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First Timer's Trip Report
First Timer's Trip Report
My husband, 17 year old son and nephew had a great week on the island. I chose St. John for purely selfish reasons--beautiful beaches with little development on them and a bit of a wilderness feel because of the National Park. I was not disappointed! My husband is not big on the beach (he'd rather be golfing or fishing)and I can't be sure how much the 2 (typically silent) teenage boys enjoyed the beaches, but I loved the island. I put on "real" clothes only 2 times, going from my pjs to swimsuit back to pjs most days. Barefoot and swimsuit--how can you beat that?
The boys and I did enjoy our morning in a Calypso dinghy. Waterlemon was fun and the waves heading back were an adventure as the swells were starting to rise as the big front came through. (We just returned, so we were on the island during this past weeks wild seas.) After the dinghy we took advantage of the waves and had a blast body surfing at Cinnamon. We also enjoyed hiking the trails--they particularly liked Caneel/Margaret Hill. My nephew wanted to try Bordeaux Mtn. but we didn't have time to brave the unpaved road to get there.
My husband went fishing one morning with Gone Ketchin' and caught a few yellow fin snapper that made for a great dinner that night. He would loved to have done more, but it's just too pricey when you don't have anyone to split the charter with. (we tried!)
We rented T'ree Palms Villa that I found on vrbo. It fit my criteria of under $3,000 with a pool, hot tub and view. We loved it! It is 2 bedroom, 2 bath, had wireless internet and great Caribbean color decor. We overlooked Fish Bay and enjoyed the quiet and the wonderful stargazing. The owners, Korin and Mac live on the upper level, the rental is the lower, but we really didn't know they were there. It is situated so that you really don't realize there is any house above you. Korin, Mac and Korin's mom Barb were great hosts, meeting us at the dock, getting us to our car rental, the grocery store and delivering fresh baked treats to our kitchen each day.
Lion in da Sun wisely cancelled the charter we had reserved with them because of the high seas, but we were able to go on a BVI trip our last day with a new boat through Calypso. Great trip, although we couldn't swim/snorkel at the Baths because of the surf and the area around the caves at Norman Island was a little cloudy and churned up. You just can't control the weather!
Ram's Head was fun, Francis was a nice hot afternoon, even our morning at Trunk Bay was great. Our food report will sound pretty typical: my husband and I had dinner alone at ZoZo's and loved it, we all had a great meal at Lime Inn, the boys tried Skinny Legs burgers and I had a great taste of the Caribbean at Miss Lucy's with a fish plate that had fried plantains, okra fungi and pigeon peas and rice. The boys also had take out from Uncle Joe's and we sampled more than a few smoothie stands around the island.
We did see the allure of Coral Bay--Cruz Bay is just overrun with people and cars. We loved staying outside of town and the crazy roads we drove to get there. I think this is much too long, but I will only speak for myself when I say I now know why you all love St. John as much as you obviously do!
The boys and I did enjoy our morning in a Calypso dinghy. Waterlemon was fun and the waves heading back were an adventure as the swells were starting to rise as the big front came through. (We just returned, so we were on the island during this past weeks wild seas.) After the dinghy we took advantage of the waves and had a blast body surfing at Cinnamon. We also enjoyed hiking the trails--they particularly liked Caneel/Margaret Hill. My nephew wanted to try Bordeaux Mtn. but we didn't have time to brave the unpaved road to get there.
My husband went fishing one morning with Gone Ketchin' and caught a few yellow fin snapper that made for a great dinner that night. He would loved to have done more, but it's just too pricey when you don't have anyone to split the charter with. (we tried!)
We rented T'ree Palms Villa that I found on vrbo. It fit my criteria of under $3,000 with a pool, hot tub and view. We loved it! It is 2 bedroom, 2 bath, had wireless internet and great Caribbean color decor. We overlooked Fish Bay and enjoyed the quiet and the wonderful stargazing. The owners, Korin and Mac live on the upper level, the rental is the lower, but we really didn't know they were there. It is situated so that you really don't realize there is any house above you. Korin, Mac and Korin's mom Barb were great hosts, meeting us at the dock, getting us to our car rental, the grocery store and delivering fresh baked treats to our kitchen each day.
