Day 1 - Travel Day / Wednesday / June 29

Let me preface this by noting that the day before we departed, which had been reserved for slow packing, handing off responsibilities at work (I work from home, so at least I didn't have to be in the office all day) and gathering last-minute info (Ship schedule, ferry schedules, etc) was marred by every kind of crisis imaginable at work. At one point my boss and I had to laugh about it all as we lamented over "the pre-vacation curse". Luckily, at exactly 5PM, I turned on my "out of office reply" in email, recorded my "vacation" voicemail greeting "Hi, I'm gone for TWO weeks, PEACE!" LOL (not really, but CLOSE!

So, laundry washing and packing commenced and continued until about 2:30am. Each time I went to bed, I would lay awake and think of things I had forgotten to pack. I would then get up and go pack them because I thought I might forget if I wait til morning. Iam NOT a morning person. We had a 10am flight out of Philly - non-stop to STT.

The airport experience was smooth and uneventful.

The plane ride was pretty bumpy most of the time. Our pilot was good about keeping us informed of what was going on and how long to expect the bumps. The flight attendants had to remain seated most of the time. As we approached STT the pilot advised everyone that we could expect moderate to severe turbulence because of a storm in the area. He said everyone had 5 minutes to go to the bathroom, etc and get buckled in. He also said he was going to try to go around the storm. We saw huge funnel looking clouds off in the distance and I was pretty nervous. But, our pilot must have done a good job of going around the weather because we never did experience any turbulence - not even a bump. We circled STT and came from the East in with Charlotte Amalie on the right, then made a sharp U-turn and landed smoothly. The passengers clapped.

Ok, so now for the good stuff -

We exited the plane in the rain and I could see all of the departing passengers sitting in the terminal, looking sad - as I knew I would be in 2 weeks. I was thankful to be on the starting end of my trip, as opposed to the finishing end.

We entered the terminal and I thanked the lady for my rum punch. My son, who just turned 18, took his first rum punch. A local guy standing nearby noticed my son's huge grin and said "ok, don't get too drunk now!" and everyone laughed. We walked to the Avis counter, which was crowded, and got our car assignment pretty quickly. The Avis counter was efficient and friendly. (Note: There is a twist to the Avis rental that I'll get to at the very end of the report, as things were not as they seemed) The gave me a discount because they didn't have the car size I reserved with my upgrade and corporate plan. We got a Suzuki Aerio (new - 2600 miles on it -very nice car - CD player - excellent transmission and brakes, which are important on STT).

My son and daughter were over at the baggage claim collecting our bags. By the time I went over, they had everything and off we went. We got into the car and called our host to let him know we had arrived and were on our way to the house (we are staying in the guest house of a friend on Estate Peterborg). Waterfront traffic was a little heavy, as usual. We took the left at route 35 (I still laugh that STT has routes!), climbed the bill, curved down past the STT Dairy Farm and headed up Peterborg. Our host was so kind - he had stocked our guest house with snacks, rum, wine, coffee, fruit, water, etc. We unpacked, grabbed snacks, I made a rum drink and off we went to take a drip in Megans Bay, which is less than 5 mins away by car. By the time we reached Megans, the entry fee collection hut was closed, so we just drove right in and headed to our favorite spot under the last sea grape tree to the right. As soon as we entered the water we spotted a starfish in about 1 foot of water. I picked him up to show him to my daughter, and we then put him right back. Megans Bay is just beautiful and I love being there after the crowds have gone and the beach is practically empty. I find that the no-see-ums are especially bad on Megans, so we stayed in the water and just floated around in peace (well, I was floating in peace, sort of - my daughter was splashing, running, swimming, etc). I took note of the new villas being built and wondered how long it would be before Peterborg was crammed with expensive villas overlooking one another. There's so much construction going on. I also wondered why the residents of the lovely area are ok with the entry turn in the road doubling as a huge trash dump. Isn't there a better place to put trash so that the Peterborg entrance can reflect more along the lines of what's found within? Or, is there a method to the disguise?

