Patrick..so jealous. But since you have your computer, maybe you can make us even more envious with a few tidbits during the next 2 weeks. The pool bar at Bolongo Bay is WiFi 🙂

Go ahead and rum salt in the wound,,,If you can put your painkiller down and get off the beach, go to the Agave Restaurant and visit the pool at Point Pleasant( the middle pool) and look at the view and feel the trade winds. The food is excellent and the views are unforgettable. By all means,,, Enjoy

We are heading to STT tomorrow. Can't wait! I've heard that the sea turtles are hatching, does anyone have suggestions on the best place to watch them.

Molly

So I finally get a wee bit of internet access time. We are now at the westin on STJ for the next two nights.

The flight last sunday into STT was smooth albeit we came in 10 mins late. The plane was packed! Not one empty seat. Bags came out right away as I picked up the keys for the minivan from Avis.... a silver Dodge crapavan with 2400 miles on it for less than $800 for the next two weeks. Off to granny's place we go. Am disappointed though that the food truck by the airport that we always stop for pate is closed. Oh well.... it's a Sunday, the guy deserves the day off.

Unloaded all the bags, got things squared away then off to food shopping at Cost-U-Less and Plaza Extra. $320 later we are on our way home. $6 for a gallon of milk, $9 for a liter of Captain Morgan rum. Go figure! Oh!!!, I found those freezable drink coozies at C-O-L for $4!!! They work great and I plan to pick up more when I can. They kept my drinks cold for hours as I sat on the beach reading and just lymin'. Also picked up some rice and beans at PE for that night's dinner to go with bbq pork chops and veggies. That meal was great!

That's it for now as we are off to dinner at Margarita Phils. More to come.

Patrick,
Did you pack your Kayak? Just curious if it meets the 50 lb weight restrictions.
E.L.

Well so much for that dinner at M Ps. They could not accomodate us (party of nine). *sigh*And trying to find a place to park even after 7pm was insane!

Going back to the early part of the trip......

Like I said earlier, my report would be of me lying at the beach with a good book and joojoo juice of choice as the rest of the family played in the water. Well that's what we did Monday at Magen's. We stay at the right side (facing the water). It was crowded when we got there being that were two ships in town. Thing is I don't recall it being this crowded in the summer in the past years that we have been coming down. But by 3:30 pm or so the cruise ship crowd leaves the beach.

We start off with a neat sheet under the trees with a beach umbrella we got from KMart for $13 (50% off) as there are no tables available. Then move on to a table as soon as we can get one. Lunch was of sandwiches we made at home . Wifey forgot the junk food back at the house so of course the kids and I weren't too happy about that.

Stayed till about 4 pm then headed on back to the house after which I took the two older kids to the university for some combat golf. We call it combat golf as there is no specific golf course but the grounds facing the airport are huge and they have somewhat golf greens-like set up complete with flag and hole. Kids had fun and i was able to practice a bit on my long game. Still hopeless though the way it is. After that we headed back to the house for some chicken bbq on the portable grill we brought down. It runs on those little coleman 1lb propane cylinders and worked great.

We brought down a star map as well so the kids could look at the night sky and see the different stras and such but the moon was out andclouds were in and out. Oh well..... Sad thing is, it's been like that for the past week so far so the star map is starting to gather dust on the shelf. We also had a night of passing showers so ixnay on the map for now.

That's it for now as it's time to put the kiddies to bed after which I will open a bottle of cheap Australian red wine and put my feet up and try to finish the second book.

Will be back!

Forgot to add.....

EagleLanded, yes we did bring the kayak (Helios) down. 45 lbs on the airport scale so no problems checking it in. The four piece paddle was in the suitcase. Kids and I have been using it and are having a blast. Will try to do some fishing from it this week.

Great start to your trip! I LOVE your enthusiasm and apparent zest for life! Keep them coming!

Good Luck! Have Fun!

Patrick - did you mention where you are staying? I couldn't find it in your posts. Sounds like you're having a great time! what are the ages of your kids?

love the real-time reports!

Patrick,
We're really considering the purchase of a kayak. Any chance we'll see pictures of you and kids in your kayak?
E.L.

Nice!! I wonder if Magens is more crowded now because the ships aren't using Sapphire as an option, now that it has no amenities. I just wonder - I am not sure if the ships are still going to Sapphire.

Right side of Magens - that's the Frenchie area - with all of the little fishing boats down there. Lately, I've seen the Dominicans competing for that space. They come with their latin music and their pots of food. Don't see as many Frenchies anymore. I miss them with their sun-creased faces- coming ashore with lobsters for sale.

Hope you all have a grand time and you'll continue to give us updates!!

Lol Blu! My wife's dad is a frenchie! He has since passed on but we still honor his memory with a dinner at Victor's New Hideout everytime we come down. Good food and prices.

E.L, here's a link to a post I put out on a kayak fishing board around four years ago: http://kfs.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/948607442/m/9586001373?r=9586001373#9586001373

The kayak you see in the pic is the same one we brought down on this trip. All is the same except for the kid in the pic being nine now and much bigger and of course I have aged ......hopefully gracefully. Of course if wifey reads this she will be putting a finger down her throat. Lol!!!!

Wow, pics are great...thanks! It's larger than we were thinking and looks like it's able to hold gear, etc. Enjoy the rest of your trip and keep the reports coming!

Tsk, tsk, tsk.... Mountaineer Girl.... don't fall asleep in class or you'll miss out. Lol!

