ok so FINALLY i am writing a little shortened version of the trip...who had time????? lol
since coming home we have done nothing but plan the next trip!

we were there with four other friends plus my mom who ALL were there the first time and love it of course
hotel was great on st thomas as always and my friend stayed at elysian by herself and loved that also
we had as always a budget rental car mini van......

spent friday at miracle on main street ALL DAY....went shopping in the late afternoon in town tons of sales and what fun having everything OPEN til night! and loved all the crafts etc....and went to AMALIA CAFE in palm passage around 6 and stayed there through the boat parade we took turns seeing the gorgeous christmas lighted boats parading on the waterfront and everyone on the boats and docks singing christmas carols
with the sound of the steel drums all over town it was amazing...
little children all in costumes etc...
and at the street marke we wound up by the bandstand and got crafts etc...til we were finally exhausted and hailed a taxi to take us back to east end! this is the second year in a row we did the festival and i highly recommend it! just beautiful! what a way to bring yourself into the xmas season....

next day:
we did one full day on st john enjoying trunk bay it was one of those rare days in december VERY WINDY AND ALMOST A HINT OF A CHILL! but we got there early got chairs for the beach for mom (she is 80) and it was great and as luck would have it when 10 am rolled around there was no parade of people from cruise ships! maybe they knew it was windy so we had the whole morning to ourselves on the beach and the water was great even with the wind...
then did the mountaintop drive to bordeaux ....my opinion skip it not worth the trek! really! just my opinion

then we did THE INCREDIBLE CANEEL LUNCH BUFFET do NOT miss it! wow ...we spent the rest of the day walking around caneel and enjoying the beaches

another day we spent at the st john parade that was fun we left the car at the hotel since the parade was at night
not as elaborate as st thomas but nice to see....
no crafts etc...so if you are going for that it is not for you

rest of the week we enjoyed HAVANA BLUE great ..expensive but worth a night out
and of course blue moon at secret harbour....

i TOLD you this was a short one...
i will post some pix let me find the link
here it is
SOME IDEA OF WHAT THE BOAT PARADE IS LIKE ALSO AND WATER WITH WIND ON ST JOHN AND ALSO HAVANA BLUE ....

http://share.dell.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AZOGzJy3aM1FjM

even with the short days it was really quite a lovely way to work ourselves into the holiday spirit ...
came home and enjoyed christmas with the family...