Just Back!! Trip Report Days 7&8 (Final)
Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 9:06 pm
Days 1&2 - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... php?t=7794
Days 3&4 - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... php?t=7812
Days 5&6 - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... php?t=7828
Final Installment - Days 7&8
Day 7
Our last full day on St. John. Are you kidding me? How did that happen? We finish off the last of the pancake mix and head out the door. The kids were getting a little beached out(I know, I don't get it either), so we decided to do a few short hikes and then head to Maho again. Why Maho? Well, we let the kids decide and they chose Maho because they wanted to get some pictures of the turtles with the little cheap disposable underwater cameras that we brought along. We didn't take the cameras with us when we went to Maho the first day because we wanted them to just get used to snorkeling and not worry about trying to take pictures also. Wouldn't ya know it, that was the only day we saw turtles and a stingray.
Our first stop was Peace Hill. Nice short hike with a great pay-off at the end. The trail was covered in hermit crabs, which my son just loved. The windmill ruin was home to about 16 kajillion different kinds of lizardy-looking thingys(scientific name). We could have just left my son there and picked him up on the way to the ferry the next day and he would have been happy. I think Chrisn's Critter Boy and my son would be buds. The views were also fantastic.
Next stop was the Cinnamon Bay Nature Trail. This was a nice trail. Shady and not very difficult. Peaceful. Except for the constant whining of my daughter. Okay, so not peaceful at all. But it could be for you. As long as you don't take your starving, exhausted daughter who is getting eaten alive by all sorts of horrible flying creepy bitey things. Don't even try explaining to her that she just ate two enormous chocolate chip pancakes the size of her head. Or that she just woke up about 90 minutes ago. Or that we gave her a DEET bath in the parking lot. Don't even try. We did see two deer near the trail, and my son found an enormous hermit crab. He has a knack for finding all kinds of little creatures that most people would miss. Not that you can miss a giant hermit crab in the middle of the trail.
So after the trail, we move on to M-ahh-ho. We found the perfect spot to the left, past the building. There is a tree there that reaches out over the water. I'm sure all of you regulars know the one I'm talking about. It's the perfect spot because you can sit in the water and be in the shade at the same time. It was just what we needed. Kid's didn't feel like snorkeling, so Dad was the paparazzi, stalking the turtles. The kids and I just stayed in the water in the shade. Later I snorkeled the left side.
At around lunchtime we headed back to town, stopping at Deli Grotto for a turkey and artichoke sandwich, a bagel and some pizza. We took it back to the villa, where we ate and then got cleaned up to go back into town to finish our shopping, aka The Great Conch Horn Hunt. Our first stop in town was St. John Spice, where I picked up some Grill Spice and some nutmeg. My daughter bought a cute purse with printed seashells and a starfish applique. I asked Vicki if Ruth was in, but she was already gone for the day. She said to stop back some morning. I told her we were leaving the next morning and that we would try to stop on our way to the ferry. We had already met two Island Celebrities, Moe and Foxy, and I was hoping to add Ruth to our list.
After that we hit just about every store in town looking for the conch horn. You know, they have conch shell lamps, conch shell candles, t-shirts with conch shells printed on them, little silver conch shell earrings and necklaces, pictures of conch shells and conch shell temporary tattoos. But do you think we could find a conch shell. Just a conch shell, it didn't even have to be a conch shell horn. We have a saw. We had given up hope and we were on our way back towards Mongoose Junction, where we had parked, when my son spotted it. Next to the little market where they have some produce and some local guys hang out there. There was a little table set up where one of the men was selling conch shell lamps and CONCH SHELL HORNS!! They even had a little Rasta rainbow painted on them. $20. Done deal. Crisis averted. Now we can go back to the villa and get our last bit of limin' in. By the way, my son is an expert conch shell horn blower.
Another benefit of doing carry-on only is that you just don't have that much to pack. We didn't even start packing until late that evening, after several hours of pool time and a Ronnie's pizza. I didn't feel like I lost any of that day to packing or anxiety about packing. Hated going to bed, though, knowing that I would be looking at those stars from a different vantage point tomorrow night.
Day 8
I don't want to talk about it. Packed up. Went home. The End.
