USVI-On-Line

During the night I was getting worried that I wouldn't make it home on the plane. Maybe I'd need an IV, or my eardrum might rupture. I laid out on the deck a little watching the stars, then went in and finally slept, waking up feeling a little better, but not really able to hear much out of my ear due to all the swelling. I have never had an ear infection this bad. My ear was still swollen shut, but it wasn't throbbing.

We checked into parasailing as this was something my graduate really wanted to do and this trip was in his honor. Anyway, we made an appointment for tomorrow at 10 am at the Westin where we'd parasailed in the past as they were unable to accommodate us today.

We decide today to drive all the way out to the East end, enjoying the winding road. As we headed back we stopped at Vie's. She wasn't open yet, but she pulled up with a cheerful greeting. Boy I liked her. It was early, so we ordered a coconut tart and a pineapple tart. They were like a piece of pie with filling. I would have loved to have her chicken, but it was early and she said it would take 30 minutes to make her first batch. So we headed on, deciding to go to Drunk Bay and then eat at Miss Lucy's.

Drunk bay was an easy walk. Salt Pond was fascinating with the bits of foam blowing off it. I didn't know what to expect with Drunk Bay. When we saw it, we loved it. Waves were crashing and there were dozens of jumbies all around. The kids and I all made one and my husband took pictures. I was glad it was a non-water activity as I was not going to immerse my ear again.

Lunch was at Miss Lucy's. I love the setting. We were concerned about two goats- one with an obviously malformed leg from possibly a poorly healed fracture and one was a little kid that had some form of palsy. The food was fine, although I ordered the scallop appetizer ($12) because I didn't want to get stuffed and I sure wasn't stuffed as it was just 4 medium to small scallops. Our waitress could have used a friendliness course.

Coming back the north shore road, we stopped at Gibney beach. I liked this place very much, staying back on the sand mostly and occasionally wading. The tide started to come in and get our towels wet, so we went back and chilled out at the villa.

Since our days were winding down and I felt like I'd "missed" a supper, I was really wanting to try Sweet Plantains. We drove out there while it was still light. The place on the outside didn't look very appealing, but the courtyard was sweet with twinkling lights. It was really the inside of this place that shone though. The walls were a strong dark color, with exotic masks and pictures on the wall. We sat in a banquette that had colorful pillows and open air windows looking out at the water. Sheer curtains framed the entrance to our cozy eating area. Our food was great too, probably the second best (after La Tapa) of the trip. Starting off with Chicken wings, they fell off the bone with a pungent plum bbq sauce. We also had a spicy crab dip with fried plantain chips that wasn't my favorite, but my 18 year old loved it. I tried an exotic martini, which had a lot of cinnamon taste, but I didn't finish it as my stomach didn't care for alcohol with my antibiotic. Here, my 18 year old came to the rescue again! My dish was a sweet curry with raisins and shrimp and I wanted to lick the plate! I honestly ate more than I would have because the flavor was so good. We also had a creole dish that was enjoyed. We were dissapointed they were out of the beef short ribs, but everything we had was delish. We went home happy, to find out that our hot tub was fixed. Great work, Viva! We watched the lights in the hot tub for a bit before retiring.

Tonight things get really interesting...

Another great report. I need to finish mine. Unfortunately, Vie wasn't there when we went a couple weks ago. Gibney is a favorite of ours.

Was it just me or did Starfish's last installment contain a "tease", Ive been waiting all week for the final chapter

sailorgirl wrote:Was it just me or did Starfish's last installment contain a "tease", Ive been waiting all week for the final chapter

Me too.

Indeed. Come back Starfish!
I hope your ear was OK, and that it did not rupture. I hate ear infections.

Great report I hope your feeling better

I think we may have had the same waitress at Miss Lucy's! LOL. I need to know what happened to your ear too.

Thanks.
Can't wait to hear the rest!

OK, guys sorry for the teaser... I'm glad someone's listening though!

We go to sleep with our doors open to feel the breeze and enjoy the tropical feel. There's a brief down pour which is so refreshing. I am sleeping a little restless and "in my dreams" I hear a horrible screeching sound, like someone peeling out. I jerk awake and my husband does too. I look at him and think "The jeep!" My hubbie goes to the kitchen and grabs a BBQ Fork and sneaks slowly out the front entrance, up the stairs to where the jeep is parked to find.... A woman standing next to an overturned jeep right by ours! Husband quickly hides his "weapon" behind his back and talks to the woman. She is obviously disoriented and fluid is leaking out of her vehicle. Her only injury is a scraped arm, which is a miracle because the jeep landed on the drivers door. My husband, a physician who specializes in psychiatry/neurology is pretty concerned and tells me to call 911.

