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Oh We Get It!!! Newbie Trip Report - Part One...
Oh We Get It!!! Newbie Trip Report - Part One...
Oh yeah - we get it!!! Trip Report June 9-19th Part One
Is it possible for 1st timers to "get" St. John? Well...in this case I'd have to say for sure!!
Background:
I'm a lurker, I confess. Nothing personal, I'm just kinda shy - even though I know all of you are super nice! Anyway after all the wonderful info I got from this forum, I knew I could stay in lurkdom no longer - I OWE you guys a trip report! So I will do my best...
Our first trip to St. John was prompted by our wedding, we both knew we wanted something low key on the beach and we figured that we should make a fabulous trip for our friends and family out of it. We love the beach and had a wonderful vacation to Hawaii several years ago but Hawaii was out for this trip because it was just too long of a trek (we live in the dc area). So after some research we decided on St. John because it seemed to have a laid back vibe, great snorkeling and perfect beaches. We had been to St. Thomas before and liked it but were looking for something...I don't know, magical...more remote, I can't exactly pinpoint it, but whatever it was St. John seemed to have it in spades. So I researched villa after villa before finally deciding on Palm Hill Villa through Destination St. John. I wasn't able to find any real reviews of this villa prior to our visit but I got great advice and ideas from this forum which was really invaluable, sincere thanks to you all!!!
Day One, Welcome to Paradise:
As we traveled over the ferry, I can't lie my stomach was in knots and it wasn't sea-sickness or the crazy cab ride to Red Hook. I was worried that our villa wouldn't meet everyone's expectations - hey it's a lot of pressure picking a place for 6 people!! Anyway my fears were quickly put aside when we pulled up to Palm Hill. It seems clichéd to say that the pictures don't do it justice but it's true. The view was spectacular and we were surrounded by beautiful gardens teeming with wildlife. We immediately jumped in the pool (perfect size with a great unobstructed view of Great Cruz Bay) and popped open a caribe....now this was the life!! It was so awesome to feel like all the planning had paid off. The house has 3 bedrooms, all fairly equal with their own bathrooms and all with great views. My hubby to be (D.) and I decided to forgo the master bedroom for the upper bedroom with a balcony and a killer view but honestly all the bedrooms were great and offered privacy for couples. The villa had everything I could possibly think of and I would be happy to answer any specific questions anyone may have.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9873290@N05/765537001/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1248/765 ... d985_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Palm Hill Villa Pool"></a>
D's brother (T.) and his friend JP arrived shortly thereafter, it was great to see the awe and happiness in their faces as a long day of travel was proved to be well worth it. Once all of us we were in the water, beers in hand, and a mean game of UNO with waterproof cards going full force... (hey - don't knock drunk UNO if you haven't tried it!)....it was pretty hard to leave. We had brought some frozen foods with us and had preordered beverages with Mixology (both great forum suggestions which worked out REALLY well for us and we will def. do again) so we fired up the grill and just chilled watching a great sunset. What a great welcome to St. John!
Day 2: Exploring!
For one of the first times in my life I actually woke up prior to 9am without an alarm clock! (Usually I am a chronic snooze alarm repeat offender) I think I was just so excited and happy to be in STJ that I couldn't waste a second of the day! Eventually all of us woke up and we went off exploring! First things first we headed to Starfish market to get the lay of the land and pick up a few essentials. I thought I was prepared for the prices but I will say I surprise to see it cost $6 for Cheerios! No matter! We are in paradise!We got some stuff for snacks and so forth, headed back to the villa to store all of it and then straight out for the beach!
We decided to hit Hawksnest first. What a beautiful beach, it was mid-day and pretty busy, relatively speaking. Actually Hawksnest was the most crowded beach of our trip and with the most kids. That said it is still nothing compared to the crowds you would see summertime on any east coast beach.
No sooner than we had laid out the neat sheet did we all decide to jump in and start snorkeling. Between the four of us, we only had 2 snorkle sets so we decided to take turns. Well, that didn't work out so well! We all got so wrapped up in the awesome sea life it was hard getting someone to share a snorkel! We hung out for a while and then decided that we all must have snorkel equip immediately! A quick trip to Cruz Bay Watersports remedied the situation and then we decided to hit Cinnamon.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9873290@N05/765538019/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1191/765 ... e179_m.jpg" width="240" height="194" alt="Cinnamon Bay"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9873290@N05/765537703/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1410/765 ... 4d5f_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Blue Tang School"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9873290@N05/765537925/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1131/765 ... a23c_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Cinnamon Bay"></a>
Cinnamon was picture perfect and we had great snorkeling over to the rocks on the left. We saw schools of blue tang and tons of great coral! We hung out for a while and then after we were worn out from the snorkeling (I know, hard life!) we headed back to the villa for dinner and many many drinks...
Coming up....one girl tries single handedly outdrink 3 boys....a valiant effort or fateful mistake? Later...The rest of the villa gang arrives and we get introduced to the resident iguanas...stay tuned!
I will try posting pictures to this, but I'm not sure if it will work....
Is it possible for 1st timers to "get" St. John? Well...in this case I'd have to say for sure!!
Background:
I'm a lurker, I confess. Nothing personal, I'm just kinda shy - even though I know all of you are super nice! Anyway after all the wonderful info I got from this forum, I knew I could stay in lurkdom no longer - I OWE you guys a trip report! So I will do my best...
