McPenguin5 Trip Report - We land on St. John
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 4:37 pm
I woke to the sound of an alarm clock. I was disoriented, as I had slept so soundly and didn't know where I was right away. When I sat up, I was looking out on the blue waters of St. Thomas's north shore. Oh joy, we are here!
I jumped out of bed and set to getting ready to depart. Helene called to see if we wanted to head to the pool, and Jim Hmphed and rolled over in bed. Our son and grandson were heading out as we spoke - I said I would be right there and dug out a swimsuit.
I knew the pool was right outside from a path near the door, so I didn't bother to ask directions. I started down the path, not noticing the cut to the right that went straight over to the pool. I kept on walking, going further and further down the hill, and found myself at the bottom of the hill near the restaurants.
I was puzzled, and as I saw an employee buzzing by in a golf cart with some work tools, I stopped him and asked where the pool was. He offered to give me a lift, so I hopped in and he drove me right back up to the door of our building. I told him that this was where I started off. He got out and showed me that the path had a turn as soon as I got on it, and it led directly to the pool. I felt pretty foolish, but thanked him and walked on down.
I splashed around in the water with my son John and Grandson John, or JJ, as I have called him since he was born. They were wondering what had taken me so long, and when I told them they were very amused. Grandma does it again.
We kept track of the time, and soon headed back to our rooms to prepare to leave. We got our luggage together and called for our shuttle to take us to the check-out. They gave us our paperwork, and we were amazed to find that they had anticipated our needs and had already called for our taxi, who was there almost as soon as we had finished signing the forms.
The taxi took us to the ferry dock, where we found we had almost an hour until our ferry, so we decided to find something to eat. John, JJ and I headed to the Subway sandwich shop up the street and brought back sandwiches for everyone. We sat in the ferry terminal enjoying the parade of humanity as we ate.
When the ferry arrived, we lined up and boarded. I love the ferry ride (though I really prefer the longer one from CA). When we arrived at Cruz Bay, we found our agent who was going to take us to the Villa. She showed us where we could meet her at the car rental, St. John Car Rental, near the Catholic Church.
We picked up our car, loaded up, and followed her. Andante By the Sea is up a pretty treacherous road, but we made it, and the agent showed us around the Villa.
She admitted she had only seen it once before, earlier that morning. She didn't really know what was what in the Villa, and we seemed to be more well informed from the pamphlet the owners had sent to us when we first rented the house. When we informed her of a couple of problems we spotted right away, she seemed flustered, as if no one had ever dared to bring up a problem before.
One of the sliding glass doors couldn't lock, and we needed someone to come out to fix it. She said she would go back to the office and see what she could do. We were really on our own with this.
The house is really nice, with terrific views for both sunset and sunrise. Huge deck and both a pool and a hot tub. We had two bedrooms on the main level and another downstairs. My husband and I opted to take the downstairs one with a separate door, leaving our son and his wife with the top floor and in easy reach of their son's room.
The villa has a top-of-the-line kitchen with every appliance and gadget you could want, the quietest dishwasher I have ever not heard, and a terrific cross-breeze. The refrigerator's ice-maker, however, sounds like it is shooting each and every ice cube it makes out of a gun! We laughed about it, but it had to be turned off at night because the sound kept waking everyone up.
As I wanted to go to Mass that night, we decided that we would have a night in. I had checked on the web and thought that Mass on Saturday evening at Our Lady of Mount Carmel was at 5 PM. We headed out at 4:30, my son driving us, and decided he should come around to pick us up somewhere around 6. He was going to go to the Starfish Market to pick up some supplies.
We went up to the church, and we found that the Mass was at 6, not 5. I was stymied, what could we do? I tried to get our son on his cell phone, but it wasn't going through for some reason. He never got the call, and we resigned ourselves to having to go to Mass in the morning instead. We wandered around; went to St. John Spice to meet Ruth, and found that she was not feeling well and her husband was manning the store. He was very sweet, and said he would tell Ruth I asked after her.
I got myself a nice broad-brimmed straw hat, as my hair is getting thinner with age and I didn't want to get a sunburned scalp. We wandered around Cruz Bay, and come 6 o'clock, our son showed up. We explained the situation, and we headed back.
He stopped at Starfish so we could pick up some supplies, too, and went back to the Villa. John cooked up some Chicken breasts on the grill with seasonings, made some seasoned rice, and prepared a salad to put the chicken on. It was a really great meal, and we were all content, except for JJ. He was disappointed that he had yet to go to the beach.
We decided that in the morning, they would drop us off at Mass and head out to the beach.
We would wait for them to call us when they were ready to head back, and we would wander around and explore what Cruz Bay had to offer us after we got out of Mass. They were not to rush.
I was thrilled when we got to the church. They started with a sampling of the music that their choir would be doing for a Christmas show in a couple of weeks. It was beautiful! When the Mass started, we were treated to a wonderful blend of Carribean music and hymns punctuating the traditional Mass. Our sermon was inspiring and gripping, and I enjoyed every minute of the service. We were astonished when we left to discover that the Mass had lasted an hour and a half, not a mere hour. We were so engrossed we hadn't noticed the passage of time. How I wish I could go to Mass here every week!
