going up and down the beach almost the entire day. It was a fairly big one, maybe 2 1/2 feet in diameter. We are not big snorkelers and just enjoy being on the beach and in the water when we get hot. We stayed until around 5 again and went back to get ready for dinner. We went back to The Lime Inn. My wife had the peel and eat shrimp again and I had the crab stuffed filet mignon. Both were very good and we split a fudge brownie sundae for dessert. $80 meals + tip. We really enjoyed the food and service at The Lime Inn and would highly recommend them.
Day 4, Saturday, June 16th: We had scheduled a day sail to the BVI's with Captain Phil on the Wayward Sailor for Friday, but had to cancel and do the USVI day sail because my wife did not get her passport. Just to vent a little, we applied for passports on the same day in early March and I received mine about 6 weeks ago. We called and e-mailed the passport and let them know that we needed the passport by Monday, June 11th for our trip. When we arrived home on Sunday night the passport was there, it had been issued on June 13th and arrived at our house on Friday, June 15th. We probably won't be traveling much in the near future because we want to start a family, so I think I am going right off the money we paid for passports as a donation to the government on my taxes
Captain Phil met us at the ferry dock at 8:45 for our day sail. It was just us and one other couple on the trip. On our first snorkel stop, Captain Phil did a free dive and looked under a ledge and came back up and told us there was a 4 1/2 foot nurse shark under there. A little while later he did another free dive and found another nurse shark hiding. My wife almost freaked out. She asked me was I scared, and jokingly I said, "Since it is only 4 1/2 feet long I figure by the time it eats Captain Phil it will be full for the day and we will have time to get back to the boat." The snorkeling was great, even though I really don't have a lot to compare it too since we don't snorkel much. After lunch and picture demonstration by Captain Phil, we went out for a 2nd snorkel stop. My wife was not feeling very well so she stayed on the boat with the mate Tarn. I came back in early to see how she was doing and saw a flounder on my way in. All in all a good day sail. We arrived back at the ferry dock around 3 and went to a couple of the shops before going back to Estate Lindholm. After arriving back at Estate Lindholm we hung out at the pool for awhile before getting ready for dinner. We decided to try La Tapa and it did not disappoint. We both had the Linguine with Lobster and a couple of other seafood items for our meal. It was one of the best non-steak meals I have ever had. For dessert my wife had the chocolate tart and I had the apple tart. Great food and great service. $90 meals + tip. Day 5, Sunday, June 17th: Our flight was not scheduled to leave until 4:15 so we packed Saturday night which allowed us to go to the beach for awhile. We had a pretty good thunderstorm this morning around 6:30-7. We thought it had moved out so we headed for Honeymoon and arrived there about 8:45. This was the worst weather day of our stay, it would rain for a few minutes, then be sunny for a few minutes, and then rain again. We stayed at the beach until about 11:30 and went back to get ready for our flight. I had told my wife that she could look for an anniversary present at the jewelry stores if she wanted and she decided to do that right before we got on the ferry. I waited with our luggage and she came back and said that the only thing she found she really liked was $8k
, which was a little out of my price range. I told her if she would have looked earlier maybe we could have negotiated to get at least close to our price range. Maybe next year Everything went well with our flight and we arrived back in Charlotte around 7:30. Summary:
We would highly recommend Estate Lindholm for couples that want a laid back atmosphere. Lauren and Brion are excellent people and really care about their guests.
Captain Phil and Tarn run a great day sail and we would recommend them for any sailing trips.
We thought The Lime Inn and La Tapa were a step above Zozo's for both food and service. I hope my wife's pork chop on Thursday night was not on a leash Wednesday night
We hated to see the new condos going up on the hill. For people who want a crowded island and something going on all the time they have St. Thomas, why not let St. John remain for us people who enjoy a quiet, laid back vacation.
I would be happy to answer any questions. Thanks and God bless you all.
Jeremy
.....mia