We have alot of friends that really love their cruises because they get to see different islands and just being on the ship is great. My question is have any of you done cruises and would you still say that staying at STJ is the better choice and why? I'm curious about trying one, but Mike would love to see that you all hate cruises so he can enjoy his STJ vacation. 🙂 We are looking forward to what you have to say. STJ has been the only caribbean island we've been to.

Actually, just got back. (12/2-12/17). We prefer to go in feb. , but wanted to spend two weeks this time, so we picked off- seaon for it's rates. This was our second time at STJ . Our last nite we ate at Sweet Plaintains. If we had known how good it was, we would have had another meal there. The owner and his wife were very nice and boy, can she cook!!!!! We loved the indian curry with shrimp. We got the spicy one.(first one on the menu- the second curry is a sweeter kind)) We found out that you can order it spicier if you'd like. They used to automatically spice it up, but it was a little too much for some. It was declicious. Enjoyed our conch fritters and garlic chicken at Vie's. What a beautiful lady!! We had the jazz sunday brunch at Miss Lucy's. Sitting by her beach listening to good music was a really fun way to start off the day and the food was great too. We ate at shipwreck landing, island blues, Aqua Bistro all very good. We had smoothies at the centerline rd stand, twice. He was real nice to talk to and made wonderful smoothies. Met his son named Rain, cute kid. We tried the pina colada and the lime n' coconut. Of course, you have to have the shot of dark rum in there. One time it was 11am, when we stopped. You know you're on vacation when you're having a rum drink in the morning. That would never go over too big in NJ! :).

My favorite places to snorkle were Salt Pond Bay and Trunk Bay. I just love Trunk for it's beauty, a great beach to hang out all day at. The water never ceases to amaze me, that it can be so clear and look just like a giant pool. It rained a little while we were there, so we just went in the water. When you snorkle you get wet anyways, right? I happened to strike up a conversation with the lifeguard, Alberto. He was a great guy and had lots of helpful information about the snorking trail and island. I asked him if he ever gets used to the sheer beauty of everything . and he says, "No, I just give praise to Jehovah God for creating such beauty." I thought that was a really great way to look at things. Salt Pond was very clear and you can see so many fish. The Ram's Head trail was incredible. The trail had some beautiful scenery all the way up so you hardly noticed the walk. The view at the top was amazing. My husband liked Maho Bay, cos they had these 4 ft tarpin swimming all around trying to get the swarms of small fry or some kind of little fish. It was too freaky for me to have all these swarms of little fish all around you. It was so thick you couldn't even tell where you were going. The pelicans loved it too. They would just swoop down next to you while you were snorkling and you'd hear this big splash. You could actually see them in the water!!

We went to visit Sloop Jones and watched him work on some projects in his workshop. It was fascinating to see his talent. Of course, I had to buy something, how could anyone resist?? Actually, my sweet husband kept telling me to buy something. So I found a tee shirt and they didn't have any skirts to match so Terry (aka. sloop jones) made one for me the next day. Now that's what I call service! His wife, Barbara, was fun to talk with too. They told us to keep on driving up the road past his house. ( There is a new sign there, that says Private, No Trespassing) and go as far as Privateer Beach. the views were great and we are glad we did that.

One night we discovered Inner Visions was playing at Sputniks, they are a great reggae band, we actually missed half their show, so listened to them outside by our car. It was great, even tho' we got there late and we're kind of too tired to stay a long time. Does anyone know if there is a cover charge to see them and how much it is.? And now the dicision is, which of their C.D.'s to get?? They have at least three out now. Am I asking too many questions? oops.

We stayed at the Sago. www. calabashcottages. Susan Brierley was great and called us twice to see how things were. She provides snorkle equipment and we discovered that one of the masks leaked so she told us to go to Crabbies and buy a new one and she reimbursed us that same day. The place was very clean and had great views of Hurricane Hole. Could also see Norman and Peter islands to your right. The hot tub was clean, no worries there. The outdoor shower was really fun, except at night. I was always afraid I was going to step on a frangi pangi. No, I never actually saw one, this time. I did see a huge hermit crab there though! Mike had to pick it up and play with it awhile. It rained a lot while we were there, but watching the rain storms move in was such a sight to see!!! you could literally see the sheets of rain going right thu the Sir Francis Drake channel.

Road Town, Tortola was like a night light shining in the dark. From our porch we saw two double rainbows at different times. I got great pictures of everything, I should try to post them somehow. We saw Susan's other villas. the Astral Ridge and Astral Cottage. They were both exactly like the internet showed. Very nice and great views. They are located on the same road up the hill that Sago is on.

A direct flight was THE way to go for us this time. So much easier than those awful layovers. It made the trip less stressful and even the Taxi Drivers were all very pleasant. okay that's it. Don't forget to answer my questions. We love this message board. I've been reading the posts for two yrs now, and this is my first time writing.