A large part of the trip report did not post so I'm doing it over.

Hubby made drinks in the condo and we went out on the balcony to enjoy the view and a nice warm breeze. We changed into our swimsuits and started walking to find the beach. Julianna didn't have time to show us where it was. We of course walked the wrong way down a road with no sidewalks or shoulder until some friendly girls pointed us to the Ritz Carlton's beach. At the end of the drive to the property you need to go right up the road to the top of the hill. There is a clearing on the left side which goes to the beach by the Ritz Carlton Club. It was after 5pm already so all the chairs were empty and their servers were done for the day. We layed in the only sun we could find for about an hour. We walked the beach on both sides the Club side and where the Ritz Hotel is. There were lots of families with children which I expected since this is Easter week. A very plush resort.

Dinner that night was at Havana Blue at the Marriott Morningstar. Keith was a very friendly bartender who made us our key lime martinis. I followed his suggestions for dinner and ordered the best caesar salad with spicy scallops along with the duck made medium rare. Hubby had the pork. Just so you know, for my husband food is food. He will say it is fine (which means he liked it), okay, or terrible. I had a raspberry mojito with dinner and enjoyed the view and the sounds of the ocean. The water wall by the entrance was unique and I did like the mirror that made you look skinny on the way to the bathroom. The room had a blue hue and was very contemporary. We walked along the beach after dinner and found two beach chairs. We gazed up at the stars and enjoyed the quiet.
Hubby didn't feel like driving to town in the dark on a road he had never been on before so we skipped The Greenhouse, which was supposed to have 80's music and went to Duffy's Love Shack instead. The music was too loud and for a younger crowd inside so we sat at a table in the parking lot and people watched. I had a pina colada and hubby had a beer. We finished our drinks and went back to the condo. We fell asleep listening to the ocean waves.

4/9/06 Day Sail with Captain Pat on Ike Witt

Captain Pat called us at 9:15am and said there was still parking available at the American Yacht Harbor. We parked behind Molly Malones and Captain Pat went into the office to pay for our parking for the day. He picked us up in his dingy. On the motor it read "Dim Witt" on one side and "Half Witt" on the other. I enjoyed Captain Pat's sense of humor. We were joined by some friends of his, a beautiful young woman named Jackaline who is the daughter of the owner of Klements sausage and her boyfriend who is a carpenter named Mike. It was ironic that Jackaline was connected to Klement's sausage because we had brought Captain Pat a homemade sausage from my Dad's uncles butcher shop in Wisconsin. Everyone on the boat that day was from Wisconsin. We were fed a fresh fruit tray and then Captain Pat sailed us out to Hawksnest Bay where there are three beaches. He called one of the them Stacey's beach (The real name is "Two Butt Beach") because he got married to his wife Stacey on that beach. The other beaches are Gibney beach and Hawksnest. He told us a story about the guy that Gibney beach is named after. Captain Pat told us a lot of stories. Some I think were tales that he made up. Captain Pat swam out to Stacey's beach with us and gave us a little snorkel lesson. He pointed out that we should not get too close to "his coral" so we don't destroy it. He then swam with me and my husband around the east end of the bay pointing out fish and coral naming them off. He could go in front of a piece of coral and call out "his fish friends" by tapping on his mask and snapping his fingers. The fish came out of hiding to say hello. After the snorkel we were served a lunch of chicken caesar salad and bread. There were some remoras hanging out by the boat. They have some of the strangest looking heads, looks like a washboard, of any fish I have ever seen. We heard some kids yelling and looked up to see a dolphin swimming in the bay. We watched him for about 5 minutes until some teenagers jumped in to swim with him. He was gone. Captain Pat said it was not a bottlenose. We then sailed to Scott Beach in front of Caneel Bay. Captain Pat took us to the Caneel dock where we dropped off our snorkel bag and duffle bag. One of the kids working on the dock took our stuff to the front desk. We then went back to the boat and got our snorkel stuff on and snorkeled in front of Scott Beach looking for sting rays, no luck. We snorkeled all around the point and on to the Caneel Beach. It was about 4:30pm and there were plenty of chairs around. My hubby went and got our bags and came back with a strawberry daquiri. You need something sweet in you mouth after snorkeling to get the salty taste out. When I looked at the hubby in the hot sun carrying all our stuff and that drink for me I knew he still loved me and all my crazy ideas. We layed on the beach for a while and then found a really nice bathroom behind the beachfront restaurant to change in. There were no showers but there was a big vanity and mirror. The front desk held our bags for us again. We walked up to the Equator restaurant where we had 6:15pm reservations. The restaurant sits high above the resort overlooking some sugar mill ruins. We watched a beautiful sunset from a table along the rail. Our servers name was Beverly and she was spunky and friendly. I had the pasta special with a glass of wine and my husband had a chicken with pineapple rice dish. Both of us enjoyed our dinner. The dessert here was my favorite. It was called Banana Cheese Cake but it was unlike any cheesecake I've ever had before. It was a soft cake served with a vanilla ice cream flavored with Cruzan Rum, but not strong, There was a warm caramel sauce over the entire thing. It disappeared fast.We walked off our dinner along the resort path. We walked about 45 minutes on the path and didn't even get to the end of the property. There were golf carts picking up people and it was well lit so we felt safe. We layed in beach chairs and gazed at the stars. We did not see anyone else on the beach. This was a beautiful peaceful resort. There was a taxi stand near the restaurant that told us the time for the last cab into Cruz Bay. We got there early so we wouldn't miss it. It cost $10 for the two of us to get from Caneel to the ferry dock. We walked to The Balcony and sat at the bar. I ordered my key lime martini and hubby had an appletini. We watched for the ferry to come in from the bar which overlooks the harbor. We chatted with the bartender and one of the workers. We took the 10 pm passenger ferry back to Red Hook and sat up on the top deck.

