USVI-On-Line

Unlike others (are you out there Coden!), we have not yet begun to pack and we are leaving next Friday. I am trying to convince my husband and daughter that they really need very little. She is used to dumping her entire wardrobe in a bag...just in case....and he tends to overpack. My sons would be happy with a bathing suit...period!What I have learned in this forum is that unless we are eating at Caneel's fanciest restaurants, long pants are unnecessary. Have I learned correctly? My feeling is that if they have 2 bathing suits, a couple of pairs of shorts (including one decent looking pair), some t-shirts and a couple of polo shirts all will be fine. Will they need anything else for any restaurant? We're at Ocean Grill on Christmas Eve and La Tapa on Christmas Day. Will they need long pants (khakis or such) anywhere? They will have jeans from travel day, but I can't imagine anyone wanting to put them on.
As for footwear, will they need anything other than sneakers for hiking? I'd like to avoid bringing hiking boots if we can. They have all hiked places like Yosemite and Yellowstone in sneakers where the trails weren't too technical.
After all these many months of planning and anticipation I can't believe that we leave in less than a week. All I'm worrying about is getting my middle son home from college Thursday night so we can leave Friday morning. We've had to cut it pretty close, so that's where my anxiety lies.
Any last minute hints for villa life? We've rented Orchid Villa through Caribbean Villas and are hoping for no glitches. They arranged our car (a Jeep Liberty) through Paris Car Rental. Though I have seen very little about Paris, they (CV) were able to get us a car and when I called other popular places on my own in September they were all sold out for that week. Sure hope it's ok. We are all very excited and can't wait to be on our way. It's our first villa experience and our first beach vacation in a very long time. We had visited St. John on a cruise many years ago and the kids said of all the places they;d been, they would like to spend more time on St. John. SO here we go! Thanks everyone for all your help and advice.

We are renting our first villa in January, but have been to St John 2 times before at the Westin. We have always overpacked , but this time we are going to be efficient!
You do not need long pants for men anywhere but Caneel Bay and IMHO we have eaten everywhere in Caneel and there are better restaurants to be had in St John for the money.
For 9 days
My husband will bring 2 pairs of dress/bermuda shorts and 3 polos to eat out at night. Shirts will get spilled on before shorts.
1 pair of casual beat up Khaki shorts
2 short sleeve tees and one long sleeve tee
2 or 3 bathing suits and his surfing guard/snorkle shirt
4 pairs of boxers
2 pairs of peds
sneakers, sweatshirt and jeans he will wear on plane
teva sandals
maybe a pair of leather flip flops
baseball cap

I will pack
1 pair nice capri pants with top
1 sundress
2 or 3 bathing suits
2 coverup dresses
1 long sleeve snorkle shirt
1 pair khaki shorts and 2 tees to go with
1 nightie
undies
foldable beach hat and visor
2 pair peds
1 pair cheap rubber flip flops
1 pair dress sandals to go with both dinner outfits
will wear a pair of Khakis on plane with shirt and sweatshirt and sneakers

We also have a snorkle back pack with all our gear, swim shoes, an umbrella, rollup backgammon board, deck of cards, our insulated coffee mugs and a couple of books and baby shampoo!

I plan on doing a load of laundry during our stay. Nobody will notice if I wear an outfit out to dinner twice but my husband and sisterinlaw so

During the day we always wear bathing suits and me a coverup dress and my hubby his trunks and a tee. You can eat anywhere during the day in this, even Caneel.
Looking back at my list i think we are still over packing , whatever you bring you will be fine and I always find something cute to buy in one of St Johns many wonderful boutiques! Support the economy of the island we love!

Our first trip down we rented from Paris not knowing any better. We rented a Susuki POC that had the foam falling off the steering wheel which made it very interesting on those sharp hilly turns. A/C only worked on high and you had to shut it off so it didn't drag down the engine when going up a hill. When we picked it up it only had a half a tank of gas. They told us to bring it back with at least a half a tank which we did. They then tried to charge us to fill it up! Had to argue with them for 15 minutes before before they finally conceded. They also wanted to charge for cleaning some concrete splashes behind that back wheels that obviously had been there for some time. Vechicle lacked so much power we had to back up and hit the hairpin turns on the north shore road at a running speed. Very scary for your first time of driving on the left!

My advice is to make sure you note every little ding and mark on the contract before you sign. Also note some where on the contract how much gas is in the tank. Verbal agreement does not work with these people.

Learned my lesson and now St. John Car Rental is our place of choice and Conrad's if they are booked up.

Don't let this discourage you because even with the car problems we had the time of our life!

Can't wait for our 5th trip next May. Have a great time and we will be waiting for the trip report.

I'm here!! And driving myself crazy. I'm tired of all of the Lists!!! I do it to myself, and all the while I know that if I forget something, big deal...buy it wherever I am. I dunno why I'm like this. Just nuts I guess.

At least I no longer iron each individual item that I'm taking. I used to do that.

Hang in there, we'll both get there and be fine. See you on Island!!!

Seriously, you could get away with very little. With a washer and dryer you could even take dirty clothes and wash them clothes when you get there. I pack everything into a medium-size knapsack and a shared snorkel bag. You can see my longer packing list over at http://www.garvin.us/STJ/New_Visitors_G ... Guide.html

That being said, my parents joined us on our last trip and they probably brought two outfits per day plus different pajamas for every night. My brother and his son packed at the last minute and ended up bringing all of the shorts and short sleeve shirts they own.

I'm comfortable hiking all the trails on St. John wearing Teva sandals. I've never worn long pants in any restaurant on the island. We were at La Tapa for a great dinner the day after Thanksgiving in shorts, Hawaiin shirts and flip-flops.

Relax, let them carry the heavy luggage, like the beasts of burden that they are. You can smirk as you carry your little bag over your shoulder.

Cheers, RickG