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Day 1: Travel Day & Our First Night at the STT Ritz Carl
Day 1: Travel Day & Our First Night at the STT Ritz Carl
Disclaimer: As with my last trip report from way back in 2005, this will be long, wordy, and extremely random, with incomplete thoughts and sentences 
If that is a problem for you I apologize but you can stop reading at any time. I also had no underwater casing so there will not be a single picture of marine life. However there will be interesting insight into the mind and madness of the Flip-Flops!
The Cast of Characters:
Flip-flop - Hi, that's me! Completely OBSESSED with STJ in general and this trip in particular, after a year long postponement to ensure the healthy and happy delivery of the baby boy.
Mr. Flip-Flop - That's my husband, also known as the pack mule. Nice guy who puts up with me, almost gets STJ, and just wants to dive & relax thank you!
Mini Flip-Flop - Our 5 year old daughter, happily taking her 2nd trip to St. John (boy is she being ruined for any future husband)
The Baby Boy - our almost 10 month old baby boy who a year ago prevented our planned trip to STJ, who we discovered was quite a ham on this trip. Every time we aimed the camera at him, he smiled. Totally understands the concept of just being still. Totally even worth missing a trip to STJ. Really. I swear!
Gram - My mom, joining us for her first real trip to STJ after 2 trips to STT & 1 day trip to STJ, also celebrating her Birthday on Thanksgiving day.
Jo - Our friend and longtime sitter of Ella, joining us for 5 days to help with the kids.
Barbo - One of my best friends for over 10 years, we met in college when I hired her to work Conferences. We took a trip without any kids back in '03, this was for sure different.
Jim - aka Mr. Barbo aka the perpetual smiler, I don't think he ever stopped smiling even in his sleep! Newbie to STJ, instantly got it.
Where:
The Ritz Carlton, STT (Day 1)
Villa Hale Lani, Maria Bluff, STJ (Day 2-on)
Wednesday, November 14th - Travel Day & Our First Night on St. Thomas
I can't believe the time has finally come. We have a 6:25 am flight out of Dulles and the 3 am alarm clock comes SO early. Nothing like a trip to STJ to get you moving. I actually slept because I was exhausted from a 3 day trip to Denver the week prior and a bad head cold I was nursing.
Out of bed by 4 and into the shower. Why I shower before a travel day from hell I don't know! Sympathy for the other sardines in the plane I suppose. Door to door to St. Thomas takes us 12 hours. There are no direct flights.
Our minivan cab arrived ON TIME (Thank you Springfield Yellow Cab) and we were on our way to the airport by 4 am. I always forget that at 4 am, even in the DC metro area, there is NO traffic. The 45 minute ride I expected to the airport in actuality took a grand total of 30 minutes. Bags are curb-checked by 4:45 am.
Having checked-in online the day prior, we were off to security. We breezed through with no problems. Even with all the kid paraphernalia! We could have taken a slightly later flight to Atlanta, but knowing the Atlanta airport & my luck, I went for the longest layover I could find.
When I approached the gate agent for a gate check of the stroller she very nicely gave us an entire row - 6 seats across for the 4 of us. Thank you, nice gate agent lady. Take off was on time. The baby boy passed out just before take-off and was awake for only the last 30 minutes of the flight.
Once on the ground in Atlanta, we made our way from Terminal B to Terminal A via the train & found our gate.
Playtime anyone?
Realizing we had 2 hours to burn, Flip-Flop made way to the most efficient Starbucks I have EVER seen in my life, let alone at an airport. I am not a fan of the Atlanta airport, as you can tell, but I will say the people working there were very nice. Every single person was extremely pleasant. Perhaps it was because I was already in island mode and the "good mornings" and "please" and "thank yous" were freely flowing. Not that I am typically rude, but I was in an ESSPECIALLY good mood!
So we waited, with the entire, very tall Notre Dame basketball team (on the way to STT for a tournament), for our flight to STT. Scheduled to depart at 10:15 am, we actually departed about 30 minutes later. After we were all boarded & strapped in, they announced that oh by the way we were waiting for the third pilot! Information I could have used before boarding the plane with the baby boy.
Oh well, it didn't take too long and soon baby boy had passed out AGAIN and we were airborne. Kid karma was working very well. He was awake for probably the last hour or so of the flight, for the better part of the time a really nice guy with the Notre Dame team smiled and played with him. The Mini Flip-Flop slept the entire flight, waking only as we approached landing to sing "you put da lime in da coconut and drink 'em bod up" and "ole ole ole ole I'm feeling hot hot hot" (perhaps she listened to my STJ 07 ipod mix a bit too much)! All in all the flight was seamless and by 3 pm we were on the ground at the STT airport.
