I am finally getting around to writing up my trip report. I’m glad I took notes since it has been over a month since we got back. I have to say thank you to the wonderful people on this board. I learned so much and all my detailed planning really paid off (my husband even said so).

My husband and I and our two young kids, 3 ½ and 15 months, spent a week on St. John, 11/4 to 11/11. We stayed at Maho Bay in the tent cabins.

We left Sat. morning at 3am to drive to Washington for our flight on Spirit, decided to forgo the hotel in Washington and use the savings to park in the garage and avoid shuttle buses. Lugged all of our stuff (we did not pack light at all – except for clothes), all seven bags and a stroller and two car seats, quite the spectacle for you light travelers, I’m sure! Our flight went fine, the one from National to Fort Lauderdale was late leaving but we had the flight crew for the STT flight on the plane with us so they had to wait! I was thankful that I brought plenty of snacks for our lunch as we went straight from one plane to the other. Arrived in STT around 3pm. We got all of our checked bags – amazing! We checked a beach umbrella and a small cooler among other things like a backpack carrier, a full sized backpacking pack full of beach gear, a bag of food, diapers, and a few clothes. We were glad to have brought everything but look forward to traveling when our kids don’t require quite so much. They don’t so much require it as that it just makes it easier to have the things they are used to. The backpack carrier and full sized back pack were great to have as we could visit beaches with a little walk such as Salt Pond bay fairly easily. The cooler had milk (we drink a lot of it and use organic for our daughter), some fruit, cheese, frozen egg substitute (used it for French Toast), frozen spaghetti sauce, and some frozen water bottles for ice. We checked it full of dirty clothes on the way back (as suggested by someone here). It was nice to not have to worry about getting milk right away or doing any shopping as our kids are young and it was nice to have the flexibility of not having to get to a store on arrival. That said, as they get older it won’t be quite so critical and we probably won’t bring it. We had to wait about a half hour for our Jeep Liberty at the airport, it probably would have been longer but I asked for it dirty and I think the lady sensed the desperation as both kids were at their breaking point (maybe past it). As soon as we got everything loaded into the Jeep (and it did actually fit…), we headed to Red Hook and the car ferry. With all of our stuff, renting at the airport and taking the ferry was really great. I would definitely do it again. We rented from budget and paid just over $400 for the week (including the optional refueling – also glad we did that, used almost all of the gas and didn’t have to worry about stopping for gas).

We were so thankful to have the directions from East Ender, the route was pretty well marked but it was nice to know kind of where we were in the journey. The landmarks were really nice to have too. We got to the ferry ok, the driving wasn’t too bad and it wasn’t too hard to drive on the left, it really helped that the steering wheel is on the same side as on the mainland. We enjoyed the ride on the ferry and got out and went up to the top deck. When we arrived, we decided to eat dinner in Cruz Bay at the Fish Trap. Dinner was good and the kids did well. After dinner, we headed to Maho Bay. It was, of course, dark at this time but we found it without problems and found the drive to be exciting but not scary. We live in the VA mountains and drive some pretty twisty roads to get to our house so that helped. The roads might intimidate some from flatter places but just put the car in low and go… We found the map to our cabin and found our way down some steps to A17. We unloaded everything and carried it down some steps to a cart that we could push to the steps that led to our cabin. We got a pack and play, set it up for our daughter and set up the cot for our son, got everyone in pajamas, and settled into bed around 9pm. We slept great listening to the bugs and frogs in the trees and a nice long hard rain. We requested A17 based on postings were read here and on another board and were so glad to have done the research. It had a great view of Little Maho Bay and wasn’t too far from the bathhouse. It was a good walk from the restaurant and our car but that didn’t really bother use. We felt pretty prepared for the steps from reading comments from other people and never even got sore legs. Our son did great on the stairs and enjoyed exploring the different boardwalks, they all have different names. He liked Treefrog Trail the best. Our daughter did great walking on the boardwalks and got lots of practice going up and sometimes down the steps with help. They both enjoyed looking for the hermit crabs and lizards on the walks. We really enjoyed Maho Bay and the camping experience, even more than I thought we would. It was a lot more like camping than staying in a cabin though. Our son called it our treehouse. My upbringing in Florida and camping throughout my childhood really came in handy. One of the things I like about VA is the lack of bugs, especially roaches, but I had to just decide to be ok with them and hope they wouldn’t crawl on me (or that I wouldn’t know it if they did). There were bugs in the treehouse and running water would have been so nice, but the beds were comfortable and the view was terrific. I was worried that the temperature at night would be too warm for comfortable sleeping but the provided box fan (and a few bungee cords to hang it just right) kept us quite comfortable. We also brought a small fan to point down at my daughter which helped at night and was really nice for the couple of naps she took there during the day when it was warmer. We ate all but one of our breakfasts in our cabin and had dinner there three times, had picnic lunches a few times, and ate out the rest of the time. We had only planned to eat one dinner in (the aforementioned spaghetti sauce) but with little ones, it was sometimes just easier to eat in and get them to bed. The store at Maho is really great, they have quite a variety and prices really weren’t bad. We could walk up for a couple bottles of beer or a ice cream treat after dinner and charge everything to our cabin. Maho was like being at summer camp with beer. We didn’t do any of the activities but had we come before kids (or maybe in a few years with the kids), you could fill up your week with sailing, snorkeling, and art classes. We enjoyed the restaurant a couple of times. The view was great and the food was interesting and tasty. You order and then go get your food so no table service. Prices were pretty good when you considered not having to pay gratuity (if you don’t mind serving yourself and clearing your dishes).

That took longer than I thought so I’ll have to break this up into installments.

Keri