For the second day, we went to town. And couldn't find parking!!!!!! Wifey and m-i-l were giving up but I said let's stop by the entrance to the public lot next to the fort and wait until it opens up. Sure enough two cars came out and the lady at the booth told me to move the heavy pylon she had blocking the entrance aside. Huh? Me? Move it? Isn't that YOUR job???? Anyways, to appease wifey and m-i-l, I reluctantly got out of the nice airconditioned vehicle and stepped outside into the oppressive heat to move the 50 lb pylon she had blocking the entryway. Drove in and saw 15 or so spots and picked the closest to the fort. And off we went into town.

Have to stop for now as we are trying to get the kids ready for tonight's dinner at Margarita Phil's where we struck out last night and ended up at the Lime Inn. Tonight though we have a RESERVATIONS!!!!!

Will be back later. Wifey is starting to give me the evil eye.... or as some people call it, the stink face. Lol!

LOL! I saw where you're staying at the Westin for 2 nights. OK, I was sleeping.

So to continue.......

We were in town and I picked up that self guided tour CD of STT from the native arts and crafts store opposite the vendors plaza. It used to be the tourism office back in the day and is on the corner to the left of little switzerland. We more or less know our way around STT but wanted to learn more plus with the kids a bit more older we figured they'd appreciate it more. I think it was 12.99 for the CD and it said that the tour would take 2-6 hours depending on how long you stayed at each landmark.

After that we went on to main street where wifey was looking for her Clinique stuff (as if that would help). He he he.... I am just saying this as she is sound asleep right now. Lol!!!! Nobody looking over my shoulder. From there we went to Royal Caribbean (sp?) where I picked up a little Swiss Army knife.... the one with the small blade as well as a bottle opener and cork screw.... my how convenient! So convenient that I used it tonight to open a bottle of cheap Aussie red.

From then on we walked around a bit more until the kiddies were getting hungry. We decided on Hervey after the sales pitch we got from Paulette by the post office (and of course the great reviews I have read on this board). Speaking of reviews, will you guys who review this place state the fact that you have to walk... no... climb 5 miles up Governors hill to get to it. Not to mention the fact that you have to go up another umpteen hundred steps to get to the restaurant.

At the pitch by the post office we were told that they had a kid's menu. As it turns out, all they had was grilled cheese and fries for the kiddies. Oh well..... kiddies weren't happy until I said "you get what you get so don't be upset". It's a line I picked up from some Disney show they watch and it seems to work. Well at least it worked that day. Lol!

Wifey had the steak and pepper sandwich that she was happy with and m-i-l had the chicken sandwich that she said was good. I had the mahi mahi sandwich and was kinda disappointed as it was an overcooked tough and dry piece of fish measuring 2x3 inches. Oh well..... you get what you get so don't be upset. Lol! But the service was very good though.

From there we went to the vendor's market to look around. I picked up a leather wallet (card holder really) that was priced at $30 and eventually haggled down to $9. For the life of me I couldn't figure out why wifey was trying to hide behind my back as I haggled. Come to think of it, it seemed that she was giving her mom (m-i-l) some sort of hand signal. Oh well.... I was happy and the kids were tired plus wifey seemed kind of flushed so off to Havensight we went.

We passed on Yacht Haven deciding to do it another day and just walked around Havensight where I picked up a little Casio watch for my daughter. Thing is, I did not even get a hug or kiss for it. What is it with all these seven year olds nowadays??????

After that we just went on back to the house in Dorothea on the north side (pay attention Mountaineer Girl) where I got ready for an afternoon/twilight tee time at Mahogany run with wifey's cousin. The kids were planning to go to the playground not far from the house as the meat marinated before being slapped on to the grill.

All went well that night except for the fact that our youngest one (Andrew) got hammered with mosquito bites. So much for the Off Clean Feel Skintatstic I guess. He now looks like a teenager with zits but he is only four years old. Lesson learned I guess.

We lost power that night around 11:30 for about four hours. No biggie though. But the next day's power outage was a PIA!

That's it for now as I just finally finished the cheap Aussie red I opened last night. Not to mention the fact that laying next to the pool in this hot weather as you read a good book drains you. Lol!!! Will try to continue tomorrow before we head on back to STT.

And oh, Eagles Landed, the kayak you see in the pic is longer and narrower than the sunny which I am kicking myself for not bringing down. It's a great yak but I prefer the sunny more.

Patrick, enjoying your real time trip reports.

Is this kayak you have a hard one or is it one of those blow up ones. Last week nephew brought 2 down to florida that were blow up ones. Real nice though. They bought them at Dicks sporting goods for 50.00 each and we had a ball with them.

Just wondering. Enjoy your vacation!

Connie: Patrick posted on this thread a couple of days ago:

"E.L, here's a link to a post I put out on a kayak fishing board around four years ago: [kfs.infopop.cc]
The kayak you see in the pic is the same one we brought down on this trip."

If you go to the link you'll see photos of this kayak which is an inflatable. Cheers.

Connie, the kayak is inflatable as STT resident pointed out above but the material it is made of is much more sbstantial than the kayak you get for $50 at Dicks. Actually we first started out with those and eventually mved up to the ones we have.

Wednesday we did the cd tour but only the first two or three parts. Started off at the National park dock by red hook and drove all the way to Magens where I once again just lymed on the beach as the kids played in the water.It was neat to see a little sea turtle 20 feet from the beach as well as lots of bait fish with tarpon and bluefish on occasion. Too bad they don't allow fishing from the beach at Magens.

Had a gyro for lunch there then later on in the afternoon headed on out with a stop at udder delite for some milk shakes. Yummy!!! Resumed the cd tour all the way down to hull bay and stopped a bit then back to the house we went to get ready for dinner at Havana Blue. Or was it Blue Havana?

That's it for now as we head on to the westin's $22 (ouch!) buffet breakfast. I am starving and an omelette would do the job.