Ok, here we go again!

Day 2 (12/23)

Though it had clearly rained during the night I awoke to sun streaming through the sheer drape covering the louvered windows in the door to the deck and the sounds of the waves lapping against the rocks on shore. We let the kids sleep while M made coffee and we sat out on the deck and just stared at the water as we had our coffee and cereal. The kids woke slowly over a 3 hour period and we let them get up at their own pace after the early wake-up call of yesterday. M called CV and let them know about the broken hinge on the br door and a broken lamp switch in the loft br. Derek was very nice and assured us that Michael would be out to fix it sometime today. With that covered we packed lunch, drinks, snorkel gear, towels and chairs and headed out for our first full day on island. Made a quick stop at the VI Visitors Center to pick up some maps and info and made our first trip out the North Shore Road. Destination...Francis Bay Beach. We scored a parking spot right at the beach (I told you, it was still pretty quiet everywhere, this was at about 12:30pm), and staked out a lovely piece of real estate. All spent the afternoon swimming, snorkeling and sunning. Very relaxing. Kids reported that they didn't see all that much when snorkeling, but enough to make it interesting. Beach was quite empty, probably no more that 15-20 people all day. Left about 3:45pm and headed for home, making a quick stop at Starfish for some things we had forgotten. Got home to find out that Michael had still not arrived to fix the door so we called the CV office and Derek let us know that Michael had to go to St. Thomas, was on the 5pm ferry and would definitely be there this evening. Set up drinks and hor's d'oeuvres around the pool, then off to the showers to get ready for dinner. Just before we were ready to leave Michael showed up and fixed the door, good as new! Thanked him and headed out. No reservations tonight so we thought we'd hit Mongoose Junction and see what we could find. Left for town about 6:45pm, parked at the tennis courts again, did a little shopping (A forgot his hat and D needed a bathing suit. Not much in the way of board shorts available in NY in Dec!), and snared a table at Morgan's Mango without a reservation. Sat in the front on the railing and had another terrific meal. Veggie option was a plate of sides. D said it was good. Picky eater had the brie quesadilla. I know, how picky can she be...Interesting conversation about the Spanish Inquisition over dinner. You have to know my kids!! Anyway, as we left dinner the heavens opened up and we made our very wet way home. First experience on the hill past the Westin when it was wet...I must say I would've been happier driving. Being in the passenger seat on that hill as we slipped backwards and a truck came along the other side....well, you can imagine. Anyway, all was well and we headed home after a long, but very enjoyable day.

Day 3 (12/24)

Sunday morning arrived right along with the sun..again. I could sure get used to this. We decided to go to Miss Lucy's for brunch so made our first trip out to Coral Bay. Now, we knew our options were heading up Gifft Hill or going back to the Texaco station to pick up Route 10 (Centerline Road). Adventurers that we are, we turned right (into the left lane of course!)and headed STRAIGHT UP! What a ride. Centerline seemed almost tame after that. Got to Miss Lucy's and again able to get a waterside table with no wait at about 11. Where is everyone? For someone who asked recently...brunch is served from 10-2 and no reservations are taken. We had 2 banana pancakes, one lobster omelette (special), one eggs florentine and one I can't remember. Leaving the parking lot I realized I had forgotten sunscreen and water and we were going to Salt Pond for the afternoon. We backtracked just a bit and got sunscreen at Jolly Dog and water at Shipwreck Landing. Problem solved and off we went. Made a quick detour at Concordia Eco-tents to check it out for my sister who had reserved for February. Have to say it was a bit isolated and rustic for us, but the views were incredible. OK, quick stop over. We headed over to Salt Pond. The minimal parking was full, so we parked along the road and headed down the .3mile path to the beach. Crowded by St. John standards, there were probably 30-40 people along this narrow, but long stretch of beach. Unfortunately, arriving at 12:30pm or so we could not snare any shade, but there was a nice breeze. The kids quickly donned their snorkel gear and headed out around the point to the right. There is an outhouse for "facilities"! Entry is a little rocky, but not too bad. I didn't have booties (like the kids did for their fins), or water shoes and it was still bearable. Rocks didn't go out far at all. Left the beach around 3 to poke around the rest of Coral Bay. Drove around to Estate Zootenval and meant to stop at Skinny's on the way back, but drove right past by mistake. Stopped at the smoothie stand instead and had delicious, but very expensive smoothies. 5 of us shared 4, icluding a great soursop mango and strawberry, coconut, banana. Went back to shower and hang out before dinner. 7:30 reservations at Ocean Grill, but when we arrived the menu clearly stated a $60 prix fixe menu. Now I had called twice to confirm that they were offering their regular menu even though it was Christmas Eve and was assured they were. The price was bad enough, but there was nothing anyone in my family was interested in eating. We said thanks, but no and left. Tried to get into Paradiso, but they were packed for the evening (guess all those people finally arrived!),so we headed into Cruz Bay in search of dinner. Mind you, many restaurants were closed for Christmas Eve. Finally found a table for 8:45 at Panini Beach. They took pity on us! With an hour to kill we headed back to Mongoose Junction to see if the Brew Pub was open. It was and we enjoyed a few beers with owners Cheech and Kevin and heard the origins of VI Pale Ale. They seemed like great guys and we enjoyed our pre-dinner drinks. Highly recommend people check this out. Wandered back to Panini Beach a little early and the table was ready. Enjoyed some good italian food (we were starving by this point) and had a great vantage point to watch Santa arrive by boat at the Cruz Bay dock. The kids were lined up 6 deep to see him arrive on a boat fitted out with twinkly lights and elves. Finished dinner and wandered out to find many families enjoying Christmas Eve in the park by the dock with gifts in their arms. There was music and dancing and it seemed like everyone was having a great time. We were exhausted and made our way back to the villa.

And so we finished day 2 (really 3) of our amazing St. John vacation!