4/10/06 Touring St. Thomas/ Coki Beach/Coral World/ Megan's Bay

Our sail on the Alaunt was postponed because Carol was sick so we slept in and didn't get out the door until 11:30am. We went to Coral World and stood in a very slow line. We paid for Coral World admission, had a coupon off the internet, and paid $3 for a locker. We put our stuff in the locker and went to snorkel Coki beach first. We started on the right side but it was too crowded with other snorkelers. We then went to the left side and snorkeled until the waves got too choppy. Coki Beach had some of the biggest schools of fish that we saw. The beach was full of people. As soon as you get to the beach you are greeted by an attendent that offers to get chairs, an umbrella, food, drink and basically anything you would want. We had our Neat Sheet and our own umbrella. This time I walked to get our money and put the snorkel stuff away. There was a server selling the most delicious Melon Midori Daquiris from the Mailman Bar. I would vote that to be the Virgin Islands drink because it was so tasty I can't see anyone not liking them. (I tried a painkiller later in the week and didn't care for it one bit.) We layed around the beach for a little while and then went to Coral World to see the 2:30 shark feeding. Hubby pet the tail of a nurse shark. Our kids loved the pictures we took from Coral World. It was the only place we saw an eel. (Before we left the boys each gave us a sea creature that they wanted us to take an underwater picture of. Oldest was the eel, middle kid wanted the sting ray and little guy wanted the turtle) We walked around the entire park and saw everything in about an hour and 1/2. We left Coral World and drove up to Megans Point Resort. We went to eat at Indigo for a late lunch. They have a pool with tables all around. Some kids were playing in the pool and we didn't feel like a swim just then but we could have jumped in if we wanted. Hubby ate a Dorito crusted chicken sandwich which he gave me a bite of. It was darn good and better than mine. I had a spinach and chicken filled quasadillia. (spelling?) We split his fries and a scoop of ice cream with chocolate sauce. We then drove to Megans Bay. We set up our stuff and layed in the sun for a while. All of sudden we hear a guy under the pavillion playing jazz on his saxophone. He played for at least an hour and a half and was still playing when we left. I took his picture and left some money in his case. We watched the sun set on Megans Bay. We got there after 5pm so there was no charge. IMO this was the prettiest of all the beaches we were on. We walked the entire length and saw maybe ten people total. A great place to watch the sunset; just remember to apply your bug spray. I forgot and got bit up. We drove up to Drakes Seat and got some pictures above Megan's Bay at dusk. The drive back to the condo was hairy and my husband couldn't see out of the windows that good because the inside was dirty.
When we got back to the condo there was a message that our trip to Jost Van Dyke was canceled. The Maho Bay activities director had called and so did one of the boat owners of Lion in da Sun. They both apologized and said it doesn't happen very often. I was a little bummed because we wouldn't get to see The Bubbly Pool, Sandy Spit, meet Foxy or have a drink at the Soggy Dollar. The Alaunt had a trip going out the next day where there was room for two of us so we rescheduled that for Tuesday. Carol was still not feeling well but she found a guy named Alan to fill in for her. I then called Captain Phil of the Wayward Sailor. I originally really wanted to take his snorkel trip but the days I wanted he was not available. He had room for two on a full day sail for Friday so I reserved that instead.
For dinner that night we went casual and thought we would check out Captain Ron's place called Latitude 18. One of you guys had told me about "Lighting Phil" playing live music. Hubby wasn't hungry but I was, so I ordered the caesar salad with shrimp. Another good tasting salad and really big shrimp. We met Captain Ron and he told us to park our car at up on the hill by the restaurant and he would pick us up at the park dock rather than having us deal with parking at American Yacht Harbor for the next day. (I think he may have gotten an ear full the next day from the property owner because when we saw her the next morning she didn't look to happy when we checked in her office.) Now the road to Latitude 18 should really only be attempted with a SUV. We had a Toyota Echo which thankfully made it down that road a few times even after a rain storm filled all the pot holes. Captain Ron joked saying that it was better to have a good bar at the end of the shi**y road than to have a shi**y bar at the end of a good road. Lighting Phil played guitar, a variety of music that was all easy to listen to. He has a very good voice. We met a variety of local patrons all who were friendly. We left shortly after Lighting Phil stopped playing around 10pm. We made sure one of the patrons was driving in front of us rather than behind.

