Sorry it's going to be a long one, I have 8 days to cover here.
So, I arrived on Tuesday the 14th, around 11:45, a little late due to bad weather in the ocean, we had to travel the US coast and then head out east around Florida. Picked up the rental car from Budget and headed to the Marriott Frenchman's Reef. We got there and received an upgrade to the Morning Star. Hung out by the hotel pools and the beach there. Had lunch up at the Sunset Grill there. Cleaned up and had a drink at the Rumbar in the hotel lobby. I stopped at K-Mart on the way to dinner to pick up a few supplies, water, gatorade, chips, etc to have in the room. I didn't realize that Mandela Circle would still be all constructioned up and only 1 way. It ties up the traffic pretty good, but what can you do. We went to dinner at Hook, Line & Sinker in Frenchtown. The food was good, we sat at the bar for dinner and drinks.
Wednesday morning we got up and made our way to Magen's Bay. Got there around 8:45, and found out that the kitchen doesn't open until 9:30am. No worries though, just walked the beach until it opened for breakfast. Food is expensive, but it is good. Had a pizza for lunch over there also, $20 for a pie. Headed back to the hotel and cleaned up. We went to Iggy's for dinner and drinks and found out that the buffet that night was food that I don't eat and I wasn't going to pay $30 to eat only some Mac&Cheese! So instead we went down to Betsy's back in Frenchtown. The bar is nice, different atmosphere than the old betsy's. The food was very good. We sat at the bar again for dinner and drinks. Mike was the bartender and Betsy runs around and keeps herself busy. They knew our friend that died, so Betsy bought a round of shots for us all to do in his honor.
Thursday we went to Emerald beach by the airport. I had a problem with the trunk on the car, it wouldn't close. I brought it back to the airport hoping they would fix it quick, but I guess nothing is quick on the island. They had me switch cars, so that took a few minutes. If I had a wrench and a screwdriver, probably would have it fixed in like 5 minutes. Had breakfast at the Best Western there. Buffet all you can eat, it was ok for about $15/each. We spent the day there, cleaned up at the hotel and headed back out to Tickles. Had some snacks and drinks over there. Christin tended for us in the afternoon. We also were able to meet our friend that died's close friend from STT, Lindy. She bartends there also, so we spent some time talking to her. Left there and went to Portabella's at the Best Western Emerald Beach. The food was not as good as I've had there, hopefully it was just an off night.
Friday turned out to be a busy day. Drove out to Coki first thing in the morning. Hung out there for a bit, did some snorkeling. Then went to Smith Bay to check that out. I think it was like $2/person to get in. We walked around on the beach, took a dip and then headed out. Moved down to Sapphire and had a snack there. We didn't really do too much beach there, I don't think I even made it in the water. Stopped at Molly Malone's in Red Hook for some lunch at the bar. Since it was Good Friday, there were no drinks until 4PM which kind of sucked. After lunch, we went to Secret Harbor. It might be my new favorite place on the island. They have a little of everything there. Nice, calm water, nice sand, the floating dock to swim out to, and a lot of snorkeling. It is a little rough getting into the water, it can be a bit rocky, but it is worth it. Made my way back to the hotel around 2pm and cleaned up. Took the car downtown and was lucky enough to find a parking spot. A lot of stores were closed for the day or closed early due to the holiday. We went back to Tickles for a drink and saw Lindy again. After Tickles, we went to Fajita's at the Best Western Carib by the airport for some drinks and appetizers. Headed back to the hotel and finished the night at Coco Joe's at Morning Star with some snacks and a drink.
I liked Secret Harbor so much that we went back on Saturday. We had breakfast at the Blue Moon Cafe there at the resort, good food and reasonably priced. Did a 1/2 day there and then decided to go downtown to do the shopping since it was closed on Friday. We bought our take home liqour at Caribana. Dinner back at Betsy's in frenchtown. Amy was the bartender, we had dinner at the bar with her.
Easter Sunday we took the 9am car ferry to STJ. Finally found a parking spot downtown and had breakfast at the deli in Mongoose Junction, can't remember the name of it. We drove out to Francis bay, spent some time walking and snorkeling. Headed back and stopped at Cinnamon bay. Walked the beach there and hung out in the water. It is a little rough there, not sure if that's the case always or not. Next stop was Trunk bay. Had some lunch there and spent a few hours walking, snorkeling, and relaxing in the water. It's nice there to have the showers to clean up in. On the way back in, we stopped at Caneel bay for a drink. Caught the 5:30 ferry back to STT, stopped at Molly Malones for a drink and then had room service delivered back at the hotel.
Monday we went back to Magen's bay and had breakfast there. The weather was nice there, we watched all the clouds and rain on the south side of the island until about 12:30, then it started to rain there too. We decided to call it a day and head back to clean up. Went to Tickle's one last time, then took a drive around the West End of the island. Headed in to Mafolie for some drinks, appetizers, and some night pictures of the island. Back at the hotel, we went to the Rumbar and finished off the night with some food and drinks and some more night pictures of the island.
Tuesday morning had the breakfast buffet in Marriott Frenchman's Reef, got everything packed and headed to the airport at 10:00. Our 12:05 flight left a few minutes late and we paid for it on the other end. Instead of landing 30 minutes early, we ran into bad weather in NY and ended up landing at 5:30pm instead of 3:45pm. The pilot said if we had to circle again, we would have had to go to Boston because of fuel issues. JFK closed up just before we got there, had we left on time we would have made it in. Baggage issues are horrible at JFK. It took an hour to get the bags and I think they break liquor boxes on purpose. Luckily mine wasn't one of them but I saw plenty that were.
Other than the flight and baggage issues, we had a wonderful time and I'm ready to book my trip back. The drinks were good, obviously you can tell from my report. If you go into the "Local Bars" ask to roll the dice if they have it. $1 gets you 2 rolls. If you get 5 of a kind, you win the pot, some were almost $2000!!! You just give 10% to the bartenders and buy a round for the patrons at the bar. 4 of a kind gets you a free drink, which is nice too.
Well, if I think of anything else, I will update, but I hope you all enjoy my long report.