USVI-On-Line

Day five


Our first stop of the day was Hawksnest Bay .

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519068163/" title="hawksnest view by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2291/251 ... 11c195.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="hawksnest view"></a>

It was not too crowded and we got a good shady spot on the left. The surf was churning, but we headed in to snorkel anyway. Visibility was impacted by the strong surf but we still found lots of parrotfish, tang:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519066061/" title="Hawksnest blue tang 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3221/251 ... d45e28.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Hawksnest blue tang 2"></a>

snappers, etc. I was happy to see that there are still lots of healthy elkhorn coral--I was worried after reading about the recent swells.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519067307/" title="Hawksnest elkhorn by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2204/251 ... 7f9334.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Hawksnest elkhorn"></a>

After our snorkel we headed back to our stuff to find that we had gained some company!

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519068835/" title="Hawksnet donkeys by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3149/251 ... 4da6c8.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Hawksnet donkeys"></a>

Next we decided to visit Francis Bay, but it was SO crowded! There were cars parked along the entire length of the road, out to the walking trail. Fuhgeddaboutit! Instead we opted for a scenic ride out to Haulover Bay We encountered some wildlife on the way:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519044899/" title="east end donkey favorite by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2215/251 ... deb183.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="east end donkey favorite"></a>

We arrived at Haulover North and found only one other person there.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519062609/" title="Haulover North entry by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2324/251 ... 8e0ab3.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Haulover North entry"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519064717/" title="Haulover North Tortola view by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2391/251 ... 1d891b.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="Haulover North Tortola view"></a>

Now, this is good. Perfect visibility, beautiful coral. I found a school of blue tang and a puffer fish. Lots of little fish:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519064297/" title="Haulover North sms by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3105/251 ... 890f36.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Haulover North sms"></a>

John found a tiny hermit crab, and when he went to pick it up, a little fish came out of nowhere and bit his finger! He said it did not hurt. The only problem was all of the jellyfish! As we headed to the right side, there were baby jellies all over the place, so many that moving your arms felt like pushing through jello! Yuck!! I tried to get a photo of the jellies, you can see some of them on the right of the photo. Does anyone know what kind they are?

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519062307/" title="Haulover mini jellies by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2191/251 ... 0937be.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Haulover mini jellies"></a>

And then there were weird jellies...what is this kind?? They don't look like moon jellies to me.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519883168/" title="Haulover North jellyfish by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2046/251 ... 305c3e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Haulover North jellyfish"></a>

Today's lunch was at Aqua Bistro--mahi sandwiches. Very yummy lunch in a relaxing atmosphere.

Back to the house for more pool time and lounging in the outdoor room with foofy cocktails. This one's a raspberry drink...I think it had amaretto in it, and I don't remember what else.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519143277/" title="raspberry smoothies by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2348/251 ... 109f1e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="raspberry smoothies"></a>

Dinner was just some curried chicken salad made from the leftover tandoori chicken (sorry for the funky lighting!):

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519038393/" title="curried chicken salad by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2324/251 ... 68fc5f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="curried chicken salad"></a>

followed by some stargazing and an early bedtime.


Day 6


Back to Francis Bay to try again. It was relatively crowded again but we were able to find a secluded spot on the far right side.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519865514/" title="Francis Bay Beach by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3126/251 ... d53005.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Francis Bay Beach"></a>

Visibility was poor in spots, but we were able to find some turtles, three in fact, close to shore.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519048535/" title="Francis Bay turtle by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2004/251 ... b63a0f.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="Francis Bay turtle"></a>

They did not seem to mind us swimming with them, so we hung out for a while watching them feed on the turtle grass. Other good sightings included some cero mackerel, grunts:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519046933/" title="Francis Bay grunts by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2169/251 ... 75a730.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="Francis Bay grunts"></a>

barracuda, goatfish, large jacks, butterflyfish, tang, seargant majors, sea cucumbers, and conch.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519869726/" title="Francis pelican by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2297/251 ... 99c22f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Francis pelican"></a>

Back to the villa for lunch, just simple egg sandwiches with arugula:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519817574/" title="BEA by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2304/251 ... f01fcb.jpg" width="500" height="324" alt="BEA"></a>

and an afternoon relaxing on the porch with books.