We again headed out, stopping at JJ's near the park for a bite to eat. The service and the food were great, and afterwards we wandered around from shop to shop. We picked up some T-Shirts for our grandson and for the daughters of some friends.
We found a small convenience store where we picked up some sugar we had forgotten in our shopping venture the day before, as well a some snacks to have around the house. Around 2:30, we got a phone call that the gang was getting ready to leave the beach and would be in town in about 20 to 30 minutes. We told them we would be waiting, and we wandered a bit more.
I love Cruz Bay, it is so easy to Walk around in. We hit the infamous Parrot Club for a while, I lost $2 and Jim won $5. He is the only person I know who can win on slot machines.
We left and headed out to the dock to watch people come and go, laughed at a little mini-dachshund running around on the beach near the dock. He was met by a buddy, a big yellow lab who obviously was well acquainted with him. They kept us amused until our family met up with us. We headed back to the villa so we could change, and then headed out to Little Lameshure Beach. They had been to Trunk, and the surf was horrendous. Cinnamon had been closed, and they didn't feel that it was safe to go in the water at Trunk, either. It was decided the south shore would be a better bet.
We headed on out, and were pleased to see the road to Lameshur was a lot better than it had been in 2003. Still dicey, but driveable with an Explorer. We snorkeled near the rocky outcrop to the right where people told us they had been watching some rays, and while I didn't see them, everyone else did. I kept my hopes up.
We then headed over to the left side, snorkeling up to the point of the rocks to see what was there. Lots of fish, coral, and beautiful clear water. After a goodly time, we noticed that it wasn't as bright out as it had been and people were leaving the beach. We decided that we were probably done for the day, and began to head in We loaded up the car and headed out.
We had wanted to stop at The Tourist Trap on the way home, as we read the write-up in the TradeWinds about it and were intrigued. However, it is closed on Sundays and Mondays, so we decided to head elsewhere.
We spotted Shipwreck on the way and all agreed we would stop there to eat. I asked the waitress about Shipwreckpat, and she told me she would get her for me. Pat came out and I told her how much I appreciated her response to me about Thanksgiving day and restaurants closing for the day. We all got to say hello to her, and proceded to chow down.
My huband and grandson got the fish and chips and were wowwed by it. Lots of it and delicious. Helene and I got the coconut shrimp, and it was also delicious.I can't recall what my son John had, but I remember he liked it, too. We went on our way back to the villa, full and happy.
After a few games of cards, we all headed in for the night. I don't know about anyone else, but I went to sleep a lot earlier than I ever do at home. I was out like a light. Sunday, full of adventure and fun, and waiting for Monday.
Kris
I jumped out of bed and set to getting ready to depart. Helene called to see if we wanted to head to the pool, and Jim Hmphed and rolled over in bed. Our son and grandson were heading out as we spoke - I said I would be right there and dug out a swimsuit.
I knew the pool was right outside from a path near the door, so I didn't bother to ask directions. I started down the path, not noticing the cut to the right that went straight over to the pool. I kept on walking, going further and further down the hill, and found myself at the bottom of the hill near the restaurants.
I was puzzled, and as I saw an employee buzzing by in a golf cart with some work tools, I stopped him and asked where the pool was. He offered to give me a lift, so I hopped in and he drove me right back up to the door of our building. I told him that this was where I started off. He got out and showed me that the path had a turn as soon as I got on it, and it led directly to the pool. I felt pretty foolish, but thanked him and walked on down.
I splashed around in the water with my son John and Grandson John, or JJ, as I have called him since he was born. They were wondering what had taken me so long, and when I told them they were very amused. Grandma does it again.
We kept track of the time, and soon headed back to our rooms to prepare to leave. We got our luggage together and called for our shuttle to take us to the check-out. They gave us our paperwork, and we were amazed to find that they had anticipated our needs and had already called for our taxi, who was there almost as soon as we had finished signing the forms.
The taxi took us to the ferry dock, where we found we had almost an hour until our ferry, so we decided to find something to eat. John, JJ and I headed to the Subway sandwich shop up the street and brought back sandwiches for everyone. We sat in the ferry terminal enjoying the parade of humanity as we ate.
When the ferry arrived, we lined up and boarded. I love the ferry ride (though I really prefer the longer one from CA). When we arrived at Cruz Bay, we found our agent who was going to take us to the Villa. She showed us where we could meet her at the car rental, St. John Car Rental, near the Catholic Church.
We picked up our car, loaded up, and followed her. Andante By the Sea is up a pretty treacherous road, but we made it, and the agent showed us around the Villa.
She admitted she had only seen it once before, earlier that morning. She didn't really know what was what in the Villa, and we seemed to be more well informed from the pamphlet the owners had sent to us when we first rented the house. When we informed her of a couple of problems we spotted right away, she seemed flustered, as if no one had ever dared to bring up a problem before.
One of the sliding glass doors couldn't lock, and we needed someone to come out to fix it. She said she would go back to the office and see what she could do. We were really on our own with this.
