USVI-On-Line

One week ago I was still on St. John enjoying the perfect vacation. It was a wonderful family vacation filled with incredible memories. Every year I say I am going to journal and every year I never do! This year was no exception but there are a few life altering moments...good ones, don't worry!
This was our fourth family trip in ten years. Our first one was to celebrate our 25th anniversiary; this one our 35th, and two in between! Our two daughters love to travel with us and we love to travel with them although a few years ago we actually cut the cord and had a few no-kid vacations (which were also wondeful!). This year each of our daughters brought along their boyfiends who were newbies and amazing traveling companions. We had so much fun showing them all of our favorites. We shared a few old favorites and added a few new favorites to our list of St. John activities. Of course, we didn't get to do everything I had listed, but, another reason to go back!
We splurged a bit on our St. John arrival. Traveling sometimes frustrates my husband, and we wanted to make our trip as stressfree as possible...and we succeeded! The "kids" (ages 24-28) arrived the night before and we had a limo pick all of us up at 5:15 AM for 9:15 Continental flight from Newark, non-stop! We sat on the tarmac for almost an hour but arrived near arrival time in St. Thomas. They actually served free food! Christopher's Taxi picked us up at St. Thomas airport after we enjoyed the rum shots, and Jim picked up some rum at St. Thomas airport. We really liked getting into a van and being whisked off without waiting for a group. He took us to the waiting Dohm's WaterTaxi! This was a relaxing luxury, and somthing we decided we will do again. Jim repeated this when on our return on Red Hook ferry he couldn't hear the ticket seller and bought wrong tickets, and we had to rebuy tickets and lost some money on it! (Lesson #1..make sure you buy luggage tickets for the correct ferry company...we were not the only ones with this problem).
When we pulled into Cruz Bay, we were thriled to be back in paradise! The first thing I noticed was the increase in people in the middle of the day in Cruz Bay just walking around!
After a short wait, our rep from CaribbeanVilla arrived and took the guys to get our two jeeps from St. John rental. The kids were very excited with their banana yellow jeep. We drove to our villa, Frank Bay House, which was absolutely PERFECT for us! We like to be near Cruz Bay so we can enjoy a few cocktails in town and not worry about the driving. The house had three seperate, very private bedrooms, a lot of stairs for exercise, and an open air upstairs where we spent alot of time enjoying the view and the stars. The pool was small but cool, clean and refreshing!
Jim and I ran to Starfish, picked up a few supplies. Thanks to the forumites, I was mentally prepared for the food prices and didn't go into too much shock. We also enjoyed visitng the new Starfish Gourmet for wine and champagne. I had brought a suitcase of cereal, coffee, snacks, etc. Although the kids laughed, they enjoyed them all week. When we returned, we enjoyed our first happy hour on the deck, and off to our tradional first night meal at Morgan's Mango! We had the big round table at the top of the steps with a great breeze....after a day of traveling, it was heavenly. We started with Mango margarita's, of course. Everyone enjoyed thier meals, drinks, great service! Then we had our huge trek back up the hill, but we all kept saying how much we could eat and drink this week with the climb back to the house!
WOW! Wrote so much and it is only first day! Next installment: beaches, Beach Bar, and Love on the Beach!

I was so thrilled to see a new trip report! Great start - keep em coming.

That sounds like such fun. Looking forward hearing about the rest of your trip. We splurged last year on a limo and surprised our daughter and her friend. It was our first week-long stay on STJ, so it was a special treat. Don't think we'll be doing it again, but it was fun. It so nice that you and your children enjoy traveling and being together.

Can't wait to read more! My next trip will include 4/twenty-something newbies. Sounds like you had a great start!

Thanks for the trip report. Can't wait to read the rest. I have always been curious about Frank Bay House. Thanks for the insight. I do have one question for you and the others on this board. Is it normal to have to wait for your villa greeter at the dock? We have used Caribbean Villa's twice in the past. They ask that you call them after you get your luggage and again when you are getting on the ferry (if I remember right). The first time we used them they were there waiting for us. The second time we had to make 3 phone calls in addition to the two phone calls they ask you to make. Even after the third phone call we sat and sat. We decided it might be easier for some of our group just to walk to their office. When I called and told them we were on our way they assured us someone was enroute. We waited another 10 minutes or so for them to arrive. Is it common to have to wait for 40 minutes or more or is it more common to have them waiting for you as you exit the ferry? Just wanting to have realistic expectations for our upcoming trip in April. We are not using Caribbean Villa's on this trip, we went directly with the owner of the villa so I know things may be different but just wondering what the average wait time is.

cosmolady wrote:Traveling sometimes frustrates my husband

Oh can I relate to that! I always tell Honey that he's allergic to traveling.

Thank you for the kind words! I will try to write again tomorrow..it was so much fun reliving it!
Arenee..As you can probably tell, we liked Frank Bay House, but it is NOT for everyone. PM me if you have any specific questions!
Also, about the greeter. We called, as instructed (we old catholic school girls ALWAYS do as instructed) when we were waiting for our bags. They said to call back when we got to water taxi. Water Taxi called then and when we arrived. I called again! Although the young man was quite nice, he had only one set of keys. We never received the other. Now, if it was a problem, we could have gone to the office for the other set, so, obviously, it was not a problem. But for the extra percent you pay for Caribbean Villas, I did not see an impressive diference in service. I really do not think I would rent from them again.
Christn...I love the allergic to travel...thanks for the smile!
Cosmolady/Mary

Great start! I love hearing about adult children travelling with their parents. Taking the BFs is an excellent way to "vent" them as future potential relatives!