I grabbed my rum punch on the way through, left the Mr. at baggage claim and headed to the Ritz Carlton "Lounge" (I put this in quotes because it's not so much a lounge as a little tiny room with a desk, two fridges full of water (nice) and 3 or 4 chairs). Nothing fancy but it is air conditioned & it served its purpose, before our luggage came off the conveyor we were checked in with room keys in hand.
I decided to spend our first night on STT when Delta unceremoniously cancelled all Thursday flights to STT, thus giving us the option of flying a day early (shockingly my choice!) or flying out a day later (no way I am missing a day voluntarily)! I booked the Ritz knowing it was expensive, but also knowing this trip was a long time coming, we would have a hell of a travel day & wanting to be as comfortable as possible for our first night on STT. It was a plan that was coming together nicely.
I did manage to find a package deal that included $100 food and beverage credit and breakfast. Not as bad as it could have been. I asked & received a private taxi to Red Hook. Our driver, Big Steve, seeing that the waterfront was a mess took us up and around to get over to that side of the island. Our detour gave us an impressive view of the harbor. 7 ships were in! I was glad we were not doing any shopping that day.
40 minutes later we were being handed rum punches at the Ritz. As soon as you arrive at the Ritz Carlton they bring you a cold wash cloth and then hand you a rum-less punch. Not to worry, there is a bell man waiting with a bottle of Cruzan to be added to your taste.
While still enjoying our punch, we were taken via golf cart straight to our room. Our luggage followed in its own golf cart. We do not follow the carry-on only plan. We each had a carry-on (except the baby boy) & 5 checked bags total. It could have been better, it could have been worse. Tell me this. Even when you pack weeks, even months in advance, how how how do you manage to forget things like swim cover-ups and shoes for hiking? But of course I didn't forget mounds of flip-flops!
Back to the Ritz. Our room was very nice. Ocean front with a huge patio with 2 chairs and a table and a lounge chair. Big bathroom. Two double beds and the crib was there ready to go. Score 1 for the Ritz. The fridge was also in place. Score 2. Our mantra became "You pay more but you get more".
I completely 100% understand the desire to have just a bed to sleep in and doing it on the cheap. I am a big fan of 5 star at 2-3 star pricing and am a dogged travel bargin hunter. Trust me, I get it. I stayed in a hostel in the red light district of San Francisco and was not even in college anymore! I get it. But with Gram and two kids along, all I wanted was to not have to worry about anything. And we didn't have to worry about a thing. The staff was amazing! "My Pleasure" was their mantra and it made my mantra (remember "you pay more but you get more!") all the easier to remember!
Back to our arrival day... within seconds of settling into our room, the mini Flip-Flop says, "I want POOL!" Not a pool or the pool, my normally charming and articulate kindergarden had gone Neanderthal "WANT POOL!" Moments later we are in our bathing suits and on our way. The mini flip-flop was set! The Ritz is older, but quite beautiful with lovely manicured grounds. It truly is a beautiful setting & exactly what I wanted for the first night. The pool is the centerpiece of the property with an awesome, infinity edged view over to STJ.
A girl with a firm grasp on the good life
The beach is small but clean with tons of beach chairs. There is a small wooden boardwalk that goes down from the pool all along the beachfront to the water activities area. Mini Flip bribed daddy into taking her down to the beach and thus the first sandcastle of the trip was constructed. We were all in heaven. I floated around gazing across the water at the island where I'd be none too soon! I took my first deep breath of the trip! We watched the sunset begin with just a sliver of moon on the horizon.
Someone is getting sleepy
Seriously girl, you need to get out of the pool!
After a while in the pool we were off to clean up, feed the kiddos & get them and Gram settled in for the night so Mr. Flip-Flop and I could go enjoy our dinner at Bleuwater, the Ritz's higher end restaurant. I ordered room service for the ladies ($6.50 peanut butter & jelly with fries for the mini F-F and the $18 Ritz Burger for the Gram, no room service for the baby boy as he was more than happy with his bottle). All were pleased with their meals. By 8 pm they were all in pjs and ready for bed & Mr. Flip-Flop and I were off to dinner.
