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LATE LONG TRIP REPORT
LATE LONG TRIP REPORT
Here's a trip report from our first week-long stay on STJ (July 21-27, 2007). I had been debating whether or not to post since it seems so long ago. However, having seen some of the recent trip reports, I guess it's not too late. 
Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed reliving it. (I know it's long, but I couldn't help myself.)
Saturday
We woke up early on Saturday to catch our US Airways flight to from Louisville to Charlotte, then on to STT. Everything was smooth, but we definitely got sick and tired of the flight attendants hawking stuff from Charlotte to STT. Talk about a captive audience.
Arrived in STT to warm, sunny weather and were anxious to get to STJ. We gathered our luggage, except for one little piece that we could see on the tarmac behind the conveyer belt. Waited, waited, waited and it finally arrived. Grabbed rum punch, found taxi, and we're off to CA ferry. Waited, waited, waited, loaded stuff, boarded and we're off to STJ! Nice ride, not crowded, and it had A/C. (Didn't realize until ferry ride back to CA how lucky we were!)
When we arrived at STJ, there was no sign of our rental agent, Gary, even though we had just talked to him and told him we were on our way. Rut roh...bad way to begin a vacation. My husband called him, and we found out that, not only had we not adjusted to island time, we didn't even know what time zone we were in. Turns out STJ is in our time zone in the summer, but we thought there was an hour's difference.
We had a chuckle, waited a few minutes, and Gary showed up. We picked up our Grand Vitara at Courtesy and followed Gary up Centerline to Caneel Trailside Cottage. We arrived to fresh flowers, a wonderful welcome basket (a big bottle of Cruzan included), and our long-awaited STJ vacation. (You can read my review of the cottage here: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/s ... 1415.shtml.) Gary gave us a tour of the villa, told us what we needed to know, and was most helpful throughout our stay. Fortunately, we only called him a few times for advice on some island activities. The cottage was pretty much perfect. After a trip to Starfish Market, and a bit of unpacking, we went into Cruz Bay and ate dinner at the Lime Inn.
Sunday: We had a nice relaxing day at Trunk Bay, except for one minor incident. My husband decided to swim out to the trail minus his snorkel vest. As he was swimming back, he got a leg cramp. Fortunately, I wasn't too far behind, so I swam as fast as I could and, using my junior lifesaving skills (acquired when I was 13 at the YMCA
) , I helped him to shore. We laughed about it when it was all over, but at the time it was quite scary. I can assure you, he always wore his vest after that. Bought lunch at the snack shop and had to guard our food from the birds while eating. It was like a Hitchcock movie.
Back to the villa for some rum punch, a bit o' limin', and into Cruz Bay for dinner at the Fish Trap. The fish chowder, conch fritters, and fresh fish were delicious, and the service was good. Explored Cruz Bay a bit more and headed back for the night.
Daughter and her friend. (The one on the yellow ring belongs to me.)
On Monday, we hit Cinnamon Bay for more snorkeling, relaxing, reading, etc. The teens rented kayaks. They walked the kayaks down the right and rowed them around the little island and back to the far left down the beach. They said it was harder than they expected, but they hung in there and finished. Hubby and the girls walked down and snorkeled until they found the airplane wreckage.
Ate at Paradiso that night and it was delicious. The girls loved the lobster ravioli appetizer, hubby had the pork, and our waitress was wonderful. We ordered the chocolate souffl e, but were a bit disappointed when she came back and told us the chef wouldn't serve it because it didn't set up properly. Oh well. Saved some calories at least.
Tuesday: Using our trusty "bible", FF4WD, we decided to explore Coral Bay. It was a fun drive with awesome views. We had lunch at Miss Lucy's with a young goat and some chickens for company. They didn't bother us, but the waitress became so annoyed she locked the little goat behind a fence to keep him away.
Goats gnoshing gnips
After lunch we shopped a bit at the Skinny Leg's places, and headed toward Long Bay for some snorkeling. We arrived, parked, and, as we were getting out of the car, a woman headed toward us from her house. Thinking she was going to run us off, we started apologizing and asking if it was OK for us to be there. She walked past us, got her mail, and headed back inside without a word. So, since she didn't fuss at us, we headed down to the beach. There was a very nice woman there with her two granddaughters, but other than them, it was deserted. My daughter pointed out lots of fish, coral, etc. to us, but I can't remember what they all were. She had been to Marine Lab at Key Largo in May with her 8th grade class, so she was our snorkel guide when we could keep up with her.
