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Day 5: August 26 - STT, Gladys' & Dinner at the Villa

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 9:06 am
by flip-flop
Day 5: August 26 - STT, Gladys' & Dinner at the Villa

Another beautiful and noticably less buggy morning in Coral Bay.

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We all slept a little later this day. Maybe those mosquitoes depleted all of our energy! I had done my research on behalf of the Mr. and picked today for STT. There was only one ship in. No ships is not good because the stores all close and more than one is no good because then I become hostile and my STJ vibe is completely wrecked.

Ready to rock and roll

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Anyway, so we set out from Coral Bay for the Cruz Bay docks sticking my arm off the car on the way to take some pictures. We had to take the ferry to Red Hook and cab it Charlotte Amalie. The CA ferry was only running at 7:15 and 5 something (I think it was). Anyway. . . not ideal times for us. So we took the 9am ferry over and the 3pm ferry back.

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We headed over to St. Thomas mostly for Mr. Flip-Flop to take a look at some watches. He's somewhat of a collector though he doesn't go for super high-end. After exploring several stores he turns and looks at me and says, "The internet has completely jaded me." Still it was nice for him to be able to touch and feel some of the watches he's got under consideration and some of those that are "dream" watches.

Funnily the only one who ended up with a new watch was Mini Flip-Flop. It seems he's passed his obsession on a little to her and though she had one watch it wasn't waterproof and she very much wanted one she could take in the water like dad. So with the requirements of WATERPROOF, comfy, not Disney, and NOT digital, we went in search. Harder to find than you'd think, but finally we found one. Oh, and we also picked up new Reef sandals for Belly Flop who somehow, in his wild partying, lost a shoe. We're pretty sure on the ferry ...

After our shopping sprees we stopped for lunch at Gladys', a great restaurant in Charlotte Amalie. Belly Flop was VERY hungry and overdue for his nap by this time.

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But Mini Flip-Flop was in a great mood. Showing off her new watch.

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And the Mini decides to take over the camera.

She got this shot of me looking totally blissed out, this was before my Bailey's Banana Colada... YUM! (Daddy had taken the boy for a stroll due to grumpiness, soon to return with a passed out baby who slept through our entire lunch waking just as we finished!)

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Here comes my drink...come to mama...

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And another belly shot....

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I love Gladys. It is really the only thing I really love about STT. Now,admittedly and in fairness, I have not spent a lot of time on STT. I did like the Ritz too :) Comparing STT and STJ is kind of like comparing Vegas and Savannah .. Two totally different places. Not a bad thing, just a fact. Apologies if I offend, but I live in the DC 'burbs. LOTS of people, including most of my family, do not enjoy the DC burbs. I get it .. its just not for them.

And then there was food....

Unbelievably delicious homemade chips and salsa for the kids. These chips were way better than I expected. I was expecting chips out of a bag, but these were clearly homemade. The salsa was awesome but I couldn't help but think they would have been way better without the salsa but with some cinnamon sugar! Fresh and crispy but with a little bit of chew to them. Sounds weird but YUM!

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The club for Mr.

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And Tuna for me. Simple, but just what I craved.

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Someone was awake and hungry. I snagged a couple of bananas from a vendor in the straw market. BEST bargain of the week. 75 cents each!

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Relaxing in another alley

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Soon we are on our way back to STJ.

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Upon returning to St. John, we headed up to Chelsea drug to pick up a tube of A&D ointment. Crystal (from Christy's Classics) had told us that the clear(-ish) ointment (not the white diaper cream) works to repel the mosquitoes. We got the last tube and also I noted that EVERY bug killing product in the store was sold out. The shelf was clear!

I also ducked into Starfish (for the first and only time of the entire trip) to pick up dinner stuff. We'd had a pretty busy day so we'd decided dinner in was probably a good idea. Dinner and a movie night it was! I picked up a frozen pizza, a caesar salad in a bag, a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread ... $40 later :) ... we were headed back to the house.

Back at the house I decided to hit the pool with the girl while the boy(s) napped. I tried the A&D trick and it seemed to work on the girl, the only problem we had was they still wanted to go for her head and I didn't want to put any goopy ointment in her hair. For the record, Mr. Flip-Flop tried it the next day and it didn't think it worked particularly well on him.