Bleuwater Restaurant
Dinner was interesting. I don't mean that in a good way or a bad way, I just mean it exactly as it sounds. Interesting. The food was good, not great, but very good. I was happy that it was being subsidized by our F&B credit. Didn't cover it, but did put a large dent in it. The service was outstanding, the wait staff was plentiful, genuine and on top of things. The chef is a bit into (obsessed might not be an exaggeration) foam. Yes, foam. Like the stuff you get on the top of your drink at Starbucks. There was flavored foam on just about everything. It was a little strange. I lie, it was a lot strange. At first, it was just slightly odd, but by the end of the meal Mr. Flip-Flop and I were actually giggling about it. Mr. Flip-Flop even joked, "I wonder if I order something that traditionally comes with foam will it come without it? Cappuccino sir, no foam! Or if it would come with SPECTACULAR foam." We decided not to find out!
Dinner Recap: We started with an amuse-bouche from the Chef (who I should not make fun of) of duck prosciutto with pickled cherry. This was actually quite delicious & involved no foam that I can remember. Mr. Flip-Flop chose the seared scallop appetizer with green pea puree and bacon.
While I picked the kobe beef with uni tempura.
Both were very good. For our entrees, I chose the prawn special hong kong style with a soy vinaigrette, puffed rice (which was very crunchy, like a clump of rice krispies) and porcini mushrooms (yum).
The shrimp was good but it was a bit on the salty side, I blame the foam. Mr. Flip-Flop chose the pan seared ahi with sweet potato chips and shaved cucumber salad.
Also, good, but foamy. I am not JOKING.
For dessert we chose the Donuts, mostly out of curiosity and to see if there would be foam. Chocolate, caramel and cinnamon ... yummy, but not Krispy Kremes!
The other dessert choices were varied and interesting: goat cheese ice cream (?), Banana torte, and a chocolate dessert (I saw on another table) with 5 pots of different chocolate mousse looking stuff - kahlua, white pane cotta, milk chocolate, dark chocolate and hot honey chocolate (I would have picked this but hubby was curious about the donuts).
Then after a short walk on the beach and around the property we headed back to the room for sleep.
Only 1 sleep left till St. John. Though I long to be on St. John this was a very nice way to ease into our vacation & avoid an entire day of hell travel. I thought it would be painful to be so close but not there, but it was really ok!
Tomorrow: Off to STJ, Hale Lani, Stocking up & the Barbos arrive!
If that is a problem for you I apologize but you can stop reading at any time. I also had no underwater casing so there will not be a single picture of marine life. However there will be interesting insight into the mind and madness of the Flip-Flops!The Cast of Characters:
Flip-flop - Hi, that's me! Completely OBSESSED with STJ in general and this trip in particular, after a year long postponement to ensure the healthy and happy delivery of the baby boy.
Mr. Flip-Flop - That's my husband, also known as the pack mule. Nice guy who puts up with me, almost gets STJ, and just wants to dive & relax thank you!
Mini Flip-Flop - Our 5 year old daughter, happily taking her 2nd trip to St. John (boy is she being ruined for any future husband)
The Baby Boy - our almost 10 month old baby boy who a year ago prevented our planned trip to STJ, who we discovered was quite a ham on this trip. Every time we aimed the camera at him, he smiled. Totally understands the concept of just being still. Totally even worth missing a trip to STJ. Really. I swear!
Gram - My mom, joining us for her first real trip to STJ after 2 trips to STT & 1 day trip to STJ, also celebrating her Birthday on Thanksgiving day.
Jo - Our friend and longtime sitter of Ella, joining us for 5 days to help with the kids.
Barbo - One of my best friends for over 10 years, we met in college when I hired her to work Conferences. We took a trip without any kids back in '03, this was for sure different.
Jim - aka Mr. Barbo aka the perpetual smiler, I don't think he ever stopped smiling even in his sleep! Newbie to STJ, instantly got it.
Where:
The Ritz Carlton, STT (Day 1)
Villa Hale Lani, Maria Bluff, STJ (Day 2-on)
Wednesday, November 14th - Travel Day & Our First Night on St. Thomas
I can't believe the time has finally come. We have a 6:25 am flight out of Dulles and the 3 am alarm clock comes SO early. Nothing like a trip to STJ to get you moving. I actually slept because I was exhausted from a 3 day trip to Denver the week prior and a bad head cold I was nursing.
Out of bed by 4 and into the shower. Why I shower before a travel day from hell I don't know! Sympathy for the other sardines in the plane I suppose. Door to door to St. Thomas takes us 12 hours. There are no direct flights.
Our minivan cab arrived ON TIME (Thank you Springfield Yellow Cab) and we were on our way to the airport by 4 am. I always forget that at 4 am, even in the DC metro area, there is NO traffic. The 45 minute ride I expected to the airport in actuality took a grand total of 30 minutes. Bags are curb-checked by 4:45 am.