That evening we headed into town for dinner at DaLivio. The waiter was friendly and welcoming. For starters, he brought out complimentary bruschetta--one topped with roasted peppers and one with caponata. Yum! To begin the meal, we ordered their "giant antipasto for two." Yeah, it was GIANT! This consisted of five vegetable dishes: eggplant parmesean, grilled eggplant, broccoli slow cooked with capers and kalamata olives and topped with cheese, roasted peppers, and caponata. All liberally glazed with olive oil, all very fresh and delicious!

The excellence of the antipasto made, I think, the next course that much more of a disappointment. We both ordered pastas, which were noted on the menu as being "house-made." Well, they were house made in that they were boiled on the premises, but they were NOT made from scratch. In fact, I think they were buittoni brand. It was really disappointing. But, the antipasto was good, as was the house wine, and we were both full after eating all of the vegetables anyway, so we did not dwell on it. One other funny note: they kept playing O Solo Mio. Over and over! I swear they played it at least six times. The Andrea Bocelli version, the duet with Barbara Streisand version, the Pavarotti version...and then, out of nowhere, an Italian death metal song! It was so hard not to start laughing!

Back to the villa for a nightcap and more stargazing with cruise ships going by. The sky was so clear that we could see the lights of St. Croix shining in the distance.


Day seven


Our last full day at Orchid Hill. Sniffle sniffle. I was not ready to leave!

Today was our snorkel at Blue Cobblestone.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519813274/" title="bc beach full screen by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3022/251 ... fcd903.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="bc beach full screen"></a>

We were the only ones there the entire time. The snorkel was good again. We saw lots of Spanish hogfish:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519815066/" title="bc hogfish duo by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2284/251 ... 21766d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="bc hogfish duo"></a>

a turtle:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519814170/" title="bc hawksbill 5 by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2142/251 ... 3e06e7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="bc hawksbill 5"></a>

barracuda, huge schools of sergeant majors, wrasse, parrotfish, squid, etc:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2518998171/" title="bc squid close up by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2163/251 ... 5eb21c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="bc squid close up"></a>

There is lots of beautiful coral here with tons of little fish swarming around like an aquarium. This is a really peaceful snorkeling spot.

On the way back from Blue Cobblestone, we visited Drunk Bay, where we found lots of cool sculptures, including a St. John Stonhenge:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519863008/" title="Drunk Bay stonhenge by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3085/251 ... a67930.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Drunk Bay stonhenge"></a>

I liked this mermaid:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519863544/" title="Drunk bay trans mermaid by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2084/251 ... e71110.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Drunk bay trans mermaid"></a>

We stopped by Salt Pond Bay too, but I was snorkeled out after Blue Cobblestone, so we skipped it.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519965504/" title="Salt Pond Beach by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3201/251 ... d4a08a.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Salt Pond Beach"></a>

Here is the road up from Salt Pond. I HATE walking up this road. It is always so hot!

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519965724/" title="Salt Pond trail by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3101/251 ... 568bf1.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Salt Pond trail"></a>

We stopped off at Cinnamon Bay to clean up and shower off the salt water, and then headed into town to have lunch at the Ocean Grill. We ordered the fish tacos--mahi for me, and lobster for John. They were very good but the portions have exploded since the last time we ate here! We were each only able to eat half of what we had on our plates.

We did a little window shopping at Mongoose Junction--I bought a bowl from Best of Both Worlds, and we considered a couple of paintings at Baja El Sol, but the $200 rule prevented me from actually buying something. (The self-imposed $200 rule is that when I am browsing shops with no particular item in mind, if something costs more than $200, I can't bring myself to buy it right away. I always have to sleep on it for a while. So, what I usually do is browse at the beginning of a trip and then go back and buy everything I want right before we leave.)

Back to the house for more relaxing on the porch. As you can see John was VERY relaxed!