After about 1.5 hrs of Megan's bliss, we returned to the house to shower and change for dinner. I didn't feel like traveling to the East End, so we decided to head over to what used to be Bryan's New Bar to see what it had become since changing ownership. I just LOVE the view form this place, and remembered the food being especially good. It's now called "The North Drop" and the pool tables have been replaced by additional dining tables inside. We were seated out on the balcony. The tables and chairs are made form a beautiful, polished wood. They each have an umbrella and there are torches burning along the rail. The view is incredible. Our waitress was super-friendly and helpful. They have a children's menu with items in the $6 range. My D ordered chicken fingers and fries, my son ordered beef noodle soup, chicken Caesar salad a side of seasoned rice and I ordered The North Drop combo (penne pasta, spicy sausage, grilled chicken and large shrimp in a creamy vodka/tomato sauce - YUMMMM) Everything was good and my son wound up eating some of my dinner after he finished his because mine was so good. Total bill was $58 (I had two Heinekens). They had trouble getting our credit card to go through and the waitress came to ask if we were using a new card or something (HELLO - THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR ON THE FIRST NIGHT OF A LONG VACATION - MY CARD DOESN'T WORK???? She asked me if I wanted her to call the service desk and I said yes, and while she was doing that she tried the card one more time and it went through. Phew!

We drove back to the house and the kids fell asleep almost immediately. I went out on the balcony to spend some quiet time looking at the stars and giving thanks for a life that allows me to be in a place like this and for the safe journey. The lights of STJ and Jost were twinkling in the distance. And, because of the earlier rain, the small creatures of the night were performing a symphony for my ears. They were making so much noise I wondered if I would be able to sleep. My worries were unfounded, I went right to sleep and

Day 2 / Thurs/ June 30-
I awoke around 8am and made coffee. The sun was already blazing on the balcony, so I drank it inside and decided to head to the food center to stock up. I made a list and my D and I headed out. My son decided to sleep in, as always. Somehow, I forgot where the food center was and we wound up at the Cost-U-Less by Home Deport. I decided to give it a try and am glad I did. MOST of the food was cheaper than what I pay at home. This is one of the bulk places, but the sizes seemed ok for 2 weeks -especially given that my son is 6'3 and bodybuilds as a hobby, so he eats like a horse - and his friend was coming down the next day and his girlfriend in a week - so I doubted that I would get away with just this one trip to the market. I stopped shopping when my cart was full and I had a hard time pushing it. Total price = $196!! Not bad!! The employees at Cost-U-Less were very friendly. They said hello as they walked around. The store seemed to be patronized by tourists and locals. We didn't have to wait in line to check out - it was fast and smooth. The woman who checked me out was really nice and apologized when she realized that my chicken had no price tag and she asked me to get another one. The guard at the door asked my D why she had a long face (my D wanted to go the beach - NOW) and told her that "there's no hurry here, honey". Cost-U-Less was a nice place with great prices. It was cool and clean inside. They also had liquor - a LOT of it. I didn't price it because our host stocked us with rum, but there were lots of people shopping in the liquor area. The only items I didn't find were lettuce and tortilla chips. At this store you have to pack your own groceries - either in boxes or bags that they give you. No problem!

We went back to the house, unpacked our groceries and changed for the beach. Our host came over and said he would later show us how to get down to Platform Beach, which excited us. My son had moved himself from the bedroom out onto the balcony and was sleeping out there when we got back. We then decided to head to Sapphire after munching of sandwiches at the house. It was 11am. My son wanted to take a run (he loves to run in the heat of the sun - go figure). I was worried because of the intense sun and the lack of sidewalks, road shoulders. But, I dropped him off just before Coki so he could run to Sapphire. He arrived just minutes after us - amazing. We found spare chairs and a spot under a seagrape tree on the resort guest side (not the cruise ship side - which is rocky, why don't ship passengers realize that the other side is sandy and easy on your feet?). It's not that the sides are designated or reserved, but ship people always seem to go to one side - which is surely fine with the resort guests. The beach was crowded and the usual fish were out. My D (7) tried snorkeling for the first time and really did it well. At one point, I went to use the ATM in the lobby of Sapphire and want to let you all know that you can only withdraw $100 at a time and you pay $2.50. I recommend using a real bank ATM where you can. It also took me 2 tries to get any money out of this expensive ATM and it was VERY slow. We stayed at Sapphire until 3:30. We left and drove to Mandahl Market to see if they had lettuce, which they did (amongst lots of other items). They were a little on the expensive side - but you pay for convenience.

