I apologize in advance - I'm famously long winded (and this is my edited version!).

Day One
Mostly traveling and settling in at the Hotel Caravelle on the waterfront in downtown Christiansted. Hit the obligatory happy hour at Rumrunners (our “office” while on island) and had dinner (mahi stuffed with crab) at the Bombay Club. (Note to Paula: I was unsuccessful in obtaining the house creamy garlic salad dressing, but I do have a possible lead on a former employee who might have it).

Day Two
Local friends picked us up and took us to the Full Moon Bar at Cane Bay for brunch. We waited an hour and a half AFTER placing our order before being served, and they were not as busy as I’ve seen in the past. At least they comped our drinks for the wait, but the staff did not check on us often, even though the kitchen was beyond slow, and we really could have run up our drink tab. Lobster omelets were not as good as in the past, but the homefries were fantastic IMO. Thereafter went to Sunset Grille in Frederiksted for a drink, then to K-Mart to purchase our liquor. Dinner at Rumrunners, our “office”.

Day Three
Breakfast at Shenanigan’s in the Pan Am Arcade, then waited for Tan Tan Tours http://www.stxtantantours.com/ . First we went to the east end, where we took a right turn off road, just past Cramer Park and the satellite dish, to go up Goat Hill. When I say “off road” I realllllly mean “OFF ROAD” – it’s a rutty two track cut that ascends at about 45 degrees in places, and those in the outside seats of the jeep need to wrap their arms to protect against thorns and branches. At the top you are able to see ALL of the east end and, looking west, most of the island stretching out before you, including both the north and south shorelines. The descent was equally steep and, at the bottom we heard a loud CLUNK which continued, to which my sister remarked, “That can’t be good”. It wasn’t – the rear wheel drive shaft had fallen off and gotten stuck (and this is a part that is about 15” long and 3” in diameter). Fortunately, the jeep was still drivable to our next destination – the Divi Resort for a quick pit stop. Thereafter we swung back towards Christiansted to trade jeeps and to pick up our lunch. Heading west we stopped at the Spratnet beach bar at Cane Bay for a quick swim (if you wanted) and another pit stop. Then another long climb up Blue Mountain (west end) for lunch at the highest point on St. Croix. The next stop was the Butkin (I think that’s the name) sugar mill, which has a beautiful location, where Wave Phillips (the tour guide and owner) offered a history lesson and it began to rain. The next drive was also steep, both uphill and down, as we headed to the Annally Bay tidal pools on mud-slick trails through the bush at 45 degrees! Upon reaching the site (kinda, sorta) you need to hike over a relatively short but extremely challenging route of small river-stone-like rocks of about 3-5” diameter, numerous boulders, and several climbs straight up. Wave and his drivers are expert at this and helped everyone, even those of us who are short and “of a certain age” make these climbs and descents into the far pools, and I got used to the fact that much younger men needed to push my a** up ascents of almost 90 degrees. THE POOLS ARE INCREDIBLE! Unfortunately, I couldn’t take my camera in that far, so there are no pictures really good pictures. The locals felt the water was cool, but we’re from upstate NY, so it was fine and we were allowed to stay there a good long time. Then, of course, we needed to retrace our route out of the pools and back up and down the treacherous trails that brought us in. From there we went to the Mt. Victory Camp to see the rare and endangered red-footed tortoises http://www.mtvictorycamp.com/farm.html#tortoises and then a quick swing through Frederiksted, which enabled us to see the revitalized waterfront. Finally, we ended up at the Domino Club in the rain forest, where I’ve already mentioned that the beer-drinking pigs must have been in rehab because there had been no beer (NA) delivery. With Wave’s help I was finally able to score a bottle of the mamawanna (local rum with bush herbs and honey), so I’m a happy woman. Returned to town too late for happy hour 🙁 but split the Bombay Filet at the Bombay Club for a $5 plate charge.

