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Trip Report: first one in 7 years... final (finally)
Trip Report: first one in 7 years... final (finally)
--- Day 14 ---
Woke up 6 a.m. to this view at Sea Stone. This is where we had our coffee every morning, and we hated to think tomorrow would be the last morning we could do that.
Master bedroom deck
Our last full day on St. John - yes, the inevitable was almost here. We were having a hard time deciding which beaches to visit. We had 2 weeks on the island and hadn't been to Cinnamon, Trunk, any of those South Shore beaches on the west side, or Great/Little Lameshur, etc. "Okay," we said to ourselves, "Let's go to Cinnamon." We set our hearts on Cinnamon, but then, just as we were leaving the villa, I changed my mind and told my husband that I wanted to go to Francis - the first beach we visited on this trip but I had been in such a daze that I couldn't enjoy it. He was fine with my change of heart and we headed out to Francis via North Shore Rd. It showered on the way in the area of Cinnamon but it was clear at Francis. We found no souls on this long stretch of sand (8:30 a.m.). We walked all the way to the right just as we did on our first beach day nearly two weeks ago. I was really glad that I could appreciate this beach, which used to be our favorite. We still love Francis but for the past few years we had buggy experiences here and you know the thing between me and bugs!
I knew I could snorkel for a long time because I was feeling so good. The snorkeling here did not disappoint that day (we always snorkel along the right walls towards Mary Point). Compared to two weeks ago, the visibility was much better and I took a lot of pictures.
Peacock flounder
Same peacock flounder - different colors
Gray snapper
Christmas tree worms
Trunkfish & blue tang
Baby barracuda
Young barracuda
Cnidarians of some sort
Sea cucumber & fireworm
Silver porgy
Grunt with isopod under its eye
Yes, I can see you, octopus...
This one was hanging on to some sort of clam
If you want to find octopuses, look carefully, especially around the rocky or stony areas in the water. We often see them in Francis - some are out and about but others are hiding among or under the rocks. We normally see more squids than octopuses, but on this trip it was reversed. And we weren't sorry about it.
We snorkeled nearly 3 hours but I didn't get "lobster butt" if you know what I mean. As we waded in the water at Francis, I told my husband that I could snorkel more and was kind of curious about Princess Bay. We had never done the mangrove snorkel. He said he was up for it, so we drove over to the East End in the afternoon.
Princess Bay
The snorkeling here around the roots of mangroves was rather eerie, I might say. The tide was coming in and was gently pushing us towards the roots. I don't know about my husband but I had to constantly push myself away from the roots to avoid getting my head possibly tangled in them. I was thinking - that wouldn't be fun... but a funny way to end our 2008 snorkeling trip on St. John.
I can't say it was our favorite snorkel but it sure was different from any others and we were glad we decided to drop by. What we saw were mostly juvenile fish among the roots, and away from the roots there were starfish and conchs spread around the shallows.
Cushion sea stars
Conch, checking up on us
After leaving Princess Bay, we took Centerline Rd. back to the villa, which was clearly a mistake for me. Having snorkeled for that long and then driving Centerline on top of that made me seriously want to jump out the window of the moving jeep. When we finally made it back to the villa, I was paler than a ghost. I simply had to excuse myself while my husband stayed behind with the jeep for the "at the end of the trip sand cleaning". I took it easy because we had a reservation at ZoZo's that evening and I wasn't going to let my stomach ruin our last meal on St. John.
We had always enjoyed our meals at ZoZo's and that night was no exception though we both thought the quality of the dishes we got that night were slightly below ZoZo's norm. Well, you can't always get perfect meals. Their mussel appetizer was excellent. For an entree, my husband got swordfish and I got lobster tail with crabmeat. He was happy with his fish but I wasn't quite so with my dish. The lobster was okay but the crabmeat didn't taste particularly fresh or seasoned well to me. I gave most of the crabmeat to my husband and there was a lot of crabmeat in the dish! Oh well... We split the chocolate tart with ice cream for dessert and it was good.
Looking at the sunset from ZoZo's that evening, we really felt our 2008 trip to St. John was coming to the end. It was a pretty sunset though.
--- Departure Day ---
Got up 7 a.m. and ate whatever was left in the fridge. We finished packing and cleaned up the villa a little bit. We don't sweep the floors but we always try to leave villas in good conditions.