So, at 1 am, I am calling the Virgin Islands 911 number! The police answer and ask me what island I am on, then transfer me to the St John office. I explain I am in a Viva villa called Sapphire Breeze and we're concerned about the young lady and that the jeep is still on- would it explode or something? They ask for directions and I kind of falter, saying perhaps I should call the Viva office, but I try to give them accurate directions. Then I call the Viva representative, Corinne. She says she'll be there right away.

Meanwhile, the woman is now in our house. It is obvious that she is not in the state to drive and it wasn't all alcohol induced. She insists she should walk home, only there's no way because she can't remember her address (Cruz Bay is all she can say) and she also isn't sure of her phone number. I'm thankful she isn't hurt more than the scrape on the arm and I get neosporin for it. I chat with her and she says she makes pastry for a local restaurant. I call the number she finally gives but it doesn't seem right- someone's voice mail picks up that name doesn't correspond with her husband. Guess what? She also isn't carrying an ID or driver's license. The Viva lady is there now, and Corrinne and Basil help out. They said they saw the police coming, but they made a wrong turn, so Corinne calls them back. Basil calls a wrecking company, which arrives before the police. When the police get here, the first thing he says is "Those directions Sucked! Whoever gave me the directions they Sucked!" Whoops. Corinne steps in and explains they were given by a guest who doesn't live here, etc, and tells him the situation. Then he says, "don't do anything, I need to drive back to the station and get my camera!" So he leaves and we are left with my kids all up at 2 am and a woman who is getting agitated. She calls my husband an asshole because he won't let her leave. We chat politely with Basil, who says we shouldn't have called the police, its best to handle things quietly, but Corinne says that we did the right thing. The jeep is bleeding its oil all over the driveway about 10 feet from our jeep and I'm thinking "how are we getting out in the morning?" And "Thank god she didn't crash into our jeep!" And my kids are getting their drunk driving education up close and personal.

We found her cell phone- oh she is a local by the way, and it was out of energy, great. She is focused on it, keeping on trying to push the buttons although it isn't working. Corinne asks her if the number she gave was correct, and she says, "Wait" and checks by dialing in her cell phone, then says "See it doesn't work asshole". Great, we're assholes and she crashed on our property disturbing our whole family's sleep?

The police get back, and the wrecker throws a cable down the hill and hooks onto the jeep and rights it by pulling on its underbelly. And then, ta dah, in a remarkable endorsment of jeeps, the thing starts up! in a Cloud of smoke of course, but they drive it forward and park. We gather her things up, beer bottles and all. Guess what, no car registration. But we find her husbands car driver license in the glove compartment. The police officer is not happy because she is so slow in looking in her purse and keeps saying "you're one second from going over to the other island". Finally, he decides its best to take her over to St Thomas for the night and he leaves with her. I am glad because my goodness, she could have been killed or killed someone so easily! It never was clear why she was in our driveway. She said she'd left "the party" with three others, however we never saw any evidence of anyone else. We think she might have been trying to turn around in our driveway, then slid down and overturned.

Corinne says that St John is very unhappy with the police from St Thomas. Most don't know where anything is on the island. The police also have in their office a Viva book saying the directions to any villa if a guest called. She also says maybe my directions weren't great but it is so unprofessional to dwell on that and not just deal with the situation. I agree. The most professional person present was Corinne. Thank you Viva!

We go back to bed at 3 am, kids exhausted! I can not sleep, because if I'm up at that time my body just doesn't go back asleep. I end up tossing until 4 am, then head up to the loft to sleep for a change of venue. As I lay my head down on the bed, there's a wild rustling from behind my pillow and a bird burst up to the ceiling. I notice there's bird poop all over the pillow and I try to chase the bird out... No luck so I end up replacing the soiled pillow and eventually fall to sleep for about two last hours...

Since this was so long, I'll include the last day in a separate posting.

Only on St John. you don't get this type of entertainment at Disney world.
I'm glad you're back, hope your ear is better.

What a night it was worth the addmission

opps. nevermind. wrong thread.