Day 1: August 22 - Coral Bay, Sea Biscuit & Island Blues
Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 8:13 pm
DAY 1 - Coral Bay or Bust, Sea Biscuit Settling In, Dinner at Island Blues
The long awaited day had finally come. I finished packing up our bags (2 checked bags and 1 carry-on) late the night before and then fitfully tossed and turned throughout the night.
See I can pack lightly! This is for two adults and two kids people! Kids need a lot of crap.
I didn't make my carry-on only goal but that was a bit crazy. I did ok though and we still only used about 1/2 of what we took.
I always worry about oversleeping, so after a restless night I was up by 3:45 am to get everything ready and out the door by 4:45 am for our 7 am flight. My trusty nephew was delivering us to the airport, so that helped ease the morning stress. After getting everything into the car we roused the kids at the last minute, threw them in the car with a cup of milk, and headed to the airport. Mini Flip-Flop was out of bed like a flash, so excited...just like her mama! The Baby Flop was just dazed and confused but went with the flow.
We hit the road at 4:45 and arrived at 5:15 at the airport. Curbside check-in was not open yet so we trekked inside to do the bag drop. We already had boarding passes in hand so I expected this to go quite smoothly. No such luck!
The first bump in the road came courtesy of the Continental Agent who informed us that we ALL needed a passport. 3 of us have them but Baby Flop does not. Yet. Anyway, knowing a passport is not required, I asked her to double-check her information. She was insistent as was I. But she was trying to stand between me and St. John and I was relentless and undeterred. I feel sorry for less insistent or informed people than myself who would have just accepted her misinformation and turned around and gone home.
Finally she caved with the statement/warning, "Well, I just want to keep your informed because we've been deporting a lot of people!" Really, Continental Airlines? OR the US Government? And really? Where does one deport a US citizen to? A US Citizen traveling to a US Territory?
She managed to rile me up but we moved on to security and breezed through without a second glance. She was the only person to ask for any documenation on the baby en route. The customs officer upon our return through STT barely looked at his birth certificate, much less asked for a passport.
(For the record, in principle I agree with the whole everyone should have a passport who can afford one concept, especially if you plan to travel or flee to Canada anytime soon. He typically would have one except I am kind of a busy person and Mini Flip-Flop needs hers renewed next year and my plan is to kill those two birds with one stone and get them on the same renewal schedule. And as long as I can get out of the country I am ok with it. I mean what's the worst that can happen, I have to stay in STJ with him? Yes, are you seeing my evil plan
)
Sorry for the digression!
So with security cleared and our gate in our line of sight, we made a pit stop for breakfast sandwiches and COFFEE since we had about an hour to kill before our flight. When I said to Mr. Flip-Flop do you want a bacon or a sausage and egg bagel, he said, "Yes!" I said, "Which?" and He said, "I don't understand why I can't have both!" I laughed. For clarification he meant one bagel with bacon, sausage and egg.
Our flight to Newark was via a little commuter plane that sat maybe 40 or so, but only had about 8 people on board. We settled in and were off on leg 1. Baby Flop took this as his cue to take a rest and promptly passed out.
Mini Flip proceeded to intently study the emergency preparedness chart. (She did this on every flight). By the time we completed the trip she knew what every single diagram meant! If our plane went down she was going to save us all.
We were in Newark within an hour and made our way to the next gate (via a shuttle bus) for the flight to STT. We had time to pick up a bite to eat for the flight and relax at the gate for about 1/2 an hour. Soon we were on our way again.
The 2nd leg of the trip was as smooth as the first. Mini Flip refreshed herself on the floatation devices and oxygen masks and Baby Flop was a tad grouchy at first but soon succumbed to sleep.
The Continental attendants on this flight were extremely polite and helpful and they gave us actual lunch. For free! (A small salad and a mini cheese pizza and a twix bar!) I know unbelievable. Neither flight was even close to full and we ended up with a row of 6 for the 4 of us. It wasn't first class but it sure helped.
This one took about 3 hours and 30 minutes. We were supposed to arrive at 2:10 but we were in our taxi from the airport by 1:45. It was a painless, quick flight. There are advantages to going to the Caribbean during hurricane season. The flight actually seemed fast and we arrived almost a 1/2 an hour early.
