Trip report Part 4 The people beach
Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 9:02 am
Day 5 and 6
On this morning the boys are grumpy (they are 12 and 8 and hi to California girl!). We hope they aren’t coming down with something. Decide to go to Cinnamon so they can rent boogie boards and have a bit of fun in the waves. We park at Cinnamon and I’m immediately a little bummed because it is so developed there and not like the remote unspoiled beaches I love, but I suck it up for the kids. Well, we wind up having another great day! The boards are fun in the waves, the snorkeling around the cay is good and husband gets to see a shark. I’m jealous cause I missed it. Before anyone freaks, it was a small shark and it swam away from him pretty fast! He said it was brownish and had a scar across its snout, if that’s what sharks have?
Even though there were too many people at Cinnamon, it was kind of fun to people watch! On our right was a family with an adorable baby and a little girl. The little girl walked out of the water with what appeared to be a load in her pants. Sand! Her family laughed as she waddled about looking cutely ridiculous. There was a family with very bratty kids on our right, and that’s always entertaining! Then there was the muscle man with tattoos and a very dark tan. His group was laughing loud and hard; must have been a very early happy hour! So it was fun, but I more enjoy focusing on the water, the sky, and the surrounding islands. People are too diverting!
We leave around 3:30 when the sun feels like it is kicking the sunscreen’s arse. Home for a shower and out for dinner. Requisite smoothie stop and we drive to the end of route 10. What a rollercoaster blast of a road that is and oh the views! We see Vie’s and make a note of the hours. Turn around and then head out the other road, winding up at Shipwreck Landing for dinner. Man was that a good dinner! I tried a bushwacker and am now a fan. Their caesar salad is YUMMY. Two of us had the fish and chips (highly recommend that!) and oldest son had the Coral Bay platter (wouldn’t suggest that one, too much fried stuff and a not yummy asian coleslaw that was too heavy on the sesame oil). For the hubby, shrimp scampi: a bit heavy on the garlic, raw tasting garlic, won’t be kissing him for a while, ok, a while means twenty minutes
Total meal price (with one key lime pie piece to split because we were stuffed but you just gotta have dessert right?) was $140.
Lilly’s market again, SMALL box of cereal was $7.29. Husband is starting to wig a little, make a mental note to have him drink more.
Home for, you know it, a dip in Francis Bay and then it is bed time except for a few minutes of Larry the Cable Guy which is a dvd in the villa’s collection. Had never heard of him before and man did we laugh!
Next day, breakfast on the patio after waking before 6 am. I love how the gauzy curtains in the master bedroom are transparent in the dawn light so if I crack open one eye and I can’t see outside it’s still time to snooze, but if I can see Mary Point and all that green, green, green then it’s time to get up! I suggest that we hike to Brown Bay and you’d think I said the Appalachian Trail. Our backup plan is again Francis Bay and oh what a backup plan! The underwater zoo was in rare form. The water was much clearer and we saw many great things. One was a big, flat-as-a-pancake fish under a coral rock that was brilliantly blue and yellow. Sorry, no idea on the names of things, some kind of flounder maybe? It was about the size of a dinner platter, was lying still on the sand, and I couldn’t get over how well camouflaged it was given that it had such vibrant colors! We’re not big picture takers but we got one of that for sure and if it comes out I’ll post it.
Youngest son is feeling down (he’s sick now that we’re home and I’m glad he made it through the trip before whatever he’s got was full blown). He and I hit the villa, shower (he beats me every time and is proud of himself that he uses so little water), and then we abuse the rental car all the way back to Vie’s. She’s open, hooray! There are audible groans from the people in line behind us when Vie says we get the last of her garlic chicken. For those of you who have never been, the garlic chicken is a fried chicken with just the best garlicy crispy crust ever! Vie says to go see her beach, it will be a while, so we cool our feet and talk with a woman whose husband was one of the line groaners but we don't tell her that, why spoil her swim. They lived on St. John for 15 years and were back for a visit. Her husband was part of the group that started the Coral Bay Thanksgiving regatta. She had fun anecdotes to share about island life and before you know it our food was ready.
Back on the wild road but we slow way down through Coral Bay because it is VI Election Day and people are all over the place. Anybody know much about who won? At home we share the loot with the other guys and, paired with a big salad from home, it was super good. The next morning we’ve decided to try Trunk by getting there early. Another crowded type of beach but it turns out to have surprisingly nice snorkeling and certainly is pretty. I was sometimes looking with wistful eyes across the water to Jumbie beach but lucky for me we would hit Jumbie and other not-so-many-people-beaches on our dinghy day!
Hey Liamsaunt: I’d do a review of Villa Serenity but there is a comprehensive one already posted that tells it all. If there is anything else you want to know message me. Also good luck seeing an octopus, I think when I saw one it was sheer luck. Maybe someone has and idea for you, night snorkeling perhaps?
With the time difference from the trip still in effect, we managed to sleep in until 5:30 this morning, which beats 4:00 am any day! Weather is snowy with a high of 15 degrees.
