If you are going to be in St. John, you have to eat at Uncle Joe's barbeque in Cruz Bay. It's down by the "downtown" area, and the food is great and plentiful. You can eat it there or take it with you. "Uncle Joe" makes his own sauce and barbeques it in a "split barrel" right out in the open. Prices are reasonable, ribs and chicken.
The Fish Trap is a wonderful restaurant also. It's a nice sit down place with reasonable prices (for a nicer restaurant).
There are soooo many beaches... Trunk Bay is the "tourist place" and the only place where you have to pay to get in. They have a concession stand, a gift shop, a place to rent snorkel equipment, etc. They also have a lifeguard. The underwater snorkel trail there is great! Go on a day when the cruise ships are not in St. Thomas. That's where all the tourists go on that day. We usually call the park and ask when the cruise ship passengers will be inundating the beach and go another day. Hawksnest beach is where the locals hang out, but it's a great beach too! We have really enjoyed Cinammon Bay and Maho Bay too! Jumbie Bay is a little rougher, but more private.
We haven't been on the island in September, we usually go in July or August (we will be there this August...).
ENJOY YOUR TRIP!!

I loved Maho Bay, calm water, vacant beach, easy parking. Everything you want. St John is a beautiful place. I found the restaurants lacking personally. Not good food. But that's just me, spoiled from living in the midwest. Cinnamon Bay is another picture perfect beach. Renting a villa with a family is the best way to do things, we did that in June. If you feel like being adventerous I would say travel to Waterlemon Cay, near Leinister Bay. Awesome area THE BEST BEACH SCENERY, multi colored water, white sand. Just perfect. The one good place we found for restaurants was in Moongoose Junction. Nice shopping there too. Have fun.

Zozo's right there at Gallow's Point is a great restaurant... HOWEVER!! Some places will be closed in September, you will need to ask what is open...

Chateaux Bordeaux......DEFINATELY eat there at least once. It is pricy but the best food I have ever had in my life. Worth the trip - spectacular hosts and the view from the resturant is so romantic and breathtaking.

We just returned from St. John-rented a villa and LOVED it!!! We also had a good meal at the Fish Trap and also at the Balcony. We ate at Ansolare, the view was great, it was expensive, and we felt we had a better meal at the Balcony. Simple Feast is terrific for take out and deli style food. Also, Baked in the Sun is a great bakery right above Starfish Market. Really good sandwiches! We also had a lot of fun at Skinny Legs in Coral Bay- get chatty with the waitresses, bartender and the owner Moe. You will have a good time. Hope this helps.

what villa did you stay in?

We stayed in a villa in Coral Bay, nice quiet area. We used www.windspree.com
We stayed in Moon, Sun and Starts. It was cozy with a HUGE deck, beautiful views of Tortola, and Peter Island, we had a pool, it was perfect. Off season the price was good too! Easy rental process, nice people to work with.

We stayed at Sundance and rented through Cloud9villas.com. The villa had everything including washer, dryer, pool floats, pool, hot tub, tons of beach towels, beach chairs and coolers. Marcy, the property manager is great and extremely helpful. The villa was spotlessly clean and well appointed.

I will be comming to st thomas in sept. by cruise ship i would like to get married on
the beach. i have been looking on web sights but could use advice on which one i should consider. i would prefer less crowded white sand clean palm trees and blue waters. i am also bringing 20 family members with so could use help with transportation for that many trying to stay together. thank for any help. amy from michigan

I will be comming to st thomas in sept. by cruise ship i would like to get married on
the beach. i have been looking on web sights but could use advice on which one i should consider. i would prefer less crowded white sand clean palm trees and blue waters. i am also bringing 20 family members with so could use help with transportation for that many trying to stay together. thank for any help. amy from michigan

In the past, the weather in September has been great except for the few times that the island has been hammered by hurricanes and travel in that part of the Caribbean disrupted. It is peak hurricane season. If someone WANTED to experience a hurricane, that would be a good time to go, but the odds are greatly against that happening. We just don't want to chance it and stay out of the Caribbean between mid-August and mid-October. You'd be wise to invest in travel insurance in case the weather gets spooky then.

If you do go and the weather is good, it's a great time to be there. A lot less people, no waiting, cheaper rates for some things. Some places will be closed, but lots will stay open.

The point at Pretty Klip at Sapphire is very popular and can be used for weddings by calling the hotel at 340-775-6100. They can also help with the transportation from the ship. The point offers some beautiful photo ops and you do not have to use thier wedding cooridinator for the wedding.
Best of luck!
Pamela

Some other spots for beach weddings include: Magen's, Bolongo, Secret Harbour.

I would like to give a shamless promotion for the Tamarind Inn, STJ, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They have theme nights and guest chefs who bring a menu for that night.
My fellow chef, Red, and myself do Vegetarian Night on Tuesdays and New Orleans Seafood Night on Thursday. On Tuesday, we do have options for meat eaters also but we cater that night for people who enjoy good food without necessarily eating meat. We have gotten great feedback on both nights, already, and we hope anyone that is on the island can come visit us. We take pride in fresh food and scratch cooking. Feel free to email me if you are curious about the food on either of the menus.

I would also recommend Stone Terrace, Bannana Deck, Rumblines, and La Tapa for good dinner options.

Amy F.
I live on Sapphire Beach and the point I think would be the place for the perfect wedding here, I actually have been looking for a spot for a wedding with about 20 people too for a friend that is coming in October to get married and that is what I am suggesting to her.

Good Luck
miranda

Here's my two cents: Banana Deck, The Balcony, Rhumbalaya, Pannini and Fish Trap. All with excellent food. I'd avoid Tage which is more expensive and right on the main drag into town. If you sit on the balcony (aqt Tage), you get gas fumes, car radio noises and bright lights from the baseball or soccer game across the street. Inside is better, but simply not worth the extra price in my book.

When visiting the first week on Sept many restaurants will be closed. I know tage and zozo's closes on Sept 18; stone terrace closes the end of the month (not sure about fish trap, it's sister restaurant, but I could never recommend fish trap - some of the worst food i've ever had. I know a number of people have written positive things about it, but I've been 4 times and 4 years and each time, had to send food back). 10 tables is excellent, again not sure of their schedule. Banana Deck and Rhumblines should be open and they are good for what they are.

In terms of pricing, there is not much difference in prices in most of the restaurants, unless you are just getting a burger or sandwich. tage, 10 tables , zozo's may be more expensive, but only $3 or $4 more and entree and well worth it. If you go to the Balcony and get two dinners with 2 glasses of wine, it will cost $75. The same set up at Tage or Zozo's will $80 and be much, much, much better....

Paradiso, Asolare, Chateau Bordeaux and Chole and Bernard's all have new chef's. The turn over of kitchen staff at these restaurants (all owned by the same person) is out of control. And, the current chef's at paradiso, asolare and cht bdx all trained under Ted, the chef/owner of Tage. I know Chris has written more on this subject in other postings...

Lime Inn opens Sept 20; Cafe Roma opens end of Oct; Duffy's opens mid-Oct.

I'll check back later in the week and try to find out more info on closing/opening dates. Any one have a restaurant in mind, please let me know.