These boards were so helpful in my trip planning, I thought it'd be nice to give a little
back. And, since we only stayed 5 nights, this allows me to relive the whole experience.

TRANSPORTATION
Flew in non-stop to STT from JFK. Told the dispatcher at the taxi stand that we were going
to Red Hook and he directed us into a van. The ride was about 45 minutes. Even though we
only had small backpacks (which we kept on our laps the whole time), the driver charged us
$14 each, same rate as another couple who had three huge suitcases. So I'm not really sure
how the whole baggage fee works. Caught the 2 pm ferry ($5 each) and arrived on STJ around
2:20. On our way back to STT, we took the 11:15 Charlotte Amalie ferry ($10 each) and the
cab ride from there to airport was I think $6 each. We got to the airport around 12:30. We
got a Jeep Wrangler from St. John Car Rental. They were friendly and efficient. Island roads
were steep, hilly, and require constant attention, but overall not too bad.

LODGING
Rented the Honeymoon Cottage from Terry Witham. The house is private, has fantastic views,
and is conveniently located on the North Shore about halfway between Cruz Bay and Coral Bay
(although a tad closer to Coral Bay). Some features of the house we particularly enjoyed:
hot tub, gazebo with a lounging bed, deck, beautiful bathroom and outdoor shower, washer/
dryer, and a soft four-poster bed. You definitely need 4WD to get up that road though. The
house was maybe a 5-7 min. walk to Francis Bay. Terry was very nice and great to work with.
She gave us a warm welcome and made it feel like we were staying at a relative's place.

BEACHES/ACTIVITIES
We got to Trunk Bay at 8:30 and stayed until 11. This might be blasphemous, but we actually
thought Trunk was overrated. It's a nice, long beach but we thought there were way prettier
ones to be found on STJ. By 11 am, it was starting to get too crowded for our tastes, so we
moved on to Salomon. Parked by the National Park sign on Route 20 and hiked down from there.
Took maybe 20 minutes. I thought Salomon was beautiful. A quintessential tropical beach. We
were there for 2 1/2 hours until 2 pm. Despite its reputation as a 'nude' beach, there was
only one topless woman there. 15 people on the beach at most, but many were alone, leading
us to dub Salomon "the beach for people with no friends". No offense intended.

The next day, we got to Hawksnest a little after 9, but there already several groups there.
Don't know why, but it just felt really crowded. We found Little Hawksnest (walk all the
way to the left side of Hawksnest then climb over the rocks), which was super private, but
only stayed for 15 minutes. Boyfriend was bit by a crab as soon as he got in the water, so
that just made us a little wary and uncomfortable there. Arrived at Gibney around 10, and
were the only ones there. Boyfriend later declared this to be his favorite beach. Sand was
super soft and the scenery was beautiful. We stayed until 3 and the whole time, there were
at most only 5 or 6 other people on the beach. Gibney did seem to get less sun though.

Next day, we had to try a few beaches before finally settling on one. Headed to Cinnamon
first thing, but took one look and decided to leave. The waves were huge compared to other
beaches we'd played at. Then moved on to Jumbie, which Boyfriend immediately hated. He said
there was too much seaweed on the beach and way too many rocks in the water. (Can you tell
at this point that we were getting ridiculously spoiled by the SUPERB beaches on STJ?) So
we decided to try Honeymoon. Parked at the Caneel Bay resort and walked there. This was
another beautiful beach. Stayed for five hours from 10 to 3. Not too crowded here, except
for a snorkeling excursion that showed up. They mostly kept to themselves on one end of the
beach and were gone in an hour or so. As we were leaving, we did see another boat approach.

Our last full day on the island, we were both a little sunburned and beached out, so we just
drove around. Went to the East End, stopped by the overlook at Chateau Bordeaux, and checked
out Peace Hill. We eventually couldn't stay away from the beaches, and went to Francis Bay
for an hour or so. We had also played at Francis for a little while the day we arrived. The
sand here was really soft, maybe the softest of all the beaches we visited on STJ. Francis
was great for seeing wildlife, and we didn't even snorkel. Fishes just circled our feet and
we saw tons of those fish that jump out of the water (don't know what they're called). For
all that, I wasn't a huge fan of Francis. The water just wasn't that brilliant, blindingly
shade of blue I love. It was more of a darker blue-green. And the scenery made me feel like
I was at a lake. It's a great beach, but just didn't have that tropical feel to me.

RESTAURANTS
Since we were at the beach most of the day, we usually just ate one huge meal at dinnertime.
First night was Aqua Bistro. Delicious. One of the best meals of our trip. The atmosphere
was also really nice. Little wrought-iron tables scattered about the courtyard in a garden-
like setting. Bill came to nearly $80 with a shared appetizer, two entrees, and a Coke and
iced tea. Ate at Uncle Joe's BBQ the next night. $10.95 for a huge rib platter that comes
with your choice of 2 sides. A great value and really good ribs too. Next night, we ate at
Shipwreck Landing during their 4-6 menu. I think the pre-tip bill came to around $40 for a
shared appetizer, cheeseburger, fish sandwich, non-alcoholic drinks, and dessert. The food
wasn't bad, good for a casual meal. Ate at Morgan's Mango the next night. We thought the
food was a step above generic chain restaurants like Applebee's et. al., but definitely not
worth the higher price. Bill was around $80 for our usual shared appetizer, entrees, drinks
routine, but Aqua Bistro was infinitely better. Heard from a local that Morgan's used to be
really good, but the chefs left and took their recipes with them, and moved to Rhumblines.
Even though we were both pretty disappointed by the food, I must admit that the service was
top-notch. No less than 3 different people stopped by our table to ask how we were doing.

Drove out to Vie's Snack Shack the last day for some garlic chicken and homemade iced tea.
Her honey johnnycakes are to die for. Definitely worth the drive out there. Stopped by Deli
Grotto, where we split a sandwich and smoothie. The smoothie was delicious, the sandwich...
not so much. I like my paninis really grilled and flat, and this just wasn't. Last dinner
was at Miss Lucy's, super delicious. Shared app, two entrees, drinks, and dessert came to
exactly $80 after tip. I'm usually not a fan of fried fish, but the batter was really light
and flavorful. The plantains and mashed sweet potato sides were also favorites. Grabbed
breakfast at Chilly Billy's the last day before our ferry. Bill was $25 for two breakfast
platters and drinks. Everything was pretty good, home fries were delicious. Only thing was
that our pancakes were kind of sour. Not like rotten milk sour, but just strangely sour for
pancakes. Had to drench them in syrup to mask the sour taste. Neither of us really felt like
sending them back, plus we thought maybe that was just their way of making them?

LAST TIPS
Sand fleas are no joke! We were on the beach the first day until 5 or so (sans bug spray)
and were eaten alive. After that, we were pretty vigilant about getting off the beach by 3
and spraying DEET everytime we went out at night. Good thing was that even though we each
probably had a hundred bites, they weren't too too itchy. Not like we couldn't get to sleep
at night because we were furiously scratching. They were annoyances, not vacation-ruiners.

Weather reports showed showers for every day of our vacation. Like all newbies, we were
worried, but then saw that it was bright and sunny every day. Only time it really showered
was our last day, and even then it wasn't enough to keep us indoors. Our last night, it
rained pretty violently for about 5 minutes then stopped. So screw the weather report. Even
if it does rain, it'll probably be done and over with before you even noticed.

I probably won't be checking back too often, but feel free to post any questions and I'll
try my best to answer them. And to all the regular posters, thanks for all your help!