came back to atlanta ga area last nite from stj - from paradise to black ice on roads. what a bummer. long report as i finish a bottle of cabernet and ponder the beauty of the vi. i'm a retired lawyer so must do full disclosure for liabilty purposes, so if you get bored, stop reading. if you want to share the love of the islands though the humble words of a 61 yr old fart married to same bride of 40 years, read on. be warned a lot of background before you get to present. I don't expect my thoughts to provide anything new to island devotees but maybe of interest to newcomers and shortimers.

my first trip to stj was in april 1981. bride & i had crewed charter on 51 ft ketch out of stt ("moonraven") for the two of us and 2 daughters ages 12 and 10. sail boat was based at ca at sheraton (long gone) and it picked us up at what was then the "holiday inn resort" frenchmen's reef. sailed the islands including anchoring at night at honeymoon, caneel, peter island, virgin gorda and others i don't remember. i do remember like yesterday the gin clear water, the secluded beaches, lush vegetation on the islands along sir francis drake sound, clearing customs at a place at west end tortolla that looked a little like the ruins now on whistler cay, and of course the baths. yes, ga country came to the virgin islands and fell in love.

then came private school tuition for daughters, college for them (where else but at mom and dad's alma mater, UGA) and weddings, thought the outflow of money would never end; but it did! baby daughter didn't like teaching so went to work for an airline that started paying dividends to mama and papabou, flt passes to all these great places. one destination was daily nonstop atlanta to stt that everso often has available seats. sooo, my bride (we're both getting long in tooth by now, but she's still my bride) tried a quicky (as in short trip) to stt. stayed a few nights at bolongo bay, cab to and fro airport, never left place otherwise. in september 02, weather was fantastic, some days we were only ones having lunch at iggies, brought back cheap booze and cigs (for the bride), and just had a hella good time. on way home from stt decided to come back soon and go to st john.

well, aging parents, granddaughters and other obligations delayed the return until fall 2004. we knew from talking to friends that had been and looking at all pretty pictures around, including 1980's sailing trip, next trip would be to stjohn. started looking for places and expenses and normal weather. based on web info i realized it was a lot cheaper to go between mid april to mid december but the weather could be very warm for old farts in summer and often wet (as in rainy) in late spring and fall. what's a poor guy and his bride to do? you go when there are plane seats, last minute villa discounts and a weather forecasts that shows no tropical storms in vi area.

first trip early october 2004. i'm retired, my bride's a kept woman,baby daughter who is basis of airline passes is off, and weather looks great so we head off back to islands for week on tuesday after christopher columbus holiday (a omen maybe). had spend the entire weekend going crazy over where to stay, but knew wanted own villa and hoped to get a nice place with views and pool for under 2 grand, couldn't believe selection available.

must digress a moment on some of family percularites (sp) that resulted in (a) decision to try a villa with west view and (b) resulted in our both loving stj as we do our other girls. i'm an early riser and thougth maybe east view of sunrise over coral bay would be cat's meow. unfortunately, the bride's a late reader and sleeper, doesn't know sun rises, thinks day starts late morning. thus beautiful sunrise wasted on her. also her change in life in addition to hot flashes, was her development of an aversion of riding (& almost refusal to drive). we both love sunsets and full moons over water, lights glowing in the distance and the surf. the bride developed a love of sitting on the beach and reading all day long in st augustine fl while i preferred to be more of a water man, swimming, snorkeling and scuba for 15 years until 2001. the only time the bride's hair gets wet is when she gets caught in a rain shower or washes hair in bathshower. simular but different?

oct 2004 trip at villa sundance with her views of hart bay, sunsets and stt that we didn't appreciate until after baby girl left. then the two of us decided to dine on our deck and watch sunset. oh what a wise decision. there is nothing to compare to an evening with the one you love dining outside on a deck looking at the lights of stt after seeing a magnificant sunset to the west and watching the stars shine brightly overhead as the moon rises in the east. makes you feel young again! only in paradise can you go to a different beautiful beach for 6 straight days where your bride can burn, smoke and read and i can have long snorkels with views of colorful coral and sealife then have the shade of the palms,seagrapes and other vegetation close enough to the bride that we can talk in wispers. the sail boats and ferries slowing slipping by in the distance the occasional hushed voices of the others on the beach who are also too awestruck to talk loudly. you are constantly asking, is this real?

after that trip we were trapped in a dream you know must temporarily end but can begin again when you step off barge or ferry in cruz bay. a dream for me that was repeated with the bride at various west side villas in dec 04, april 05 with another couple, and oct 05 with older girl, her hubby and our granddaughters high up on gifft hill at cloud nine villa. while each trip was fantastic, oct trip brougth forth the rains that were always in forecaste but had never arrived before. still wonderful.