Though I still don't understand how it can possibly be quicker to get from DC to Newark to St. Thomas than it is to go from DC to Atlanta to St. Thomas ... by about 1 hour! I digress...Again.
I had arranged for Rachel to pick us up from the airport and get us to Redhook to avoid an overstuffed, hot cab ride with two kids (one known to be prone to carsickness and one possibly headed in that direction). With two little ones and a long day it just wasn't worth it to me. Rachel sent her sweet brother, Ira, to pick us up and soon after landing we were off to the 3 pm ferry.
We went quickly from he St. Thomas airport across the island to the Red Hook Ferry terminal. Only 2 ferries a day were running from the Charlotte Amalie Dock. Fuel prices I suppose combined with the off-season. Oh well it was a chance to see the new terminal. When we first went to STT back in 2001, the "terminal" was a gravel lot with a tiny shack and a bunch of confusion!
The view from inside the terminal as it looks today.
The ride was smooth and fast and efficient, but one little boy was about over the whole whirlwind day of travel.
Have you seen two grouchier faces? Everyone says he looks like me, but I see a lot of his daddy in this face. Not to worry, soon we were stepping off the dock and slipping into the sweet rhythm of St. John once again. Everyone rallied!
Leaving the boys at the dock to wait for our representative from Windspree, the girls headed to Conrad's to get the Jeep. When I arrived, no Conrad, no Carmen, just Gladys. I was a little nervous but the Mini Flip walked right in and said "HELLO!" and proceeded to charm the pants off of her. Within a few minutes we were set and as I stepped out side, Crystal from Christie's Classics was waiting with our box, the pack and play and our car seat. Talk about service. These guys take it to the next level! Worth every single penny and all of the equipment was in tip-top shape.
After loading up we headed back to dock to get the boys and were off to the house!
The road to Sea Biscuit is "Harold's Way", the first right after Aqua Bistro and Crabby's Watersports. Up the road, the 2nd driveway on the left (shared with the Blue house below - Bay house I think is the name). The driveway is a little tricky but not difficult if that makes any sense. Just awkward.
The bottom floor off the parking area has an outdoor shower (very handy for washing off feet after beach days) and a general storage area, as well as the grill. The house was well stocked with beach chairs, two coolers (plus Windspree gives you a small cooler as a thank you/welcome gift), a beach bag and some beach toys.
From this area you head up a set of stairs to the main house.
To the left at the top is another short set of steps up to the pool, pool deck and hot tub with to die for views!
To the right is the entrance to the house and the wrap around decking.
You enter Sea Biscuit into an open room with the kitchen, dining area and living room.
The living room
The Kitchen
It was very clean and a perfect layout for us. A nice kitchen that looked brand new and very well stocked with spices, ice packs, utensils, new sponges, nice dish towels, plenty of paper towels and dish soap. There was also an abundant supply of bug spray which came in handy later in the week!
There is also a powder room on this level. The house is very sweet with a killer view of coral bay harbor.
Heading up the interior stairs, there are two bedrooms each with a private bath with a view from the shower.
To the left is the master with an even better view of Coral Bay Harbor, a queen bed with great sheets and a well stocked bathroom.
To the right is the "kids room" which I believe can be converted into a king bed if needed. For our purposes, we had two twin beds and set up the pack and play for Belly Flop in there. Mini Flip-Flop was thrilled she had her choice of beds!
I only have minor, inconsequential complaints about the house as a whole:
1) I wish the ceiling fans (there are three on the main level) did a better job of circulating the air. We checked and they were going in the right direction, I think the blades were just pretty warped and thus didn't do a great job of creating a good airflow.
2) As a mom of an 18 month old, I wished the sliding screens locked. I am not even sure if this is possible, but with 3 large sliders to watch for escapes by the kiddo, it would have been nice to be able to lock them or latch them in some way. Basically we ended up keeping the glass closed and locked way more than we would have liked. This was the alternative...
3) The beach chairs were pretty skimpy. It was nice that they were VERY portable, but they weren't super sturdy. They worked they just weren't very comfy.
4) The grill is on the lower/parking area level. Its not convenient to the kitchen or the upper deck with views. I'd prefer it to be up on the main deck, maybe even by the pool.
