This trip report is more fun than informational and from a thirty-something female that imbibed in way too much Rum Punch during her vacation. I am just now recovering and it's been a week!

We rented the Crow's Nest Villa in Wharfside Village which turned out to be a perfect location for our "party" group. We had 4 guests staying at the villa which is located next to The Balcony restaurant and above Joe's Rum Hut. I will post a review on the villa for those interested in a separate post including pictures.

This is a long post and I will post some of my lessons learned at the beginning for those of you that don't like to read:

Lesson 1: Have 3 Rum Punches and call it quits. Any more and you will regret it.
Lesson 2: Greet the locals with Good Morning etc. It's only polite and doesn't require much effort.
Lesson 3: Don't plan. It takes the fun out of vacation. Make your day sail, Jeep and dinner reservations but leave the rest to chance. Enjoy your free time.
Lesson 4: Don't pack 6 pairs of shoes! Bring one pair of diva shoes for the evenings and comfy flip-flops for days.
Lesson 5: Rent a Jeep from Penn's. We were very happy with them and the Jeep Liberty was new and it was a pretty red color (yes I'm female). We were also allowed to park in their lot in Cruz Bay.
Lesson 6: Lizard's Landing is...intimidating for females.
Lesson 7: Make the hike down the donkey trail to Waterlemon Cay. The snorkeling is worth it and the walk is refreshing. Do not wear diva shoes on this trek.
Lesson 8: For a romantic evening I recommend dinner at Caneel Bay Resort and a walk down the beach after dark.
Lesson 9: Don't wear your shoes into the villa. Leave all sand covered items at the door until you can shake them out. My suitcase weighed 3lbs more due to all the sand I brought home! The villa floors will also develop a sandy texture that will then coat the sheets on your bed. There's nothing like being exfoliated while you sleep.

On to the diary of my trip...

Thursday March 1: Got in very late and had to take the 7pm ferry from Red Hook. My luggage was delayed only for an hour (thank goodness) which led to drinking about 4 Painkillers at the airport. I highly recommend greeting the locals with a Good Morning etc. My sister didn't when she ordered her drink and the bartender just walked away from her and wouldn't look at her again for about 5 minutes. I had to laugh because I had just specifically told her to greet the locals in a friendly manner. She told me I did too much research...imagine that. I wish we would have chosen a taxi that didn't have to make a stop other than the ferry. We would have made the 6pm ferry if we hadn't dropped someone off somewhere off the beaten track. This led to the drinking of Rum Punch at the ferry dock and we were fairly soused by the time we arrived on the dock at St. John. We had a great time on the ferry however and met a new friend from South Carolina who we ended up dancing with at the local establishments numerous times during the week. We ate supper at The Balcony and it was great. Thursday night rounded out with too much Rum Punch at Woody's for my sister...she learned her lesson quickly. We hung out at Joe's Rum Hut and the Fish Trap (or Venus Fly Trap as drunk sister was quoted saying) as well before wrapping up the evening.

Friday March 2nd: As sister was recovering we decided to take it easy on the beach for the day as we were expecting another friend to join us that evening. We had reserved a Jeep Liberty from Penn's and it was a candy-apple red new Jeep. I highly recommend Penn's as we were able to park in their lot in Cruz Bay as Wharfside Village didn't offer any parking. They are a bit more expensive but the customer service and vehicles were great. We visited Hawksnest Beach which was just beautiful. I did a bit of snorkeling to check out my new gear but there really wasn't anything to see. The afternoon did bring about a trip to Woody's infamous happy hour. Loved the shrimp on a stick appetizer. And I can tell you, we were definitely a happy group when we left to prepare for the evening. Our expected friend joined us for supper at the Banana Deck. I of course can't even remember what we ate but we were all very happy with our meals. Our drinks were superb and as this post continues you'll see that we were more interested in the island beverages rather than the food. I'm not a foodie but can be critical where meals are concerned and I can honestly say all week the food was great. Friday night concluded with more Rum Punch at Woody's and hanging out at the Front Yard. Expected friend experiences the woes of Rum Punch this evening.

Saturday March 3rd: Early morning has us eating bagel breakfast sandwiches with Jackie at the Paradise Cafe in Wharfside Village. This becomes a morning routine as Jackie is wonderful to talk with and loves making breakfast for us. She has great prices as well and we will eat breakfast with her almost every morning during our visit. The late morning brings us to Trunk Bay for some sun and snorkeling after picking up some grocery staples at the Dolphin Market. It wasn't overly crowded and we had a great time. Snorkeling the trail was interesting and I seriously almost ran right into a pelican scouting for fish. I saw a shadow and looked up...my snorkel mask inches from the pelican's hind side. It was rather amusing really. We visit Woody's again for happy hour as this is now part of our established routine. Supper is had at the Rhumb Lines restaurant and it is very good. We spend some time at Lizard's Landing and ladies please note...if you don't enjoy dirty dancing with the locals, this establishment is not for you. We spent limited time there due to the "crush". This night 3rd friend falls to the evils of island beverages.

