Return to StJ Report - Part 3
Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 10:58 am
So here we are at Wednesday already. This week went by so fast! Today we decide that we should slow it down a bit. As you can see from my earlier trip reports we were really running ourselves ragged so far 
Basically we just took our time getting out to the beach. Mike liked to pop over to Every Ting and get us some tea and we sat on the deck planning the day. We were planning on trying Gibney today after reading about it in Off the Beaten Track. First though we went to Mongoose Junction to have some lunch at Sun Dog and do a little shopping. Lunch was great again - I had the white pizza salad and Mike had the quesadillas. Yummy! I don't think we bought anything but it was fun browsing in some of the art shops. They have some really cool stuff. Anyway off to the beach! As we neared Gibney we realized that all of the parking close to the entrance here was full. Plus when we stopped at the overlook we noticed that the waves were coming in pretty good so we thought we'd look for somewhere calmer. Why is it that I have to stop at every overlook when I'm on St. John no matter how many times I've stopped before? We decide to head out to Vie's beach looking for calmer waters. Here's a shot from one of the East End overlooks.
I forgot how far it is out to Vie's! Well, it probably isn't THAT far it just seems like you are driving to the end of the earth. Once there, I'm sorry that we already ate lunch because everything smells SO good. Oh well... so I order us a couple of Red Stripes and pay Vie for the beach access (another $5 well spent!) and we look for a shady spot on the beach. She has some beach loungers here so we drag a couple under a tree and camp out for a bit.
It was nice and relaxing here. We stayed a couple of hours just enjoying the view and hanging out. Then I decided that I wanted to go to Haulover for some snorkelling. This was my favorite snorkel spot from our previous vist to St. John. On the short hike to the north side of Haulover, we run into some guys on their way back. I decide to ask them how the snorkelling was that day. They never made it in the water - too choppy they said. The had a child with them and they thought that it was too dangerous. Hmmm. Well, Mike and I get to the beach and I had to agree. I'm not the best swimmer and the waves were really coming in as you can see.
I was pretty disappointed. Oh well - something for the next trip! Seeing my disappointment, Mike suggested smoothies and a sunset at Francis Bay! That's why I love him I had a Raspberry Coconut smoothie from Colombo's that was to die for! Francis was pretty nice too.
Then it was back to Lavender Hill to get ready for dinner. We went to the Lime Inn that night and it was really crowded for all-you-can-eat shrimp night. I had the seafood pasta and Mike had the crab-stuffed filet. I also had the gazpacho which was really great. I liked the food here but I would probably go on another night when it was less crowded. The tables were on top of each other and there was a loud group next to us that made it practically impossible to have a conversation. Still a good night overall though and a short while later I was back in my bed after another lovely day.
Thursday morning we wake up to sunny skies. Oh I could so get used to this! Today we were going to try Gibney again so we pack up the Jeep and head to the Deli Grotto to pack up our picnic for the day. Today there is parking at Gibney - only one other car in the small parking area. So we load up our backpack chairs and head down to the beach to try and find a good spot and well, to me there aren't any good spots to sit here. I guess that I didn't "get" this beach. The waves were coming in like crazy and there really wasn't any beach to speak of at all. Since this wasn't our cup of tea, we decided to try something else. For some reason, we had been avoiding Trunk Bay so far. I was thinking that it would be too crowded or too commercial or I don't know. So we decided to hit Trunk Bay. This was the best decision of the trip as it ended up being by far my favorite day! There's a reason everyone goes here. We were able to find a nice quiet spot at the west end of the beach to have our picnic lunch (again terrific) and just park ourselves for the day. It was sooooooo relaxing. The best part was that by 2:30 almost everyone had left and there were only a handful of people on the beach. I can't explain it but this was the day that I felt like I really "got" St. John. We stayed at Trunk for 5 hours just eating, drinking some cold beverages, swimming and snorkelling. One of the lifeguards here was so nice too. He stopped by after the crowds left and chatted with us for a bit. We were just staring at the beautiful view and he said "Look at that - the islands are smiling at you!" He was so nice - told us what a pleasure it was to take care of us and to enjoy the rest of our trip. Just so great!
Oh yeah - we also felt the earthquake that day! It kind of freaked me out but it really only lasted less than a minute. I guess I really was adjusting to the island - a little earthquake - no problem! After all of my babbling here I'm going to post a bunch of pictures of the day. The snorkelling here was a lot better that I remembered too. Oh what a day!
There was some weird weather that day to go along with the earthquake. I'd be sitting in the sun but you could see a storm blow by completely covering Jost (I think) at one point.
And the obligatory Trunk Bay overlook shot.
The terrific day made us hungry so we went out for an early dinner at Happy Fish in the Starfish Market mall. I'm a big sushi fan and this place didn't disappoint! The Happy Noodles were great too if you're a non-sushi eater. It was pretty empty in here though - I wonder if people don't realize it's there. I would definitely go back here. I think the Jackie-B roll was my favorite.
So conveniently we are back at the condo early... so Mike can watch the pre-game show for the Cowboys-Packers game! You can take the boy to the island but you can't make him forget about football He's a huge Cowboys fan so he was really looking forward to this game. Unfortunately he was able to watch the pregame show but the actual game was blacked out or something. I think this was the biggest disappointment of the trip for him After a day like today though - nothing could really be disappointing!
