Margy’s Trip Report – St. Croix 2009 – April 1418-30 - Hubs and I, April 14-23 - Part 3 – Apr 15-18

Wednesday, April 15:

I wish lunch could last forever...(Jimmy Buffett)

Would love for this to be a total villa gravity day but after checking what we brought with us and what we picked up at K-Mart and Plaza Extra there are still a few things we need – veggies, fruit, mix for the blender, more importantly, liquor. We shoot the morning baking our bones around Island Time’s pool and then head west to make stops at Gallows Bay and Sunny Isle.

At Gallows Bay we decide to try the No Bones Café for lunch – it’s on our list of restaurants we have not yet tried. STX has a lot of really good restaurants – way too many to try them all on one trip. This is our third time here and we are still working our list. No Bones is located in one of the smaller streets back behind Schooner Bay Market. Sticking with my plan to pamper my sick ol’ self with comfort food, I had an excellent Reuben. Hubs loves soup – doesn’t matter how warm the day. He had a hearty chicken noodle soup and a burger. All very good – tasty and generous portions and the fries were especially crispy-tasty. Small place but very comfortable, icy a/c, very good friendly service and a nice menu.

Stopped at Schooner Bay Market in Gallows to take a look at their veggies and fruits before heading on to Cost-U-Less so we would have a back-up source if C-U-L was between containers. Enough of stalling here in Gallows, it’s time to head on into C’Sted and brave finding a 3 digit road called 708 which will take us around to Sunny Isle from the east. As we were pulling out of Schooner I looked up longingly at the state of construction for the new “bypass” road around C’Sted. I can’t wait until it is finished but fear it is years away. I am usually Hubs’ navigator on STX and I have some kind of a mental block with getting to Sunny Isle coming from the east end straight from 82 and through town. The whole Company Street through C’Sted, to King Street out of town, to 70, to 708, then back to 70 gives me total brain freeze. I can’t count how many times we have made a loop on 70 because we have missed the turn off onto 708 – and, vice versa on the return trip. This year we are determined to get that down, if nothing else. Of course, it doesn’t seem to help that both 70 and 75 (King Street) start and stop and then pop up again in different places on the island. And, no, STX residents, it does NOT help me to call them by their road names – Centerline, Schmenterline – roads should not just stop and then start up again three miles away. I know, I know, it’s all part of the charm - grrrrrrr. I'm from Chicago – it amazes me that I can figure out Archer Avenue but yet can’t get this right but I am determined to get this as I will be one of the drivers when the girlfriends come down.

We head through C’Sted and stop at Sonya’s on Company Street to drop off Hubs’ hook bracelet for a major cleaning and shine-up. We do find 708 West and get to Cost-U-Less without any problems. Nice selection of fruit and veggies and bakery. We hunt for the Myers Rum that has always been such a good price on STX and find 1 liter bottles for $12! Myers is my fave so we load up to bring at least 5 home and we also get some bottles of Cruzan Rum Cream for $12.99. Great scores on the liquor but I am pooped and hacking like a 3-pack a day’er so we head back to the villa. Of course, we miss the 708 East turn and after doing the loop d’loop again we just give up and take the Southside Road back east, repeating our route from the airport. I am going to GET THIS, but not today, obviously. When we see a landmark or a turn-off we keep saying “Oh, yeah, we’ve been lost THERE” – double geesh. I have to believe that this is not nearly as difficult as we seem to be still making it on our third visit.

On the Southside Road we pass several bicyclists who are training for the St. Croix Half Ironman Triathlon – a race with a notorious climb called “The Beast”. The race is May 3. Twenty-one miles into the bike portion of the race, The Beast is a 600-foot climb in a stretch of highway 7/10 of a mile long with an average grade of 14 percent and a maximum grade of 18 percent. Whew! I really don’t mind driving behind these really fit guys for awhile – Hubs doesn’t share my enthusiasm so he goes around them. Rats – just when the view was getting good - - throw a bone to the sickie, willya? Hubs says there’s no reason to elevate my temperature again so we speed up and press on east.

I am perking up a bit after the bicyclists so as we are coming east through Coakley Bay we decide to take the turn-off at the Due’ construction site. I’m not sure of all the details but from what I hear, an attorney named Due’ who is rumored to have done well litigating against the tobacco companies is building a new gorgeous manor home and several other buildings, like a gatehouse, on the site of what appears to be an old sugar plantation. The site is between Coakley Bay and Carden Beach. On our first trip we noticed that the first thing they appeared to have done was to put up a columned iron fence and plant gorgeous flamboyant. As construction sites go this one is very pretty as everything is happening behind that long beautiful fence of flowers. We head down the construction entrance road and take some pix of the ruins on the property:

As we are heading down the road it dawns on me that this must be the road Paula on TA told me will take us to the Coakley Bay Beach so we head down further to check it out and we do find a gorgeous long stretch of beach. We don’t go all the way in but decide we’ll be back to spend some time here:

Light dinner at the villa late afternoon – some nice homemade grilled chicken quesadilla with mushrooms and black olives. Sailing school was in session so we watched from Island Time’s deck- like widescreen TV with a built-in breeze.