NOTE: For those that have asked, the tidal pools are also accessible via a relatively moderate (for the most part) 35-minute hike from the Carambola, however the last hundred yards are quite treacherous/strenuous/challenging. But, the men with Tan Tan Tours were superb in guiding and assisting a very diverse group into the far pools and it was SO worth the entire price of the full day trip. Trust me, I have spinal fusion and arthritis, if I can do it you can. One thing further – bring water socks, you will need them. Also, I don’t know if it applies if it doesn’t rain, but we needed to wash the mud out of everything we wore (small price to pay!).

Day Four
Breakfast at Shenanigan’s again, then some pool time (finally) before meeting friends at Rumrunner’s for lunch. More pool time in the afternoon, followed by happy hour at Rumrunners (of course) and dinner at Luncheria, where good Tex-Mex food and an adult beverage can be had for less than $10 pp, depending on your appetite, and where we always enjoy chatting with the bartender and the owner. Went in search of a party, but the places along the boardwalk were either too crowded or tool loud, so we sat out at the hotel upper deck with a nightcap and listened to the Irish band playing nearby.

Day Five
Walked over to The Golden Rail restaurant in Gallows Bay to meet more local friends for breakfast. Then some quick shopping at Up Island (great cotton) underneath Tutto Bene restaurant. Back for some pool time and to “case” a few of the local stores for future purchases. Then another happy hour (dang!) at Rumrunners, where we were meeting friends who were just arriving on island, including thoogie and his wife (whom we’ve met in previous years) from the relocation board. Stayed there for dinner. Couldn’t find a party that night so retired for the evening.

Day Six
Had breakfast in the room. It was kind of gray so we did most of our shopping that day. We had leftovers from Luncheria which we “nuked” for lunch, and asked a friend to forsake her husband’s chess tournament and come in and join us for the evening. Happy hour and dinner at Rumrunners (the path of least resistance) again, then went over to The Mix restaurant at the Holger Dansk (hotel) to listen to Finnegan’s Wake, the Irish band, again only closer this time. Had a real nice chat with the band members (all from Dublin) when the set ended, then folded for the evening.

Day Seven
Up for breakfast at Shenanigan’s again (did I mention that it’s cheap, quick, friendly, delicious and ultra clean?). We had hoped to hit a beach with our friend from the previous night, but back at the pool we were joined by thoogie, his wife and more local friends, so that was great. Floated and ate munchies all day long (hey – it’s hard work but somebody’s gotta do it!), then hit happy hour (all together now) at Rumrunners again before heading up to the Bombay Club for dinner.

Day Eight (last day)
Up for the Saturday brunch served at Shenanigan’s where I had an excellent crab cakes benedict served in less than 1/10th the time it took at Cane Bay. Then back to the room to get into our garb for the St. Patrick’s Day parade. It’s important to know that EVERYONE dresses for this, even if you’re not a participant. We apparently out-did ourselves this year and actually received an ovation from the entire restaurant when we cut through Rumrunners. We were joined by friends from on and off island for the parade, which was as wonderfully silly as always. Then back to the hotel to check out and to grab lunch at “the office” before a taxi to the airport (our flight was at 5:00). Sadly, we would pass like ships in the night with Sandcrab (from this board), as his flight was arriving at 6:00, and we were also unable to connect with Linda J –definitely next time. Uneventful flights back, and we returned to a snowfall amounting to about 6-8 inches – welcome home!

Misc. Notes: We used Off Sportsman with 100% DEET and for the first time had zero bug bites. I wouldn’t use it every day, but I figured that seven evenings wasn’t going to kill me. Although liquor is cheapest at K-Mart, we’ve decided in the future to buy in Christiansted – for the small difference in price (maybe $6 for the case) we’d prefer to have the extra time rather than shop for liquor. For that same reason we’re also among those folks that bring our own snacks and mixers – we save the liquor cartons from the previous trip and use them to bring our mixers down (although it does look like we're "bringing sand to the beach").

That’s all for now, folks!