Margy’s Trip Report – St. Croix 2009 – April 14-30 - PART 5: The north shore, Villa D’Estasi, Hubs leaves and the girlfriends arrive.

Wednesday, April 22

Today is Hubs’ last full day on island and, unfortunately, he is still feeling a bit rocky from his time on The Roseway last night. I’m normally a compassionate person but, hey, I told him to take the Bonine (at least 3 times), I left the pills out on the counter top, I did just about everything but swallow them for him so, I’m a little short on sympathy. Our original plan was to start off at Carambola for breakfast and then sun and eat our way east – some beach time, then Off The Wall for lunch, then some more beach time, then Rowdy Joe’s for afternoon snacks, but now we will have to see how ol’ Chief Head-in-the-Bucket is doing before we try to pack in all of that. We get a bit of a late start and head to the north and west for a late breakfast at Carambola. We have heard that Lori (from the former Lori’s Deli on the east end) has the dining room at Carambola and we are anxious to see her and hear about her new locations.

Once past Cane Bay heading west on 80 (North Shore Road) we spot a curious twin-hulled vessel – the Nekton Rorqual – riding at anchor. Turns out that this is a scuba diving liveaboard that offers week long cruises to divers and snorkelers.

We get to the Carambola and the public areas are really beautiful. The Bell Tower:

Unfortunately, we have been misinformed about Lori – Lori is at the Carambola Golf Resort, not the Beach Resort. We are a bit late for breakfast but the staff takes care of us even though the dining room is empty and they are already setting up for lunch. In keeping with my fascination with ceilings this trip (what is up with that?) the ceiling in the dining room is pretty interesting:

Breakfast perks up Hubs so we walk around a bit and take a look at the exterior of the cottages. Carambola is working on updating the cottages and we notice a couple of buildings on the beach that have cracked cement footings so I guess it’s time for an overhaul. Carambola is beautiful but it’s a pretty long haul to get out and around. We spend some time enjoying Carambola’s beautiful beach. I especially like the thatched shade platforms.

The winds are really high out here on the north shore – residents are likening them to the Christmas winds. We stop at Off the Wall beach bar for some lunch – really good sandwiches and pizza by the pie or the slice. We visit a bit with the owners who relocated from Wisconsin. After spending some time on Cane Bay Beach we head on back east, hoping to stop at Rowdy Joe’s to at least try the homemade ice cream. Wednesday is the only day of the week that RJ’s is closed so we are out of luck there. Darn, we had heard that it was really good.

We stop on the way to shop for provisions for the girls’ arrival tomorrow. On the way home we see about six kite boarders at Coakley Bay. We spend the late afternoon just enjoying the pool at Island Time. Tonight is the night we are going to give the Cultured Pelican another try after our arrival night disaster dinner. We do and the experience is the Pelican we are accustomed to – everything is delicious and the service is excellent. We are so glad we came back for a second bite.

On our way back to Island Time we have a doe and fawn dart out into the road in front of us. These are the first deer we have ever seen on St. Croix.

Thursday, April 23

Up early, last swims in Island Time’s pool. We are packing up to move over to Villa D’Estasi, and enjoy a bit of time there before Hubs’ flight.

We really loved our stay here at Island Time. We take a last look around the deck and wave a final goodbye to the Contessa de Navarro in her castle up on the hill. We have been waving to her all week and waiting for the call inviting us up for cocktails. Oh, well, could be that she is traveling. I know she'll be sorry to have missed us...

Unfortunately, I received an e-mail yesterday that one of the girls is not going to be able make the trip, after all. She is based in the UK and has some job conflicts that can’t be resolved in time to travel. We are really going to miss her.

Hubs is doing yeoman’s duty packing and moving all of the stuff. We end up making two trips to fit everything into the Ford Focus. Besides our own luggage and stuff and leftovers we have picked up all of the beer, sodas, water, liquor, for us girls so we won’t have to spend much time shopping.

Before we bring our second load into D’Estasi we take a moment to stop inside the door and really look around. WOW! I toured this villa quickly last year but now I am really noticing how gorgeous it is. Like we need anything at all in addition to that white sand beach but D’Estasi is indeed a gorgeous home.