Our first trip to St. John was prompted by our wedding, we both knew we wanted something low key on the beach and we figured that we should make a fabulous trip for our friends and family out of it. We love the beach and had a wonderful vacation to Hawaii several years ago but Hawaii was out for this trip because it was just too long of a trek (we live in the dc area). So after some research we decided on St. John because it seemed to have a laid back vibe, great snorkeling and perfect beaches. We had been to St. Thomas before and liked it but were looking for something...I don't know, magical...more remote, I can't exactly pinpoint it, but whatever it was St. John seemed to have it in spades. So I researched villa after villa before finally deciding on Palm Hill Villa through Destination St. John. I wasn't able to find any real reviews of this villa prior to our visit but I got great advice and ideas from this forum which was really invaluable, sincere thanks to you all!!!
Day One, Welcome to Paradise:
As we traveled over the ferry, I can't lie my stomach was in knots and it wasn't sea-sickness or the crazy cab ride to Red Hook. I was worried that our villa wouldn't meet everyone's expectations - hey it's a lot of pressure picking a place for 6 people!! Anyway my fears were quickly put aside when we pulled up to Palm Hill. It seems clichéd to say that the pictures don't do it justice but it's true. The view was spectacular and we were surrounded by beautiful gardens teeming with wildlife. We immediately jumped in the pool (perfect size with a great unobstructed view of Great Cruz Bay) and popped open a caribe....now this was the life!! It was so awesome to feel like all the planning had paid off. The house has 3 bedrooms, all fairly equal with their own bathrooms and all with great views. My hubby to be (D.) and I decided to forgo the master bedroom for the upper bedroom with a balcony and a killer view but honestly all the bedrooms were great and offered privacy for couples. The villa had everything I could possibly think of and I would be happy to answer any specific questions anyone may have.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9873290@N05/765537001/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1248/765 ... d985_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Palm Hill Villa Pool"></a>
D's brother (T.) and his friend JP arrived shortly thereafter, it was great to see the awe and happiness in their faces as a long day of travel was proved to be well worth it. Once all of us we were in the water, beers in hand, and a mean game of UNO with waterproof cards going full force... (hey - don't knock drunk UNO if you haven't tried it!)....it was pretty hard to leave. We had brought some frozen foods with us and had preordered beverages with Mixology (both great forum suggestions which worked out REALLY well for us and we will def. do again) so we fired up the grill and just chilled watching a great sunset. What a great welcome to St. John!
Day 2: Exploring!
For one of the first times in my life I actually woke up prior to 9am without an alarm clock! (Usually I am a chronic snooze alarm repeat offender) I think I was just so excited and happy to be in STJ that I couldn't waste a second of the day! Eventually all of us woke up and we went off exploring! First things first we headed to Starfish market to get the lay of the land and pick up a few essentials. I thought I was prepared for the prices but I will say I surprise to see it cost $6 for Cheerios! No matter! We are in paradise!We got some stuff for snacks and so forth, headed back to the villa to store all of it and then straight out for the beach!
We decided to hit Hawksnest first. What a beautiful beach, it was mid-day and pretty busy, relatively speaking. Actually Hawksnest was the most crowded beach of our trip and with the most kids. That said it is still nothing compared to the crowds you would see summertime on any east coast beach.
No sooner than we had laid out the neat sheet did we all decide to jump in and start snorkeling. Between the four of us, we only had 2 snorkle sets so we decided to take turns. Well, that didn't work out so well! We all got so wrapped up in the awesome sea life it was hard getting someone to share a snorkel! We hung out for a while and then decided that we all must have snorkel equip immediately! A quick trip to Cruz Bay Watersports remedied the situation and then we decided to hit Cinnamon.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9873290@N05/765538019/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1191/765 ... e179_m.jpg" width="240" height="194" alt="Cinnamon Bay"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9873290@N05/765537703/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1410/765 ... 4d5f_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Blue Tang School"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9873290@N05/765537925/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1131/765 ... a23c_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Cinnamon Bay"></a>
Cinnamon was picture perfect and we had great snorkeling over to the rocks on the left. We saw schools of blue tang and tons of great coral! We hung out for a while and then after we were worn out from the snorkeling (I know, hard life!) we headed back to the villa for dinner and many many drinks...
Coming up....one girl tries single handedly outdrink 3 boys....a valiant effort or fateful mistake? Later...The rest of the villa gang arrives and we get introduced to the resident iguanas...stay tuned!
I will try posting pictures to this, but I'm not sure if it will work....
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Kentuckygirl
- Posts: 1903
- Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2006 10:17 am
- Location: Kentucky
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Tracy in WI
- Posts: 1624
- Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 8:39 am
- Location: Wisconsin
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beachluvers
- Posts: 128
- Joined: Tue Dec 12, 2006 7:19 pm
- Location: Cumming, Georgia
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Bill in Va
- Posts: 442
- Joined: Thu Aug 10, 2006 3:56 pm
- Location: Lake Gaston, Va
May be a first timer but you get a BIG smiley face
Hidee ho there. Thanks for coming out of the closet and posting a great report. Keep em coming. You be in Va,Md or DC?....God bless...Bill