St. Thomas has changed very little since 1968, when Maureen and I honeymooned at Pavilions and Pools on the east end. We’ve since stayed twice each at Bolongo Bay Beach Resort and the Elysian (when we brought the kids and needed more room), and a place above town in 1973 that has been torn down and replaced by some orange condos, Patrick Point or something like that. After we picked up our Malibu at Avis on Aug. 4 (I had another car lined up at Budget but there was a mob waiting there), we stopped at Palm Passage--one of our favorite places back in the day--for a drink as we passed through town. We were greeted at Bolongo with our names at the top of the bulletin board announcing new arrivals--made us feel pretty special!

Had a very nice room where we could walk out directly onto the beach. We were tired so had dinner at Iggies there at Bolongo. “There’s Always Something Going On at Iggies,” but unfortunately not that night!
Sunday: Bolongo offers so many activities and trips that they have an orientation for new arrivals every morning. After that we headed east for the Sunday Beach Party at Sapphire Beach. The guard at the condos there told us that the beach party and Seagrape Restaurant there had been closed for a year and a half. “St. Thomas-St. John This Week” is a great resource, and it’s terrific that you can now access it online, but they still list the defunct Sapphire Sunday Beach Party on their events schedule. (The bar at Sapphire is where I first had a pina colada in 1968 and my life changed--I like to take credit for introducing the pina colada to the U.S.!) On to Pavilions and Pools, where their planned café is “under construction,” but the lobby attendant was kind enough to sell us a beer and a coke so we could sit and reminisce for a few minutes. A maid invited us to step into one of the suites that she was cleaning, no. 12, a mirror image of where we had stayed at no. 14; it was like stepping into a time machine and going back 39 years! We headed through Tutu Park back to town and had a late lunch at the Greenhouse. Does anyone remember that the Greenhouse was known as Sebastian’s back in the early ‘70s? It started raining pretty hard so we drove back to Bolongo’s Lobster Grille for dinner--we had a good breakfast there every morning but dinner was nothing special.
Monday: We lounged at beautiful Bolongo Bay beach till noon.

Then we headed to Mountaintop for the view while drinking the banana daiquiris they’re known for; unfortunately it began raining hard as soon as we got there so we settled for drinking the daiquiris inside, then headed to town for some shopping. The rain stopped in time for us to enjoy a lovely dinner with a great view at Oceana (formerly the Chart House) in Frenchtown..
Tuesday: Bolongo gives its guests a free day-long catamaran cruise to St. John. There was more rain but crewmember Stephanie never let my rum punch cup get empty and kept Maureen supplied with Cokes, while First Mate Chris and Captain Peter kept the boat afloat. And Maureen was happy because she didn’t throw up! Back at Bolongo I had more rum punches at a lame Manager’s Reception, then we headed for dinner at the Cellar in Red Hook, at Stephanie’s recommendation. It was very nice but all their entrees come in very small portions, like tapas; the food was good but at $18-$20 a pop don’t go there with a big appetite!
Wednesday: We took our Malibu to St. John on the car ferry, which turned out to be an adventure. Like lemmings we followed a line of about eight cars out of the lot at St. John, figuring they knew where they were going. It turned out that none of them had a clue. The lead car got stuck at the top of a very steep hill and could go no further even with people pushing it. We were able to back into a driveway and get down the hill and on to Cruz Bay with the others following, but another car died at the bottom of the hill. Taking a car to St. John is risky because the rental companies don’t provide any roadside assistance there and the renter is responsible for any needed repairs. We had a nice lunch at Shipwreck Landing in Coral Bay; three other diners who were staying near Cruz Bay missed the bus so we gave them a ride back “home.” My wife reminded me to stay on the left, so I said, “What, you’re supposed to drive on the left here?” I enjoyed my little joke when I heard some nervous laughter from the back seat. Getting back to the car ferry lot was a lot easier than leaving it. Back to Iggies for their Wednesday night West Indian Buffet and Show, with broken bottle walkers and fire eaters; it was mildly entertaining though it seemed they were making it up as they went along. We’ve seen much better shows in the past--whatever happened to Madame Voodoo?
Thursday: We drove up to Paradise Point for the spectacular view of town and the cruise ships.