4/11/06 Day Sail on the Alaunt with Captain Ron

Captain Ron picked us up in his dingy and we were welcomed aboard a 56 foot beautiful sailboat. This by far was the nicest boat we were on. Alan was taking Ron's wifes place as the first mate. (I had talked with Carol on the phone a few times and was a little disappointed when I didn't get to meet her because she seemed like a very nice person) Alan was a fine first mate and pampered us all day long. We had a family from a cruise ship sailing with us with two boys ages 14 and 11. The kids were quiet and kept to themselves most of the day. I talked Captain Ron into sailing us out to Waterlemon Cay over in Leinster Bay, St. John. He was sailing against the wind and had to work hard to get us there. Alan served us a breakfast of fresh fruit and Carol's homemade banana bread. It was very moist and delicious. As soon as we jumped in the water at Leinster Bay and started snorkeling I saw a spotted ray right above me. I got the picture for #2 kid! We followed it around for about 5 minutes and then started towards the Cay. We made it all around the Cay before we got called back to the boat for lunch. I could have snorkeled there much longer. The coral and fish were very close for viewing. Lunch was served to us on portable wooden trays with cloth napkins. We had roasted chicken, brown rice with black beans, some of Captains Ron's caesar salad and for dessert we had plantains with cinnamon sugar. We listened to Captain Ron's sailing stories and he also had a stereo going, Alan was picking the tunes. Captain Ron had a much easier sail back to Red Hook. Along side the boat we saw a very large Hawksbill turtle and hubby got the picture. Little guy will be happy! Captain Ron said he hoped to see us again before we left. We really had a nice relaxing day on the Alaunt.
After getting dropped off at the dock we drove to Sapphire Beach Resort. We called the Flagship timeshare desk and the guy said he was the only one working so he couldn't show us one of the units. He said to check with the front desk. Sapphire Beach is one of the resorts in our timeshare exchange. A really nice women, whos name has escaped me walked us down to a one bedroom unit and let us check it out. She laughed at me in a nice way when I asked if we could use toilet paper in the toilets. She said they have no problem with their septic system. The unit was bigger than the timeshare that we own on Daytona Beach. There were two levels with two pull out couches and a queen bed. There was a balcony and a bathroon on each level. Hubby and I talked about trying to do the exchange in about 5 years with the boys. We walked down to the pool and took a dip. They had a nice pool by a beach bar but no hot tub. There are actually two beaches. One over by the time share units which people staying at the resort said it was quiet and empty most of the day. They said the main beach got busy when the cruise ship people were brought over for the day. We walked down the main beach all the way to the boat that is rotting away. We got the story of the boat a few days later.
We went back to the condo to get ready for dinner. We had reservations at ZoZo's in St. John because originally the plan was to come off of the boat from Maho Bay. We got to Red Hook early and went to Duffy's Love Shack to buy my husband's boss something. His name is Duffy but he is a pretty conservative guy. We settled for a glass and hubby got a T-shirt. I had a security tag stuck on my dress and one of the servers cut it off for me. I ordered a really good frozen blackberry drink. Note you may not take open food or drinks on the passenger ferry. We took the 7pm ferry boat and walked up to ZoZo's for our 7:30pm reservation. We were seated at a table that overlooked one of the Gallows Point rooms. It started to rain during our dinner. I ordered my key lime martini. ZoZo's won for the best one I tried while in the USVI. Still not quite as good as the Cheesecake Factory's but a close second. It was so good I ordered a second one at the end of dinner. ZoZo's automatically serves you bottled water which comes in a fancy glass bottle. We finished our first bottle toward the end of dinner and a water server asked if we wanted any more. We told him no thank you and then a few minutes later he came back with a new bottle and poured it into the one glass that was empty. We were charged $6 for water two times. Normally we would have paid for it but we most certainly had told the the guy No when he asked and who wants to walk around with a glass bottle of water. My husband ordered pork which was very thick and he couldn't finish it. I ordered the The Rib Eye special which came with red potatoes in a white cream sauce and asparagus. We had italian bread with dipping oil. I also could not finish my steak because it was such a thick cut. We should have split one meal. We asked our server if we could stay at the table until I finished my drink or if they needed it. She said it would be fine to stay at the table. We then looked at the bill and saw the water charge. When the server came back we told her what happened. She got rather snippy and told us we could take the bottle with us. I told her it was glass and we didn't want to carry that around all night. When she came back with the adjusted bill she told us we had to leave the table that they needed it now. I carried my unfinished drink upstairs to their bar. It was a very cozy bar and still raining outside. My husband ordered an appletini and the server asked him if he wanted Grey Goose or Ketel One vodka. He said Grey Goose was fine. His martini cost $13 dollars. My key lime martinis were $8 a piece. ZoZo's also wins the the prize for the most expensive martini. That is more than Las Vegas and their $12 martinis on New Years Eve. The food at ZoZo's IMO was not any better than other places we ate but it was the most expensive meal that we had. We started walking back toward the main shops in Cruz Bay during a light sprinkle. I got chilled so we went into The Beach Bar which was supposed to have live music. We didn't hear any so we walked down the road to Lizards Landing. This place had music but it was dead inside. We ended up walking to Woody's. It was hot and stuffy in there. There were people and good music so we stayed. It smelled a little like BO but I got rid of the chills. Hubby ordered some blue drink for $4. It was too strong for me to drink. We took the 10pm ferry back to Red Hook.

Part 2 coming in the next couple of days.

"it smelled a little like BO but I got rid of the chills"

Too Funny!

I ADORE Midori Coladas. They are my favorite drink!

Thanks so much for taking the time to post such a detailed trip report. I'm enjoying it immensely!

Great report! Just curious - - why was your trip to Jost cancelled? Was it the weather?

4/12/06 BVI trip to Baths/Cooper Island/The Indians on Pirates Penny

We started our day looking for parking at American Yacht Harbor. We were told to meet our Captain for Pirates Penny at 7:45am at Dock P. Hubby dropped me off and he circled around while I went to find the dock P. I knew where Dock B was so I just kept walking. Well it only goes to Dock E and stops. I walked back to Dock A and there were several boaters there. I said good morning and asked if they could tell me where Dock P was. They pointed to the Dock next to them which was behind Off the Hook restaurant. Apparently the restaurant used to have a name that had the letter "P" in it so the dock was named Dock P. It was already hot outside and I started putting my sunscreen on. Hubby got lucky and found someone backing out so we got a spot. He went into the office and paid the $10 to park and put the slip in the car window.

We found the Pirates Penny boat and met Captain Rick, first mate Laura, and Ryan, who was new and on the job for the first time. We were the only ones leaving from STT. We were going to STJ to pick up 8 more passengers, 2 where well behaved children. I sat up next to the boat driver and talked to both Captain Rick and Laura. We drove to Spanishtown on Virgin Gorda which took about an hour. In Spanishtown Laura and Ryan went in for British Customs and we were told that we had about 20 minutes to walk around. There were little shops and this was a big harbor for some very nice yachts. We used the bathroom and walked out to the rocky ledge and took pictures. We were curious as to what the inside of some of those yachts looked like but neither of us had enought guts to ask someone to show us theirs. We got back to the boat in 20 minutes but Laura and Ryan didn't get back for another 20 minutes after us. The harbor was very busy with this being Easter week. Captain Rick said that customs took us twice as long as normal.