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519133847/" title="OH sleeping John in hammock 2 by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3057/251 ... 4fc990.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="OH sleeping John in hammock 2"></a>

Dinner was simple-just some pasta in a tomato-basil sauce and a salad. Today's cocktail choice was a tequila fizz and a frozen watermelon margarita:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519052147/" title="frozen watermelon margarita by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3189/251 ... bf7138.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="frozen watermelon margarita"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519169679/" title="tequila fizz by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2100/251 ... 57235c.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="tequila fizz"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519133371/" title="OH rigatoni by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2320/251 ... 3a78e0.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="OH rigatoni"></a>

Day eight

Goodbye Orchid Hill! Great that we are able to cram everything in the jeep. Not so great that the property manager started calling repeatedly starting at 7:00 AM to get our feedback on the villa (Or was he just making sure we were awake and will be out by 10 AM?? I don't know. Once I actually picked up the phone and talked with him, I stopped being irritated. He WAS a nice guy.). The next villa we were staying at is La Mer, over in Coral Bay. The road up is really kind of rough, with some washed out concrete ruts, but John took it easy in four wheel drive low and it was not a problem. The drive up the road is worth it for this view:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519087701/" title="la mer paradise view by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2375/251 ... a3588f.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="la mer paradise view"></a>

La Mer is a stunning house--it has gorgeous furnishings, a huge kitchen, and endless views. Here is the most important room in the house, the kitchen!

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519905634/" title="la mer kitchen by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2342/251 ... d91c0b.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="la mer kitchen"></a>

We also loved the outdoor dining area:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519087521/" title="la mer outside dining by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2305/251 ... 89a2c2.jpg" width="500" height="281" alt="la mer outside dining"></a>

To see a full photo set of La Mer, click here:

http://www.flickr.com/gp/28539958@N00/Kkt2GT

The day was overcast so we decided to skip the beach and headed out to Miss Lucy's for crunchy fish, marauding chickens:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519108869/" title="Miss Lucys chickens by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3210/251 ... 6e18a5.jpg" width="396" height="500" alt="Miss Lucys chickens"></a>

and beautiful ocean views. YUM! The fish came with fungi, sweet potato stuffing, rice and pigeon peas, plantains, and squash.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519108463/" title="Mis lucys friis bay platter by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/251 ... b5b99f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Mis lucys friis bay platter"></a>

Everything was delicious and there was way too much, so we brought the leftovers back to the house. We spent the afternoon relaxing at La Mer with books, enjoying the view. I opened up the bottle of champagne we brought down with us:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519091387/" title="la mer special champagne by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2418/251 ... 1b3001.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="la mer special champagne"></a>

Dinner on the deck was grilled steak, mango flavored chicken sausages, rice, and spinach salad.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519136027/" title="OH spinach salad by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2223/251 ... 1ae5bc.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="OH spinach salad"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519947080/" title="OH meat meal by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2149/251 ... c02473.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="OH meat meal"></a>

great photos again. reading trip reports with food pictures is unfair to a guy on a diet getting ready for island food

do you travel with your glasses? those look like the same ones from the Amaretto drinks from a few trips ago.

It's so unfair! I'm reading this at work and can't see any of the pictures or follow the link. Maybe I can go home early.

AWESOME photos and trip report!! Looks like you need to do drink recipes as well!

Can't believe the first week is done already. Thanks

Wow----thanks for the great reports, Becky! Your food shots and, really, ALL of your shots are amazing. I love the great room and view at La Mer.

Guessing that is you in the kitchen at La Mer?
so what is the pool like at La Mer do you like it?
i got really hungry for chicken saugage reading your TR........lol

The pool was refreshing, but small. There is no hot tub. Here is a picture:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519087853/" title="la mer pool and chairs by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3192/251 ... 654530.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="la mer pool and chairs"></a>

The thing I liked least about the pool deck was the furniture. It looked nice, but the lounges were uncomfortable to stay in for extended time periods. The owners of the house should get some cushions for the chairs, I think.

Edited to say that yes, that is me in the kitchen.

OMG..........what amazing views from La Mer. The deck chairs don't look too comfy. I think I would have hauled a living room chair outside.
I love your photos, especially the chickens on the table, and the yummy food and beverages. You really do need to publish a cookbook.

Great TR! Can't wait to read the rest!

Work is fun today with all these trip reports! Swimming through jell-o-ies? How about He*l NO! You are brave girl! . I really enjoyed seeing the pics of La Mer too! Thanks for sharing, and I agree about the cookbook thing. You rock in the kitchen!

Fantastic report, pictures and FOOD porn!! Thanks.

Love the shot of the turtle at Francis - the water looks amazingly clear!

I have been looking forward to read your TR, Becky, and you certainly don’t disappoint me.
I can only be an echo to what others have told about it.

And how I admire the way you can arrange the food so that it looks like a menu on the best restaurant and just tell: “dinner was simple…”.

Linne