5) The upper master bedroom got some ferocious wind. We got rain and wind just about every night (all days were clear and sunny except 2 mornings for a couple hours) so perhaps it was the time or year or Gustav hanging around but it literally woke me up at least 50% of the nights from a dead sleep. It could have been the "Crime on STJ" posts that had me sleeping more lightly than I normally do. Who knows. Again, not much that can be or should be done about this, just a nugget of information for people to know in case it matters to them!
Soon after we arrived, I headed off to Lilly's Market to stock up on staples - milk, bread, bacon, eggs, soda, cereal, cheese and crackers. I had visited Lilly's before but was a little leery of using them for our primary grocery. I am here to report it is totally possible. They had EVERYTHING packed into that store that you could possibly need. The prices were slightly higher, but it was worth it to me for the convenience. For example the frozen pizza was $1 more at Lilly's - $11 vs $10 at Starfish. A 1/2 gallon of milk was $4.50 where a whole gallon was $7.50 at Starfish. Still we probably spent a total of $150 in there for the week ... including the $6 pint of ben and jerry's coffee heath bar crunch that was worth every single red cent!
Fridge stocked we all decided it was POOL time. We took a quick swim.
After a refreshing swim, we cleaned up and headed to dinner at Island Blues, literally down the hill. The view we all know and love....
We drove but we could have walked if we had any energy! I had verified on the forum that they were back to serving food and we noshed on a grilled Mahi sandwich for me, the daily quesadilla of jerk chicken for the Mr., and chicken and fries for the kiddos to split. This is where we began to realize that the mosquitoes would be somewhat different on this trip. Despite the generous offer and acceptance by us of bug spray from the waitress and the decent breeze the skeeters started attacking Mr. Flip-Flop and Mini. For some reason, Belly Flop and I were relatively unscathed. Of course, Mr. says this is because we are not as sweet!
We headed back to the house and were shocked to discover it was only 7 pm, it felt like midnight. Tummies full and happy soon after everyone crashed but me.
I was still pretty wound up and so flat out excited to be there that it was hard for me to sleep, so I spent a couple hours reading into the night listening to the tree frogs and the wind. Just a piece of advice, Monster of Florence ... not a great choice on a quiet, dark island when the wind outside is howling.
Tomorrow: Francis, Limin, and Banana Deck for Dinner
The long awaited day had finally come. I finished packing up our bags (2 checked bags and 1 carry-on) late the night before and then fitfully tossed and turned throughout the night.
See I can pack lightly! This is for two adults and two kids people! Kids need a lot of crap.
I didn't make my carry-on only goal but that was a bit crazy. I did ok though and we still only used about 1/2 of what we took.
I always worry about oversleeping, so after a restless night I was up by 3:45 am to get everything ready and out the door by 4:45 am for our 7 am flight. My trusty nephew was delivering us to the airport, so that helped ease the morning stress. After getting everything into the car we roused the kids at the last minute, threw them in the car with a cup of milk, and headed to the airport. Mini Flip-Flop was out of bed like a flash, so excited...just like her mama! The Baby Flop was just dazed and confused but went with the flow.
We hit the road at 4:45 and arrived at 5:15 at the airport. Curbside check-in was not open yet so we trekked inside to do the bag drop. We already had boarding passes in hand so I expected this to go quite smoothly. No such luck!
The first bump in the road came courtesy of the Continental Agent who informed us that we ALL needed a passport. 3 of us have them but Baby Flop does not. Yet. Anyway, knowing a passport is not required, I asked her to double-check her information. She was insistent as was I. But she was trying to stand between me and St. John and I was relentless and undeterred. I feel sorry for less insistent or informed people than myself who would have just accepted her misinformation and turned around and gone home.
Finally she caved with the statement/warning, "Well, I just want to keep your informed because we've been deporting a lot of people!" Really, Continental Airlines? OR the US Government? And really? Where does one deport a US citizen to? A US Citizen traveling to a US Territory?
She managed to rile me up but we moved on to security and breezed through without a second glance. She was the only person to ask for any documenation on the baby en route. The customs officer upon our return through STT barely looked at his birth certificate, much less asked for a passport.