We buzzed over to The Baths which took about 5 minutes and got a mooring right in front. We put our snorkel gear on, I left my fins behind because it was not that far to snorkel, and jumped in. The snorkeling was not that great. We left all our snorkel stuff in a pile on the beach on top of one of the boat's swim floats. Captain Rick lost the $40 to pay the park for our group during his swim over. Laura went back to look for it but it was gone. Didn't know money floats. Their tour of "The Baths"is off the main trail a bit and they will lead two gropus, one through the more challenging route and the other the easy rout. We tool the challenging route and squeezed between rocks and climbed through to get to the 10 foot jump into the sea. We also climbed thorugh to see "The Lion's Head" and "Whale". Don't miss the climb to see this view. Captain Rick told some stories about the history of "The Baths" and also gave us the scientific information. It is just a really neat place. We snorkeled back to the boat and got a fresh water rinse.

Ryan took our lunch order for Cooper Island Beach Club, they had menus on board. The soup was a spicy Clam Chowder which was very good. There was no time to snorkel at Cooper Island but we did walk up and down the beach. There are no roads, only the Beach Club. A dive shop was running daily trips and had rates posted for getting certified.

The conditions were right to take us to "The Indians" for an incredible snorkel. Large walls of coral and many varieties of fish. I bet diving in this area is really a thrill. Laura and Ryan guided us through the water on the snorkel. It did get a bit rough at times.

We went back and forth from Cruz Bay on the North Shore of St. John. It is so beautiful that it feels almost surreal. We got to Cruz Bay at 4pm with only 3 small boats in front of us. The Caneel boat was at the dock and one other. It took 45 minutes before we got to the dock to walk into US customs. We all have to put shoes and cover-ups on and walk in with our ID/ birth certificate or passport. It was 5:15pm by the time we got back to our car at the American Yacht Harbor.

On the way back to the condo we decided that we didn't want to rush to try and make our 6pm dinner reservation at Banana Tree Grill and that we would try a place closer to the condo so we had time to shower too. I had a coupon for Bonnies By the Sea, buy one entree get the second of equal or lesser value free up to $20, so my husband suggested we try that place. We called and made a 7:00pm reservation which was no problem. When we got to the Elysian the sun was just setting. Bonnies by the sea is open air on the the beach. Some tables sit in the sand. The tables were shaded with big green umbrellas that had rope light under them. The beach had a roped off area for swimming and then there were boats all around the bay. I ordered a cocktail with a banana flavor called "Monkey In The Tree" which was good. I ordered a shrimp scampi that had so many large shrimp I got too full to finish them. I have never left shrimp on my plate before. The frozen cocktail probably filled me up as well. Hubby had the Chicken Parmaesan which he said was fine. A guy named Andrew Douglas started to play steel pay drums shortly after we arrived. He played "Wonderful Tonight" which is kind of our wedding song (Its a long story). My husband got up from the table and danced in the sand with me. This was one of the highlights of my trip. I am a hopeless romantic. He said he wished was was clever enough to tell me he requested the song but it was only a coincidence. I started to talk to an older gentleman sitting at the table next to us with his daughter and her family. I believe I was talking to Charles Waggoner. He said he was an attorney on the island and he was involved with the devolopment of The Elysain and Bolongo Bay. He also showed me his original Rolex that was older than me and said he helped start up the Rolex Reggata. I could have talked with Mr. Waggoner for a long time but his grandkids got jumpy and we had finished our dinner.

We ended up going to Mr. Waggoner's other property Bolongo Bay for the Carnival night party. We got there a little after 8pm but nothing was going on yet. We pulled up two beach chairs on the side and ordered Sprite with different flavored Cruzan Rum. I did the congo line and danced with a Mocko Jumbie. We watched "King Heron" break glass by jumping on it and walk on fire. He also lit a limbo stick on fire and went under it. He is going to burn his belly one day. What a nut but it was entertaining. The music stopped after the show. The beach was very lively and it was a fun party. There was a newly married couple that won the dance contest and the party was kind of like their reception. We found a hammock on the beach and looked at the stars and almost full moon. We left about 10pm. It was another great day.

Sorry about all the typos in the above post - Part 2. I can't figure out how to edit it. I had to get my dog to the vet in a rush and I didn't have time to proof it before it was posted.

The trip to Jost Van Dyke was canceled because not enough people signed up. They wouldn't go out with less than 5 and we were the only two that signed up.

4/13/06 A day touring STJ and snorkel/sunset sail Long Distance

We woke up to bright sun and a beautiful morning. I got up to take a few sunrise pictures. Originally I had planned on eating breakfast at Chilly Billy's (They have a Begium waffle with strawberries that I really wanted to try) but I was anxious to get to Trunk Bay so we had pop tarts for breakfast and headed out the door. We took the 8am passenger ferry over to St. John and talked to some Wisconsin folks sitting in front of us that were looking for a place to have breakfast. I told them about Chilly Billy's, where it was, the waffle, so they enjoyed it for me.

We walked to Varlack Ventures, straight up the road and turn right at the First Bank building -they are sitting on the right side of that street. I was an hour early on the time I had requested the Vitara but they had a vehicle ready for us. It was all scratched up and we marked the form for the dents all around. I didn't care because if we made one more dent no one would notice. (We didn't)

We drove to Trunk Bay and got there before 9am. There was plenty of parking. The office for paying wasn't open so I asked a gentleman sitting at the picnic table if there was a deposit box for the money. He said just go in, it was still free. There were very few people on the beach and life guards were just getting there. We took pictures first with our digital camera. It was an overcast sky. Hubby was afraid that our camera might get stolen while we were snorkeling if we left it on the beach so I walked it back up to the jeep and locked it up. We started our snorkeling around the cay going counter clockwise. I was having problems with my mask fogging up so I swam back to shore and used a little towel to apply the defog stuff. I later learned that with sunscreen residue on my hands and rubbing the defog on the mask it was doing no good. I had a great snorkel after that. It even poured rain for a while but I wouldn't have noticed if not for feeling the rain hit my booty. After going around the cay (the trail was backwards) I was ready to head out. My husband said no, he wanted to do the trail the right way. I followed him and noticed some larger fish poking at something. It was an octopus trying to hide under some coral. I went down and took a close up picture with my underwater camera. Right after that the octopus squirt out his ink and the big fish swam away. The octopus stayed tucked under the coral. I was thrilled to see this. I had yelled out to my husband to watch the octopus and about 20 snorkelers in yellow vests came toward me. The water was filled with snorkelers so I assumed a cruise ship group must have showed up. It was a three cruise ship day. We finished the trail and left Trunk Beach. Our stuff was heavy because our beach towels and Neat Sheet got wet.