Having checked-in online the day prior, we were off to security. We breezed through with no problems. Even with all the kid paraphernalia! We could have taken a slightly later flight to Atlanta, but knowing the Atlanta airport & my luck, I went for the longest layover I could find.
When I approached the gate agent for a gate check of the stroller she very nicely gave us an entire row - 6 seats across for the 4 of us. Thank you, nice gate agent lady. Take off was on time. The baby boy passed out just before take-off and was awake for only the last 30 minutes of the flight.
Once on the ground in Atlanta, we made our way from Terminal B to Terminal A via the train & found our gate.
Playtime anyone?
Realizing we had 2 hours to burn, Flip-Flop made way to the most efficient Starbucks I have EVER seen in my life, let alone at an airport. I am not a fan of the Atlanta airport, as you can tell, but I will say the people working there were very nice. Every single person was extremely pleasant. Perhaps it was because I was already in island mode and the "good mornings" and "please" and "thank yous" were freely flowing. Not that I am typically rude, but I was in an ESSPECIALLY good mood!
So we waited, with the entire, very tall Notre Dame basketball team (on the way to STT for a tournament), for our flight to STT. Scheduled to depart at 10:15 am, we actually departed about 30 minutes later. After we were all boarded & strapped in, they announced that oh by the way we were waiting for the third pilot! Information I could have used before boarding the plane with the baby boy.
Oh well, it didn't take too long and soon baby boy had passed out AGAIN and we were airborne. Kid karma was working very well. He was awake for probably the last hour or so of the flight, for the better part of the time a really nice guy with the Notre Dame team smiled and played with him. The Mini Flip-Flop slept the entire flight, waking only as we approached landing to sing "you put da lime in da coconut and drink 'em bod up" and "ole ole ole ole I'm feeling hot hot hot" (perhaps she listened to my STJ 07 ipod mix a bit too much)! All in all the flight was seamless and by 3 pm we were on the ground at the STT airport.
I grabbed my rum punch on the way through, left the Mr. at baggage claim and headed to the Ritz Carlton "Lounge" (I put this in quotes because it's not so much a lounge as a little tiny room with a desk, two fridges full of water (nice) and 3 or 4 chairs). Nothing fancy but it is air conditioned & it served its purpose, before our luggage came off the conveyor we were checked in with room keys in hand.
I decided to spend our first night on STT when Delta unceremoniously cancelled all Thursday flights to STT, thus giving us the option of flying a day early (shockingly my choice!) or flying out a day later (no way I am missing a day voluntarily)! I booked the Ritz knowing it was expensive, but also knowing this trip was a long time coming, we would have a hell of a travel day & wanting to be as comfortable as possible for our first night on STT. It was a plan that was coming together nicely.
I did manage to find a package deal that included $100 food and beverage credit and breakfast. Not as bad as it could have been. I asked & received a private taxi to Red Hook. Our driver, Big Steve, seeing that the waterfront was a mess took us up and around to get over to that side of the island. Our detour gave us an impressive view of the harbor. 7 ships were in! I was glad we were not doing any shopping that day.
40 minutes later we were being handed rum punches at the Ritz. As soon as you arrive at the Ritz Carlton they bring you a cold wash cloth and then hand you a rum-less punch. Not to worry, there is a bell man waiting with a bottle of Cruzan to be added to your taste.
While still enjoying our punch, we were taken via golf cart straight to our room. Our luggage followed in its own golf cart. We do not follow the carry-on only plan. We each had a carry-on (except the baby boy) & 5 checked bags total. It could have been better, it could have been worse. Tell me this. Even when you pack weeks, even months in advance, how how how do you manage to forget things like swim cover-ups and shoes for hiking? But of course I didn't forget mounds of flip-flops!
Back to the Ritz. Our room was very nice. Ocean front with a huge patio with 2 chairs and a table and a lounge chair. Big bathroom. Two double beds and the crib was there ready to go. Score 1 for the Ritz. The fridge was also in place. Score 2. Our mantra became "You pay more but you get more".
I completely 100% understand the desire to have just a bed to sleep in and doing it on the cheap. I am a big fan of 5 star at 2-3 star pricing and am a dogged travel bargin hunter. Trust me, I get it. I stayed in a hostel in the red light district of San Francisco and was not even in college anymore! I get it. But with Gram and two kids along, all I wanted was to not have to worry about anything. And we didn't have to worry about a thing. The staff was amazing! "My Pleasure" was their mantra and it made my mantra (remember "you pay more but you get more!") all the easier to remember!