You can't shut me up that easily. So, we were up by 6. Packed by 8:30. Don't have to be out of the villa til 10. Now what? Well, there are a few beers left in the fridge. We could just leave them for the next folks, right? WRONG! Husband and I grab the beers and the kids and we head, where else, the gazebo. It's been awhile since I had a beer at 8:30 in the AM. A mimosa maybe, but the last time I had a beer that early has got to be back in college at a PSU football game tailgate. It was yummy. I've really been missing out all these years. I may just have to start cycling it into my breakfast routine. Anyway, at 10, in a surprisingly good mood, we said our fond farewells to Villa Bijou and shut the door.
On the way to the ferry I pop into St. John Spice to see if Ruth is there. She is! I introduce myself and we chat for just a few minutes. She asks if I plan on writing a trip report and I tell her that I will try. So, here it is Ruth! I also bought some more grill spice and a few of the pretty multicolored wooden scoops for myself and some relatives. Now it is time to grab the ferry and start the long journey home.
I won't say too much about the journey. Don't really care to recall it in detail. It was long. Finally made it home to Greensburg PA at 2 AM on June 26 with a horrible pain in my left calf. After a week of living with the pain and ignoring the little voice in my head I finally went to the doctor today. Yep, the little voice was right. An ultrasound this afternoon confirmed that I did, indeed have a blood clot in my leg. It looks like the less worrisome, superficial kind and not the more serious, deep veinous kind, but I'm still waiting to hear back from my doctor. Note to self, listen to the little voice.
So, as my dad always says, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.
Just a quick note of thanks to everyone on this forum . I've learned something from all of you. I'll just mention a few, in particular. Rick G. - your newbie website was perfect for my husband, who does not have the time, or inclination, to do in-depth research. It was everything he needed to know, in a nutshell. Liamsaunt - we used your underwater pics to help us identify things we had seen while snorkeling. Iowaguy - thanks for reporting back on Villa Bijou for us. Ruth - thank you for being the unofficial greeter of the island. If you ever move back to the states, you could get a job at Wal-mart! Lucky you, you probably have no idea what I'm talking about.
Til next time, and there WILL BE a next time,
Suzy
Days 3&4 - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... php?t=7812
Days 5&6 - http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... php?t=7828
Final Installment - Days 7&8
Day 7
Our last full day on St. John. Are you kidding me? How did that happen? We finish off the last of the pancake mix and head out the door. The kids were getting a little beached out(I know, I don't get it either), so we decided to do a few short hikes and then head to Maho again. Why Maho? Well, we let the kids decide and they chose Maho because they wanted to get some pictures of the turtles with the little cheap disposable underwater cameras that we brought along. We didn't take the cameras with us when we went to Maho the first day because we wanted them to just get used to snorkeling and not worry about trying to take pictures also. Wouldn't ya know it, that was the only day we saw turtles and a stingray.
Our first stop was Peace Hill. Nice short hike with a great pay-off at the end. The trail was covered in hermit crabs, which my son just loved. The windmill ruin was home to about 16 kajillion different kinds of lizardy-looking thingys(scientific name). We could have just left my son there and picked him up on the way to the ferry the next day and he would have been happy. I think Chrisn's Critter Boy and my son would be buds. The views were also fantastic.
Next stop was the Cinnamon Bay Nature Trail. This was a nice trail. Shady and not very difficult. Peaceful. Except for the constant whining of my daughter. Okay, so not peaceful at all. But it could be for you. As long as you don't take your starving, exhausted daughter who is getting eaten alive by all sorts of horrible flying creepy bitey things. Don't even try explaining to her that she just ate two enormous chocolate chip pancakes the size of her head. Or that she just woke up about 90 minutes ago. Or that we gave her a DEET bath in the parking lot. Don't even try. We did see two deer near the trail, and my son found an enormous hermit crab. He has a knack for finding all kinds of little creatures that most people would miss. Not that you can miss a giant hermit crab in the middle of the trail.
So after the trail, we move on to M-ahh-ho. We found the perfect spot to the left, past the building. There is a tree there that reaches out over the water. I'm sure all of you regulars know the one I'm talking about. It's the perfect spot because you can sit in the water and be in the shade at the same time. It was just what we needed. Kid's didn't feel like snorkeling, so Dad was the paparazzi, stalking the turtles. The kids and I just stayed in the water in the shade. Later I snorkeled the left side.
