OK...here we go. Just got back last night from my first trip to St John. Overall, I'm going to give the trip a ranking of 7 out of 10. Now, before you get to thinking that score is low, I am a realist when it comes to "rankings". 5 would have been average. 10 would have been nirvana and probably would have involved me and famous celebrities chicks in compromising situations...Penthouse Forum kind of stuff. So, you might guess that a 10 might not ever happen!

Let's start with the crew...I went with four couples. Three of the couples arrived out of Atlanta on Thursday. The fourth came in on Friday. I think explaining the make up of my party would go a long way to explaining some of the choices we made on where we went and what we did. First, the couple that planned the trip a couple of months ago found out last month that they were pregnant. So, any boozing and partying for them was pretty much out. One of other two couples were not really drinkers either. The girl was a recovering addict (and a quite beautiful adult dancer)...so it was quite understandable. The fourth couple were moderate drinkers. I got the feeling that he would have drank quite a bit more had she let the reins out. SO, we had a fun group. But, it turns out that the nightlife was going to be a little more reined in than originally planned. Oh, I forgot to mention that I was not with my girlfriend...she couldn't get off the vacation time off. So, I was with a incredibly beautiful friend of mine who has the flexibility to travel. And, yes, the current girlfriend knew about it and I was a good boy!

The flight down was pretty routine. I was introduced to the mango fresca and vodka cocktail (with a splash of OJ). I think I had four or five by the time we touched down in St Thomas. The first class seats were definitely the way to go. This was more evident on the way back. But, that is a story for later. So, we hop off the plane and are quickly introduced to the hell that is the baggage claim in STT. NO AC and one of the two belts had been disassembled (I'm assuming to be worked on but it might have just collapsed because of the heat). It took me about 20 minutes to sweat out the nice little buzz I had picked up from the aforementioned vodka concoctions. I think it took about 50 minutes for us to finally get all of the luggage together. I really think that next time I can do the carry on thing. But, for a first time trip, I think I packed good (and wore everything). But, with the snorkeling stuff and the books...it wasn't fitting in the carrier on luggage this time.

Well, next up is the taxi to the ferry. We were obviously not going to make our intended ferry across the STJ due to the delay with the luggage. But, little did we know we wouldn't have made it anyway. Our group of six crammed on the nearest van with 4 other folks (WAYYYYYYY to overcrowded) and headed off. After a minute, the driver says he is going to take a shortcut up through the hills. I had no problem with this since I really don't get motion sickness. But, I think the driver confused the gas and brake pedals for bass drum pedals the way he was stomping on them. In no time at all, our newly pregnant travel companion was turning green. Our driver's method of helping here was to 1) drive faster and 2) stomp even harder on the gas and break pedals! Needless to say, the other four passengers that were crammed into our van were petrified when we insisted he pull over for some "stomach relief". One sick passenger quickly turned to two (I guess it is kind of like yawning when someone else does) and we quickly had another ill feeling taxi customer. We finally made it to Red Hook (A few lbs lighter for two of the girls) and were relieved to get out of that van.

Ferry ride was pretty uneventful besides the fact that we almost missed it. My date and I were happily enjoying some ice cold Coors Lites while the rest of the party were replenishing the fluids they lost on the van ride. Somehow, we thought the ferry's left on the hour. But, one was leaving at 3:30 and we had to be kindly asked to step on board or we would be left behind. We thought it was a ferry to other parts....

The actual ferry ride over was filled with conversations of nausea and pregnancy...to things that I try to avoid at all costs. SO, I kind of zoned out with my Ipod. I wished they served beer on the ferry ride!

We arrived at the Cruz Bay dock and were met by our villa dude. We rented a couple of cars and headed out without any issues. The drive up tot he villa was interesting...kind of hard to get used tot he cars coming around the corners on the "wrong" side of the road. But, I was a pro at driving by the time I left....

We arrived at our villa in about 20 minutes. And, it was impressive. At least, it was way over this simple guys head. We were in Mermaid Falls in Upper Peter Bay. Awesome views, central AC in the entire house, fully sticked with groceries, nice spacious bedrooms, clean....can't say enough good things. The only bad thing that was pointed out by the girls was that the pool was not directly accessible to the view. But, that just isn't a big enough deal to this guy. I'm not complaining about a freaking 10 foot walk! My only complaint was that the people that stocked the groceries didn't stock the bar. So, we were all at home in our "dry" villa. My date and I's first goal was to get some booze!!!

Everybody unpacked while a couple of the folks went back into town for a few extra things we needed. Luckily, I was able to talk them into grabbing some beers. We would fully stock up the next day when I had time to do some proper shopping. We ended day one with some gourmet ham sandwiches and Doritos. But, with the cold beer to compliment the light texture of the ham...it was just fine by me. The crew hung around the pool until the bugs drove us in and the bed started to call...