Thursday, April 16

Oh, boy, up very early and not a very good morning for me. Coughed like Camille with consumption the entire night and am really dragging it around this morning. Had an easy swim and some juicy grapefruit while waiting for the meds to kick in and Hubs to see the light of day.

Hubs decided to cook a big breakfast/brunch in this morning – cheesy eggs, bacon, hash browns. He’s a great breakfast cook, that Hubs! Coffee with some Cruzan Rum Cream – heaven!

They say the sky above is Caribbean blue…(Enya)

After that big feed we decide to waddle on over to Coakley Bay Beach for some sun so we pack up Island Time’s beach chairs, our Neat Sheet, and a cooler with some Red Stripes and head over to find ourselves a spot. This is not a manicured beach – it’s kind of unkempt, except where Big Beard back anchors their cat for the beach bbq that’s part of their full day Buck Island excursions. But it’s a nice long stretch right across from Buck Island and today is one of those 1000 watt sunshine days where the blues are so blue and the sand is so white is hurts your eyes. The winds are very high on STX right now – we’ve heard them referred to as “Christmas Winds” because December is generally the time when there are winds like this. To the west we can see a couple of kite boarders maneuvering out in the winds and chop. It’s great here, we’re the only ones sitting on the beach on this weekday, all we can feel is breeze. We hang around until Big Beard’s cat Renegade arrives from Buck Island to set up for their lunch. By that time, we’ve had enough sun and wind (and we're out of Red Stripes) so we head on back to the villa:

Tonight is the annual Taste of St. Croix, hosted at the Divi. We don’t have tickets this year. The first year we visited St. Croix we were lucky enough to snag tickets online. This event is a great way to sample small plates from the various restaurants on STX and samplings from the various wine and spirits purveyors as well as support the St. Croix Foundation. The Taste of St. Croix has grown over the years to include a full week of events – wine symposiums, dinners & tastings at various restaurants, and cork & fork events hosted at private homes with celebrity chefs and winemakers. Most of the restaurants on STX will be closed tonight or open with limited menus as most of the chefs and their crews will be working the event. The crew from Tutto Bene always has a creative whimsical display – the year we went they had a model train running tiny desserts around on the flat cars through a mill of crostini and across a bridge over a green olive river. These guys always have a great sense of humor and the tastings they bring are excellent – it’s always a popular booth.

We have a yummy roasted chicken and some tasty sides from the deli at Schooner Bay Market so we are provisioned to hunker in for the night. Survivor’s on the tube and the blender’s a’whirring!

Friday, April 17

Geesh, two bad nights / mornings in a row. I had some plans for the day but Hubs overrules me and thinks I should just give in to villa gravity and take it easy for the day to try and get some traction on this damn pneu that doesn’t seem to want to give up. Hubs has been coughing more, too, so we could both probably use a down day. Napping on the lanai by Island Time’s pool – pretty tough prescription to take.

Late in the afternoon we take a ride over to the Divi for a drink at the beach-side bar and to check out the location of a villa I am curious about – it is on the same curve of white sand beach as the Divi. I always try to see a few villas while on vacation. I guess I’m always thinking 2-3 trips ahead and I often get asked for recommendations, villa junkie that I am, so I like to see how the reality matches the pictorial - lol. The location of the villa looks really good so I am going to try to tour this one, if possible – it’s called Sugar Bird Rest. We finish our drink at the Divi and head back north over to Duggan’s Reef on the Reef Beach for dinner. Duggan’s seems to get mixed reviews but we have never had a bad meal there. Their specialty is fresh-caught Caribbean lobster. They do several lobster dishes with pasta and one with whiskey that folks rave about. I’m a carnivore and so am disappointed that the filet is gone from the menu so I order rack of lamb on our waiter’s recommendation and find it a huge portion, seasoned and cooked to perfection. Hubs gets grilled local Mahi and is in heaven. The service was really good and one of the wait staff turns out to be a lady we met yesterday while she was walking on the beach at Coakley while were getting some sun. We catch up with her for a few minutes talking about different island restaurants and then call it a night.

