USVI-On-Line

It's nice to see that September 18 on the calendar - we head back to St. John on November 18. This year we have 3 houses and 24 people going for a Thanksgiving trip - 15 first timers. What was I thinking?

I pulled together something for first timers to deal with all of the questions I've been getting. If you are interested, you can take a look at the St. John New Visitor Guide. It seems to be making our newbies more docile.

Cheers, RickG

Wow, you have some good information there. Great job! I may just point some of our wedding guests to your website, if you don't mind. We too are getting a zillion questions, and we're not even going until May!

Do you mind if I forward this to some newbies that we will be traveling with in April? I know that some things won't apply, but that is incredible and has so much information.

I'm a newbie and I plan to read up!

Woo hoo .. thanks Rick!

Rick - Thnx for the Great information. I bookmarked it for my future reading pleasure! I wish you and your group a wonderful trip to paradise!

Rick,

THAT is a great guide. I'll surely be linking to it. That must have taken a while to pull together.

You are a brave man for pulling together a group of your size. Are the villas that you will be using spread out, or will you be staying close together? What a wonderful way for your group to celebrate Thanksgiving together!

I see that you, too, enjoy La Tapa! It never seems to make the charts, but I've really enjoyed it. You'll have to try Rhumblines so you can add them, unless you haven't for some reason. Their food is delish, IMO.

Thanks, again, for sharing this guide.

canucknyc& xislandgirl, feel free to pass the link on to your friends. Now that its written I'll update it after our trip and each year. I guess the Texaco station milestone will have to change soon!

Bluwater, the villas are nearby, but far enough apart that we won't be on top of each other. Each group of 8 made their own arrangements. We got Le Lapin II and Dolphin Run from Caribbean Villas. I'm staying at Cocotier with Destination St. John for the first time. I had planned on renting Jazz Villa again (we like the floor plan), but the owners put a big premium on Thanksgiving week.

We haven't eaten at Rhumblines yet, and probably won't this trip. I'll save that for when Christine and I go down just the two of us - we're planning two trips to STJ next year.

Cheers, RickG

Wow Rick---your website is great! You packed in lots of information, but also managed to capture the feel of the island (I liked your typical day). We are returning again in February for our third couples trip with 10 people---I'm really amazed, though, at the organization of coordinating 24 people. I learned a few things myself---I like your tip about placing an order with Mixology Warehouse in advance. Also, we went to La Tapa for the first time on our last trip and we all loved it. Cheers!

Wow Rick, that's an awesome guide for the Noobies!

I wish we had such a guide for our first visit.
I especially like the Trail Bandit stuff, great maps!

Have a wonderful vacation!

Wow, that's quite the group! I'm looking forward to checking out the website.

We love La Tapa too! It was actually the very first meal we had on St. John, at the recommendation of the guy whose villa we were renting. They used to have a spicy calamari on the menu that was just awesome. On our last trip, we thought the cooking had gotten even better!

Have a great trip.

I am so impressed and I had no idea about Trail Bandit! Woo hoo! I learned something new!

I wish we had had your guide to give our friends we traveled with this last July. They never,ever got island time and did everything they could to ruin our trip.

But, a beautiful st. john sunset, sitting in a pool with a cocktail overlooking the ocean is something that just can't be messed with.

Rick --- Thanks for the information! We will be staying at the Waterfall Villa the week of Thanksgiving. We always vacation to the islands that week. Our children live in New York City and St. Louis and that seems to be the only time we can all get together. Maybe we will see your group around at some point. One evening we have planned to eat at La Tapa -- its sounds like a wonderful place to dine from the other posts. Have a great time!

jimbob, Thanksgiving seems to work for a lot folks. Our first family trip was Thanksgiving week in 1997. I don't think you'll see a 24 person herd anytime we are there, except on Francis Bay beach or another easy access beach. But, you may find our 8 person house-group at the Beach Bar that Sunday.

Taking 24 people to the islands is insane, from my perspective. I just gave folks a list of villa rental and car rental agencies and the date that I would be there. 2 years ago. That was enough time for folks to plan ahead and get comfortable with their own arrangements. Only, they never really got comfortable. "Oh my God! I hear we're going to have to ship our own diapers, formula and baby food down!" Give me a freaking break. I took my kids down as soon as their navels healed over.

So, I'm no tour guide. The guide I wrote up was a pre-trip exercise so that the newbies can figure what I mean when I say "See ya at Francis Bay at 10. Bring beer." Once I had that done I just rolled it into a web site with the trip reports I've posted here the last couple of years and my lists that I home year-to-year. It really has helped our group get comfortable and move into the anticipation phase.

I rather go through this Fall St. John obsession every year myself. Getting ready for our October/November trip is part of the fun. Writing the newbie guide fed my obsession & DIF.

Cheers, RickG

Just an FYI for La Tapa fans...

So far, they've run an annual coupon (buy one, get one) in the Rotary Dining Club half-price dining book. I think the books cost something like $25. They're only good in the off-season (ending Dec 15). Lots of restaurants are included and you can usually make your $25 back on the first meal... The rest is gravy!