Trip Report Part 2
Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2007 6:07 pm
Monday: Beaches and Food
Monday came and we were ready to explore the beaches after our day of the St John transportation system.
First we hit Honeymoon. GOREGOUS. How can anyone beat it? The water was clearer than any I had ever seen. There wasn't much for snorkeling. There were a few slivery fish that wanted to hang out with us in the shallow water. Somehow that didn't bother me too much. The rocks on both sides of the beach held some really cook looking fish. Not much coral as far as I could see. We swam out quite a ways (I could waive hi to the people in the sail boats...yikes) and still didn't see much. It was the gentlest beach ever though. So relaxing. So perfect. Warm water, soft waves, great visability. Just perfect. I didn't want to leave. There were several people on the beach though so we decided to have some food and try another beach.
We ate at the beach bar. Again, the food was ok. Not spectacular. We asked for a side of fruit with both or our meals and our waitress brought out a huge platter for us to split, which was fantastic. We ate next to Caneel Beach with great views.
AFter that we headed to Scott, the place that now holds a permanent place in my husband's heart. He loved it. Every time we went there (three times?), the beach seemed different to me. On this particular day, we were at the far left side of the beach and it was sandy quite a ways out. We did snorkle and saw some fun stuff but nothing terribly exciting. We even snorkeled over to Paradise Beach around the rocks. It was tiny tiny! We spent a lot of time on floaties just drifting in the water. I've never been in an ocean/sea where you can do that. Normally the waves bring you right in. Here, we could float for a half an hour and actually get out aways. We'd paddle back in and enjoy the slow float back out. We spent a few hours there and felt we needed to get in from the sun.
Caneel has a "tea" every afternoon at 4pm so we decided we'd just peak in and see what it was like. Happily, everyone there was in swimsuits and cover ups so we decided to go in.
The tea party was quite nice. They had little individual tea pots, iced tea, scones, cookies, mini muffins. It was off the Estate House on Turtle Bay so the views were gorgeous. The trees with big red blooms (what are they called??) were gorgeous. I couldn't quite wrap my head around hot tea on a 90 degree day but, heck, you only live once. The tea was really good.
After that we cleaned up and went to the Manager's Reception at the Equator. Again the views were spectacular. The sugar ruins are really cool and made for great photos. The entire resort was casual so I was surprised to see everyone was dressed up. Thank goodness I had a skirt on but I should have worn a dress. They gave us champagne and wine and hot appetizers. We sat at the best table with the best view and felt a bit guilty about not socalizing.
One of the managers came up and introduced himself. He is one of the many people at Caneel who have been there over 30 years so he told us about guests who had been coming there for three generations. He also was VERY interested in asking pointed questions about our stay -- how has the service been, how was the check in, how was the room, how was the maid service. He seemed sincerely interested in improving. He then asked us what brought us to Caneel in the Summer. I explained we were celebrating our anniversary. He asked again which room we were in and wanted to know how we liked it. He seemed almost apologetic when he explained that the room is scheduled to be renovated in the Fall. I told him it was really nice the way it was. After a nice chat, we headed back to the main bar and had a few drinks while watching the sun set.
Tuesday: New Horizons II (The BVI trip)
The next day was our anniversary (the big three year one that most people celebrate with trips /sarcasm). We were scheduled to take the New Horizon's II day trip to the British VIs. We wanted to catch a cab at 7 am but one didn't show up until 7:30. We were there by 7:40 and talked with a few other folks while waiting. Soon enough this white and teal boat came into the dock. We boarded and met the crew (Chad was the Captain, Tracy was the First Mate). They were both quite young and seemed energetic.
We set off on the North side of the island. It was fun to pick out some of the beaches we had just spent time on. They stopped by K Chesney's house (of course) and took time to explain the view, the real estate market and the way tipping works. They were funny about it and it seemed like we were in for a fun time.
We headed first to Vigrin Gorda to see the Baths. The ride over was rough. Tracy mentioned the sea hadn't been that choppy in a while. I think Chad had some fun jumping waves but he had the decency to look sorry when he saw my green face! LOL.
