A Newbie Meets STJ - Day 3
Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 5:41 pm
I woke up early and headed directly for the balcony. I took my first glance at that view and discovered something new. NO RAIN! Yippee! Grabbed my breakfast of champions, and blissed out on the balcony recliner. It was overcast, but it was the first day that we didn't have rain. I took pictures, naturally (again, I'll upload later). May have even taken a picture of a Phil or two. Hubby got up soon afterward. After chilling out for a bit, we decided to find a real St. John beach. Finally! I loved hanging out in the villa and the views, but going to the first beach was pretty exciting.
Up until this point we hadn't really driven anywhere besides when we'd originally arrived, and driving to and from Skinny's from the villa in the drizzle. The roads were now dry (mostly), and the beach was calling me. We hopped into the jeep and started driving. No problem, man.
Um, wait a minute. We hadn't been down the beach road before. Hubby was giggling as he was driving with all the twists/turns/hills, while I was white knuckling it, desperately trying to find something comfortable to hold on to for dear life. Our soft top didn't have the freakin' ceiling handle thingamajiggy that usually comes with jeeps. Ahhh. By the time we got to the relatively flat part by the various beaches, I was not feeling well. I was thinking, "Oh God. Is this what going anywhere is going to be like? How will I ever leave the villa again? Is there an oxygen tank in this jeep? Anyone got a xanax?"
We decided to go to Trunk Bay, because I was pretty sure there was only one boat in that day and it would be worse the rest of the week. We found parking easily, but I'm sure it was because it was overcast. When we arrived there wasn't anyone at the booth to pay was closed. Cool. We hauled our chairs and bag and crap up the walkway, trying to figure out which way to go. I was still out of breath from the ride and not feeling great. I was worried about how the rest of the week was going to go if this was how the drive was going to make me feel all the time.
Then we got to the beach.
Wow. Just, wow. You see a billion pictures, but it's nothing compared to seeing it in person. The soft sand, the beautiful color of the water, the islands in the distance. It's all so incredibly relaxing and makes you feel very thankful and pretty damn happy to be alive. At least that's how I felt. All of the sudden I felt fine and needed to get into the water, stat! "It's too bad this place is so ugly", I told hubby. Then I giggled like a school girl and made way for the water. It felt a tiny bit cool until you got all the way in, but then it was heaven. I started chatting with an older couple from Lawn Guyland (they'd had rain every day of their trip (for extended periods), except one day). They were incredibly happy to not have rain and to get to go to the beach. I think we all were.
Hubby wanted to search for coffee and asked if I wanted anything. Boy, did I. I wanted my first ocean beer. Please note that I'm really not a beer drinker at home. I'll drink a beer at a baseball game, but rarely when we go out. In the ocean? Beer girl all the way. He brought the beer to me (service!) and I bobbed along drinking and chatting. And smiling. There was an awful lot of smiling. That crap beer tasted GOOD. I think it's the ocean magic that does it. I stayed in the water until hubby joined, left, and eventually my LG buddies left. Then we sat in our beach chairs and marveled at the scenery for a while. Awesome. Hub decided he might enjoy an alcoholic beverage of his own, so I went in search of one. The cruise ship people arrived around that time, and the line was pretty long. While I was waiting, a gentleman ordered a painkiller. "We're out of mix", the mean woman announced. The man actually groaned. He'd wanted a painkiller so badly - where else could he get one? She told him where (heh). The line moved very slowly. I didn't know what I was going to order, since my own dear hubby loved the painkillers, as well. I knew I wanted something frozen. Then a gentleman in front of me ordered a pina colada. I asked him if he liked getting caught in the rain, too. Ok, I didn't, but I should have. Anyway, he shared his drink with some of his friends (and there was even extra that the formerly mean and now nice woman gave him) and everyone ooo'd and ahh'd about how delicious it was. That did it for me. When it was my turn to order, I ordered two. The gentleman after me saw mine, and ordered one, and then someone after him did the same. All it took was a few people making happy sounds from one drink for her to sell a bunch of them.
