Hello, everyone!

Got back last night from STJ. Reporting back to all of you at once through this post, as I don't know how to do it globally without posting separate posts. Maybe someone can let me know how to do that. I might reply separately to a few of you that had specific requests.

If it's any indication of how my first trip to STJ went, I had to think for a second on the elevator this morning what floor I worked on. I know, that's very sad, isn't it? I want to thank all of you for your help. Just can't put a price on the advice and tips you gave me. That is, except for "MIKE." It's too bad, "MIKE," (or whomever you are) that you find enjoyment out of being obnoxious. If you're an islander, I'm really surprised, because I didn't run across one single person, islander or not, like YOU. Thank goodness for people like LISA, and TIRED OF IT, and MERMAID that quickly exposed you. You're a big waste of anyone's time.

Thanks also go to BB for correctly interpreting my use of the word "dangerous." I only meant it was probably dangerous to get so many people's opinions about STJ. I shouldn't have used that word. Sorry.

I don't know where to start. The entire trip was phenomenal from start to finish. We arrived 8/13 and got back last night, 8/18. Only five nights. Wish we would have made it seven, but couldn't this time due to child care issues. If we had stayed longer than seven nights, I would have to move the rest of the family down there, because I never would have come home. I don't really care if I go anywhere else again. Loved it that much. Weather was 90 degrees every day, about 74% humidity, so a little warm and humid, I guess. Didn't bother us. We loved it. And now for the rest of the story ...

THE WESTIN. We were totally impressed. Room was perfect. We overlooked the awesome pool. No pool hours. You can swim 24/7, which was great for us if you wanted to avoid the 10-2 o'clock major sunburn hours the first couple of days. Plus, we haven't hardly had ANY sustained warm weather back here in MN the whole summer, so we didn't want to push it. It cooled down to about 80-85 at night and there were hardly any people in the pool once it got dark (7:30 p.m.). Really nice. Pool bar drinks were good and the same price as anywhere else, we found.
The staff at the hotel were wonderful, and I mean everyone. They wanted nothing else but to make sure you were having fun. Concierge desk really helpful. SUNNY is correct. They have the restaurant menus all compiled in a huge binder at the desk. They'll make the reservation for you. Same for renting a car/jeep, day trips, etc. The Beach Bar & Cafe also very nice, but pricey, but so is everything else. Didn't bother us, because we expected that. But as an example of how wonderful we thought the staff was, we had breakfast at the Beach Cafe one morning and they were taking a little while with my pancakes. My wife had already gotten her eggs. The waitress comes out minutes later with the pancakes and more or less said she was going to just credit the the whole breakfast because it took so long. I thought she meant mine only. Nope. We had already racked up about $25 at that point. It was a really nice gesture, we thought. Another night we were at the beach bar next to the cafe and ordered a pizza to split, plus had about three beers. Really nice waiter. He's been there 18 years. The bill comes and the three beers @ $4.25/per nowhere to be found on the bill. I don't know if it's because we engaged in conversation with him for awhile or what, but again, a very nice gesture.
You just take the shuttles into Cruz Bay (app. 10 minutes, if that). It's $3 apiece one way. Unless you have a car for a week or whatever, but it's hard finding parking down in Cruz Bay. Not worth the hassle. They're right in front of the hotel all the time.
There's also the Mango Deli on the property over by the shops. Pop/soda, juice, Starbucks, water, chips, sandwiches. That's what we did most days. They've got muffins, croissants, breads. Best deal going on the property, though. Nice to run in and grab something in the morning if you aren't into the whole huge breakfast in the morning. Best be in there before 9 in the morning, though, for the pastries. I think word spreads quickly.
Bottom line: We wouldn't stay anywhere else. It's beautiful grounds and easy access to town and a wonderful staff. And not a bad beach for a manmade beach. But you should be out enjoying the other beaches anyway, not just hanging at the Westin's beach. If you're bringing kids, though, they have some toys out there (two huge blown up fake icebergs, two trampoline-like blown up floating docks). The kids we saw out there were having a riot. They also have anything you want to rent right there on the beach: SeaDoos, waterbikes, boats, etc.

