USVI-On-Line

Arrived last night after 2 on-time flights from DCA to MIA and MIA to STT. Very humid with numerous showers as we made our way across St. Thomas, making our usual non-touristy stops at Home Depot and K-Mart. I dream now of not having K-Mart on my arrival itinerary... Missed the 6PM car barge by 10 minutes and the next one was the last one at 7. I'm told that only General II and Mr. B are running right now. Stopped at Compass Rose to drop off some mainland newspapers to our friend Wally and fortified ourselves with beers, painkillers and a pizza. Perfect... Got to the house around 9, unpacked, jumped in the pool (still warm!) and headed for bed. Long day... Much thunder, rain and wind (from the west) during the night. As others have reported it's very humid right now but the recent rains have greened the island considerably since our last visit in June. Just checked the tropical weather sites and it looks like we may be in and out of some weather all week long. But our thoughts drift to our friends on the Gulf Coast when we think about the weather, and we hope Gustav blows himself out a bit before he reaches the coast... This morning we've been sipping coffee and listening to the singing from the Moravian Church down the hill from us. The bananaquits have discovered the sugar we put out and are chirping like crazy. We've heard the braying of our local donkeys several times. The breeze is blowing and the skies seem to be clearing. It's great to be back...

Pllllttthhhh.



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Good luck with the weather. We missed you at Jimmy Buffet last night!

Cheers, RickG

Hoping you have good luck on the weather issue.

Randy in MD wrote: This morning we've been sipping coffee and listening to the singing from the Moravian Church down the hill from us. The bananaquits have discovered the sugar we put out and are chirping like crazy. We've heard the braying of our local donkeys several times. The breeze is blowing and the skies seem to be clearing. It's great to be back...

It sounds heavenly. Thanks for putting me in an island state of mind this morning!

ahhhhhh! I put myself there for a couple of minutes. Nice.

Let me continue... Worked at the house for a couple of hours, mainly clearing out the Great Room closet and taking things down to our new storage room. Ahhh, the sense of accomplishment... Then, it was time for a dip in the pool and lunch at Skinnys. Drink of the day today: Some cream soda rum concoction that packed an ever so slight WALLOP... Needed a beer chaser after that one to go with my juicy burger (with American cheese). Ummmmm... I love the taste and texture of soggy chips when they're at Skinnys... Made the tactical decision to pick up some munchies at Lily's after that and returned home with dinner: Tortilla chips with Picante sauce, more beer, and an Edward's Key Lime Pie. Don't think we're going to make it to the beach today. The pull of villa gravity is settling in. Picked up a Tradewinds and a St. John Sun Times. Read a page, fall in the pool, read a page, sip a beer, fall in the pool, sip a page, beer in the pool... Bye...

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sounds fab!

Having seen your beautiful home I totally understand the "villa gravity" thing...Salsa, chips, beer, and pool while gazing at Coral Bay... Sounds perfect to me Randy! Enjoy your vacation!!

Hi Randy. We're neighbors. We spent summer Sunday mornings listening to the church bells and singing. Of course, we never used our generator during church time! We finally got power in late July (9 months after paying for it). We are building the white and blue cottage below you. It's called Anchorage Aweigh. It's a fitting name since we're from Alaska. Yes, we know Sarah Palin...she's from our town. We started a building blog for those interested. We were so busy this summer that we are a little bit behind on it...but we're working on it! It's at anchorageaweigh.blogspot.com. Hope some people would be interested in reading it! We know how tough the building can be down there. Your place seemed like it was rented out pretty much all summer. Hope you are well and enjoying Coral Bay. It's our home away from home. Best regards! Scott & Patty

We just left on Saturday. How are the mosquitoes They were fierce when we were visiting last week.

Thanks for the details about the banaquits, donkeys and breezes. It brings back such pleasant memories of our times on STJ. What's the name of your villa? We're still planning for our May trip next year and haven't picked a villa yet.

Ahhh... I can only imagine what it's like to have my morning coffee there now... but eventually I will be experiencing it too. May can't come fast enough. Have a great & rejuvenating island time, Randy. Don't tease us too much .