on the first four trips my loyally to my kept bride who needed to always see me in the shade nearby or my red ringed snorkle in the distance, precluded my fulfilling the desire to go the remote locations for further exploration. thus the condemned man was stuck with day after day at either hawksnest, trunk, jumbie, gibney, cinnamon, maho or fancis bays and no driving on a road that didn't have a painted centerline. trapped in paradise.

then, on sat 12/10 my bride allows me to return to the place constantly on my mind with a long time friend who also loves water activity and exploring but who has never been to stj. 5 nights of leave with a comittment to be home my evening of 12/15.

trip 5 was return trip to cloud nine and would have been super bowl but for missing my bride and sharing the joy of our 4 trips together,yet i loved every minute of the (A) jeep tours all over the island the bride couldn't tolerate, (b) the day trip with 10 other people on pirate's penny to virgin gorda, cooper island, the indians and touring the northern shores of stj and tortolla, (c) the long walk to waterlemon (had thought was watermellon) cay and a long slow snorkel of the crystal clear waters where you see unbelievable acquatic life, and (d) a dinghy snorkle trip to practically every mooring in entire coral bay area that looked interesting for snorkeling.

stj is a small island with so many things to see and do i feel that in the 5 trips i've made i've only begun to scratch the surface. i look at the comments of others and look at lists of restuarants, places and things and say maybe i'll try that next time time. the worst of stj is still wonderful but like mankind she has warts and the occasional eyesore, rude person or "island time" service. to enjoy you need to just relax and know that your request will eventually be answered. best sign explaining it all is at skinny legs (bar/restuarant in coral bay) that states at end of menu "same day service" and they usually delivery on their commitment.

for those who have stuck this out now a few direct recommendations and thoughts.
1. GETTING TO STJ AND TRANSPORTATION. I have rented at airport at stt and used barge from/to redhook five times without a glitch but had few anxious moments on getting on barge for return when waited till noonish to go back for mid afternoon flt home. answer, leave early, take upper road by overlook and mountaintop, back to airport area and have preflt meal at best western emerald beach (lindbergh bay) great views, fair food, and usually same day service. while aiport jeeps aren't much less than on stj, compact is adequate for 2 people and full size works for 4 and you save hundreds in renatls and barge is cheaper than taxi fares and passenger ferry. plus have care for stt tour. if renting for a week can probably rent jeep on stj for day or 2 with savings. had good service from both avis and budget and both allow cars to go to stj, HERTZ DOES NOT! if real adventuresome, less than5 in group than renting jeep on stjohn on't cost any more than jeep at airport and passenger ferry is good trip.
2. VILLA, RESORT, CONDO,OR OTHER ACCOMMODATIONS: I have not stayed at either caneel bay or westin at great cruz, i'm sure they are nice and expensive ( did look at some pricing once and decided i could double up on number of trips by renting a villa). choosing accommodations same for stj as any beach area (fl, gulf, atlantic), if you expect room service (from other than spouse), and want most meals in a restuarant, go resort. if you want room to roam, privacy and will have a car/jeep, go with a villa.
3. WHERE TO STAY ON THE ISLAND. Choices are limited with resorts and condos but problem with deciding where with villa is too many choices. remember, some villas, views, and amenties are better than others and if book rates are lower than other comparable places or there are lots of open dates, there's probably a reason. BUT DO RENT FROM REPUTABLE AGENCY WITH STJ STAFF FOR SERVICE. if you're renting from an owner who's in nyny, and pool skimmer goes on blink, refrig or ac quits, who you gona call, Ghostbusters?
4.WHERE DO I EAT? there are plenty of good places, none are cheap but many are fairly priced for the cost of doing business on the islands. as previously indicated haven't dined out a lot but the places we have dined more than once or would go again include, 10 tables, morgan's mango, lime inn, fish trap, ship wreck at coral bay, and the bistro next to crabbie's in coral bay.
5. BEST BEACHES. there are no bad ones, pick your beach based on what you want to do, what amenties you feel you need and how far you want to drive. distance to the beach is not a negative if you take the time to enjoy the views during the drive. if possible shade is desired, all north shore beaches offer some shade except mid may till late july when there will be some shade on southern shore beaches. most web sites re vi have beach and snorkeling info. While most beaches offer some snorkeling, not all snorkeling areas offer sandy beaches. my favorite combo beaches are hawksnest, jumbie, and maho and favorite snorkeling was at waterlemon and indians (man i wish i could do a 2 tank dive at indians, you'd give out of air before you reached max bottom time).

WHAT NOT TO DO: BE DISCOURTEOUS OR DISRESPECTFUL TO LOCAL RESIDENTS OR DO ANYTHING STUPID OR WOULDN'T DO IN ANY PLACE YOU'RE NOT COMPLETELY FAMILAR WITH. it is their island.

i've enjoyed the board the last few months and hope my rambling helps someone even if putting them to sleep.

peace,

papabou