At around lunchtime we headed back to town, stopping at Deli Grotto for a turkey and artichoke sandwich, a bagel and some pizza. We took it back to the villa, where we ate and then got cleaned up to go back into town to finish our shopping, aka The Great Conch Horn Hunt. Our first stop in town was St. John Spice, where I picked up some Grill Spice and some nutmeg. My daughter bought a cute purse with printed seashells and a starfish applique. I asked Vicki if Ruth was in, but she was already gone for the day. She said to stop back some morning. I told her we were leaving the next morning and that we would try to stop on our way to the ferry. We had already met two Island Celebrities, Moe and Foxy, and I was hoping to add Ruth to our list.
After that we hit just about every store in town looking for the conch horn. You know, they have conch shell lamps, conch shell candles, t-shirts with conch shells printed on them, little silver conch shell earrings and necklaces, pictures of conch shells and conch shell temporary tattoos. But do you think we could find a conch shell. Just a conch shell, it didn't even have to be a conch shell horn. We have a saw. We had given up hope and we were on our way back towards Mongoose Junction, where we had parked, when my son spotted it. Next to the little market where they have some produce and some local guys hang out there. There was a little table set up where one of the men was selling conch shell lamps and CONCH SHELL HORNS!! They even had a little Rasta rainbow painted on them. $20. Done deal. Crisis averted. Now we can go back to the villa and get our last bit of limin' in. By the way, my son is an expert conch shell horn blower.
Another benefit of doing carry-on only is that you just don't have that much to pack. We didn't even start packing until late that evening, after several hours of pool time and a Ronnie's pizza. I didn't feel like I lost any of that day to packing or anxiety about packing. Hated going to bed, though, knowing that I would be looking at those stars from a different vantage point tomorrow night.
Day 8
I don't want to talk about it. Packed up. Went home. The End.
You can't shut me up that easily. So, we were up by 6. Packed by 8:30. Don't have to be out of the villa til 10. Now what? Well, there are a few beers left in the fridge. We could just leave them for the next folks, right? WRONG! Husband and I grab the beers and the kids and we head, where else, the gazebo. It's been awhile since I had a beer at 8:30 in the AM. A mimosa maybe, but the last time I had a beer that early has got to be back in college at a PSU football game tailgate. It was yummy. I've really been missing out all these years. I may just have to start cycling it into my breakfast routine. Anyway, at 10, in a surprisingly good mood, we said our fond farewells to Villa Bijou and shut the door.
On the way to the ferry I pop into St. John Spice to see if Ruth is there. She is! I introduce myself and we chat for just a few minutes. She asks if I plan on writing a trip report and I tell her that I will try. So, here it is Ruth! I also bought some more grill spice and a few of the pretty multicolored wooden scoops for myself and some relatives. Now it is time to grab the ferry and start the long journey home.
I won't say too much about the journey. Don't really care to recall it in detail. It was long. Finally made it home to Greensburg PA at 2 AM on June 26 with a horrible pain in my left calf. After a week of living with the pain and ignoring the little voice in my head I finally went to the doctor today. Yep, the little voice was right. An ultrasound this afternoon confirmed that I did, indeed have a blood clot in my leg. It looks like the less worrisome, superficial kind and not the more serious, deep veinous kind, but I'm still waiting to hear back from my doctor. Note to self, listen to the little voice.
So, as my dad always says, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.
Just a quick note of thanks to everyone on this forum . I've learned something from all of you. I'll just mention a few, in particular. Rick G. - your newbie website was perfect for my husband, who does not have the time, or inclination, to do in-depth research. It was everything he needed to know, in a nutshell. Liamsaunt - we used your underwater pics to help us identify things we had seen while snorkeling. Iowaguy - thanks for reporting back on Villa Bijou for us. Ruth - thank you for being the unofficial greeter of the island. If you ever move back to the states, you could get a job at Wal-mart! Lucky you, you probably have no idea what I'm talking about.
Til next time, and there WILL BE a next time,
Suzy