We turned left out of the parking lot on North Shore Road and got to the most terrible corner I had ever seen. We were trying to get up a hill while making almost a U turn to the left and could not see the oncoming traffic. The tires would not grip the road. Our first attempt up the hill a car came around the corner in the middle of the road going way to fast and we had to apply the brakes. Hubby backed the car up and tried gunning it up the hill again and another car came around the corner. The second car was going slower and honked at us. We made it up the hill on the third try. When I made a comment about the four wheel drive not working so well on slippery roads, my hubby admitted that he forgot we had four wheel drive. He let me laugh at him. We drove from Trunk Bay along North Shore Road but I was nervous about the slippery roads and couldn't appreciate the beautiful views. I also wanted to make sure hubby kept his eyes on the road too. We took 20 to 10 then into Coral Bay. We went South on 107 all the way to Salt Pond. The drivers of the Vitran buses need to slow down and stay on their own side of the road. Especially in the areas without guard rails. The Fed Ex driver should just be fired before he/she kills someone.

This was a perfect day to be hiking the Rams Head Trail because of the overcast sky it was not that hot. We had packed frozen water bottles anticipating the heat but we only drank one of them between the two of us. There were a dozen cars at the parking lot at Salt Pond. There was some creative parking done. There is a short hike to the beach which was sandier than I expected. This seemed like a nice beach for families and we saw lots of young kids swimming and snorkeling at Salt Pond Bay. We thought we had followed the National Park sign correctly but ended up at the Salt Pond and Drunk Bay. This is where I saw the one and only sandpiper on the shore. We walked back to Salt Pond Beach and asked someone where to pick up the rest of the trail. You have to cross the rocks on the far left side of the beach and look for a narrow path marked by darker sand. The hike up to Rams Head took over an hour. You cross another beach that was complete rocks. We stopped and took pictures of rocks that looked like fossilized coral. We got a cute picture of a crab under a rock that was looking right at the camera. There is a red stick that marks the next part of the trail after crossing all the rocks. You do have to watch your step and look for cactus and low branches. The view at the top was breathtaking. The sun had started to poke through the clouds just as we got to the top. I walked pretty close to the edge and looked down. We took lots of pictures but our camera had condensation on it because we had it next to the frozen water bottles. There was another family that was enjoying a snack at the top. The Dad was pretty jazzed about the view but the kids were indifferent. My husband told me I had to be quiet for 5 minutes so he could just take it all in. (I talk alot if you can believe that.) 🙂 The hike down was much warmer. There was a large group of teenagers with what looked like a park guide heading up. We met them on the rocky shore. We had wanted to snorkel Salt Pond but we were running short on time. I ran in the water to pee and a sting ray came not 6 inches from my foot and stayed there. I yelled to my husband that I wished I had my mask.I was only in waist deep. We passed a women laying out on the beach who offered me her snorkel stuff to use if I wanted. I thanked her and told her we were meeting up with a Captain to go out on a boat in Coral Bay.

We wanted to stop at Skinny Legs or Vies for lunch but there was just no time. Turns out Vie's Place was closed that week. Robin said she was on vacation. (I kind of was wishing I had eaten the waffle at Chilly Billy's but then I could have missed the octopus)

We drove to Coral Bay and parked in a dirt lot by the Fire Station. We saw Captain Rick on the concrete dock at 1:45pm which is exactly when he told us to meet him. Captian Rick lives on his boat Long Distance with his wife Robin. We took a dingy out to his boat and received a warm greeting from Robin and their little dog Kiwi. We waited for four others to arrive. One was a honeymoon couple and the other was a couple in their late 50's. They owned a time share and had been coming to St. John for many years. I liked talking to Robin and I listened to the 50 year old man talk to Captain Rick about the changes in Coral Bay and St. John over the years. The poor guy on his honeymoon started to feel sick. He sat out front with his wife and Robin gave him something to feel better. She said that people who have had recent ear/sinus infections often get sea sick. (Robin is a nurse.) It turns out that was the case for this young man. We sailed out to Flanagan Island. Robin guided us on a very nice snorkel but the water was deeper than other snorkels we had done. At one point she pointed down into a large crevice and there was a barracuda. I dove under a little ways and took his picture but I don't know if it will turn out because of how deep he was. Robin and I started to get chilled and we headed back to the boat. The young guy on his honeymoon was still not feeling well and I don't think he snorkeled much. We were the last to get back in the boat and I was shivering. Our beach towels were still wet but it was better than nothing. My hubby gave me his after he dried off. I stayed in my rash guard but probably should have taken that off and I would have warmed up faster. The sun was behind the clouds so we didn't see much of a sunset or the full moon. Captain Rick had cheese and crackers for a snack after the snorkel. They only put a dent in my hungry spot. The poor honeymoon kid lost his crackers on the way back into the bay. It helped me to stop thinking about food. My husband gave the guy some gum. Robin had said that we could change on the boat but as soon as we got on the mooring it started to rain again. She suggested going to Aqua Bistro instead because they had a bathroom to change in and our only dry cloths would have gotten wet. Captain Rick talked about his home state of Maine and told some stories of his life. We went back in the dingy with him by ourselves and had a nice conversation. Captain Rick and Robin felt like friends by the end of the evening.

It was probably about 7pm by the time we got to Aqua Bistro. I changed first while my husband ordered some drinks at the bar. I sat up at the bar talking to Casper the friendly bartender while my husband changed. I asked him where all his patrons were and he said at Miss Lucy's or Island Blues for full moon parties. A woman brought Casper some homemade stew which he was snacking on along with some of the other servers. I probably would have asked for a bite if not for all the people sharing the same spoon. We had quite a physical day and I was starving. We finished our cocktail and told Casper we were going to ditch him for Miss Lucy's too.