Long Bay
We drove back to our villa passing Sloop Jones, Vie's, the smoothie shop, but were too tired to stop, which I now regret. I especially regret not stopping at Sloop Jones's, but hopefully, I will have that opportunity next visit. Had dinner at Morgan's Mango that night, and even with reservations we had a long wait, Maybe we were just tired from all the driving and swimming, but this was our least favorite meal while on STJ. They sat us right in front of the guitarist, and I mean RIGHT in front of him. His music was great, but because of where we were sitting, it was annoyingly loud. We had a hard time talking or placing our orders. I'll probably (maybe) give it another try, because I read so many good comments from others. Like I said, it was probably just an off night for us.
Wednesday was Maho Bay day. The water was calm and the beach uncrowded with lots of sea grapes for shade. While snorkeling, we saw a large turtle and a smaller one feeding on the sea grass. The large one stayed around most of the day, and was obviously used to people watching him. The smaller one must have thought we were thinking of making turtle stew, and swam off as soon as he spotted us. The girls and I snorkeled over to Little Maho for lunch, and hubby walked the goat trail. I know this sounds funny, but I ordered a day old veggie sandwich and Diet Coke for $5.00, and I believe it was one of the best sandwiches I've ever had. Maybe I was just really hungry! You sure can't beat the price though.
Maho from the goat trail
Goat trail
Maho
Back to the Lime Inn that night for all you can eat peel and eat shrimp. My daughter and hubby had the shrimp, the shrimp, and a bit more shrimp. (I don't think I've ever seen them eat that much at one time!) I had the lobster and a champagne split. Makes my mouth water to think about it! My daughter's friend isn't big on seafood, so she had the steak and said it was very good.
Thursday we decided to check out Jumbie. We arrived early enough to get one of the 3 or 4 parking places, unloaded the car, and headed down the walk. We spent the day relaxing, snorkeling, reading....you all know the routine. The snorkeling was good here with coral close to the shore and lots of fish. There were several large, black squid that were interesting to watch. They lined themselves up like soldiers and just seemed to be guarding the beach.
A couple with a teenage daughter and younger son showed up, but, thankfully, didn't stay long. The kids spent most of the time arguing (loudly) with each other and their parents and/or whining. Those poor parents surely must have been miserable.
This was one of our favorite little beaches, but you need to get there early to get a parking spot.
Jumbie
We had dinner that night at the Balcony, and the food, service, and view were wonderful. Since I'm the only wine drinker, I was especially appreciative of their selection of wines by the glass. I had the seafood bouillabaisse, and it was almost perfect. Lots of chunks of fish, big clams, shrimp, etc. with just the right amount of spice in the broth. My husband was really looking forward to getting a sunset picture here. He did get some good pictures, but not the usual sunsets most people get to see. We were told the winds from Africa were carrying sand and dust across the Atlantic making a haze in the atmosphere. Apparently, this keeps the storms at bay, but is not good for seeing the gorgeous sunsets everyone talks about.
Sunset from The Balcony
Lights from STT - The Balcony
Friday was our day off STJ with Capt. John Brandi of Palm Tree Charters. We left Cruz Bay at 8:30 and snorkeled Waterlemon. Didn't see any starfish
, but saw plenty of corals, huge parrotfish, a couple of turtles, and many other fish. My daughter and her friend saw a ray, but it was gone by the time I got there . From there we went through customs, and then stopped at Smuggler's Cove on Tortola for more snorkeling. We visited the little bar for fruity drinks from Stevens, who operates his blender with a car battery. Sweet little beach with only a few people.
Stevens Bar at Smugglers - Tortola
See ya soon!
We had lunch at Foxy's Taboo at Diamond Cay, JVD. The grilled fish sandwich was really good and the hummus and Mediterranean salsa were excellent. After eating and shopping "the mall" at Foxy's, we headed to the Indians and the Caves.
PJ & Capt. John
The Indians is a great snorkeling spot, but it was too crowded the day we were there. We did see many fish and the interior of the rocks is beautiful. The Caves were crowded, too, and I didn't see as many fish there. I started into the largest cave, but once it was dark, I turned around and swam out. If I can't see anything, I'm not sticking around to find out what might see me.
The Indians
The Indians - Who's swam through there?
The Caves - Who's swam all the way to the back?!?
We finished the day with a tour around STJ and listened to stories from Capt. John. We really had a great time with him. He's a laid back, down-to-earth guy and knows a lot of the VI and STJ history. My husband did all the planning and coordinating with his wife, Sue, and he said she was a pleasure to work with, as well.