Basically we just took our time getting out to the beach. Mike liked to pop over to Every Ting and get us some tea and we sat on the deck planning the day. We were planning on trying Gibney today after reading about it in Off the Beaten Track. First though we went to Mongoose Junction to have some lunch at Sun Dog and do a little shopping. Lunch was great again - I had the white pizza salad and Mike had the quesadillas. Yummy! I don't think we bought anything but it was fun browsing in some of the art shops. They have some really cool stuff. Anyway off to the beach! As we neared Gibney we realized that all of the parking close to the entrance here was full. Plus when we stopped at the overlook we noticed that the waves were coming in pretty good so we thought we'd look for somewhere calmer. Why is it that I have to stop at every overlook when I'm on St. John no matter how many times I've stopped before? We decide to head out to Vie's beach looking for calmer waters. Here's a shot from one of the East End overlooks.I forgot how far it is out to Vie's! Well, it probably isn't THAT far it just seems like you are driving to the end of the earth. Once there, I'm sorry that we already ate lunch because everything smells SO good. Oh well... so I order us a couple of Red Stripes and pay Vie for the beach access (another $5 well spent!) and we look for a shady spot on the beach. She has some beach loungers here so we drag a couple under a tree and camp out for a bit.
It was nice and relaxing here. We stayed a couple of hours just enjoying the view and hanging out. Then I decided that I wanted to go to Haulover for some snorkelling. This was my favorite snorkel spot from our previous vist to St. John. On the short hike to the north side of Haulover, we run into some guys on their way back. I decide to ask them how the snorkelling was that day. They never made it in the water - too choppy they said. The had a child with them and they thought that it was too dangerous. Hmmm. Well, Mike and I get to the beach and I had to agree. I'm not the best swimmer and the waves were really coming in as you can see.
I was pretty disappointed. Oh well - something for the next trip! Seeing my disappointment, Mike suggested smoothies and a sunset at Francis Bay! That's why I love him
I had a Raspberry Coconut smoothie from Colombo's that was to die for! Francis was pretty nice too.Then it was back to Lavender Hill to get ready for dinner. We went to the Lime Inn that night and it was really crowded for all-you-can-eat shrimp night. I had the seafood pasta and Mike had the crab-stuffed filet. I also had the gazpacho which was really great. I liked the food here but I would probably go on another night when it was less crowded. The tables were on top of each other and there was a loud group next to us that made it practically impossible to have a conversation. Still a good night overall though and a short while later I was back in my bed after another lovely day.
Thursday morning we wake up to sunny skies. Oh I could so get used to this! Today we were going to try Gibney again so we pack up the Jeep and head to the Deli Grotto to pack up our picnic for the day. Today there is parking at Gibney - only one other car in the small parking area. So we load up our backpack chairs and head down to the beach to try and find a good spot and well, to me there aren't any good spots to sit here. I guess that I didn't "get" this beach. The waves were coming in like crazy and there really wasn't any beach to speak of at all. Since this wasn't our cup of tea, we decided to try something else. For some reason, we had been avoiding Trunk Bay so far. I was thinking that it would be too crowded or too commercial or I don't know. So we decided to hit Trunk Bay. This was the best decision of the trip as it ended up being by far my favorite day! There's a reason everyone goes here. We were able to find a nice quiet spot at the west end of the beach to have our picnic lunch (again terrific) and just park ourselves for the day. It was sooooooo relaxing. The best part was that by 2:30 almost everyone had left and there were only a handful of people on the beach. I can't explain it but this was the day that I felt like I really "got" St. John. We stayed at Trunk for 5 hours just eating, drinking some cold beverages, swimming and snorkelling. One of the lifeguards here was so nice too. He stopped by after the crowds left and chatted with us for a bit. We were just staring at the beautiful view and he said "Look at that - the islands are smiling at you!" He was so nice - told us what a pleasure it was to take care of us and to enjoy the rest of our trip. Just so great!
Oh yeah - we also felt the earthquake that day! It kind of freaked me out but it really only lasted less than a minute. I guess I really was adjusting to the island - a little earthquake - no problem! After all of my babbling here I'm going to post a bunch of pictures of the day. The snorkelling here was a lot better that I remembered too. Oh what a day!
There was some weird weather that day to go along with the earthquake. I'd be sitting in the sun but you could see a storm blow by completely covering Jost (I think) at one point.
And the obligatory Trunk Bay overlook shot.
The terrific day made us hungry so we went out for an early dinner at Happy Fish in the Starfish Market mall. I'm a big sushi fan and this place didn't disappoint! The Happy Noodles were great too if you're a non-sushi eater. It was pretty empty in here though - I wonder if people don't realize it's there. I would definitely go back here. I think the Jackie-B roll was my favorite.
So conveniently we are back at the condo early... so Mike can watch the pre-game show for the Cowboys-Packers game! You can take the boy to the island but you can't make him forget about football
He's a huge Cowboys fan so he was really looking forward to this game. Unfortunately he was able to watch the pregame show but the actual game was blacked out or something. I think this was the biggest disappointment of the trip for him After a day like today though - nothing could really be disappointing!