We drove down the road to Miss Lucy's which we had noticed earlier in the day. The place was packed. Turns out the band at Island Blues had someone sick so everyone went to Miss Lucy's. There were no tables and people were sitting on the ground with paper plates. The pig roast smelled good but we never got to try some. I found a server and asked her how long the wait for a table was. She said they have a list and she flipped over two pages of names on her tablet. I figured they would run out of food before they ever got to our name. The band playing was also right on top of the people so it was very loud. I couldn't even hear my husband standing next to me talk. A friendly guy whose table we were standing next to did offer to let us squeeze in to sit down with his family but they were already eating their meals. We decided to forget the party and left after 10 minutes.

Hubby drove down Centerline Road all the way back to Cruz Bay. We parked the car at Varlack Ventures and left our stuff locked inside. I told him I wanted to eat at Panini Beach because I liked the story of the owner and figured that if they were from Chicago the Italian food would be good. Our servers name was Diane and she was very pleasant for it being the end of her night. The food came fast and it was delicious. I had linguine with clams in a garlic clam juice sauce. The hubby had rosemary chicken with mashed potatoes. Joe the owner came to our table and chatted with us for a while. I had a Tirimisu which was very different from the traditional dessert. It was served in a tall flute glass with a thick lady finger cookie. It was rich and good. Joe said it was a recipe from some famous Chicago chef named Tony Mantuano that his wife worked with. My husband had a triple shot rum martini which he said he needed after surviving Centerline Road for the first time in the dark. We talked with the bartender while Joe and Diane were closing up. We saw Captian Phil's brochure for the Wayward Sailor in a stand at the bar and told them we were looking forward to going out with him the next day. They all raved about how great he was. (Captian Phil lived up to his reputation) We walked back to the rental jeep and grabbed our bags. We put the keys to the rental in the night drop and walked to the ferry dock. I fell asleep with my head on my husband's shoulder on the 10pm ferry back to STT. We actually started to recognize people that take this ferry home from work. I had chatted with a few ladies that worked at Caneel on previous nights but I was just too darn tired that night.

4/14/06 Day Sail with Captain Phil on the Wayward Sailor our last night.

It had rained most of the night and we woke up to pouring rain. This was the only time we turned on the TV to look at the radar on the weather channel. I called Captain Phil at 7:30am and asked him how it looked on St. John. He said reports from the East End said it was clearing up so we told him we would be on the 9:00am ferry. It really did not look good outside but we got ready and I grabbed the umbrella as I walked out the door. By the time we parked and got to the ferry the rain had turned to a drizzle. When we got to St. John we met up with Captain Phil in the park across from the dock and the sun was poking through. It turned out to be another beautiful sunny day. All the people living there were happy because their cisterns were replenished.
We waited for another young couple to join us, Jilliann and Roberto. The four of us where taken by dingy to Captian Phil's boat where we met his girlfiend, Allison. She is a psychologist and owns the travel company Rejuvenation Vacations. Captain Phil started our day with a story about the name for his boat. It is based on a book about a sailor that he liked. A few minutes into the sail Ricardo got sea sick and Allison was giving him things to try and make him feel better. Captain Phil took us to two great snorkel sites on the bays of Little St. James island. Captain Phil dove in the water with us with his digital camera. He told me how to watch for eels and said he would help me look for one. He said if I see black groupers hanging around in one spot they like to stay close by the eels to get scraps of food from them. (We both were looking for them but never did see one) Captian Phil found a nurse shark under a ledge but even with his instruction on how to get my ears to clear I could not get down deep enough to see it. The ear pressure was too painful. My husband spotted a turtle that swam right below us. I grabbed the camera but didn't get the picture until the turtle went hiding. We snorkeled all around and kept coming back to see if he came out of hiding so we could get a picture. All we could see was his foot sticking out. I got a picture of him hiding under the ledge but it was too dark and it did not turn out good.
Captain Phil had to call us in by blowing the conch shell. He thought that we might have to motor Ricardo back to the beach because he was so sick. Ricardo didn't want Jilliann to miss out so he passed on the opportunity. Ricardo apologized over and over because he thought he was spoiling our day. We were having the best snorkel of our entire trip and it wasn't spoiled one bit.

It was Good Friday and Allison made us a vegetarian lunch. Her salad was very good and there was plenty of extra sandwiches. Ricardo was not eating.

Before our second snorkel, Captain Phil brought out pictures and told us about the male and female parrotfish. He also gave an educational lesson on the octopus with some of his great pictures and shell collection. The octopus is his favorite sea creature. We learned so much from Captain Phil and he was such a likable guy. During the second snorkel we saw a gigantic round coral structure that was completely alive with fish all around. This snorkel was my husband's favorite. I can't pick a favorite because I enjoyed them all.

My husband works in construction so Captain Phil shared some of his stories about building his house on Lovango Cay. I noticed that Allison had a sailboat charm on that I had admired in a shop called Verace in St. John. Captain Phil actually bought the charm for her twice, she lost the first one that he gave her so he got her a second one. My husband asked about what kind of pricing system they had because he doesn't like to haggle. Captain Phil offered to come in to the shop with us. We went back to shore in the dingy and Captian Phil walked in Verace with us. The charm is a Murphy Design gold sailboat and I picked out the Lapis stone because it looked as blue as the water in the Caribbean. I don't think we got any deal because we paid the retail price on the sticker but I loved the charm. I thought it was the perfect gift to remember my vacation in the Virgin Islands. The funny thing is, when we got home I read about the designer. He founded Murphy Design with a partner in rural Wisconsin.

We went to Freebird, which was a shop that the women in Verace recommended to buy my mother-in-law a hook braclet. I gave the guys in the shop all my left over coupons so they gave me a little silver sandle charm. We wanted to catch the 5pm ferry back to St. Thomas so there was no more time for shopping. They actually closed the gate to the ferry behind us.