Capt. John
Since it was our last night
, we decided to visit our favorite restaurant, Paradiso. The girls ordered the lobster ravioli appetizers again, and that's all I remember about the meal other than it was good. We were hoping the chocolate souffl e was behaving itself, but unfortunately, it still wasn't cooperating. We picked other desserts and walked around Mongoose for a time before heading back.
Saturday: The day everyone dreads. Crammed all our stuff back into bags, loaded the car, took one last look around our little paradise, and headed down to Cruz Bay. While hubby returned our car to Courtesy, we made last minute purchases and waited for our ferry.
The return trip was NOTHING like the one from STT. The ferry was crammed with passengers, it was hot, hot, hot, and the A/C was not working or non-existent. I managed to get a seat behind someone whose deodorant was similar to the A/C. Whew! Was I relieved to get off that ferry! Next time, I'm going to be sure and ask if there is A/C, and if not, I'll be sitting outside.
We thought we had some extra time to wander around CA, but we didn't want to take any chances. Good thing we didn't, because the wait at the airport to go through customs, etc. was very long. We'll definitely spend the extra money on a porter to get us through on our return visits.
I hate clich es, but I have to say, "Parting is such sweet sorrow." My husband and I agreed this had been pretty much the perfect vacation. We felt relaxed and rested, unlike some of our other trips where everything was frenzied and stressful. We were sad to leave, but we knew we had found our little bit of paradise and would be returning soon for more.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed reliving it. (I know it's long, but I couldn't help myself.)Saturday
We woke up early on Saturday to catch our US Airways flight to from Louisville to Charlotte, then on to STT. Everything was smooth, but we definitely got sick and tired of the flight attendants hawking stuff from Charlotte to STT. Talk about a captive audience.
Arrived in STT to warm, sunny weather and were anxious to get to STJ. We gathered our luggage, except for one little piece that we could see on the tarmac behind the conveyer belt. Waited, waited, waited and it finally arrived. Grabbed rum punch, found taxi, and we're off to CA ferry. Waited, waited, waited, loaded stuff, boarded and we're off to STJ! Nice ride, not crowded, and it had A/C. (Didn't realize until ferry ride back to CA how lucky we were!)
When we arrived at STJ, there was no sign of our rental agent, Gary, even though we had just talked to him and told him we were on our way. Rut roh...bad way to begin a vacation. My husband called him, and we found out that, not only had we not adjusted to island time, we didn't even know what time zone we were in. Turns out STJ is in our time zone in the summer, but we thought there was an hour's difference.
We had a chuckle, waited a few minutes, and Gary showed up. We picked up our Grand Vitara at Courtesy and followed Gary up Centerline to Caneel Trailside Cottage. We arrived to fresh flowers, a wonderful welcome basket (a big bottle of Cruzan included), and our long-awaited STJ vacation. (You can read my review of the cottage here: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/s ... 1415.shtml.) Gary gave us a tour of the villa, told us what we needed to know, and was most helpful throughout our stay. Fortunately, we only called him a few times for advice on some island activities. The cottage was pretty much perfect. After a trip to Starfish Market, and a bit of unpacking, we went into Cruz Bay and ate dinner at the Lime Inn. Sunday: We had a nice relaxing day at Trunk Bay, except for one minor incident. My husband decided to swim out to the trail minus his snorkel vest. As he was swimming back, he got a leg cramp. Fortunately, I wasn't too far behind, so I swam as fast as I could and, using my junior lifesaving skills (acquired when I was 13 at the YMCA
) , I helped him to shore. We laughed about it when it was all over, but at the time it was quite scary. I can assure you, he always wore his vest after that. Bought lunch at the snack shop and had to guard our food from the birds while eating. It was like a Hitchcock movie. Back to the villa for some rum punch, a bit o' limin', and into Cruz Bay for dinner at the Fish Trap. The fish chowder, conch fritters, and fresh fish were delicious, and the service was good. Explored Cruz Bay a bit more and headed back for the night.
Daughter and her friend. (The one on the yellow ring belongs to me.)
On Monday, we hit Cinnamon Bay for more snorkeling, relaxing, reading, etc. The teens rented kayaks. They walked the kayaks down the right and rowed them around the little island and back to the far left down the beach. They said it was harder than they expected, but they hung in there and finished. Hubby and the girls walked down and snorkeled until they found the airplane wreckage.
Ate at Paradiso that night and it was delicious. The girls loved the lobster ravioli appetizer, hubby had the pork, and our waitress was wonderful. We ordered the chocolate souffl e, but were a bit disappointed when she came back and told us the chef wouldn't serve it because it didn't set up properly. Oh well. Saved some calories at least.