Once back at the house I started dinner - hamburgers, fries, salad. It was quick and easy - and cheap!! We then went to Megans for an after-dinner swim around 6pm - again- the hut was closed so we drove right in and headed for our spot. My son wasted to try running down from the house, which he did. He said he met a few dogs along the way - the barked and came running out of their respective driveways - but no harm. A lady at Megans told us about a huge golden stingray who patrols the area near the rocks on the right. We didn't see him, but we did see a small sea turtle swimming very close to shore. Others reported seeing small stingrays in the area. There were only locals on the beach, swimming, walking, jogging - and we saw a couple of families riding bikes on the path as we came in. Everyone was in good spirits and chatted with us and/or said hello with a smile. It was like they just knew they were living such a good life and were happy about it. Megans is a popular place for locals to get their exercise and socialize in the evening.

We took cool showers and my D went right to sleep. My son and I watched some TV and I announced that I was going to bed - feeling sure that it was around 1am or so (I had no watch on and the only clock was that on my cell phone). HA - it was 10:25 - WOW, the sun and sea really whips you! I decided to try to rise early enough to see the sunrise - but had no idea what time. I set my cell phone alarm for 5:30am.

Day 3 / Friday / July 1-

When the alarm went off, I realized that I had missed the sunrise. Gheez. What time does the sunrise here? It was already bright out at 5:30. I decided to use the time to go our and gather flower cuttings from the grounds - I went around to cut flowers the areas where you don't see these flowers from the houses or the driveway - so as not to disturb my host's vision of his grounds. I also picked a couple of mangos from a heavily fruited mango tree - I also picked limes and pomegranates. The guava and bananas weren't quite ready. We now had flowers in just about every room.

Our host offered to show us the way to Platform beach. I figured we were in for a treat, I just didn't have any way of understanding the magnitude of being led to this absolutely glorious place. Platform is now my new favorite beach on STT. We decided to drive down for our first visit. Though, we realized that walking to Platform beach was possible from our location, admittedly easier on the way down than on the way back up. As we descended the steep driveway that leads to the heavily wooded path, we only saw one other car. We then started slowly down the dirt path, carefully maneuvering around rocks and shuffling our feet as we worked hard to hold our footing through the thick brush and steep decline. Finally, we rounded the last turn and there it was…..I almost couldn't move…..all of the years I had been coming to and living on STT and I never knew this place existed. I have a couple of pics to upload of this beach. The hike in is no joke. But, it's well worth it. Note: on subsequent trips we found that this beach is frequented by nudists. However, you can walk down a little and sit on other areas of the beach that are hidden by rocks, so you can either stay away from the nudists or be nude yourself in privacy. Though, beach nudity is illegal in the USVI.

We swam at Platform for a few hours in total seclusion. The only other people in sight were those who were renting Sand Dollar Estate (The villa where the Clintons stay when in STT) and they were out on their beach - which is the next beach over. We couldn't see their beach, but we could see them out in the water fishing.

