TR: 14 Days in Heaven (Part 2 - Days 4-7)
Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 9:18 pm
Day 4 - Tuesday
We rose early, drank coffee and Michele and I repeated our run from the other day. We headed to Gibney for the day. I love this beach! It is so calm and private. Our friend, Joe, got fried the first day so there was plenty of shade for him. We relaxed, read books and napped. We headed back to the villa for happy hour, sunset and then showered and headed out. Joe is a big Flyers fan so we found out that they only place that was playing the game was Skinny's so we headed to the other side of the island.
We met other Flyer's fans, had fun watching the game and ate yummy burgers. Since Ron was driving and it's a difficult drive, we didn't stay too late and headed home.
Day 5 - Wednesday
Michele really wanted to go for a hike. Reef Bay was the obvious choice but I felt bad having Ron drive us all the way there and then back to pick us up so we decided to try something new. I checked with the Fins, Feet and Four Wheels book and we decided upon the Caneel/Margaret Hill Hike. It started just past Mongoose Junction so Ron dropped us off - we grabbed water from Deli Grotto and away we went. This is not a hike for the faint of heart or someone who is out of shape! It's up, up, up! It's like being on a stair mill at the gym. We loved it! At the top, you are rewarded with an amazing lookout of Cruz Bay and beyond. We then continued all the way to the next lookout that I think is the top of Margaret Hill. This lookout is 2 huge boulders that you stand on. It's about the same elevation as the first lookout but it's back further from the water so you can see Virgin Grand and the St. John housing on Gifft Hill Road. We signed our initials on a leaf as others had done and then did the return hike. Total hike time was an hour and a half. Ron picked us up after the gym and home we went.
We had great breakfast sandwiches at the villa. We planned on going to Trunk Bay today - this is our anniversary day and that is where we were married so it was a no brainer. On the way to the beach, we stopped at Ristaba. Friends of ours own that villa and 2 of their relatives were there so we stopped to say 'hi'. This is a great villa - wonderful for large families. After chatting with them, we headed to Trunk Bay. Lunch was from the stand (not such a good idea and my fault for not listening to Ron and going to Deli Grotto first). We had a great day on the beach - it was very hot so most of the time was spent in the water. We headed home to be there by 4 as Shay was dropping off our anniversary cake (he made our original cake and we try to get one almost every year). It was delicious - light genoise cake with butter cream icing and raspberry filling - yum!
Dinner was at Rhumblines. I know many of you find their food too spicy but apparently, I like spicy! Michele ordered the Pad Thai and she asked for it less spicy but she was dying! I had the ever changing chicken and loved it - Ron tried it and told me it was hotter than the Pad Thai - who knew? After dinner, we headed to the Beach Bar. We met up with our friends from Philly for a couple of drinks. They were sad as they were going home the next day - they'll be back!
Day 6 - Thursday
The boys booked a fishing day this day so they were up and out at the crack of dawn. Michele and I relaxed, read our books, drank coffee and then decided to exercise on the deck by the pool. She is an instructor of something called 'Flip Fitness'. How it works is you have a deck of cards with exercises on it, you flip the card and do it - so, it could be 15 jumping jacks, then 12 lunges, etc. I'm sure if anyone saw us, they thought we were crazy. We had turned our Sirius satellite radio to 'The Strobe' - what a great station! It's all dance music from our era - fun! After that, we left the music on, relaxed by the pool and read our books. The guys returned (fishing wasn't so great), they both took naps and Michele and I resumed our positions by the pool. It was a GREAT day! Villa gravity at it's best.
After sunset (another gorgeous one!), we headed into town. We had drinks at the Beach Bar and then headed to the Lime Inn for dinner. The owner was super nice and brought us a round of drinks. We all loved our dinners. I had filet mignon stuffed with brie. I think we popped back to the Beach Bar for one more after dinner and then home.
Day 7 - Friday
Again, up at 7 a.m. - we don't care because we love to soak in the beautiful views from Perelandra. We had brought some awesome coffee from St. John Spice - something Voodoo - I highly recommend it for those who worry that they'll miss their Starbucks on St. John - this coffee is the bomb! We loved it so much, we brought enough for our second week and a pound to bring home Michele wanted to do another hike so I suggested that we hike out to Honeymoon Beach from behind the National Park Visitor's Center. This is not a hard hike by any measure. It's totally flat and shaded. Plan was to spend the morning there, then lunch and then another beach.
We hiked carrying our chairs and a small cooler with some beers. No problem, very nice. There were actually more people here than I expected and a boat pulled in with snorkelers from St Thomas. The water was rough but it is a great spot! The clouds rolled in and then - ugh - rain! First it was light and we put our stuff under the Mangroves to keep it dry - no biggie! Well, then it started pouring! We hung out of a bit and when it slowed down, we began the hike home. I felt bad since it was Michele and Joe's last day on the island but I assured them it would clear up!
We cleaned up a bit and then ate lunch at Banana Deck. I love their Greek Salad with Jerk Chicken - yum! Of course, I have to get a side of their French fries to go with it because they are so good! We had some adult beverages and they sky was clearing so we decided to head out to Maho for the rest of the afternoon.
It was buggy - the no seeums were on a warpath! So, we just stood in the water and read our books. Schools of fish were just swimming around us. Very cool!
We headed home, showered up and watched sunset from our deck. We had drinks at the Beach Bar and then dinner that night was at the Balcony. I was disappointed because they were out of ribs but I had pork instead and it was great. The view from the Balcony is wonderful - watching Cruz Bay and the lights of St. Thomas. Another great meal and night!