I had been prepared for the possiblity that we might have to swim into shore. It was never mentioned on their website (but should have been) but I had read it here. So, I was prepared for some swimming. When he dropped anchor about 150 yards out, I was ready to panic. He then went on to mention it was only 35-40 feet deep. Ok, I can float for snorkeling and I can thread water, but swim 150 yards into shore? Not my cup of tea. They had those noodles, or Tracy (the 105 lb soaking wet island girl) could tow me in while she swam for me. Give me the damn noodle. I didn't want the poor girl to snap in two! The swim wasn't a ton of fun for me but I got there.
Tracy was to be our tour guide through the Baths. The formations themselves were really really cool. Everyone was pointing out animal formations in the rocks. It also would have been really helpful for New Horizons to put a note on their website stating that you should reconsider the trip if you have health problems. We had a few passengers who seemed nervous and unsafe trying to get up and down those slippery steps and rocks. We were also very pushed for time though I have no idea why. Tracy kept making a point of telling us we had to rush to get everything in. I felt a bit cattle prodded but figured maybe there was a good reason for it.
The swim back was way more fun for me. Now that I had done the swim once, I felt much more comfortable about repeating it. I managed to make it to the boat first without my noodle (go me!). The others slowly trickled in, some happy about the swim, some not. Some were dangerously short of breath. Chad was there all but tapping his watch and reminding us we had to get moving.
We got back on the boat and soon pulled up to Marina Cay for lunch. We had looked at their tiny 6 or 8 room resort while planning our trip. I thought it'd be fun to finally see this place. It seemed to be a cool place but VERY tiny. There were some really cool photos to be taken there. Lunch was also rushed. They had called our orders in ahead of time to minimize any wait. We got there and they started putting food on the table. Somehow mine was missing so it took about 10 minutes for me to get my meal. Again, who cares. Ten minutes is not worth getting upset over. Chad didn't look too thrilled about the turn of events though and I admit I felt guilty while trying to mow down my meal instead of declining to eat all together. We didn't spend enough time on the island to form an impression. The waitstaff was nice. The salad was really good. The desserts others had looked great.
We loaded back up and took a 10 minute ride to a reef off of Tortola. He dropped anchor again and we had an hour to snorkel. I was still really new to snorkeling in deep water so I was a bit nervous. Once I put my head in the water, the nerves went away. It was so cool. The whole world got quiet and it was like I was invited into a whole other place. There were tons and tons of fish who didn't seem to mind us being there. They simply moved out of our way. Some of the other people on the trip were strong swimmers and would dive down 10-15 feet to get a better look at the coral or fish. I think we were in 40 feet of water at the time. We didn't see any big fish or rays but it was no less amazing. The reef dropped off sharply (which they warned us about) and you could see the sun's rays trying to reach way down to the bottom. Just awesome! I could have stayed there the rest of the afternoon. That trip made up for being jostled around and having to rush for the whole morning. Maybe that had been their point afterall.
We then sailed to Jost to go to the Soggy Dollar. The beach was gorgeous and warm and clear. There were tons of people having a great time. We ordered Painkillers from Soggy Dollar and enjoyed them. No one was really "in" the bar. They mostly took their drinks and moved to the chairs so we decided to walk down the beach and see what else there was to see. We walked to the last bar on the beach. I wish I'd have looked at the time. There was a brown haired woman tending bar and a very Rasta looking man along with a local Jost man in his 50s. Soon enough they had us engaged in magic tricks and hilarious tales. We had a blast with them. They made us some bushwackers and invited us back any time. If you're there, look for them. They were worth meeting for sure! There's been a lot of hype about Soggy Dollar but this place was so much more fun.
We took our drinks and swam in the water before getting back on the boat for a short ride home. We changed our clothes and decided to try the famous Woodys.
The place was a hoot. Tiny and packed and smelling of sewage. The waitstaff was friendly and most of the knowing customers sat outside. I will forever be thankful for the open window we sat in front of. LOL! The burgers were really great as was the cold beer. We were feeling really grimey though so we headed back to our room to change and have some drinks at the beach bar.
We got back to our rooms around 9pm to find the entire room lit with candles, red flowers scattered on the bed, new slippers, champagne on ice and a congratulations note. Very cool. I guess that's why Michael had asked for our room number the night before. That was way above and beyond. I've mentioned here before that our main reason for going on vacation at all was to celebrate the end of my cancer treatments/surgery. When I was in the middle of it, my husband asked me what I'd rather be doing. I told him I wanted to be on a beach, drinking a coconut drink, and relaxing. So far, this day blew away any hopes I'd had for vacation. It was just fantastic.