We showered and got cleaned up for a sunset dinner at the Blue Moon Cafe at the Secret Harbour Resort. The Blue Moon Cafe was exactly as I had imagined. It was raised off the beach a little with a beautiful open air ocean view. Alexis was our server and she was nice and friendly. We were served warm Italian bread with dipping oil. They also served their water in those fancy glass bottles. I ordered a glass of Reisling and a Carribean Lobster Tail. It was not as rich as Maine lobster or flavorful. It actually tasted kind of dry. IMO the carribean lobster is not worth the price. My hubby had the Prime Rib special which he said was good. We both ordered our own desserts. Mine was a chocolate brownie mousse pie. The brownie was like the pie crust and the mousse was full of flavor for all chocolate lovers. Hubby had the key lime pie which he said was alright. I didn't want to ruin the wonderful chocolate flavor in my mouth by tasting his pie.

We walked up and down the beach which is not as long as some of the others. We stopped at the pier on the end and smootched under the stars. (There just never seems time to do this at home. We also always get "Ohh gross" comments from the boys.) I noticed lots of seagrass on the beach and my first thought was turtles. We never had time to snorkel Secret Harbour but I bet this is where you go to see the turtles. I had actually thought about staying here before I found the condo. We peaked in to some of the rooms that had their drapes open and lights on. We didn't window peak just looked in from the outside sidewalk. The rooms looked very large compared to where we were staying. I noticed a box of cereal on top of a fridge so I assumed they must not have had the bug problem that we encountered. There were lots of beach chairs and hammocks to lay in. We didn't lay in the hammock this night because we wanted to get to Latitude 18 to hear Lighting Phil play again.

The road to Latitude 18 was worse than before because all the pot holes now had water in them and it was very muddy. That little Toyota Echo made it again. We spotted Captain Ron who was cleaning up from a large party that had just left. He said we just missed Carol that she had gone home for the night. 🙁 Captain Ron grabbed his dinner and headed out shortly after we got there. He made a point to come by our table and say goodbye. We thanked him again for the great day we had on The Alaunt. This night Lighting Phil had some company. He had a base player, two others on guitar, the older guy sang great harmony with him, a guy came up and joined them with a harmonica and another came up and played a wooden box. They played bluegrass, some blues, one song that sounded like Simon and Garfunkel, and one Eric Clapton song. They even played Elvis' Blue Sueded Shoes. We stayed until the music stopped at 10:30pm. We saw several people from Monday night there. A few people got up and danced but not us. (Hubby would have needed a few more beers and I didn't want to drive the road back to the condo) We enjoyed a cocktail back at the condo (Banana Cruzan Rum and Sprite tastes like those banana popsicles we ate when we were kids so that is what my hubby named it.) We fell asleep in eachothers arms listening to the sound of the waves.

Thanks for the report, nice job.
You certainly packed a lot in to one week.
Too bad about the ants and I know my wife would not have made the trip to the dumpster, lol.
nsalphadog

4/15/06 Travel Day

We had a 2pm flight and had made arrangements to check out of the condo at 10am. We ate the last of our breakfast food in the fridge. We both tried to get a picture of the birds at the feeder on the balcony. I made the last dreaded trip to the dumpster and we were packed and ready to go when Julianna arrived. She was again in a rush with too many things to do so we thanked her and told her we had a wonderful time. She said that it was too bad we did not go to Dotties Front Porch for dinner because this would be her last year in business as Dottie is retiring.

We stopped at Kmart to look for gifts for the kids and to pick up some of the flavors of Cruzan Rum that we don't find in Wisconsin. The T-shirts were picked over and the tops of shirts were dirty like someone ran them under something very dusty. We did find a shirt for my father-in-law and figured we would stop at another store on our way to the airport. Then we got stuck in stand still traffic. There was a car accident in front of Paradise Tram. They had traffic re-routed and we couldn't make the turn we needed to make. We had to go down a road and make a U turn and then wait in the traffic again going the other direction. (We had to pass the accident site twice to make our turn) By the time we finally were heading in the right direction we realized that there was no time for even a quick stop for lunch.

We got to the airport right around noon. We parked our rental car in an open Hertz spot up top and started walking with our bags towards the airport. I forgot to get the mileage number so hubby ran back quick to do that. I chatted with a couple that was just arriving and staying at Secret Harbour. I told them I hope they enjoy their week as much as we did. We looked for one of those rent a luggage carrier carts in that parking lot but found none. I guess it is because you have to carry the bags down the steps.

We got in the US Airways line and waited about 20 minutes to get our boarding pass. Hubby then went to stand in the customs line while I went to the rental car desk. There was only one person in line to wait for. I again got a friendly greeting and handed the clerk my keys. She asked for the mileage number and handed me a receipt. It took only 5 minutes. I grabbed two cups of free rum punch (We had missed out on it when we arrived). I only took a sip and felt like hubby deserved the rest because he was holding all the bags the entire time. He had only made a little progress in line. I filled out the customs form as we inched forward in line. We got to the customs desk after waiting in a snake line for about 40 minutes. Really nice customs worker and there were no problems.

When my husband saw the line for the cafeteria he said he was going to skip lunch. I said I was grabbing something and went and stood in the lunch line. Note if you just want a sandwich or a salad they have them pre-packaged and you can skip the waiting line and just take them out of the cooler. I had waited in line about 15 minutes and enjoyed a chat with a man who had spent the week on a charter sailing trip with his family. A worker from the cafe told me I could just grab the salad and head to the cashier. I also found a Dove Bar in the cooler by the soda machine and was happy. There was just enough time for me to finish my lunch and they changed our gate and began boarding.