(For the record, in principle I agree with the whole everyone should have a passport who can afford one concept, especially if you plan to travel or flee to Canada anytime soon. He typically would have one except I am kind of a busy person and Mini Flip-Flop needs hers renewed next year and my plan is to kill those two birds with one stone and get them on the same renewal schedule. And as long as I can get out of the country I am ok with it. I mean what's the worst that can happen, I have to stay in STJ with him? Yes, are you seeing my evil plan
)Sorry for the digression!
So with security cleared and our gate in our line of sight, we made a pit stop for breakfast sandwiches and COFFEE since we had about an hour to kill before our flight. When I said to Mr. Flip-Flop do you want a bacon or a sausage and egg bagel, he said, "Yes!" I said, "Which?" and He said, "I don't understand why I can't have both!" I laughed. For clarification he meant one bagel with bacon, sausage and egg.
Our flight to Newark was via a little commuter plane that sat maybe 40 or so, but only had about 8 people on board. We settled in and were off on leg 1. Baby Flop took this as his cue to take a rest and promptly passed out.
Mini Flip proceeded to intently study the emergency preparedness chart. (She did this on every flight). By the time we completed the trip she knew what every single diagram meant! If our plane went down she was going to save us all.
We were in Newark within an hour and made our way to the next gate (via a shuttle bus) for the flight to STT. We had time to pick up a bite to eat for the flight and relax at the gate for about 1/2 an hour. Soon we were on our way again.
The 2nd leg of the trip was as smooth as the first. Mini Flip refreshed herself on the floatation devices and oxygen masks and Baby Flop was a tad grouchy at first but soon succumbed to sleep.
The Continental attendants on this flight were extremely polite and helpful and they gave us actual lunch. For free! (A small salad and a mini cheese pizza and a twix bar!) I know unbelievable. Neither flight was even close to full and we ended up with a row of 6 for the 4 of us. It wasn't first class but it sure helped.
This one took about 3 hours and 30 minutes. We were supposed to arrive at 2:10 but we were in our taxi from the airport by 1:45. It was a painless, quick flight. There are advantages to going to the Caribbean during hurricane season. The flight actually seemed fast and we arrived almost a 1/2 an hour early.
Though I still don't understand how it can possibly be quicker to get from DC to Newark to St. Thomas than it is to go from DC to Atlanta to St. Thomas ... by about 1 hour! I digress...Again.
I had arranged for Rachel to pick us up from the airport and get us to Redhook to avoid an overstuffed, hot cab ride with two kids (one known to be prone to carsickness and one possibly headed in that direction). With two little ones and a long day it just wasn't worth it to me. Rachel sent her sweet brother, Ira, to pick us up and soon after landing we were off to the 3 pm ferry.
We went quickly from he St. Thomas airport across the island to the Red Hook Ferry terminal. Only 2 ferries a day were running from the Charlotte Amalie Dock. Fuel prices I suppose combined with the off-season. Oh well it was a chance to see the new terminal. When we first went to STT back in 2001, the "terminal" was a gravel lot with a tiny shack and a bunch of confusion!
The view from inside the terminal as it looks today.
The ride was smooth and fast and efficient, but one little boy was about over the whole whirlwind day of travel.
Have you seen two grouchier faces? Everyone says he looks like me, but I see a lot of his daddy in this face. Not to worry, soon we were stepping off the dock and slipping into the sweet rhythm of St. John once again. Everyone rallied!
Leaving the boys at the dock to wait for our representative from Windspree, the girls headed to Conrad's to get the Jeep. When I arrived, no Conrad, no Carmen, just Gladys. I was a little nervous but the Mini Flip walked right in and said "HELLO!" and proceeded to charm the pants off of her. Within a few minutes we were set and as I stepped out side, Crystal from Christie's Classics was waiting with our box, the pack and play and our car seat. Talk about service. These guys take it to the next level! Worth every single penny and all of the equipment was in tip-top shape.
After loading up we headed back to dock to get the boys and were off to the house!
The road to Sea Biscuit is "Harold's Way", the first right after Aqua Bistro and Crabby's Watersports. Up the road, the 2nd driveway on the left (shared with the Blue house below - Bay house I think is the name). The driveway is a little tricky but not difficult if that makes any sense. Just awkward.
The bottom floor off the parking area has an outdoor shower (very handy for washing off feet after beach days) and a general storage area, as well as the grill. The house was well stocked with beach chairs, two coolers (plus Windspree gives you a small cooler as a thank you/welcome gift), a beach bag and some beach toys.
