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Landed in Miami last night for a couple more relaxing days until I had back to the hustle and bustle of the working world in the Midwest ( the temps back home are in the 70's and way above normal so that will be nice ). On phone so do not feel like typing much, but so excited about my visit I had to mention a couple of things. First, three viewpoints were on my list on STT. The St Peter Greathouse, Mountain Top, and the skyride. No offense to any of them, these are just my thoughts at the time. The Greathouse does have the $8 per person charge, but you are allowed one drink of water/rum punch and its not difficult to take two or three if you are thirsty 😉 The views are unreal, but you must make sure you check out the entire complex as I noticed a lot of visitors not walking up the observation deck to see Magens Bay. On a side note, if I misspelled MAGENS in the past or do in the future, PLEASE do not be the grammar police and blame the auto correct feature on these stupid smart phones, THANK YOU. FYI on getting here is that if you are going east you most likely will miss the sign. Not sure why but most of the signs are only visible going one direction. Next it was Mountain Top. Cool little store, great drinks, kind of fun, but the problem was the view was actually too high up. Everyone in my party thought the same thing and that the Greathouse height was just about perfect. On our driving around the island we hit a couple of view point seeing the cruise ships, so by the time we got around to Paradise Point we did not feel it was worth the time and effort and expense. Again, it could be great up there and we could have just been getting tired, but no one had the desire to go up there after what we already saw.
STX - Going backwards and making this quick. First took the seaplane over, AWESOME! For some reason after seeing smith bay I was thinking the water on stx would not be comparable....... I was wrong! Beautiful clear water! On Sunday we drove over to sandcastle on the beach for Sunday brunch. Great food, great views! Nice looking hotel too. I say that because we were staying at hotel on the cay. Yes, it is getting old, but here is all I have to say after standing on the beach at sandcastles and carambola. Those two places have very pretty views with clear water........ However, there was nothing quite like standing at the beach on Protestent Cay and seeing the same clear water PLUS THE MOUNTAINS AS A BACKDROP! BREATHE TAKING!
I will have more later if anyone wants to hear me rammble on more, lol, but I loved both islands and was already planning a trip back on my departing flight. Food is wonderful! Loved Emerald Beach for dinner on STT and Rum Runners and Savant on STX. Just too much to list! Oh, and the people! Wow, I know the Midwest is thought of as "friendly", it does not even come close to how friendly the USVI people are! Oh, I can't stop writing, lol, and we always felt extremely safe, except one time, but nothing major. It was when we missed the turn off into Sandy Pointe and kept on going passed it. No big deal though as it was like 10 am. Please go see that beach too! Awesome!
Ok, I'm out for sure now and WILL be back, hopefully very soon!
Oh and I thought of another quick and funny FYI. If you are a first time visitor and no matter how much you think positive and smile about this and no matter where you may have driven before on the mainland, when you first drive on STT there will be some bickering/maybe yelling of all passengers against the driver, lol. It is extremely nerve racking for all no matter how hard you try to smile and no matter where you have driven before. Just laugh it off after the driving is done for the day 🙂
CUSTOMS - 2 of us did not have passports. I just handed the agent my drivers licence and got sent through right away and the other handed drivers licence and BC and got sent through right away. Yes, I did have my BC with me but I wanted to see what would happen with just the FL, and it worked. It was not busy at the time, not sure if that matters or not, plus I tried to look like a tourist, lol.
Yet another update. Sitting here eating breakfast outside in Miami just like I did everyday on STT and STX, however in Miami there are all these little gnats and bugs and flies around me. My entire time on the islands in the morning, afternoon and evening I got bit or even saw anything a total of ZERO times. At least as of now there are a ton more bugs that bite in south Florida.
Thanks so much for posting back. Sounds like all your planning made for a very special trip. Out of curiosity, did your ever make it to the remote "west beaches" on STT?
So glad you had a great trip, and that you had a chance to see STT and STX. I love taking the seaplane between the islands. It makes me feel like such a privileged adventurer, because the gorgeous views are just incredible. Thanks for posting your impressions.
What would you like to do on your next trip to the VI?
To Blu: first time every driving there. Got the car in the morning after an overnight stay and drove towards Brewers. We got to where I think the entrance was, it was a very fancy gate, but at this point we were all scared, nervous, angry, and screaming at our friend a little longer, so we drove past it, eventually turned around after driving another mile maybe, shaking we were so scared, so no, lol, we never actually made the stop at any of the west end. We were all just so shaken up it was crazy, but we are all laughing about it now. I think next year or possibly November and next year we will make another attempt now that we know what to expect with the STT roads. It's not bad, just different and scary at first, lol.
Ms: when, not if I do it again I will probably just stay on STT for 6 days to a month or however long I can afford, or just STX. I would not do the trip on both again. I could easily lime on STX and do many things I missed, then could also do STT and check out the shopping more and of course visit STJ. If you ate limited to 9 total travel days from the Midwest and want to end in Miami for a trip to explore the Everglades, you are really stretching yourself with enjoyment time. Oh well, I'm broke now, lol, but WELL WORTH IT to see the USVI! Since I learned my lesson my next plan would be a direct to STX and just stay there for a week or two, month if possible, in November or December, then next March go to STT for 6 to 10 days with a stop in STJ.
OH, OH! And as I continue to think of things I will post here! The weather for last week was basically 81 on STX and 82 on STT, with 60%, yes, 60% showing everyday and that "horrible" wind storm when I was landing, well, we landed easy, the wind warning breeze felt great, and guess what else? It ended up being 85 every day with only 2 down pours for 5 minutes on both islands! Unreal weather!
Thanks for reporting back looking forward to our trip only 3 weeks!! Did u like paradise point?
Did you get o the Mt. Peilier Domino Club toy feed the pigs? If you did I hope you tried Norma's Mamajuwana.
Yes, bassman! Got to the pigs! And I tried the small shot sample of that mamawhatchamacallit drink. When they pulled that bottle out I thought it looked kind of nasty, lol, but that honey flavor with whatever spice or something was awesome! Got 4 cans of beer, one for each pig, and paid for the video shooting, so when I get back home and settle in I should have quite a few 1080p videos to share instead of all my forum typing. So many great things I'm probably forgetting to mention but I have to say St Croix Watersports on the Cay is GREAT!