The boarding process at this airport was insane. They sent us outside in a line while a delivery truck was turning around. He didn't care that there was a boarding line and cut right into the line. I had to yell at the man in front of me who was watching a plane come in for a landing next to us. The truck would have hit the guy if not for me yelling "Watch Out!" I was yelling too because the sound of the plane landing was almost enough to make me go deaf. Our line came to a stand still while we were still outside the plane and we all covered our ears. The plane stopped right next to our plane and really close to our boarding line.

We flew to Charlotte North Carolina with a connection to Chicago. Hubby picked up a Southwestern Chicken Salad in a box next to the Chili's during our lay over. There was no food offered on either flight back to Chicago. We arrived on time at 9pm. Waited for our luggage and walked a mile to the shuttle bus pick up area. The Four Points Sheraton shuttle runs every 20 minutes. We got to the parking lot by 10pm.

We drove home to Wisconsin and found Grandma and Grandpa waiting up for us at midnight. I couldn't wait the for morning to hug the boys so I woke them up and told them we were home. They all said they missed us and loved us. The only reason I got them to go back to sleep was because the Easter Bunny was not going to come unless they were sleeping.

Final Thoughts

My months of planning were all worth it. I left with the attitude not to expect things to go exactly as planned and to have a good time no matter what. For us the Virgin Islands was the perfect destination. We enjoy the beach and found a new love - snorkeling. My prefered mode of transportation is a sailboat. I felt much safer, relaxed and the views were fantastic.

My trip was so enjoyable because of all the lovely people that we met. I can not choose a favorite daysail because they all felt like new friends by the end of the day. Each Captain had a different personality that was delightful. We were pampered and catered to all day. Captain Pat, Captain Ron and Alan, Captain Rick, Laura and Ryan, Captain Rick and Robin, and Captain Phil with Allison all added warm and wonderful memories. The trips with them were money well spent.

We experienced nothing but island hospitality from both the people and mother nature. We saved money for a few years in order to take this trip and we would love to return some day with our boys. Our hope is that the islands will try to maintain their natural beauty and the coral will survive another 5 years so that we can share this with our children.

My Tips:

Wear sunscreen and put it on your children. I saw way too many kids that had bad sunburns.

Be aware of your fragile surroundings while snorkeling. DO NOT STEP on OR KICK THE CORAL! I was snorkeling at Coki Beach, Waterlemon, and Trunk Bay and observed three people destroying coral. At Coki Beach I saw a guy walking on the rocks on the left side and stepping right on coral growth. The rocks have coral and other living things growing on them. At Waterlemon I observed a man backing up and he stood right on a piece of coral to take a picture. A snorkeler got to close to the coral and while swimming away they kicked a piece of the coral right off. Coral only grows the width of a dime a year. If you step on or kick a piece off you are destroying something that took years to grow.

Buy a rash guard for snorkeling.

Don't use sunscreened hands to wipe your defogger or spit around in your mask. Bring a small towel instead.

Watch the sun set over the ocean. Either go to a beach or make a reservation at a restaurant with a view.

Take time to look up at the stars.

Try to go on at least one day sail.

Take Dramamine at least a 1/2 hour before going on a boat trip especially if you have had a recent ear or sinus infection.

If you use a disposable underwater camera remember to keep your hand as still as possible when taking a picture. I have lots of blurry pictures because I was still swimming while I tried to take the picture. (My octopus and sting ray pictures both ended up blurry)

If you choose to drive, first pray. If you are not a prayerful person you may become one after driving on St. Thomas and St. John. Make a promise that the driver does not get mad at the passengers and the passengers can not get mad at the driver. Plan on getting lost and taking wrong turns. If you rent a car with 4 wheel drive - don't forget to use it. Stay Left. Go Slow. Let everybody pass and honk at you. Watch out for the bus and Fed Ex guy. Do not site see and drive at the same time - often times there are no guard rails.

Pack lightly because you have to drag your luggage around with you in the hot sun at the airport. Ladies - there is no point in taking a curling iron - way too much humidity.

Bring zip lock bags and keep your toothbrushes in one.

Don't waste the water it is very precious to them. On the same note don't get bummed out when it rains. All the locals are really happy and in good moods.

Use something to protect yourself from the biting bugs.

Enjoy your time in paradise.

THANKS SO MUCH!!!!!!!

First, let me say thanks for taking the time to share your vacation with all of us...I read the entire thing and almost felt like I was there with you. My girlfriend and I will be down in St Thomas in two weeks and can't wait...All she wants to do is lay on the beach and all I want to do is go fishin with the locals and have maybe one or two cocktails...lol. Overall, we intend to be lazy for a week. We didn't rent a condo, but booked a room at Pleasant Point resort. It should be a great time and I look forward to sharing our vacation with you all shortly after we return to the Motor City.

David: Point Pleasant IS a condo. 🙂

Great trip report! I enjoyed reading it very much.

Ditto on the curling iron..I didn't even pull my curling iron out of my suitcase except for one time when we were going to go to dinner at Agave Terrace. Otherwise, my hair was pulled into a ponytail all week. 😉

TERRIFIC Report! Thank you so much for taking the time to chronicle your vacation! I'll be printing it out and bringing it with me for reference!

I am also considering Juliana's Unit 3C for my PMV to STT in October and would LOVE to see your pictures of the condo. If you could, please email to me at: [email protected] (note, 3 ns). For some reason, I can't PM you.

Thanks in advance!

I think you have to register as a user to send private messages. I'll send you an email with pictures.

I've been reading a lot on this board, since we will be leaving for our honeymoon on St. Thomas in only 5 weeks. Will be our 4th visit to the island and we will be staying at Julianna's condo 3c for the 4th time as well. We both LOVE the view from the porch of condo 3c and the way Julianna keeps her condo's stocked is absolutely fantastic. Living in The Netherlands it takes us almost 24 ours and a lot of plane changes to get to St. Thomas yet that won't hold us back!
Try condo 3c at Cabrita point for you holiday later this year. You won't be dissappointed, we NEVER were last couple of years! If you would like me to send you some of our pictures of the view and the interior of the condo, just let me know.
Sunny greetings from Holland!
Yvonne