Well, for those of you hanging in there we are approaching the home stretch! Thanks for reading this, it's been a lot of fun writing it and reliving our vacation. On to Days 6 & 7...

Day 6:

After much discussion (read...argument and whining)we decided to hike the Reef Bay Trail. Now depending on which guidebook you referenced this is either a relatively easy (save the last 1/2 mile) 4 mile round trip, or a moderately difficult 5+ mile round trip. D of course referenced the former and S (rather loudly) pointed out the latter. Now mind you, these are 3 kids who have hiked a steep long trails in Yellowstone, Ypsemite etc., so I wasn't really sure what the problem was. A slept through the discussion so he was stuck with the majority decision. Not to be deterred by a 900 ft. vertical 4-5 miler we again set out for the trailhead. Theory was that once the sun was up high the temperature was pretty consistent so it didn't matter what time we went. Parked just past the trailhead on Centerline Road, grabbed our backpacks (brought lunch, water, towels and snorkels) and headed down. I think the daunting thing about the hike is that it's down, then up...Harder to go up after you've already put 1 1/2 hours in. But off we went. This is a very well marked trail with numerous information signs posted by the NPS. The initial downhill is a little steep (harbingers of things to come on the way back!), but most of the trail is covered by a leafy canopy making you feel almost like you're in a rainforest. It was a sunny, hot day but we didn't really feel it. The trail levelled off after the first 1/2 mile and was wide, easy hiking. We took the .3 mile side trip to the petroglyphs and were greetd by a mosquito infested fresh standing water pond surrounded by incredibly well preserved petroglyphs. It looks like they were carved yesterday. On we went to the sugar mill ruins and the beach. Now just before the ruins there is a trail off to the right that we missed the first time. We followed the trail past the Lady Bird Johnson outhouse (disgusting, but functional) to a very small, beautifully refreshing beach. We spread our towels, stripped to bathing suits and headed for the water. After scarfing our sandwiches we decided to check out what looked like a bigger beach around the point. Well, we went back to the trail we had missed before and headed up..way up. Its a steep, rocky trail that goes straight up, then straight down to the beach where the NPS boat apparently picks you up if you take the guided tour. Personally I preferred the first beach and could have lived without this detour altogether, but majority rules. This beach was even more rocky, with some sort of seaweed all over the sand. We stayed put for about 20 minutes and decided to tackle the trail back up. Now it took us 1 hour 30 minutes to come down, including the side trip to the petroglyphs. We all estimated it would take about 2 hours to return given the uphill nature of the hike and the fact that we were increasingly more hot & tired as the afternoon wore on. Well, much to our surprise it's not a bad trip back up til the last 1/2 mile. We just kept moving, slow and steady and we covered the return trip in just about 1 hour 15. So, round trip hiking time, including the petroglyh spur was just under 3 hours. Everyone (including the world class whiner) agreed that it had been well worth it. We like being active on vacation, so this was a great counterpoint to those lazy beach days. Well, exhausted we stopped at Starfish for a few out of stock items and headed home to rest and relax with some beer and chips before heading back out Centerline for dinner at Sweet Plantains. What a find. Thanks to everyone who recommended Sweet Plantains on this forum. One of our best dinners. After drinks (poor M...limited in his drink consumption because of the thought of driving back over Centerline in the dark!) we shared the carrot/ginger soup (yum) and the "rodehouse" platter...a sampler of all the day's appetizers. That night it included jerk chicken drummettes; mahi ceviche, saltcod cakes and plantains chips with a dipping sauce. Everything was AMAZING...my picky eater loved the jerk chicken. Dinner was west indian tofu curry for D, west indian chicken curry for S and M, the pork tenderloin for A and the short ribs for me. We loved everything. The grits that came with the tenderloin were to die for and the yucca fries equally yummy. Everything was so good we had to try dessert, so we shared 2 (I can't remember what they were, but they were really good). Sitting out on the patio watching the world go by and enjoying world class food was a highlight of the trip. And then back we went over Centerline..it really is harder in the dark!

Day 7:

Knowing tomorrow would be departure day we decided that today would be a beach day. Breakfast supplies were running low so we left early for breakfast at Chilly Billy's, planning to hit Trunk before 10:00. All went according to plan, but we had to make a couple of calls home after breakfast (only got Verizon cell service in downtown Cruz Bay) and that delayed us by about 15 minutes. We also stopped in the CV office in the Lumberyard to confirm with Derek our late checkout on Friday. I had checked before we left home and knew that the next occupants of Orchid Villa were not arriving til Saturday. Kathy (in Maine) had told me to check in with the office the day before we would be leaving to see if late check-out was possible. Derek checked to make sure that the next guests' plans had not changed and agreed to let us stay til 1pm on Friday. After we checked out they would hold our bags for us at the office since our flight wasn't til 7:30pm. Anyway, housekeeping issues completed we headed out to Trunk. Well, at 10:30am the lot was full and there was no place to park on the road either. On to plan B. The lot at Hawksnest had spots when we passed on our way to Trunk so we made our way back there. Wow, we really liked this beach and the apparently newly completed amenities were very nice. Everyone spread out and got ready to chill for the day. By St. John standards the beach was very crowded, but all seemed to find their space. The water beckoned and the snorkelers headed out once again. I was very content to head out a short distance and just lie there staring at the fish. Doesn't take much to impress me! Heavens opened up about 12:45 and we decided to pack it in. We had wanted to wander Caneel Bay and the Westin so we took advantage of the weather to check out the 2 resorts. We have stayed at plenty of caribbean resorts and these 2, though nice, just didn't hit a chord with us. I think we were just spoiled by our amazing villa. No one could imagine being surrounded 24/7 by all those people! Went back in to Cruz Bay, made a reservation for dinner at the Banana Deck and stopped by Uncle Joe's for a real treat. We shared a chicken platter, a ribs platter and a sides platter. More than enough food for 5 of us and SOOOO good. Another must do recommended by the participants on this forum. Thanks. When we were done M and the kids bussed our table and she offered them a job! Pretty tempting...anyway, had ice cream and smoothies at the stand across the street and went back to the pool at the villa. Very relaxing afternoon. Showered and went back to dinner about 7:15. Tried in vain for a parking spot anywhere closer than the tennis courts, but to no avail. SO M dropped me, A and S off and went to park with D. Great table waiting for us and a perfect menu. Many options, including salads, sandwiches and full dinners. But the bugs were out in force.Maybe it was the afternoon rain, but I got eaten alive. And the desserts were amazing. We made quick work of 2. But for the "busiest" week of the year the restaurants seemed to miscalculate their stock. At every place we went they were out of at least 1 item, and in some cases more than 1. Also, seemed like people eat earlier, since we went out every night between 7:30 & 8 and by the time we finished most things were wrapping up. Checked out a local baseball game at the school on our way back to the car and went back for our last night in Orchid Villa.