Tuesday: Using our trusty "bible", FF4WD, we decided to explore Coral Bay. It was a fun drive with awesome views. We had lunch at Miss Lucy's with a young goat and some chickens for company. They didn't bother us, but the waitress became so annoyed she locked the little goat behind a fence to keep him away.
Goats gnoshing gnips
After lunch we shopped a bit at the Skinny Leg's places, and headed toward Long Bay for some snorkeling. We arrived, parked, and, as we were getting out of the car, a woman headed toward us from her house. Thinking she was going to run us off, we started apologizing and asking if it was OK for us to be there. She walked past us, got her mail, and headed back inside without a word. So, since she didn't fuss at us, we headed down to the beach. There was a very nice woman there with her two granddaughters, but other than them, it was deserted. My daughter pointed out lots of fish, coral, etc. to us, but I can't remember what they all were. She had been to Marine Lab at Key Largo in May with her 8th grade class, so she was our snorkel guide when we could keep up with her.
Long Bay
We drove back to our villa passing Sloop Jones, Vie's, the smoothie shop, but were too tired to stop, which I now regret. I especially regret not stopping at Sloop Jones's, but hopefully, I will have that opportunity next visit. Had dinner at Morgan's Mango that night, and even with reservations we had a long wait, Maybe we were just tired from all the driving and swimming, but this was our least favorite meal while on STJ. They sat us right in front of the guitarist, and I mean RIGHT in front of him. His music was great, but because of where we were sitting, it was annoyingly loud. We had a hard time talking or placing our orders. I'll probably (maybe) give it another try, because I read so many good comments from others. Like I said, it was probably just an off night for us.
Wednesday was Maho Bay day. The water was calm and the beach uncrowded with lots of sea grapes for shade. While snorkeling, we saw a large turtle and a smaller one feeding on the sea grass. The large one stayed around most of the day, and was obviously used to people watching him. The smaller one must have thought we were thinking of making turtle stew, and swam off as soon as he spotted us. The girls and I snorkeled over to Little Maho for lunch, and hubby walked the goat trail. I know this sounds funny, but I ordered a day old veggie sandwich and Diet Coke for $5.00, and I believe it was one of the best sandwiches I've ever had. Maybe I was just really hungry! You sure can't beat the price though.
Maho from the goat trail
Goat trail
Maho
Back to the Lime Inn that night for all you can eat peel and eat shrimp. My daughter and hubby had the shrimp, the shrimp, and a bit more shrimp. (I don't think I've ever seen them eat that much at one time!) I had the lobster and a champagne split. Makes my mouth water to think about it! My daughter's friend isn't big on seafood, so she had the steak and said it was very good.
Thursday we decided to check out Jumbie. We arrived early enough to get one of the 3 or 4 parking places, unloaded the car, and headed down the walk. We spent the day relaxing, snorkeling, reading....you all know the routine. The snorkeling was good here with coral close to the shore and lots of fish. There were several large, black squid that were interesting to watch. They lined themselves up like soldiers and just seemed to be guarding the beach.
A couple with a teenage daughter and younger son showed up, but, thankfully, didn't stay long. The kids spent most of the time arguing (loudly) with each other and their parents and/or whining. Those poor parents surely must have been miserable.
This was one of our favorite little beaches, but you need to get there early to get a parking spot.
Jumbie
We had dinner that night at the Balcony, and the food, service, and view were wonderful. Since I'm the only wine drinker, I was especially appreciative of their selection of wines by the glass. I had the seafood bouillabaisse, and it was almost perfect. Lots of chunks of fish, big clams, shrimp, etc. with just the right amount of spice in the broth. My husband was really looking forward to getting a sunset picture here. He did get some good pictures, but not the usual sunsets most people get to see. We were told the winds from Africa were carrying sand and dust across the Atlantic making a haze in the atmosphere. Apparently, this keeps the storms at bay, but is not good for seeing the gorgeous sunsets everyone talks about.
Sunset from The Balcony
Lights from STT - The Balcony
Friday was our day off STJ with Capt. John Brandi of Palm Tree Charters. We left Cruz Bay at 8:30 and snorkeled Waterlemon. Didn't see any starfish
, but saw plenty of corals, huge parrotfish, a couple of turtles, and many other fish. My daughter and her friend saw a ray, but it was gone by the time I got there . From there we went through customs, and then stopped at Smuggler's Cove on Tortola for more snorkeling. We visited the little bar for fruity drinks from Stevens, who operates his blender with a car battery. Sweet little beach with only a few people.Stevens Bar at Smugglers - Tortola
See ya soon!