Sunday March 4th: This day we spend at Cinnamon Bay. It is beautiful, crowded and very windy. Small sand storms deposit sand in every available crevice. I think it's the first time I've actually had sand in my ears. It was pretty windy. Before visiting Cinnamon we lunched at Aqua Bistro in Coral Bay. It was a great light meal in a very tropical setting. This evening I succumb to rounds of shots at Joe's Rum Hut. I survived however and didn't resort to bowing to the porcelain throne as my fellow travelers did. It is at this point that the bartender at Joe's says..."you don't see any of the locals drinking that stuff (Rum Punch) do you?" Good point.

Monday March 5th: My birthday. Wow...that went fast. We chartered a day sail with Captain Phil on the Wayward Sailor. (Hello to our friends from Vermont!) He was a bit...abrupt at first but as we got to know him he really was very knowledgeable and a lot of fun. I think he took to me after I put my mask on correctly without his instruction (too much research...pah). He took us to 2 snorkeling spots during our 6 hour day sail. We did see a large barracuda but it really wasn't as menacing as they are made out to be. Of course I'm the one wishing to see a shark so perhaps I'm not the best judge. I did have a moment of freak out when I was surrounded with what looked like floating sea snot. Really. There were these round balls of jellyfish type things floating around us in the warmer water closer to shore. Give me a shark but leave the jellyfish at home please. I can't even tell you where we were...perhaps St. James island? I wasn't stung and it was easy to get away from them but freak out comes when you pull your head out of the water to yell "beware jellyfish!" to your fellow snorkelers and then you can't see where the terrifying creatures are because your head is out of the water. Yep...panic moment over what looked like sea snot. I'm such a wuss. We had supper at the Lime Inn and it was terrific. We started this evening out sober so I really can review this meal. I had the steak fillet stuffed with blue cheese crumbles. Ok...I'm from Iowa...I know steak. The steak at the Lime Inn was fantastic...I was very surprised. Friends had chicken, lobster and tuna and were very happy as well. Waitress finds out it's my birthday and brings me a HUGE hot fudge brownie ice cream creation with a candle in it. She then proceeds to break out in the birthday song. How fun...I'm old. Back to Woody's...someone will have to remind me what happened after that.

Tuesday March 6th: Our group splits up at this point. Half of us end up in St. Thomas shopping for the day while the other half spends the day shopping in Wharfside Village and hanging out at Joe's Rum Hut (favorite hang out for this trip). Do not drink margaritas from the guy at the bar in the middle of that cute Tuscan shopping area while in Charlotte Amalie or you will end up buying 2 diamond rings and a hook bracelet. They give you drinks at the jewelry stores! Brace yourself...the second diamond ring came after I polished off the free Bushwacker. Diamond rings sales clerks loved me...I'm a consultant and am very familiar with the sales routine. They give me a great deal and try to hire me. The evening is spent having supper at the bar at the Caneel Bay resort. New bartender friend suggests seeing bartender husband at Caneel. Great suggestion. Caneel is SO romantic at night. I have to admit if you're looking for that romantic evening walking the beach, Caneel provides it. We had supper and some banana coladas (a new favorite...and yes I gained 4lbs on this trip) as well as caught part of American Idol. We then walked the beach in the dark and sat under the palm trees enjoying the full moon on the water. The walk back to the Jeep was just as romantic through the lighted paths at the resort. This is my favorite evening and everything I envision a romantic tropical island evening to be. My diamond rings look fab by the way.

Wednesday March 7th: Time to return the Jeep. Wait...we haven't seen Waterlemon Cay yet. A call to Penn's grants us an extended Jeep day. Group splits up again. Half of group goes to Jost with new friends from the island. Other half of group goes snorkeling. We are the die hards. We will hike in new diva rhinestone encrusted flip-flops to designated snorkeling location. We rule. So...lots of rocks here at the end of the trail. I determine how to gracefully crawl on belly to waist deep water to place fins in proper position. Ok...the snorkeling at Waterlemon Cay is really good! There are dozens of huge starfish. I am attacked by a school of some silver fish that swim all around me. One is persistent and keeps returning to glare at me not 2 inches from my mask. He did this 3 times! I feel special in some way. Snorkel friend spots a small sting ray. We find a large lobster hiding in the coral. We think we see something shark like. It was small and had black tips on its tail...still haven't looked up what it might have been. It was exciting for us regardless if it was a tuna or a large mouth bass. Time to belly crawl gracefully out of the water as it's late afternoon. Gracefully...hah. I do some sort of dance on the rocks as I scramble to my feet. Friend tosses me diva flip-flops so I can actually walk out of the water. The walk back to the Jeep is peaceful and thought provoking. The evening starts out at Joe's Rum Hut again with pizza for supper at the pizza joint below our villa. It's good pizza but for the life of me I can't remember the name of the place. We share pizza with other drunk people as it is our last night and we wish to be gracious. The evening is topped off at Woody's and then back to the villa to devour all the Pop Tarts and other assortment of snacks we hadn't previously eaten.

Thursday March 8th: We are so sad this is our last day. We visit Jackie for the last time and have breakfast sandwiches. We make the 11am ferry back to Charlotte Amalie and catch our long flight home. But we are tired and tan and feel that we've had an awesome experience. We are currently trying to determine when we can make our next trip to the lovely island of St. John.

Thanks for reading...

~Rachel