From this area you head up a set of stairs to the main house.
To the left at the top is another short set of steps up to the pool, pool deck and hot tub with to die for views!
To the right is the entrance to the house and the wrap around decking.
You enter Sea Biscuit into an open room with the kitchen, dining area and living room.
The living room
The Kitchen
It was very clean and a perfect layout for us. A nice kitchen that looked brand new and very well stocked with spices, ice packs, utensils, new sponges, nice dish towels, plenty of paper towels and dish soap. There was also an abundant supply of bug spray which came in handy later in the week!
There is also a powder room on this level. The house is very sweet with a killer view of coral bay harbor.
Heading up the interior stairs, there are two bedrooms each with a private bath with a view from the shower.
To the left is the master with an even better view of Coral Bay Harbor, a queen bed with great sheets and a well stocked bathroom.
To the right is the "kids room" which I believe can be converted into a king bed if needed. For our purposes, we had two twin beds and set up the pack and play for Belly Flop in there. Mini Flip-Flop was thrilled she had her choice of beds!
I only have minor, inconsequential complaints about the house as a whole:
1) I wish the ceiling fans (there are three on the main level) did a better job of circulating the air. We checked and they were going in the right direction, I think the blades were just pretty warped and thus didn't do a great job of creating a good airflow.
2) As a mom of an 18 month old, I wished the sliding screens locked. I am not even sure if this is possible, but with 3 large sliders to watch for escapes by the kiddo, it would have been nice to be able to lock them or latch them in some way. Basically we ended up keeping the glass closed and locked way more than we would have liked. This was the alternative...
3) The beach chairs were pretty skimpy. It was nice that they were VERY portable, but they weren't super sturdy. They worked they just weren't very comfy.
4) The grill is on the lower/parking area level. Its not convenient to the kitchen or the upper deck with views. I'd prefer it to be up on the main deck, maybe even by the pool.
5) The upper master bedroom got some ferocious wind. We got rain and wind just about every night (all days were clear and sunny except 2 mornings for a couple hours) so perhaps it was the time or year or Gustav hanging around but it literally woke me up at least 50% of the nights from a dead sleep. It could have been the "Crime on STJ" posts that had me sleeping more lightly than I normally do. Who knows. Again, not much that can be or should be done about this, just a nugget of information for people to know in case it matters to them!
Soon after we arrived, I headed off to Lilly's Market to stock up on staples - milk, bread, bacon, eggs, soda, cereal, cheese and crackers. I had visited Lilly's before but was a little leery of using them for our primary grocery. I am here to report it is totally possible. They had EVERYTHING packed into that store that you could possibly need. The prices were slightly higher, but it was worth it to me for the convenience. For example the frozen pizza was $1 more at Lilly's - $11 vs $10 at Starfish. A 1/2 gallon of milk was $4.50 where a whole gallon was $7.50 at Starfish. Still we probably spent a total of $150 in there for the week ... including the $6 pint of ben and jerry's coffee heath bar crunch that was worth every single red cent!
Fridge stocked we all decided it was POOL time. We took a quick swim.
After a refreshing swim, we cleaned up and headed to dinner at Island Blues, literally down the hill. The view we all know and love....
We drove but we could have walked if we had any energy! I had verified on the forum that they were back to serving food and we noshed on a grilled Mahi sandwich for me, the daily quesadilla of jerk chicken for the Mr., and chicken and fries for the kiddos to split. This is where we began to realize that the mosquitoes would be somewhat different on this trip. Despite the generous offer and acceptance by us of bug spray from the waitress and the decent breeze the skeeters started attacking Mr. Flip-Flop and Mini. For some reason, Belly Flop and I were relatively unscathed. Of course, Mr. says this is because we are not as sweet!
We headed back to the house and were shocked to discover it was only 7 pm, it felt like midnight. Tummies full and happy soon after everyone crashed but me.
I was still pretty wound up and so flat out excited to be there that it was hard for me to sleep, so I spent a couple hours reading into the night listening to the tree frogs and the wind. Just a piece of advice, Monster of Florence ... not a great choice on a quiet, dark island when the wind outside is howling.
Tomorrow: Francis, Limin, and Banana Deck for Dinner