I took the goodies back to hubby, who thought I'd gotten lost somewhere. We both greedily tasted the pina coladas (and they were faboo), and immediately got brain freeze. Seriously - what is up with brain freeze in STJ? Every single time we got a frozen drink we got it. Is the drink a lot more cold than normal? We just didn't get it. It's a mystery that remained unsolved throughout the vacation and to date.
We enjoyed a few hours on that beautiful beach, and then our stomachs demanded food and we decided to head to Cruz Bay. I remembered reading about the showers at Trunk, and had brought my change of clothes and Skin So Soft bath gel. Excellent! I didn't have to walk around all salty. As newbies, we had no idea where anything was, but we stumbled across Mongoose Junction and decided that was as good of place as any to get lunch and find a rash guard shirt for the hubster. Also, I'd somehow lost my cover-up and needed to find a replacement. I liked Mongoose Junction. I found a cover-up at one of the first stores I'd come to, and hubby found his shirt pretty quickly as well. We decided to eat in the 'court' area. I have no idea what the name of the restaurant is, but it's by the bar. Anyway, I enjoyed a salad (felt good after all the burgers). After eating, we decided to find the Tap Room. I'd read a lot of good things and wanted to see it for myself. We found it pretty quickly and settled in at the bar. It's a small, but nice place. The bartender for the day was Meaghan, who we really took a shining to. She was extremely friendly and loved to talk sports. We chatted with her for quite a while, then decided it was time to say goodbye and head back to Coral Bay. I really recommend the Tap Room, and especially Meaghan. She is extremely welcoming and definitely was our favorite bartender of the island.
Driving back to Coral Bay wasn't horrible. It helps to have that one trip on your own under your belt, I think, so then you sort of know what to expect (the unexpected!) from then on. We got back and took a dip in the pool. Hub cooked us up some tasty hot dogs on the grill and we spent the rest of the night limin'. What a wonderful day.
SUMMARY: The roads are scary, but the beaches are worth it. Trunk Bay might be the tourist spot, but it's beautiful and I'd definitely go again! Meaghan at the Tap Room rocks.
Up until this point we hadn't really driven anywhere besides when we'd originally arrived, and driving to and from Skinny's from the villa in the drizzle. The roads were now dry (mostly), and the beach was calling me. We hopped into the jeep and started driving. No problem, man.
Um, wait a minute. We hadn't been down the beach road before. Hubby was giggling as he was driving with all the twists/turns/hills, while I was white knuckling it, desperately trying to find something comfortable to hold on to for dear life. Our soft top didn't have the freakin' ceiling handle thingamajiggy that usually comes with jeeps. Ahhh. By the time we got to the relatively flat part by the various beaches, I was not feeling well. I was thinking, "Oh God. Is this what going anywhere is going to be like? How will I ever leave the villa again? Is there an oxygen tank in this jeep? Anyone got a xanax?"
We decided to go to Trunk Bay, because I was pretty sure there was only one boat in that day and it would be worse the rest of the week. We found parking easily, but I'm sure it was because it was overcast. When we arrived there wasn't anyone at the booth to pay was closed. Cool. We hauled our chairs and bag and crap up the walkway, trying to figure out which way to go. I was still out of breath from the ride and not feeling great. I was worried about how the rest of the week was going to go if this was how the drive was going to make me feel all the time.
Then we got to the beach.
Wow. Just, wow. You see a billion pictures, but it's nothing compared to seeing it in person. The soft sand, the beautiful color of the water, the islands in the distance. It's all so incredibly relaxing and makes you feel very thankful and pretty damn happy to be alive. At least that's how I felt. All of the sudden I felt fine and needed to get into the water, stat! "It's too bad this place is so ugly", I told hubby. Then I giggled like a school girl and made way for the water. It felt a tiny bit cool until you got all the way in, but then it was heaven. I started chatting with an older couple from Lawn Guyland (they'd had rain every day of their trip (for extended periods), except one day). They were incredibly happy to not have rain and to get to go to the beach. I think we all were.