Still we enjoyed the pool...

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We got dinner ready around 5ish and then watched "The Jungle Book" for the 4th night in a row. Mini Flip-Flop did this play in drama camp over the summer without ever having seen the movie. She was pretty obsessed with the movie.

Happy Kids

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Pretty soon all of us were mellowing into another Coral Bay night!

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Tomorrow: Trunk Bay, Avoiding Divorce with a stop at Uncle Joe's and Date Night #2!

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 9:20 am
by jmq
No conch fritters at Gladys? Hands down the best we've had in the USVIs or BVIs.

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 9:24 am
by mbw1024
HA .. who is the guy in the chips and salsa shot? So cute!

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 9:30 am
by flip-flop
Nope no conch fritters, a big mistake!

Good eye, MB. That's Mimsy. Another of the menagerie.

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Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 9:33 am
by liamsaunt
A+D ointment, hmmm....I am always looking for another mosquito bite relief agent! I'll have to give this a try.

Yummy looking food, too.

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:02 am
by mbw1024
I hope Mimsy enjoyed the chips :)

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:16 am
by Pianogrl
Love the shot of you & Mini Flip by the statue & also the night shot of Coral Bay. Thanks for sharing your day with us!

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 11:07 am
by Amy
Sounds like a great day in STT. I haven't been to Gladys--will need to put that on my to-do list! Those chips did look yummy, and great pics of the family. You all have such bright, sunny smiles!

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 12:14 pm
by FlaGeorge
Another great installment. Ahhhhh – Glady’s Café, it’s a “Must Do” place. Flip Flop, did she have Tina Turner blaring from the speakers. One time when we were there – she had all the girls in the Café singing. It was a hoot. Bring on the next one – I’m luv’en it.

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 12:15 pm
by Lulu76
I have a late flight home but I may still go over to STT early, and I'm thinking Gladys' looks delicious for lunch. (And I love that name because my grandma was Gladys.)

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 12:23 pm
by flip-flop
FlaGeorge wrote:Another great installment. Ahhhhh – Glady’s Café, it’s a “Must Do” place. Flip Flop, did she have Tina Turner blaring from the speakers. One time when we were there – she had all the girls in the Café singing. It was a hoot. Bring on the next one – I’m luv’en it.
No Tina this time, more like the oldies, but there was singing! That's a big part of the charm!

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 12:24 pm
by flip-flop
Lulu76 wrote:I have a late flight home but I may still go over to STT early, and I'm thinking Gladys' looks delicious for lunch. (And I love that name because my grandma was Gladys.)
Lulu you won't regret it. I've loved everything I have eaten there. Back in November my mama and I went without any entourage on Thanksgiving day (also my mamam's birthday last year). I got the Roti of the day and mama got the thanksgiving spread. It was great. Just a very warm atmosphere with great food. What more could you want.

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 1:21 pm
by KatieH
Flip-Flop - Loving your trip reports! I'm obsessively checking the forum to see if there are any new updates. Your kids are just adorable.

We first took our son to STJ when he was 5 and Crystal sat for us twice that week! She arrived with movies and popcorn, and even caught a gecko for him. She was great.

The memories we've made, people we've met and experiences we've shared on these trips are priceless. They've been the subject of many school papers and noted milestones in his life ("I jumped off a dive boat and snorkeled the Indians. I steered the boat on the way to Virgin Gorda. We went to the Baths, my mom wouldn't let me jump off the rock but my dad got to do it. I swam with a sea turtle and made a squid shoot ink. I fed iguanas at the Westin, I saw a tarantula when I was playing mini golf ) and so on and so on.....

The remora is now 11, and we've booked a 12 night trip for his March '09 break. I can't wait. Someday he may not want to travel with us. Until then I'm going to savor every moment I have with him. Well, most of the moments. Not so much the moments when he throws up on the plane on the flight home. And he and I are traveling solo. Have you ever tried to summons help on an airplane and gotten a response within less than 10 minutes? I'm pressing this call button because I'm looking for a trash bag, not another cocktail! :wink:

Thanks again