We had lunch at Foxy's Taboo at Diamond Cay, JVD. The grilled fish sandwich was really good and the hummus and Mediterranean salsa were excellent. After eating and shopping "the mall" at Foxy's, we headed to the Indians and the Caves.
PJ & Capt. John
The Indians is a great snorkeling spot, but it was too crowded the day we were there. We did see many fish and the interior of the rocks is beautiful. The Caves were crowded, too, and I didn't see as many fish there. I started into the largest cave, but once it was dark, I turned around and swam out. If I can't see anything, I'm not sticking around to find out what might see me.
The Indians
The Indians - Who's swam through there?
The Caves - Who's swam all the way to the back?!?
We finished the day with a tour around STJ and listened to stories from Capt. John. We really had a great time with him. He's a laid back, down-to-earth guy and knows a lot of the VI and STJ history. My husband did all the planning and coordinating with his wife, Sue, and he said she was a pleasure to work with, as well.
Capt. John
Since it was our last night
, we decided to visit our favorite restaurant, Paradiso. The girls ordered the lobster ravioli appetizers again, and that's all I remember about the meal other than it was good. We were hoping the chocolate souffl e was behaving itself, but unfortunately, it still wasn't cooperating. We picked other desserts and walked around Mongoose for a time before heading back.Saturday: The day everyone dreads. Crammed all our stuff back into bags, loaded the car, took one last look around our little paradise, and headed down to Cruz Bay. While hubby returned our car to Courtesy, we made last minute purchases and waited for our ferry.
The return trip was NOTHING like the one from STT. The ferry was crammed with passengers, it was hot, hot, hot, and the A/C was not working or non-existent. I managed to get a seat behind someone whose deodorant was similar to the A/C. Whew! Was I relieved to get off that ferry! Next time, I'm going to be sure and ask if there is A/C, and if not, I'll be sitting outside.
We thought we had some extra time to wander around CA, but we didn't want to take any chances. Good thing we didn't, because the wait at the airport to go through customs, etc. was very long. We'll definitely spend the extra money on a porter to get us through on our return visits.
I hate clich es, but I have to say, "Parting is such sweet sorrow." My husband and I agreed this had been pretty much the perfect vacation. We felt relaxed and rested, unlike some of our other trips where everything was frenzied and stressful. We were sad to leave, but we knew we had found our little bit of paradise and would be returning soon for more.
When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Kentucky, because everything there happens 20 years after it happens anywhere else. – Mark Twain
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Kentuckygirl
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captainjay
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Cool report, we haven't done the swiwm through at the Indians. But we did swim through the Rhone.
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Loved your belated report and pics! Thanks for taking the time to share your vacation with us! We were there just 3 days after you guys!
How did you like Caneel Trailside Cottage? Nice view & location? Is Long Bay a must do snorkel? And just curious about the $$ on the Palm Tree Charter! Sorry for all the questions! Thanks again!
How did you like Caneel Trailside Cottage? Nice view & location? Is Long Bay a must do snorkel? And just curious about the $$ on the Palm Tree Charter! Sorry for all the questions! Thanks again!
I've got 2 tickets to paradise~Pack your bags we'll leave tonight!
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Thanks for all the nice replies, guys.
Hi msgcolleen. The cottage is very convenient to Cruz Bay. The road leading to it is just past Pastory Gardens on the left where the big dumpster sits, if that helps. Since I don't have anything to compare the view to other than on-line photos, I'd say it's pretty average. There is a view of a bay, but we're not sure which one.
The on-line photos are really good though, so you might check that out.
As far as the cost of Palm Tree Charters, hubby took care of all those arrangements. So, I don't know the answer to that one. I would suggest contacting John or Sue directly. They're really nice folks, and we've found them to be very responsive to our emails. We've already booked another day in April 08, and I can't wait!
Hope this helps.
Hi msgcolleen. The cottage is very convenient to Cruz Bay. The road leading to it is just past Pastory Gardens on the left where the big dumpster sits, if that helps. Since I don't have anything to compare the view to other than on-line photos, I'd say it's pretty average. There is a view of a bay, but we're not sure which one.
The on-line photos are really good though, so you might check that out. As far as the cost of Palm Tree Charters, hubby took care of all those arrangements. So, I don't know the answer to that one. I would suggest contacting John or Sue directly. They're really nice folks, and we've found them to be very responsive to our emails. We've already booked another day in April 08, and I can't wait!
Hope this helps.
When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Kentucky, because everything there happens 20 years after it happens anywhere else. – Mark Twain