Monday came and we were ready to explore the beaches after our day of the St John transportation system.
First we hit Honeymoon. GOREGOUS. How can anyone beat it? The water was clearer than any I had ever seen. There wasn't much for snorkeling. There were a few slivery fish that wanted to hang out with us in the shallow water. Somehow that didn't bother me too much. The rocks on both sides of the beach held some really cook looking fish. Not much coral as far as I could see. We swam out quite a ways (I could waive hi to the people in the sail boats...yikes) and still didn't see much. It was the gentlest beach ever though. So relaxing. So perfect. Warm water, soft waves, great visability. Just perfect. I didn't want to leave. There were several people on the beach though so we decided to have some food and try another beach.
We ate at the beach bar. Again, the food was ok. Not spectacular. We asked for a side of fruit with both or our meals and our waitress brought out a huge platter for us to split, which was fantastic. We ate next to Caneel Beach with great views.
AFter that we headed to Scott, the place that now holds a permanent place in my husband's heart. He loved it. Every time we went there (three times?), the beach seemed different to me. On this particular day, we were at the far left side of the beach and it was sandy quite a ways out. We did snorkle and saw some fun stuff but nothing terribly exciting. We even snorkeled over to Paradise Beach around the rocks. It was tiny tiny! We spent a lot of time on floaties just drifting in the water. I've never been in an ocean/sea where you can do that. Normally the waves bring you right in. Here, we could float for a half an hour and actually get out aways. We'd paddle back in and enjoy the slow float back out. We spent a few hours there and felt we needed to get in from the sun.
Caneel has a "tea" every afternoon at 4pm so we decided we'd just peak in and see what it was like. Happily, everyone there was in swimsuits and cover ups so we decided to go in.
The tea party was quite nice. They had little individual tea pots, iced tea, scones, cookies, mini muffins. It was off the Estate House on Turtle Bay so the views were gorgeous. The trees with big red blooms (what are they called??) were gorgeous. I couldn't quite wrap my head around hot tea on a 90 degree day but, heck, you only live once. The tea was really good.
After that we cleaned up and went to the Manager's Reception at the Equator. Again the views were spectacular. The sugar ruins are really cool and made for great photos. The entire resort was casual so I was surprised to see everyone was dressed up. Thank goodness I had a skirt on but I should have worn a dress. They gave us champagne and wine and hot appetizers. We sat at the best table with the best view and felt a bit guilty about not socalizing.
One of the managers came up and introduced himself. He is one of the many people at Caneel who have been there over 30 years so he told us about guests who had been coming there for three generations. He also was VERY interested in asking pointed questions about our stay -- how has the service been, how was the check in, how was the room, how was the maid service. He seemed sincerely interested in improving. He then asked us what brought us to Caneel in the Summer. I explained we were celebrating our anniversary. He asked again which room we were in and wanted to know how we liked it. He seemed almost apologetic when he explained that the room is scheduled to be renovated in the Fall. I told him it was really nice the way it was. After a nice chat, we headed back to the main bar and had a few drinks while watching the sun set.
Tuesday: New Horizons II (The BVI trip)
The next day was our anniversary (the big three year one that most people celebrate with trips /sarcasm). We were scheduled to take the New Horizon's II day trip to the British VIs. We wanted to catch a cab at 7 am but one didn't show up until 7:30. We were there by 7:40 and talked with a few other folks while waiting. Soon enough this white and teal boat came into the dock. We boarded and met the crew (Chad was the Captain, Tracy was the First Mate). They were both quite young and seemed energetic.
We set off on the North side of the island. It was fun to pick out some of the beaches we had just spent time on. They stopped by K Chesney's house (of course) and took time to explain the view, the real estate market and the way tipping works. They were funny about it and it seemed like we were in for a fun time.
We headed first to Vigrin Gorda to see the Baths. The ride over was rough. Tracy mentioned the sea hadn't been that choppy in a while. I think Chad had some fun jumping waves but he had the decency to look sorry when he saw my green face! LOL.
I had been prepared for the possiblity that we might have to swim into shore. It was never mentioned on their website (but should have been) but I had read it here. So, I was prepared for some swimming. When he dropped anchor about 150 yards out, I was ready to panic. He then went on to mention it was only 35-40 feet deep. Ok, I can float for snorkeling and I can thread water, but swim 150 yards into shore? Not my cup of tea. They had those noodles, or Tracy (the 105 lb soaking wet island girl) could tow me in while she swam for me. Give me the damn noodle. I didn't want the poor girl to snap in two! The swim wasn't a ton of fun for me but I got there.