We rose early, drank coffee and Michele and I repeated our run from the other day. We headed to Gibney for the day. I love this beach! It is so calm and private. Our friend, Joe, got fried the first day so there was plenty of shade for him. We relaxed, read books and napped. We headed back to the villa for happy hour, sunset and then showered and headed out. Joe is a big Flyers fan so we found out that they only place that was playing the game was Skinny's so we headed to the other side of the island.
We met other Flyer's fans, had fun watching the game and ate yummy burgers. Since Ron was driving and it's a difficult drive, we didn't stay too late and headed home.
Day 5 - Wednesday
Michele really wanted to go for a hike. Reef Bay was the obvious choice but I felt bad having Ron drive us all the way there and then back to pick us up so we decided to try something new. I checked with the Fins, Feet and Four Wheels book and we decided upon the Caneel/Margaret Hill Hike. It started just past Mongoose Junction so Ron dropped us off - we grabbed water from Deli Grotto and away we went. This is not a hike for the faint of heart or someone who is out of shape! It's up, up, up! It's like being on a stair mill at the gym. We loved it! At the top, you are rewarded with an amazing lookout of Cruz Bay and beyond. We then continued all the way to the next lookout that I think is the top of Margaret Hill. This lookout is 2 huge boulders that you stand on. It's about the same elevation as the first lookout but it's back further from the water so you can see Virgin Grand and the St. John housing on Gifft Hill Road. We signed our initials on a leaf as others had done and then did the return hike. Total hike time was an hour and a half. Ron picked us up after the gym and home we went.
We had great breakfast sandwiches at the villa. We planned on going to Trunk Bay today - this is our anniversary day and that is where we were married so it was a no brainer. On the way to the beach, we stopped at Ristaba. Friends of ours own that villa and 2 of their relatives were there so we stopped to say 'hi'. This is a great villa - wonderful for large families. After chatting with them, we headed to Trunk Bay. Lunch was from the stand (not such a good idea and my fault for not listening to Ron and going to Deli Grotto first). We had a great day on the beach - it was very hot so most of the time was spent in the water. We headed home to be there by 4 as Shay was dropping off our anniversary cake (he made our original cake and we try to get one almost every year). It was delicious - light genoise cake with butter cream icing and raspberry filling - yum!
Dinner was at Rhumblines. I know many of you find their food too spicy but apparently, I like spicy! Michele ordered the Pad Thai and she asked for it less spicy but she was dying! I had the ever changing chicken and loved it - Ron tried it and told me it was hotter than the Pad Thai - who knew? After dinner, we headed to the Beach Bar. We met up with our friends from Philly for a couple of drinks. They were sad as they were going home the next day - they'll be back!
Day 6 - Thursday
The boys booked a fishing day this day so they were up and out at the crack of dawn. Michele and I relaxed, read our books, drank coffee and then decided to exercise on the deck by the pool. She is an instructor of something called 'Flip Fitness'. How it works is you have a deck of cards with exercises on it, you flip the card and do it - so, it could be 15 jumping jacks, then 12 lunges, etc. I'm sure if anyone saw us, they thought we were crazy. We had turned our Sirius satellite radio to 'The Strobe' - what a great station! It's all dance music from our era - fun! After that, we left the music on, relaxed by the pool and read our books. The guys returned (fishing wasn't so great), they both took naps and Michele and I resumed our positions by the pool. It was a GREAT day! Villa gravity at it's best.
After sunset (another gorgeous one!), we headed into town. We had drinks at the Beach Bar and then headed to the Lime Inn for dinner. The owner was super nice and brought us a round of drinks. We all loved our dinners. I had filet mignon stuffed with brie. I think we popped back to the Beach Bar for one more after dinner and then home.
Day 7 - Friday
Again, up at 7 a.m. - we don't care because we love to soak in the beautiful views from Perelandra. We had brought some awesome coffee from St. John Spice - something Voodoo - I highly recommend it for those who worry that they'll miss their Starbucks on St. John - this coffee is the bomb! We loved it so much, we brought enough for our second week and a pound to bring home Michele wanted to do another hike so I suggested that we hike out to Honeymoon Beach from behind the National Park Visitor's Center. This is not a hard hike by any measure. It's totally flat and shaded. Plan was to spend the morning there, then lunch and then another beach.
We hiked carrying our chairs and a small cooler with some beers. No problem, very nice. There were actually more people here than I expected and a boat pulled in with snorkelers from St Thomas. The water was rough but it is a great spot! The clouds rolled in and then - ugh - rain! First it was light and we put our stuff under the Mangroves to keep it dry - no biggie! Well, then it started pouring! We hung out of a bit and when it slowed down, we began the hike home. I felt bad since it was Michele and Joe's last day on the island but I assured them it would clear up!
We cleaned up a bit and then ate lunch at Banana Deck. I love their Greek Salad with Jerk Chicken - yum! Of course, I have to get a side of their French fries to go with it because they are so good! We had some adult beverages and they sky was clearing so we decided to head out to Maho for the rest of the afternoon.
It was buggy - the no seeums were on a warpath! So, we just stood in the water and read our books. Schools of fish were just swimming around us. Very cool!
We headed home, showered up and watched sunset from our deck. We had drinks at the Beach Bar and then dinner that night was at the Balcony. I was disappointed because they were out of ribs but I had pork instead and it was great. The view from the Balcony is wonderful - watching Cruz Bay and the lights of St. Thomas. Another great meal and night!
going to try to get back next time as we didn't make it this trip.