Back to our arrival day... within seconds of settling into our room, the mini Flip-Flop says, "I want POOL!" Not a pool or the pool, my normally charming and articulate kindergarden had gone Neanderthal "WANT POOL!" Moments later we are in our bathing suits and on our way. The mini flip-flop was set! The Ritz is older, but quite beautiful with lovely manicured grounds. It truly is a beautiful setting & exactly what I wanted for the first night. The pool is the centerpiece of the property with an awesome, infinity edged view over to STJ.
A girl with a firm grasp on the good life
The beach is small but clean with tons of beach chairs. There is a small wooden boardwalk that goes down from the pool all along the beachfront to the water activities area. Mini Flip bribed daddy into taking her down to the beach and thus the first sandcastle of the trip was constructed. We were all in heaven. I floated around gazing across the water at the island where I'd be none too soon! I took my first deep breath of the trip! We watched the sunset begin with just a sliver of moon on the horizon.
Someone is getting sleepy
Seriously girl, you need to get out of the pool!
After a while in the pool we were off to clean up, feed the kiddos & get them and Gram settled in for the night so Mr. Flip-Flop and I could go enjoy our dinner at Bleuwater, the Ritz's higher end restaurant. I ordered room service for the ladies ($6.50 peanut butter & jelly with fries for the mini F-F and the $18 Ritz Burger for the Gram, no room service for the baby boy as he was more than happy with his bottle). All were pleased with their meals. By 8 pm they were all in pjs and ready for bed & Mr. Flip-Flop and I were off to dinner.
Bleuwater Restaurant
Dinner was interesting. I don't mean that in a good way or a bad way, I just mean it exactly as it sounds. Interesting. The food was good, not great, but very good. I was happy that it was being subsidized by our F&B credit. Didn't cover it, but did put a large dent in it. The service was outstanding, the wait staff was plentiful, genuine and on top of things. The chef is a bit into (obsessed might not be an exaggeration) foam. Yes, foam. Like the stuff you get on the top of your drink at Starbucks. There was flavored foam on just about everything. It was a little strange. I lie, it was a lot strange. At first, it was just slightly odd, but by the end of the meal Mr. Flip-Flop and I were actually giggling about it. Mr. Flip-Flop even joked, "I wonder if I order something that traditionally comes with foam will it come without it? Cappuccino sir, no foam! Or if it would come with SPECTACULAR foam." We decided not to find out!
Dinner Recap: We started with an amuse-bouche from the Chef (who I should not make fun of) of duck prosciutto with pickled cherry. This was actually quite delicious & involved no foam that I can remember. Mr. Flip-Flop chose the seared scallop appetizer with green pea puree and bacon.
While I picked the kobe beef with uni tempura.
Both were very good. For our entrees, I chose the prawn special hong kong style with a soy vinaigrette, puffed rice (which was very crunchy, like a clump of rice krispies) and porcini mushrooms (yum).
The shrimp was good but it was a bit on the salty side, I blame the foam. Mr. Flip-Flop chose the pan seared ahi with sweet potato chips and shaved cucumber salad.
Also, good, but foamy. I am not JOKING.
For dessert we chose the Donuts, mostly out of curiosity and to see if there would be foam. Chocolate, caramel and cinnamon ... yummy, but not Krispy Kremes!
The other dessert choices were varied and interesting: goat cheese ice cream (?), Banana torte, and a chocolate dessert (I saw on another table) with 5 pots of different chocolate mousse looking stuff - kahlua, white pane cotta, milk chocolate, dark chocolate and hot honey chocolate (I would have picked this but hubby was curious about the donuts).
Then after a short walk on the beach and around the property we headed back to the room for sleep.
Only 1 sleep left till St. John. Though I long to be on St. John this was a very nice way to ease into our vacation & avoid an entire day of hell travel. I thought it would be painful to be so close but not there, but it was really ok!
Tomorrow: Off to STJ, Hale Lani, Stocking up & the Barbos arrive!
-
Iguanaeddie
- Posts: 37
- Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 7:57 am
- Location: Northern Virginia
Aaahh, the long awaited trip report begins! I love all the details and I'm so happy you had such a smooth travel day. Traveling with little ones is something we hope to do in the near future so I'm especially interested in your report!
Thanks! I can't see your pictures here, but I'll look later at home!
Nicolle
Thanks! I can't see your pictures here, but I'll look later at home!
Nicolle
Oh my – “The Flip Flops” are on a roll. You know a trip that starts off at the Ritz is only going to get better. As weird as it was – the foam dinners sounds good. Mr. FF – “May I have a Cappuccino with no foam please.” You’re cracking me up here. Bring it on Mrs. FF. Great start.
FlaGeorge
"Swim Against The Current - Even a Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow"
"Swim Against The Current - Even a Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow"