Hubby wanted to search for coffee and asked if I wanted anything. Boy, did I. I wanted my first ocean beer. Please note that I'm really not a beer drinker at home. I'll drink a beer at a baseball game, but rarely when we go out. In the ocean? Beer girl all the way. He brought the beer to me (service!) and I bobbed along drinking and chatting. And smiling. There was an awful lot of smiling. That crap beer tasted GOOD. I think it's the ocean magic that does it. I stayed in the water until hubby joined, left, and eventually my LG buddies left. Then we sat in our beach chairs and marveled at the scenery for a while. Awesome. Hub decided he might enjoy an alcoholic beverage of his own, so I went in search of one. The cruise ship people arrived around that time, and the line was pretty long. While I was waiting, a gentleman ordered a painkiller. "We're out of mix", the mean woman announced. The man actually groaned. He'd wanted a painkiller so badly - where else could he get one? She told him where (heh). The line moved very slowly. I didn't know what I was going to order, since my own dear hubby loved the painkillers, as well. I knew I wanted something frozen. Then a gentleman in front of me ordered a pina colada. I asked him if he liked getting caught in the rain, too. Ok, I didn't, but I should have. Anyway, he shared his drink with some of his friends (and there was even extra that the formerly mean and now nice woman gave him) and everyone ooo'd and ahh'd about how delicious it was. That did it for me. When it was my turn to order, I ordered two. The gentleman after me saw mine, and ordered one, and then someone after him did the same. All it took was a few people making happy sounds from one drink for her to sell a bunch of them.
I took the goodies back to hubby, who thought I'd gotten lost somewhere. We both greedily tasted the pina coladas (and they were faboo), and immediately got brain freeze. Seriously - what is up with brain freeze in STJ? Every single time we got a frozen drink we got it. Is the drink a lot more cold than normal? We just didn't get it. It's a mystery that remained unsolved throughout the vacation and to date.
We enjoyed a few hours on that beautiful beach, and then our stomachs demanded food and we decided to head to Cruz Bay. I remembered reading about the showers at Trunk, and had brought my change of clothes and Skin So Soft bath gel. Excellent! I didn't have to walk around all salty. As newbies, we had no idea where anything was, but we stumbled across Mongoose Junction and decided that was as good of place as any to get lunch and find a rash guard shirt for the hubster. Also, I'd somehow lost my cover-up and needed to find a replacement. I liked Mongoose Junction. I found a cover-up at one of the first stores I'd come to, and hubby found his shirt pretty quickly as well. We decided to eat in the 'court' area. I have no idea what the name of the restaurant is, but it's by the bar. Anyway, I enjoyed a salad (felt good after all the burgers). After eating, we decided to find the Tap Room. I'd read a lot of good things and wanted to see it for myself. We found it pretty quickly and settled in at the bar. It's a small, but nice place. The bartender for the day was Meaghan, who we really took a shining to. She was extremely friendly and loved to talk sports. We chatted with her for quite a while, then decided it was time to say goodbye and head back to Coral Bay. I really recommend the Tap Room, and especially Meaghan. She is extremely welcoming and definitely was our favorite bartender of the island.
Driving back to Coral Bay wasn't horrible. It helps to have that one trip on your own under your belt, I think, so then you sort of know what to expect (the unexpected!) from then on. We got back and took a dip in the pool. Hub cooked us up some tasty hot dogs on the grill and we spent the rest of the night limin'. What a wonderful day.
SUMMARY: The roads are scary, but the beaches are worth it. Trunk Bay might be the tourist spot, but it's beautiful and I'd definitely go again! Meaghan at the Tap Room rocks.