CRUZ BAY & RESTAURANTS. Beach Bar was fun and inexpensive, very informal. Yes, good bar food. We also tried the Fish Trap one night. Very good also. They're all about the same price range for entrees ($18-$30), at least the ones we tried. Have to put in a huge plug for Maragarita Phil's. Absolutely wonderful Mexican dishes. We met Phil. What a guy. His wife owns one of the clothing/t-shirt, etc. shops in town, Cruz Bay Clothing Company. She is equally charming. Reservations would probably be wise, as he doesn't have a real huge place, but oh, the food. Make sure to get the Trio Chips appetizer with the different dips. For fun(?) Phil goes down to Mexico around the 1st of the year for a few weeks and studies with Mexican chefs down there to perfect his craft and oh, is it obvious. We also tried Morgan's Mango. It was wonderful food, but we had a small reservation problem, which kind of dampened the evening. Might have just been the night we were there. I guess the only other evening meal we had was the pizza at the hotel beach bar. It was really good. The musical entertainment was varied and good most evenings.
You can take in most all of Cruz Bay in two days. It was fun walking around and checking all the stores out, which ones you want to come back to, etc.

GETTING THERE (WESTIN) & AROUND. Yes, skip the Westin's own ferry. I think it's $30 one way. When you arrive, take a taxi to the Charlotte Amalie dock (app. 10 min.)and then take the local ferry over to Cruz Bay ($7 one way apiece). When we arrived at the Charlotte dock, the Westin's ferry was docked right behind the local ferry. The difference? $23, plus the Westin's ferry takes you right to Westin's beach dock. Big deal. Forget it. The ride is about 35 minutes on the local and probably 10 more minutes on the Westin's. Sit on the benches on top and soak in that sun and salt air. You won't regret it. When you arrive in Cruz Bay, there's plenty of shuttles there waiting to take you anywhere. To the Westin is $3/per.
Yes, rent a car/jeep to explore. Yes, get the cartoon map (free from info desk while you're waiting for luggage) so you can start studying. You drive on the left, which made me a little nervous at first, but you don't go fast anyway with the windy roads. Only a couple roads anyway on the whole island. Only takes you about 45 min. to an hour to get all the way over to Coral Bay on the other side. Beaches are well marked as well as obvious overlook pull-offs/photo ops.
Oh, the beaches... what fun. They were all awesome, but once we hit Cinnamon Bay, that was it. Awesome. We kept driving all the way to Coral Bay and had lunch at Skinny Legs, but ended up turning around and coming back to Cinnamon Bay. I don't know if it was just us as first-timers or the day or what, but just weren't impressed with Skinny Legs. We went on a tour to the Annaberg Plantation and lunch at the Shipwreck another day and thought much more of the Shipwreck. Then back on the tour to Trunk Bay snorkeling. We ended up just enjoying the beach there. Didn't care for how some of the snorkeling gear is recycled. If I was into it, I would have brought my own. Sorry. Guess that's just us. Yes, Cinnamon and Hawksnest are FREE. Do not pass up Cinnamon. CARY, as a first-timer, I'm with KAR on passing on Trunk Bay. I can at least agree on the appearance of it. Cinnamon was just like sugar, I'm not kiddin' ya. I feel bad saying that when you probably have plans already made, but when you're going that distance and spending that much, I'd sure as heck want someone filling me in just as you all have with me.

WISH WE WOULD HAVE ...
Brought our birth certificates for the BVI. Our passports are expired. Will certainly do that next time. Sounds like awesome day trip WHEREVER you go in the BVI. Lots of people talking about Jost.
Maybe had another day to shuttle over to STT for walking around and shopping, whatever. Next time for sure. Will never stay anywhere else but the Westin.

WISH I WOULD HAVE REMEMBERED TO ASK ABOUT ...
I thought I read somewhere about the pool at the Westin being shut down for renovations in September. For those of you with Sept./Oct. plans, I would check that out with the Westin. I'm sorry, but I just can't remember where I read it and I might be mistaken. I thought in the article it had said they were going to have a backup plan poolwise.

Thanks again to all of you for your help with my first trip to STJ. I was already scheming on the flight home how to get back there in February or March next year 🙂 ...