Saturday, April 18

SHOPPING DAY! Sure glad I rested up yesterday! We head on into C’Sted to pick up Hubs’ bracelet at Sonya’s and I can’t wait to try to do some damage there. As we pass Smoky’s Gas Station & Roti Stand on 82, next to Chicken Charlie’s Road House I see some canopies set up and some pretty cotton garments blowing in the breeze. It’s the Asha line. I’ve heard about this line but have never seen it. She has the softest Indian cotton batik garments and pareos and accessories. We brake and back on up. This is the kind of stuff you see folks wearing in the islands out and wonder why you can never find something similar. She has dresses, slacks, tops, pareos, scarves. The material is the thinnest and softest cotton I have seen and the batik is well done. I get a beautiful new pareo – white with silver dragonflies, and a white cotton bag with black embroidery. I salivate at the gorgeous metal jewelry she has out on a table but I want to see how much damage I do at Sonya’s first. She tells us that she will be back here next weekend so I plan to come back and bring the girls as they will be ehre by then.

The day is off to a great retail start and Hubs gets an idea of what he is in for as we get to the Golden Rail in Gallows Bay marina for breakfast and I chatter on about what I want to see at Sonya’s. Breakfast is good – liked the home fries; service is friendly and quick – the number of boats in the marina is staggering. We can see just the top of the high mast of the Roseway in the distance and talk about taking an afternoon sail on her.

We get to Company Street in C’Sted and snag a parking spot right in from of the Twin Cities Coffee Shop next to Sonya’s. As we walk into the jewelry store Hubs reminds me to “keep left” – all of the sterling and two-tone jewelry is on the left and the solid gold pieces are on the right – lol. Hubs’ hook bracelet is finished being tuned up and comes out looking brand new. Hmmmm – I decide that my new bracelet should be a two-tone original hook to add to my Hurricane Marilyn and Kisses & Hugs. Three trips, 3 hook bracelets – works for me. I also snag a really sharp geometric ring – I think it’s called the Lia. Next, across Company Street to Kicks for some Islands Hawaii flip flops, then to the huge sale at Island Tribe. Island Tribe has some great faux coral jewelry. Faux coral is just fine with me – all of the look without messing up the reefs. I get a few things – the sale is just too good, and I think I am about retailed out for the day. I just don’t have the stamina yet to keep going like I want to – I keep looking for a chair.

A nice example of the buildings in downtown C’Sted:

The day is so beautiful and there’s a great breeze– since we are this far east in town we decide take the short walk over to the fort and get the launch out to Hotel on the Cay out on Protestant Cay in the middle of the C’Sted Harbor. We have never been out there but have heard really good things about it so we want to try lunch there. The launch is waiting at the dock near Fort Christiansvaern – I think it was $2 per person round trip for non-guests. I start thinking about Herman Wouk’s book “Don’t Stop the Carnival” and how some think that this is the hotel depicted in the book.

The ride was a little choppy but I managed to take a few pictures:

The beach at HOTC:

Taken from the launch, the Fort and some of the national historic site buildings, and east to Gallows Bay –the normally turquoise water was pretty green due to the algae plume:

government houses

We walk around a bit at HOTC – there seems to be a lot of repair activity going on. It looks like they have some type of a pretty pond with a waterfall but it is empty right now and undergoing repairs. We check out the pool and beach areas and decide to sit out of the sun for a bit and have a drink. Our server tells us that the season has been slow and that they are into their off-season maintenance activities a bit earlier than usual.

It's getting pretty warm out here and I am beginning to fold up like an old card table so we decide to just grab the launch and head on back to the villa and have lunch on the way east – at the Shores of Chenay Bay, where we meet the “Big D” (Damon). It was a madhouse there – it was only the Big D and one busboy – D had all of the tables, including a table of 20, was tending bar, making blender drinks by the pitcher-full and also had the walk-ups from the beach. It was waitstaff bedlam. We ordered, then time was dragging and dragging (even for relaxed island time) and from our table in the gazebo we could see what was going on – the Big D was on his own but still trying to keep the whole place happy. “D” looked to be so in the weeds – running around like mad while the busboy was a ‘chillin on his cell. Hubs got up to try to go to the window and see if he could at least get our food to give the “D” a hand, but this really teed off the Big D – lol. He protested that this was how he worked and he was in a groove. OK, but it looked like Chenay was working him to death. Before we left we kissed and made up for our faux pas of trying to help (he thought we were dissing him – we definitely were NOT) and I promised to give him a shout out online as he told us that he has been mentioned on all of the travel forums. Big D – you ROCK - but try not to burn yourself out - OK?

The food was pretty good and very well-priced. We had jerk chicken wings and a grilled chicken sandwich with provolone. We’ve stopped At Chenay several times for a late afternoon snack before and enjoyed those jerk wings. My only complaint this visit – they no longer stock Red Stripe. Carib is good, too, though!

From the gazebo at The Shores:

We head on back to the villa for afternoon sun and to try to catch the Bulls game. Dinner in at Island Time tonight, time to clean up some yummy leftovers.

Next, Part 4: Chef Jill, villa tours, sunset cruise on the Roseway, Carambola and Off the Wall