USVI-On-Line

Tuesday we woke early and ate breakfast at the villa and headed to Hawksnest. One of my favorites second only to Maho! We found a spot all the way to the right to drop our gear and snorkeled out and around to Gibney and almost around the point. When we started to go around it we decided that it was a really long way back and maybe we should head back! It turned out to be a good thing since by the time we got to the beach at Gibney we got out and walked to the end.

On our travels around the bay we saw 3 stingrays and a turtle and so many fishies! The only thing I found distressing was the shape of the coral. A lot of it was dead and not nearly as beautiful as our last visit. There was a big difference between here and less snorkeled areas.



































We went to Margarita Phil's for lunch after! We were exhausted and I don't quite know how I stayed awake during the meal. I do remember that it was really good though.





After lunch we went back to the villa, floated in the pool and took a nap. Kenneth and I decided to stay home for dinner and eat some of the leftovers while Elizabeth took Jerry to Chateau Bordeaux for dinner. It was an early night for us!

Getting ready to go fishing - will comment later on Chateau Bordeaux.

One quick comment, I disagree with Cat on the coral at Gibney/Oppenheimer. I think it has grown ALOT in the two years since we were there last.

That is the reef that was destroyed from runoff during the building of the Myrah Keating Clinic. I was surprised how fast the coral was coming back. I know they implanted some coral from elsewhere. It looked good compared to last time.

Anyway, gotta run - Cat - great job (O:

Love,
Elizabeth/nothintolose

Such great pictures! Sounds like you had a wonderful day.

Another nice report and great pictures!

Another great installment!

About the coral at Gibney, I don't know. I thought it looked like it had suffered a bit since last year. I have a photo of the same elkhorn at Gibney in 2006 and 2007, and it's looking great in 2006 and pretty dead in the 2007 photo. I just checked my flckr account and the 2007 photo is not online, but when I get home I'll upload it so you can see.

Elizabeth, what did you think of your meal at Chateau Bordeaux? I have not been there in a few years.

LOVE the pics. These were awesome!

I remember now Elizabeth telling me about the runoff messing with the coral!

I loved the 3 rays playing together while we followed them around! I always find it amazing how the fish totally ignore the fact that someone is following them taking a million pics!

Love your trip report and pictures. The picture of the 3 stingrays together are great.

Nice pics cat! My wife fell in love with Gibney/Oppenheimer beach. The one cool thing I liked about it was the 4ft. nurse shark that hung out to the west of the Oppenheimer house. I suppose you were glad that you miss him. Love your reports! Parafins...

parafins wrote:Nice pics cat! My wife fell in love with Gibney/Oppenheimer beach. The one cool thing I liked about it was the 4ft. nurse shark that hung out to the west of the Oppenheimer house. I suppose you were glad that you miss him. Love your reports! Parafins...

Definitly glad!

Okay - sorry I didn't get this sooner but sometimes you just gotta go fishing

Chateau Bordeaux

I had taken Jerry there last trip, and it was our best meal not only because of the food but because of the atmosphere and the staff. We were there last in July of 2005. There is a new chef there now and there was a different hostess/waitress also.

We called that afternoon and asked for a reservation around 7:30 or 8:00. They said that things were slow and asked if we could go there for 7:00. That was no problem for us and in hindsight we were glad because it was light when we got there. We got to enjoy the view from our table by the window while it was light. When it got dark, we had a view of all of the lights in Coral Bay. Both views were beautiful, and the breezes coming in the window were awesome!

As for dinner, etc., I had a Captain Morgan and Diet Coke with a lime and Jerry had a cosmopolitan on the rocks. For appetizers, I had tuna tataki (AWESOME), and Jerry had a lobster salad (delicious). For dinner, he had a duck dish that he loved, and I had a sea bass dish that was okay. I had never had sea bass before and to be honest, I am not a fan. It was flavored well - just didn't like the taste of the fish.

I don't think we had desert because we were full by then.

Even though my entree wasn't the greatest, we LOVED our whole evening there. There's just something about that restaurant, it's atmosphere, it's view, etc. that does it for us. We could have had burgers there and still have had a wonderful meal.

It was nice to be together and to be able to give Cat and Kenneth some time together.

nothintolose

I really admire your underwater pics andd wish I have had such a turtle pic as you have!

Linne

Linne, I could follow turtles all day! I love watching them! They are so graceful in the water for something that is so big and heavy on land!