Sat July 8 - Left DFW early a.m., to San Juan. Flight was delayed in San Juan, so we got in late to STT. (TIP: If you want to haul liquor from San Juan, it is SO CHEAP in the Duty Free in the Airport! We did not, and wished we would've!) We rented a Jeep at Avis in STT - great service, no line, and the car was ready and waiting for us. We missed the car-ferry the first night (last one is at 7 p.m. from Red Hook), so we stayed one night on STT at Bolongo Bay Beach Resort. It was all right, not a place I would want to stay the entire trip. They have a beach-front bar with karaoke, and all-u-can-eat CRAB, so we took advantage of this, it was a fun way to spend the first night. (We had our first Presidente of many on the trip!)

Sun July 9 - Got up early to get on the road, drove to Red Hook from Bolongo and had a hard time finding the CAR ferry - it is the turn after the PEOPLE ferry at Red Hook. Went to have a burrito / coffee at a great place in Red Hook while waiting for the ferry. Everyone says the car ferry is scarry - we actually enjoyed it, nice view driving into see St John for the first time! Amazing! Our villa was on the EAST side of the island, past Miss Lucy's. Was very disappointed there was no A/C in our villa, but the view was amazing, and it was breezy on that side of the island. Stayed at Horizons Cottages (Captain's Cabin). (The outside shower was interesting - hermit crabs and all!) Immediately put on our suits, and drove to the North Side to see some beaches and snorkel. We brought our own snorkel gear (ebay special, $39 each set!), and we were so glad we did - it was so much easier to have it with us, and was light to carry in luggage. We went to Majo first - amazing, not much on the snorkeling, but not many people there, and it was such a beautiful beach. Easy place, too, to just park and jump in! We tried to go to Trunk, too many people, no parking, so we went to the next which is Hawksnest. INCREDIBLE snorkeling, beautiful coral just a few yards from the beach, beautiful brain coral, we saw all kinds of colorful fish of all sizes, conch, and squid. We spent the rest of the afternoon at Hawksnest, could not get enough! (Also not crowded!) It rained a few times during the day, but it would be very sunny in between little 5-minute downpours, so we just stayed in the water during the rains! (No lightning!) At the end of the day, we went into Cruz Bay, and bought some fresh mahi mahi and scallops at the fish market in town, and took it home to make dinner at the villa. Ahhh, so nice! Groceries - We hit Starfish Market in Cruz Bay, which was reasonable - we brought our own wine, and didn't think that wine was that overpriced there - considering the hassle-factory, I would not bring as much grocery stuff next time, and just buy it there. (We planned to stop in STT and buy groceries, but we were so ready to get to STJ, we just hurried to the ferry!)

Mon Jul 10 - Snorkeled in the morning, went to Francis Bay, so beautiful. Took lunch and some Presidente's. Saw conch, and some beautiful coral to the left of the parking lot. We were one of two couples at Francis, so nice. Took a fishing charter from STT that my husband coordinated before we left - very nice guy, was supposed to be a fly-fishing charter, but it was too windy. It was no frills, all about the fishing, mainly fishing for tarpon. We fished from 4 pm - 10 pm, then caught the ferry back to STJ. We went to Woody's for the first time (the only place open late for food), and had an incredible burger, and I had ? painkillers - ahhh, vacation! Loved, Woody's - loud but good music, fun atmosphere, good drinks and food - we had heard it was TOO crowded, we must've hit it on a good night because we had a blast - we're in our 30s, and didn't feel too old for the crowd! LONG drive back to the East side, if you plan on staying in Cruz Bay a lot, don't get a villa on the east side of the island, it's about a 45 minute drive at night, it's very curvy, hilly, driving - no exaggeration. NO PAINKILLERS OR PRESIDENTEs and driving, no exaggeration!

Tues, Jul 11 - Trunk Bay today, we just had to see it! It was truly beautiful, bright, clear day, and could see all the colors of fish and coral, we loved it. There were a lot of people there, but once you're in the water, who cares? We had a blast at Trunk, nice showers and facilities, so if you are going somewhere after, just take clothes to change. We took change, then went to catch people-ferry to STT for another fishing charter, same deal day 2, husband loved it. Mosquitos and no-see-ums were horrible! No-see-ums will get you everywhere you don't have spray! Ears, hair, they don't discriminate! They seemed to be bad in the evenings. We used almost one can of Off, and some stuff I bought from Avon that was fantastic, it's a new "Skin So Soft" spray that they have with some new Deet-free additive, it worked great for me. (Avon stuff also comes in single-use "wipes", easy to have with you at all times!) Had a snack before leaving for STT fishing at Italian place right bay ferry dock, INCREDIBLE shrimp pizza!

Wed, Jul 12 - OK, we can't stand the no air conditioning anymore - we're not primadonnas, we promise, with no A/C the mosquitos were getting in and buzzing all night, no sleep, so we splurged and booked our last night to stay at Caneel Bay Resort. Wow, so swanky, not many people there, and very, very nice - very different than our villa w/ no A/C! We hung out on the Caneel Beaches - Caneel, Scott, Turtle Bay, our last day, it was awesome. (Mango Dreams highly recommended from Caneel bar, but bring your wallet!) There are no TVs, phones in the rooms at Caneel, which was nice to just have quiet. Caneel is amzaing, amazing place to watch the sunset. We went in to Morgan's Mango for last nigh dinner, was a great meal. (2 drinks, 2 meals, 2 desserts - $100.)

Thurs, Jul 13 - Leaving today - very sad to leave this beautiful place!! Bought some "souveniers" (liqour) at the airport, duty-free was cheap, and will box it up easy to carry-on the plane. We will definiltey be coming back to St John, looking for next reason to be there, it is truly an amazing place to visit!

I tried not to get TOO detailed, and I know I left stuff out -- let me know if you have any questions about our recent visit, and I'll fill you in!

Shannon