D’Estasi is on the east end, in Solitude Bay. It’s immediately off Route 82, there’s a high fence with flowering bushes, then a chain gate and you are in the parking pad. On first glance last year I had thought that this was a tiny square place and was not too crazy about it being right off a main road – I thought there would be lots of road noise, – I was very wrong, on all counts, and once in I could see the advantages of not having a long winding driveway

Clunk, the front door closed behind us. No noise at all. We were in the foyer of the great room and the central a/c was running. The cathedral ceiling is exposed wood with several ceiling fans; the atmosphere is cool and serene with Tuscan colors and lots of wood. Directly opposite are three sets of French doors out to the upper gallery where there awaits lounge chairs, ceiling fans, a huge Jenn-Air stainless steel grill and a beautiful dead-on view of Buck Island. To the right is an open staircase leading down to the lower level. In the great room there is a very comfortable leather sectional facing a large armoire housing a big cable tv, stereo surround system, dvd player, lots of movies and books. There is a powder room off the foyer and there is a laundry room backing up to the kitchen that has a new washer and dryer. The dining area has a large wood counter-height dining table with eight chairs. The view from the upper gallery is incredible – straight out to Buck Island. The kitchen is beautiful – all stainless steel and granite and custom cabinets. It’s large enough that we ladies will not trip over each other while trying to get a meal together. The stove is a five burner gas stainless steel workhorse with a dual oven. Even the small appliances are high end and the microwave is built in below counter. The fridge has ice and water on the door. The kitchen is fully equipped with just about every kind of glass, dish and gadget to make cooking and serving easier.

To the right of the entry is the large master bedroom with raised king bed, sitting area, ceiling fan and large dressing room/ bathroom with a seated vanity area, walk-in shower, and large closets. There is another large armoire with cable tv and dvd. The MBR has its own direct access to the upper gallery.

Heading down the open staircase from the great room the first thing you see is the kitchenette with French doors leading out to the pool deck. There are cabinets, counter space, sink, full stainless steel fridge, and even a microwave. Beneath the stairs is a stainless steel shelving unit with piles of fluffy beach towels and an assortment of sunscreen lotions. There are beach chairs, coolers, sand toys, pool noodles and toys, and even aqua shoes in assorted sizes. There are two additional bedrooms – one on each side of the kitchenette, each with king bed, cable tv, private bathrooms with walk-in glass block showers, large closets, and direct access to the pool via French doors. The fourth bedroom has all of these same amenities and is accessed directly from the pool deck. Lots of nice textilene furniture around the pool, including chaises, dining table, occasional tables and lots of chairs. The large pool has double stairs in the middle where you can just sit back in the water and enjoy the view.

From the pool deck, a gate leads to brick stairs down to a white sand beachfront. Although a bit more of a rocky bottom since Omar, this is definitely a swimmable beach and there looks to be the opportunity for snorkeling not too far from shore. To the left and to the right are some gorgeous homes but the beachfront belongs to all so walks up and down this beach are no problem.

More info on D”Estasi: http://www.vacationstcroix.com/DEstasi/DEstasi.html

We get squared away, grill some burgers and enjoy the gallery, deck and pool. Hubs has a 4 o’clock flight and the girls are arriving around 3, so pretty soon it’s time to head to the airport. We stop for gas in Sion Farm ($1.78 gal) and Hubs picks up a sandwich for the flight at the adjacent Subway. All of a sudden it’s pouring rain. Oh, NO, the girls better NOT be winging their way bringing bad weather from Chicago! By the time we get into the airport parking lot the skies are already clearing, though.

Things are moving slow at the AA counters today. Hubs just gets through the check-in line and ready to head into customs when I see folks coming through Arrivals – the girls’ plane is early. Perfect timing! The USVI welcome stand is open and they’re giving out little bottles of Cruzan light and dark in addition to samples of all of the flavors. We get the luggage, load up and we’re off to the east end.

Next: April 23 – 30: Sailing on the Calypso Rose, getting crabby and just horsing around