The house is really nice, with terrific views for both sunset and sunrise. Huge deck and both a pool and a hot tub. We had two bedrooms on the main level and another downstairs. My husband and I opted to take the downstairs one with a separate door, leaving our son and his wife with the top floor and in easy reach of their son's room.
The villa has a top-of-the-line kitchen with every appliance and gadget you could want, the quietest dishwasher I have ever not heard, and a terrific cross-breeze. The refrigerator's ice-maker, however, sounds like it is shooting each and every ice cube it makes out of a gun! We laughed about it, but it had to be turned off at night because the sound kept waking everyone up.
As I wanted to go to Mass that night, we decided that we would have a night in. I had checked on the web and thought that Mass on Saturday evening at Our Lady of Mount Carmel was at 5 PM. We headed out at 4:30, my son driving us, and decided he should come around to pick us up somewhere around 6. He was going to go to the Starfish Market to pick up some supplies.
We went up to the church, and we found that the Mass was at 6, not 5. I was stymied, what could we do? I tried to get our son on his cell phone, but it wasn't going through for some reason. He never got the call, and we resigned ourselves to having to go to Mass in the morning instead. We wandered around; went to St. John Spice to meet Ruth, and found that she was not feeling well and her husband was manning the store. He was very sweet, and said he would tell Ruth I asked after her.
I got myself a nice broad-brimmed straw hat, as my hair is getting thinner with age and I didn't want to get a sunburned scalp. We wandered around Cruz Bay, and come 6 o'clock, our son showed up. We explained the situation, and we headed back.
He stopped at Starfish so we could pick up some supplies, too, and went back to the Villa. John cooked up some Chicken breasts on the grill with seasonings, made some seasoned rice, and prepared a salad to put the chicken on. It was a really great meal, and we were all content, except for JJ. He was disappointed that he had yet to go to the beach.
We decided that in the morning, they would drop us off at Mass and head out to the beach.
We would wait for them to call us when they were ready to head back, and we would wander around and explore what Cruz Bay had to offer us after we got out of Mass. They were not to rush.
I was thrilled when we got to the church. They started with a sampling of the music that their choir would be doing for a Christmas show in a couple of weeks. It was beautiful! When the Mass started, we were treated to a wonderful blend of Carribean music and hymns punctuating the traditional Mass. Our sermon was inspiring and gripping, and I enjoyed every minute of the service. We were astonished when we left to discover that the Mass had lasted an hour and a half, not a mere hour. We were so engrossed we hadn't noticed the passage of time. How I wish I could go to Mass here every week!
We again headed out, stopping at JJ's near the park for a bite to eat. The service and the food were great, and afterwards we wandered around from shop to shop. We picked up some T-Shirts for our grandson and for the daughters of some friends.
We found a small convenience store where we picked up some sugar we had forgotten in our shopping venture the day before, as well a some snacks to have around the house. Around 2:30, we got a phone call that the gang was getting ready to leave the beach and would be in town in about 20 to 30 minutes. We told them we would be waiting, and we wandered a bit more.
I love Cruz Bay, it is so easy to Walk around in. We hit the infamous Parrot Club for a while, I lost $2 and Jim won $5. He is the only person I know who can win on slot machines.
We left and headed out to the dock to watch people come and go, laughed at a little mini-dachshund running around on the beach near the dock. He was met by a buddy, a big yellow lab who obviously was well acquainted with him. They kept us amused until our family met up with us. We headed back to the villa so we could change, and then headed out to Little Lameshure Beach. They had been to Trunk, and the surf was horrendous. Cinnamon had been closed, and they didn't feel that it was safe to go in the water at Trunk, either. It was decided the south shore would be a better bet.
We headed on out, and were pleased to see the road to Lameshur was a lot better than it had been in 2003. Still dicey, but driveable with an Explorer. We snorkeled near the rocky outcrop to the right where people told us they had been watching some rays, and while I didn't see them, everyone else did. I kept my hopes up.
We then headed over to the left side, snorkeling up to the point of the rocks to see what was there. Lots of fish, coral, and beautiful clear water. After a goodly time, we noticed that it wasn't as bright out as it had been and people were leaving the beach. We decided that we were probably done for the day, and began to head in We loaded up the car and headed out.
We had wanted to stop at The Tourist Trap on the way home, as we read the write-up in the TradeWinds about it and were intrigued. However, it is closed on Sundays and Mondays, so we decided to head elsewhere.
We spotted Shipwreck on the way and all agreed we would stop there to eat. I asked the waitress about Shipwreckpat, and she told me she would get her for me. Pat came out and I told her how much I appreciated her response to me about Thanksgiving day and restaurants closing for the day. We all got to say hello to her, and proceded to chow down.
My huband and grandson got the fish and chips and were wowwed by it. Lots of it and delicious. Helene and I got the coconut shrimp, and it was also delicious.I can't recall what my son John had, but I remember he liked it, too. We went on our way back to the villa, full and happy.
After a few games of cards, we all headed in for the night. I don't know about anyone else, but I went to sleep a lot earlier than I ever do at home. I was out like a light. Sunday, full of adventure and fun, and waiting for Monday.
Kris