Tracy was to be our tour guide through the Baths. The formations themselves were really really cool. Everyone was pointing out animal formations in the rocks. It also would have been really helpful for New Horizons to put a note on their website stating that you should reconsider the trip if you have health problems. We had a few passengers who seemed nervous and unsafe trying to get up and down those slippery steps and rocks. We were also very pushed for time though I have no idea why. Tracy kept making a point of telling us we had to rush to get everything in. I felt a bit cattle prodded but figured maybe there was a good reason for it.
The swim back was way more fun for me. Now that I had done the swim once, I felt much more comfortable about repeating it. I managed to make it to the boat first without my noodle (go me!). The others slowly trickled in, some happy about the swim, some not. Some were dangerously short of breath. Chad was there all but tapping his watch and reminding us we had to get moving.
We got back on the boat and soon pulled up to Marina Cay for lunch. We had looked at their tiny 6 or 8 room resort while planning our trip. I thought it'd be fun to finally see this place. It seemed to be a cool place but VERY tiny. There were some really cool photos to be taken there. Lunch was also rushed. They had called our orders in ahead of time to minimize any wait. We got there and they started putting food on the table. Somehow mine was missing so it took about 10 minutes for me to get my meal. Again, who cares. Ten minutes is not worth getting upset over. Chad didn't look too thrilled about the turn of events though and I admit I felt guilty while trying to mow down my meal instead of declining to eat all together. We didn't spend enough time on the island to form an impression. The waitstaff was nice. The salad was really good. The desserts others had looked great.
We loaded back up and took a 10 minute ride to a reef off of Tortola. He dropped anchor again and we had an hour to snorkel. I was still really new to snorkeling in deep water so I was a bit nervous. Once I put my head in the water, the nerves went away. It was so cool. The whole world got quiet and it was like I was invited into a whole other place. There were tons and tons of fish who didn't seem to mind us being there. They simply moved out of our way. Some of the other people on the trip were strong swimmers and would dive down 10-15 feet to get a better look at the coral or fish. I think we were in 40 feet of water at the time. We didn't see any big fish or rays but it was no less amazing. The reef dropped off sharply (which they warned us about) and you could see the sun's rays trying to reach way down to the bottom. Just awesome! I could have stayed there the rest of the afternoon. That trip made up for being jostled around and having to rush for the whole morning. Maybe that had been their point afterall.
We then sailed to Jost to go to the Soggy Dollar. The beach was gorgeous and warm and clear. There were tons of people having a great time. We ordered Painkillers from Soggy Dollar and enjoyed them. No one was really "in" the bar. They mostly took their drinks and moved to the chairs so we decided to walk down the beach and see what else there was to see. We walked to the last bar on the beach. I wish I'd have looked at the time. There was a brown haired woman tending bar and a very Rasta looking man along with a local Jost man in his 50s. Soon enough they had us engaged in magic tricks and hilarious tales. We had a blast with them. They made us some bushwackers and invited us back any time. If you're there, look for them. They were worth meeting for sure! There's been a lot of hype about Soggy Dollar but this place was so much more fun.
We took our drinks and swam in the water before getting back on the boat for a short ride home. We changed our clothes and decided to try the famous Woodys.
The place was a hoot. Tiny and packed and smelling of sewage. The waitstaff was friendly and most of the knowing customers sat outside. I will forever be thankful for the open window we sat in front of. LOL! The burgers were really great as was the cold beer. We were feeling really grimey though so we headed back to our room to change and have some drinks at the beach bar.
We got back to our rooms around 9pm to find the entire room lit with candles, red flowers scattered on the bed, new slippers, champagne on ice and a congratulations note. Very cool. I guess that's why Michael had asked for our room number the night before. That was way above and beyond. I've mentioned here before that our main reason for going on vacation at all was to celebrate the end of my cancer treatments/surgery. When I was in the middle of it, my husband asked me what I'd rather be doing. I told him I wanted to be on a beach, drinking a coconut drink, and relaxing. So far, this day blew away any hopes I'd had for vacation. It was just fantastic.
I know from other reports that other captains have provided a lot more. And they did it without tapping their watch. 
must hav made it all the better.