On this morning the boys are grumpy (they are 12 and 8 and hi to California girl!). We hope they aren’t coming down with something. Decide to go to Cinnamon so they can rent boogie boards and have a bit of fun in the waves. We park at Cinnamon and I’m immediately a little bummed because it is so developed there and not like the remote unspoiled beaches I love, but I suck it up for the kids. Well, we wind up having another great day! The boards are fun in the waves, the snorkeling around the cay is good and husband gets to see a shark. I’m jealous cause I missed it. Before anyone freaks, it was a small shark and it swam away from him pretty fast! He said it was brownish and had a scar across its snout, if that’s what sharks have?
Even though there were too many people at Cinnamon, it was kind of fun to people watch! On our right was a family with an adorable baby and a little girl. The little girl walked out of the water with what appeared to be a load in her pants. Sand! Her family laughed as she waddled about looking cutely ridiculous. There was a family with very bratty kids on our right, and that’s always entertaining! Then there was the muscle man with tattoos and a very dark tan. His group was laughing loud and hard; must have been a very early happy hour! So it was fun, but I more enjoy focusing on the water, the sky, and the surrounding islands. People are too diverting!
We leave around 3:30 when the sun feels like it is kicking the sunscreen’s arse. Home for a shower and out for dinner. Requisite smoothie stop and we drive to the end of route 10. What a rollercoaster blast of a road that is and oh the views! We see Vie’s and make a note of the hours. Turn around and then head out the other road, winding up at Shipwreck Landing for dinner. Man was that a good dinner! I tried a bushwacker and am now a fan. Their caesar salad is YUMMY. Two of us had the fish and chips (highly recommend that!) and oldest son had the Coral Bay platter (wouldn’t suggest that one, too much fried stuff and a not yummy asian coleslaw that was too heavy on the sesame oil). For the hubby, shrimp scampi: a bit heavy on the garlic, raw tasting garlic, won’t be kissing him for a while, ok, a while means twenty minutes
Total meal price (with one key lime pie piece to split because we were stuffed but you just gotta have dessert right?) was $140. Lilly’s market again, SMALL box of cereal was $7.29. Husband is starting to wig a little, make a mental note to have him drink more.
Home for, you know it, a dip in Francis Bay and then it is bed time except for a few minutes of Larry the Cable Guy which is a dvd in the villa’s collection. Had never heard of him before and man did we laugh!Next day, breakfast on the patio after waking before 6 am. I love how the gauzy curtains in the master bedroom are transparent in the dawn light so if I crack open one eye and I can’t see outside it’s still time to snooze, but if I can see Mary Point and all that green, green, green then it’s time to get up! I suggest that we hike to Brown Bay and you’d think I said the Appalachian Trail. Our backup plan is again Francis Bay and oh what a backup plan! The underwater zoo was in rare form. The water was much clearer and we saw many great things. One was a big, flat-as-a-pancake fish under a coral rock that was brilliantly blue and yellow. Sorry, no idea on the names of things, some kind of flounder maybe? It was about the size of a dinner platter, was lying still on the sand, and I couldn’t get over how well camouflaged it was given that it had such vibrant colors! We’re not big picture takers but we got one of that for sure and if it comes out I’ll post it.
Youngest son is feeling down (he’s sick now that we’re home and I’m glad he made it through the trip before whatever he’s got was full blown). He and I hit the villa, shower (he beats me every time and is proud of himself that he uses so little water), and then we abuse the rental car all the way back to Vie’s. She’s open, hooray! There are audible groans from the people in line behind us when Vie says we get the last of her garlic chicken. For those of you who have never been, the garlic chicken is a fried chicken with just the best garlicy crispy crust ever! Vie says to go see her beach, it will be a while, so we cool our feet and talk with a woman whose husband was one of the line groaners but we don't tell her that, why spoil her swim. They lived on St. John for 15 years and were back for a visit. Her husband was part of the group that started the Coral Bay Thanksgiving regatta. She had fun anecdotes to share about island life and before you know it our food was ready.
Back on the wild road but we slow way down through Coral Bay because it is VI Election Day and people are all over the place. Anybody know much about who won? At home we share the loot with the other guys and, paired with a big salad from home, it was super good. The next morning we’ve decided to try Trunk by getting there early. Another crowded type of beach but it turns out to have surprisingly nice snorkeling and certainly is pretty. I was sometimes looking with wistful eyes across the water to Jumbie beach but lucky for me we would hit Jumbie and other not-so-many-people-beaches on our dinghy day!
Hey Liamsaunt: I’d do a review of Villa Serenity but there is a comprehensive one already posted that tells it all. If there is anything else you want to know message me. Also good luck seeing an octopus, I think when I saw one it was sheer luck. Maybe someone has and idea for you, night snorkeling perhaps?
With the time difference from the trip still in effect, we managed to sleep in until 5:30 this morning, which beats 4:00 am any day! Weather is snowy with a high of 15 degrees.