Lion in da Sun wisely cancelled the charter we had reserved with them because of the high seas, but we were able to go on a BVI trip our last day with a new boat through Calypso. Great trip, although we couldn't swim/snorkel at the Baths because of the surf and the area around the caves at Norman Island was a little cloudy and churned up. You just can't control the weather!
Ram's Head was fun, Francis was a nice hot afternoon, even our morning at Trunk Bay was great. Our food report will sound pretty typical: my husband and I had dinner alone at ZoZo's and loved it, we all had a great meal at Lime Inn, the boys tried Skinny Legs burgers and I had a great taste of the Caribbean at Miss Lucy's with a fish plate that had fried plantains, okra fungi and pigeon peas and rice. The boys also had take out from Uncle Joe's and we sampled more than a few smoothie stands around the island.
We did see the allure of Coral Bay--Cruz Bay is just overrun with people and cars. We loved staying outside of town and the crazy roads we drove to get there. I think this is much too long, but I will only speak for myself when I say I now know why you all love St. John as much as you obviously do!
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Greenskeeper
- Posts: 390
- Joined: Sat Mar 08, 2008 2:07 pm
- Location: Cape Cod, MA
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Kentuckygirl
- Posts: 1903
- Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2006 10:17 am
- Location: Kentucky
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sounds like ya had fun. Caneel hill will get the old heart pumpin won't it, but it sure is worth the view when ya get to the top.
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Rachelle & Joe
- Posts: 677
- Joined: Sat Nov 18, 2006 4:23 pm
- Location: ohio
trip report
Hi There, Sounds like fun was had by all ! Thanks & hope you have many more trips to Beautiful STJ !
GinaXOXO, You can look at T'ree Palms on vrbo.com--it's #47234.
T'ree Palms would not be considered a luxury rental, but I didn't have luxury $$ to spend. It was, however, very comfortable! Great beds, pillows and sheets! The kitchen had a 4 burner gas cooktop and toaster oven and microwave. We used the grill a couple of nights, too. The pool and hot tub were wonderful and I was really pleased to be able to get both for under $3,000/week.
We thought the view was outstanding and it's very quiet. (Other than the 5 am rooster that could be heard from somewhere across the hill!) It took us less than 10 minutes to drive into Cruz Bay.
The pictures on their vrbo listing do a good job showing the property. The bedrooms/bathrooms are situated on opposite sides of the living room/kitchen area.
The owners, Korin & Mac, are all of 30 years old and have owned the house for almost 2 years. She is a real estate agent with Holiday Homes and he owns businesses in Houston. Although they live in the upper level, you really can't see the upper level because of the way the rental driveway, entrance and deck/pool are laid out. We saw them twice, once when we called to ask for more LP for the grill and once when they stopped by in the afternoon to drop off the daily baked treats. (Usually these magically appeared on the counter while we were off at the beach!)
T'ree Palms would not be considered a luxury rental, but I didn't have luxury $$ to spend. It was, however, very comfortable! Great beds, pillows and sheets! The kitchen had a 4 burner gas cooktop and toaster oven and microwave. We used the grill a couple of nights, too. The pool and hot tub were wonderful and I was really pleased to be able to get both for under $3,000/week.
We thought the view was outstanding and it's very quiet. (Other than the 5 am rooster that could be heard from somewhere across the hill!) It took us less than 10 minutes to drive into Cruz Bay.
The pictures on their vrbo listing do a good job showing the property. The bedrooms/bathrooms are situated on opposite sides of the living room/kitchen area.
The owners, Korin & Mac, are all of 30 years old and have owned the house for almost 2 years. She is a real estate agent with Holiday Homes and he owns businesses in Houston. Although they live in the upper level, you really can't see the upper level because of the way the rental driveway, entrance and deck/pool are laid out. We saw them twice, once when we called to ask for more LP for the grill and once when they stopped by in the afternoon to drop off the daily baked treats. (Usually these magically appeared on the counter while we were off at the beach!)