Before we loaded our luggage into the jeep, we stood around the master bedroom deck for the last look at the view. It seemed to be a nice sunny day and it was a shame we wouldn't be heading out to the beaches!
When I looked down the cliff, I spotted an iguana flopped out on the cactus that was hanging over the water. We just burst into laughter as I said to my husband, "What a life..."
Honestly we couldn't tell if it was Mr. Iggy or one of his friends, but they certainly made us laugh and giggle during our stay at Sea Stone, until the very last.
We said good-bye to Sea Stone and dropped off the jeep at St. John Car Rental. Since we had a few hours to kill, we left our luggage at Connections ($3 a piece) and went shopping around Cruz Bay. We stocked up with spices and hot sauces at St. John Spice but I didn't see Ruth and was hesitant to ask for her. I am rather shy (I "barely" introduced myself to her last year). Oh well... I better work on my socializing skills.
On the ferry from Cruz Bay to Red Hook, I said to my husband, "Weird, I don't feel sad about leaving St. John." He said, "You didn't really get here in the first place". I said, "Right. It actually helped in the end". He said, "You should do that every time from now on". That left me glaring at him on the ferry. Well, but it was true - I was not sad, and it felt kind of refreshing not feeling sad about leaving St. John. I felt fine on the ferry and I feel fine now too. On top of that I've had a fun time writing these trip reports. It seems such a happy ending.
For those of you who will be getting to St. John soon, have a wonderful trip. And for those who are still counting the long days until your arrival on the island, the day WILL come. For those who have no set dates for your next trip to St. John - currently I'm one of them - let's hope we can return to St. John sooner than later!
Thank you all very much for reading my "long" reports.
And many thanks to Mr. Iggy for his guest appearances.
Woke up 6 a.m. to this view at Sea Stone. This is where we had our coffee every morning, and we hated to think tomorrow would be the last morning we could do that.
Master bedroom deck
Our last full day on St. John - yes, the inevitable was almost here. We were having a hard time deciding which beaches to visit. We had 2 weeks on the island and hadn't been to Cinnamon, Trunk, any of those South Shore beaches on the west side, or Great/Little Lameshur, etc. "Okay," we said to ourselves, "Let's go to Cinnamon." We set our hearts on Cinnamon, but then, just as we were leaving the villa, I changed my mind and told my husband that I wanted to go to Francis - the first beach we visited on this trip but I had been in such a daze that I couldn't enjoy it. He was fine with my change of heart and we headed out to Francis via North Shore Rd. It showered on the way in the area of Cinnamon but it was clear at Francis. We found no souls on this long stretch of sand (8:30 a.m.). We walked all the way to the right just as we did on our first beach day nearly two weeks ago. I was really glad that I could appreciate this beach, which used to be our favorite. We still love Francis but for the past few years we had buggy experiences here and you know the thing between me and bugs!
I knew I could snorkel for a long time because I was feeling so good. The snorkeling here did not disappoint that day (we always snorkel along the right walls towards Mary Point). Compared to two weeks ago, the visibility was much better and I took a lot of pictures.
Peacock flounder
Same peacock flounder - different colors
Gray snapper
Christmas tree worms
Trunkfish & blue tang
Baby barracuda
Young barracuda
Cnidarians of some sort
Sea cucumber & fireworm
Silver porgy
Grunt with isopod under its eye
Yes, I can see you, octopus...
This one was hanging on to some sort of clam
If you want to find octopuses, look carefully, especially around the rocky or stony areas in the water. We often see them in Francis - some are out and about but others are hiding among or under the rocks. We normally see more squids than octopuses, but on this trip it was reversed. And we weren't sorry about it.
We snorkeled nearly 3 hours but I didn't get "lobster butt" if you know what I mean. As we waded in the water at Francis, I told my husband that I could snorkel more and was kind of curious about Princess Bay. We had never done the mangrove snorkel. He said he was up for it, so we drove over to the East End in the afternoon.
Princess Bay
The snorkeling here around the roots of mangroves was rather eerie, I might say. The tide was coming in and was gently pushing us towards the roots. I don't know about my husband but I had to constantly push myself away from the roots to avoid getting my head possibly tangled in them. I was thinking - that wouldn't be fun... but a funny way to end our 2008 snorkeling trip on St. John.