The hike back to our home from Platform was a killer. Back up the path, then up the steep driveway that leads to the road, then up the road…..we had to stop and rest every so often because of the intense heat. Back at the house we showered and got ready to go pool poaching at Ritz before we went to the airport to pick up my son's friend. We drove to the Ritz and hung out at the main pool. Then we grabbed some lunch at their grill (kids chicken tenders and fries -$12 and a grilled veggie salad for me $18) and then we went to the airport. My son's buddy arrived without a hitch and we stopped at the Pueblo in town to pick up supplies for Taco salad. Back at the house I made taco salad, grilled chicken and Caribbean rice. The boys then decided that they would hit Duffy's that night. I took them at about 9 and they said they would get a taxi back. We had been warned that the taxi drivers might not want to bring them all the way back to Peterborg at 2am, but they got taxi rides without a problem. They paid $25 for two of them from Duffys to Peterborg and got in around 3am because the taxi made many other stops along the way - dropping others off.

Day 4 / Saturday July 2

This was the day we were all to head to Maho, but I was enjoying our home too much and wanted more of Platform Beach, so I told the boys they could go ahead to Maho and I would catch up with them the next day. My D and I went back to Platform in the morning. The only others there were a family of locals swimming and relaxing. We stayed for a few wonderful hours in the bright sun and enjoyed the crystal clear water of Platform. We then walked back to the house and everyone got ready to take the boys to the ferry for STJ. We also discovered what would become our favorite eating place on STT for the rest of the vacation - Burrito Bay!!!! Yummmmmmmmmy food and CHEAP! Specials were $6 or $7 - and we usually gor a curried meat, rice and a salad for $7. We must have eaten here 6 or 7 times over the duration of the trip - and even almost missed our plane on the last day because everyone decided they HAD to have Burrito Bay one last time. We dropped them off with cash and instructions on how to get a taxi for Maho. Then, my D and I went and poached the pool at Frenchman's Reef. This is a lively pool with a swim-up pool bar and a volleyball net in one part. I had a couple of rum punches ($6) at the pool bar while my D made friends with kids in the pool. We stayed there until the sun set and the cruise ship pulled out. Then we went home and heard from the boys that they had arrived at Maho. Their words were "uh, we're here, this is a little crazy, but we're here….and we aren't going out tonight, it's just too far". My D went to sleep and my host joined me for a bottle of wine and lots of talk about island life - the good and the bad. I was starting to get the "I could live here" feeling. The stars were bright the night creatures were performing their symphony. The warm and fragrant breeze was like a massage of the soul.

Day 5 / Sunday July 3

It was time to go to Maho. I wasn't too excited…..it was hot and I was really feeling lazy. But, I really wanted the experience….so off we went. We took the Boyson car barge and found them to be really friendly and easy to deal with. The woman who took my money was very friendly and wore a constant smile (she also remembered me on the way back the next and commented that I went over with her the day before - great service!). Maho wasn't hard to find, but was a trip to get to. We did not have a jeep or 4WD, so this was an adventure in itself. The road is TERRRIBLE and only one car can ride at a time….this is a problem if another car is coming the other way. Luckily, no car ever came while we were driving on the road up. We took it VERY slowly. On arrival, we checked in (WOW, this place is HOT!!) and I noticed that the cottages pretty much have no views….they're covered in thick plants and trees. Our cottage was also just below the bath house (toilets) which gave us an interesting aroma every so often. The people who worked at Maho were really, really nice. We put our bag in our cottage, said hi to the boys and went to the Maho store to buy drinks and snacks. The prices seemed reasonable. The boys said they thought the dinner they had at the Pavillion restaurant the night before was overpriced for what they had. We rented a child's snorkel set and 2 float mats - which came to about $20. I thought the back was ok…but didn't see the big deal. Is this the beach that made the woman jump from her ship and never leave? Maybe my frame of mind wasn't right for it. I thought it was a nice beach - that's it. We cooked chicken on the propane stove for dinner and then went into Cruz Bay for the Festival music in the Carnival Village. My D and I went to Rhumblines for some of my favorite food in the USVI and then went to hear the music. We remembered that Maho would be pitch black when we returned that night, so we went to the Dolphin Market for a flashlight. We then drove back to Maho, which was REALLY a trip in the dark - and we decided to leave the bug light on in the boy's cottage so they could find their way back at 2am or whenever they would get a taxi back, as they had stayed in the Village to hear more bands. Well, leaving the light on was a mistake. I awoke at about 1am and they had yet to return to their cottage…but they had guests. There was a huge tree frog plastered to their door and the inside of the cottage was swarming with critters. There were also critters on the INSIDE of the screens of my cottage, even though my lights were off and my fan was on full blast. My D and I both felt things crawling on us that night, but we were too tired and hot to care. When the boys came home they sarcastically thanked me for leaving the light on and then they proceeded to try to catch the uninvited guests with their shirts and put them outside. Finally, they gave up, shut off the light, turned on the fan and went to sleep. It was like that commercial where the couple books a tropical vacation and wakes up in the room with all of the bugs - JUST like that. Several times that might I awoke with the feeling of suffocation - and I realized there was no breeze and the fan was blowing hot, bath house air on me.