Talked with two inspectors from the mainland who came to check on the cable car cables and mechanism; they inspect annually, and told us that the cables are 9 ½ years into their expected life of 10 years. Very funny. Then we drove up and down the hill from town to Magens Bay for lunch and swimming, and got some of Udder Delite’s great ice cream. Had dinner at Mim’s, within walking distance from Bolongo (all-you-can-eat, peel your own shrimp for $21.95). On the walk back to our room we stopped at Iggies for drinks and karaoke--a couple of the singers were okay but most were like the first week of American Idol.
Friday: On the beach at Bolongo until early afternoon, then took a taxi to Red Hook to catch the passenger ferry to St. John, since parking is very limited while construction is under way. We had dinner at Morgan’s Mango there, but it wasn’t as good as we remembered.
Saturday: Said goodbye to Bolongo and stopped in town for some more shopping and drinks again at Palm Passage. Got to the airport the recommended three hours prior to departure only to find out our flight had been cancelled because of a mechanical problem with the plane. There aren’t a lot of extra 737’s sitting around in St. Thomas, so they put us up at the Holiday Inn Windward Passage for the night and booked us on three flights the next day. (The meal vouchers USAir gave us for dinner and breakfast for two totaled $30!) The Holiday Inn was great because we were able to walk to the Greenhouse for dinner and then to Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Church for mass at 6:00. Saturday was prime rib night at the Greenhouse and it was far better than Morgan’s Mango the night before; the 2 for 1 drinks were pretty nice too! I’d love to have a restaurant like that where I live in Southern Maryland.
Sunday: Four airports in one day: St. Thomas, San Juan, Charlotte, and Washington National. At Charlotte the pilot on our incoming plane got sick so they had to locate another one. The USAir attendant at the podium made a very unprofessional announcement that they had identified a pilot and “he’s somewhere here in the airport but we just don’t have any idea where; he could be anywhere.” Which of course led to speculation among us that he was in an airport bar. Why didn’t they have his cell phone number? I told them “I’m not a pilot, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night.” They finally found a pilot and we just beat the curfew for flights into National, and only one of my bottles of rum was broken!
A few observations: Bolongo, located about halfway between town and Red Hook, is a great place to stay with a lot going on and many water activities. Some negatives: I never did figure out the shower and water pressure is very low; those tiny ants that you see all over the island are annoying; and the power went out three times.
The Holiday Inn is a little more civilized: the shower water pressure is very strong and we didn’t see any ants in our room; they have a free shuttle to Magens Bay every day, the ferry to Red Hook and elsewhere stops right out front, and it’s within walking distance of about everything in town.
One of the quaint things about St. Thomas was always its lack of any road signs. I’ve always said that once I could find my way around the island I wouldn’t travel there anymore. They finally have some road signs, but fortunately I still get lost! Many years ago I asked a local directions from town to Magens Bay: He said “first you go up de hill, den you go down de hill,” which of course is true but easier said than done. It helps to know you turn north out of town on Hospital Gade.
I used to love the Caribbean music all over the radio dial, especially the station from Roadtown, Tortola. Now all you can get is rap and hip-hop, even on the music system at Magens Bay.
Oceana has great food and a beautiful view at a reasonable price. The Greenhouse is always reliable, for good food and 2-for-1 drinks. We wanted to eat at Room With a View at Bluebeard’s, but it is closed until Sept. 4. The same is true for a new Spanish restaurant in Palm Passage. Shipwreck Landing is good if you get to Coral Bay on St. John. And Iggies has decent food and usually a lot going on.
It was a great trip and Maureen and I are ready to go back--but Bolongo or Holiday Inn?!