I can't say it was our favorite snorkel but it sure was different from any others and we were glad we decided to drop by. What we saw were mostly juvenile fish among the roots, and away from the roots there were starfish and conchs spread around the shallows.
Cushion sea stars
Conch, checking up on us
After leaving Princess Bay, we took Centerline Rd. back to the villa, which was clearly a mistake for me. Having snorkeled for that long and then driving Centerline on top of that made me seriously want to jump out the window of the moving jeep. When we finally made it back to the villa, I was paler than a ghost. I simply had to excuse myself while my husband stayed behind with the jeep for the "at the end of the trip sand cleaning". I took it easy because we had a reservation at ZoZo's that evening and I wasn't going to let my stomach ruin our last meal on St. John.
We had always enjoyed our meals at ZoZo's and that night was no exception though we both thought the quality of the dishes we got that night were slightly below ZoZo's norm. Well, you can't always get perfect meals. Their mussel appetizer was excellent. For an entree, my husband got swordfish and I got lobster tail with crabmeat. He was happy with his fish but I wasn't quite so with my dish. The lobster was okay but the crabmeat didn't taste particularly fresh or seasoned well to me. I gave most of the crabmeat to my husband and there was a lot of crabmeat in the dish! Oh well... We split the chocolate tart with ice cream for dessert and it was good.
Looking at the sunset from ZoZo's that evening, we really felt our 2008 trip to St. John was coming to the end. It was a pretty sunset though.
--- Departure Day ---
Got up 7 a.m. and ate whatever was left in the fridge. We finished packing and cleaned up the villa a little bit. We don't sweep the floors but we always try to leave villas in good conditions.
Before we loaded our luggage into the jeep, we stood around the master bedroom deck for the last look at the view. It seemed to be a nice sunny day and it was a shame we wouldn't be heading out to the beaches!
When I looked down the cliff, I spotted an iguana flopped out on the cactus that was hanging over the water. We just burst into laughter as I said to my husband, "What a life..."
Honestly we couldn't tell if it was Mr. Iggy or one of his friends, but they certainly made us laugh and giggle during our stay at Sea Stone, until the very last.
We said good-bye to Sea Stone and dropped off the jeep at St. John Car Rental. Since we had a few hours to kill, we left our luggage at Connections ($3 a piece) and went shopping around Cruz Bay. We stocked up with spices and hot sauces at St. John Spice but I didn't see Ruth and was hesitant to ask for her. I am rather shy (I "barely" introduced myself to her last year). Oh well... I better work on my socializing skills.
On the ferry from Cruz Bay to Red Hook, I said to my husband, "Weird, I don't feel sad about leaving St. John." He said, "You didn't really get here in the first place". I said, "Right. It actually helped in the end". He said, "You should do that every time from now on". That left me glaring at him on the ferry. Well, but it was true - I was not sad, and it felt kind of refreshing not feeling sad about leaving St. John. I felt fine on the ferry and I feel fine now too. On top of that I've had a fun time writing these trip reports. It seems such a happy ending.
For those of you who will be getting to St. John soon, have a wonderful trip. And for those who are still counting the long days until your arrival on the island, the day WILL come. For those who have no set dates for your next trip to St. John - currently I'm one of them - let's hope we can return to St. John sooner than later!
Thank you all very much for reading my "long" reports.
And many thanks to Mr. Iggy for his guest appearances.
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SanDiegoMark
- Posts: 93
- Joined: Wed Aug 08, 2007 10:29 pm
- Location: San Diego, CA
Thanks for the wonderful report and pictures, Pickle! I'm one of those who will be there shortly, and your pix are killing me while I wait these last 7 days!!
Thanks again, I enjoyed reading and looking at your report! Like Rick said.....don't wait another 7 years!!
-Bert
Thanks again, I enjoyed reading and looking at your report! Like Rick said.....don't wait another 7 years!!
-Bert
The liver is evil, it must be punished!
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Robin in NC
- Posts: 332
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 7:19 pm
- Location: Kernersville, NC
Nice report and great underwater pics!
Thanks...
Thanks...
STJ Villa Map:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie ... 2&t=h&z=14
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie ... 2&t=h&z=14