Day 6 / Monday / July 4
The next day my D and I awoke and went to the Pavillion for breakfast. They did have a great breakfast and my D was thrilled with her Red, White and Blue French Toast. We heard a couple of people talking about scorpions in their tents the night before. Back at the tent, the boys were up and planning their day at the Carnival Parade. We were due to stay another night at Maho, but decided that we had fulfilled our obligation to experience it and wanted to check out early. Maho was gracious and refunded all but $10 of that night's cost for each cottage. I got the feeling that they were used to sissy people, like us, doing that. We longed for A/C, lack of critters en mass and the comforts of our guest home. We drove to the Carnival parade around noon, gave a ride to a couple along the way and had a great time moseying around Cruz Bay. I looked for Ronnie so I could see what Promoguy was planning for that evening, but didn't see Ronnie so we just walked around listening to music, dancing, etc. I bought the Jam Band CD off of the truck and my D had a fun time running for the candy that was being thrown. The boys were found sitting in the shade and comfort of the judge's booth watching the parade (I have no idea how they got there or why they were allowed to stay). We all had Patties from a Village vendor - yummm! When the parade ended we went to the car, drove right to the Boyson barge dock, and boarded the barge. Then we waited another hour while everyone else boarded - until a huge truck decided to board. The Boyson people wanted the big truck to be in the middle, so we ALL had to drive off and re-load so that the truck could be in the middle. "Safety First" the Boyson people were saying to everyone. It was no problem. We got back just in time to avoid the rains that came and our host greeted me with a chilled bottle of Pinot Grigio and an invitation to come sit in a big, cushioned chair on his gallery and overlook Megans Bay. Yes, this was more our speed. I did some laundry that night - as our Maho things were sweaty and dirty (and maybe buggy?). We heard the fireworks going off around 9, but nobody bothered to get up to go see if we could see them. The parade had tired us out and we were glad to be back on STT. We were also glad we had tried Maho - and VERY glad we hadn't planned an entire vacation there. Hey, if you are into nature and don't mind intense, steamy heat and creatures, this is probably an incredible spot. It just wasn't for us.

Day 7 / Tuesday / July 5
I'm having a hard time remembering what we did this day. I'm pretty sure we went to the Ritz pool again and this was the day my D met a friend, with whom she would swim ALL day. Since I was getting a little tired of being her playmate, I welcomed this opportunity to sun myself in a chair and read my book " Desiring Paradise" (about a couple who moved to STJ from the States - and their experience with it - great book!). This night was my son's friend's last night with us, so he and my son went out that night to meet up with Friends at the Ritz and then to Duffy's. This was a nice, relaxing day.

Stay tuned for Part II of my trip report - when my son's buddy leaves and his GF, the "Princess" arrives, armed with her dad's credit card and taste for Tiffany. I'll also tell you about my own shopping experience, my fun at the VI Board Jump Up on STT, my meeting Mary Fredericks, my stop at Ronnie's (of course, he wasn't there!), our vote for the #2 eating place where we ate two nights in a row, my fight with Avis, and how we wound up with an extra night on the island at Frenchman's Reef.