Please Register / Login to take part in discussions about the Virgin Islands.
Let me begin by saying that our trip was very last minute. Work has been crazy and we (me & hubby) really needed to get away and regroup. We arrived on STT around 4 pm on the 15Th. We met our villa owner at the Budget rental counter. Hubby had already reserved a car, but being the salesman he is - he asked if there were any deals. The counter person said that he had 13 jeeps and would happily make us a deal on one - so for $150 more we rented the jeep (thank goodness we did!!). It took forever for our luggage to get to the carousel and for a while we thought my bag had been lost. Luckily it finally turned up and we were on our way. The villa owner met us at the airport because the villa is on the North side and a bit (understatement) hard to find. We were exhausted but exhilarated to be back in paradise so followed we did.
The second road we took we came upon a head on collision between two jeeps - we were the second to arrive, nobody was hurt, so we turned around and went another direction. Scratch all the mental notes we had already made regarding the villa location. So onward to Four Corners we went and up to the North side on STT. We got to our villa around 5:30, the owner helped us with our bags and showed us to our place. We stayed at Hull Bay Cottages - so no it wasn't technically a villa but for all practical purposes it was "our villa". The view from our balcony was breath taking. Go to their website - the pictures speak for themselves.
We dropped off our bags and asked George (the owner) how to find Hull Bay Hideaway for dinner. Well we quickly went to his office and printed directions to Indigo & the North Drop. We jumped in our jeep and got lost immediately. Yes, I said LOST!!! Stay on this road til you come to the small bus stop, then stay left, go right at the yellow flowers - you get the idea. We finally found the North Drop - Jodie our server was delightful - we had a couple cold bud lights out on the terrace & enjoyed the view of Hull Bay. I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich and hubby had a hamburger. Everything was great and we made plans to return on Saturday for their prime rib. We left the restaurant, looked over the directions and proceeded to get very lost again. We were so lost that we ended up stopping at the grocery store for milk, water, and breakfast items. By 9:30 we passed "E & M" the convenience store and I made hubby stop. I called George, his daughter Amalia answered our call for help and drove over to help us find our way back. My hubby was very disappointed - ever see a man that had to ask for directions? Looks sort of like a whipped dog. Anyway, I hugged him and reassured him that it was alright - it was late, we were both tired...etc. etc. We got to our Villa and crashed. I can't remember ever being so tired in my life.
On Thursday we got up and enjoyed our coffee & cinnamon roll on the balcony. Great way to start our vacation. We ended up at "Coki Point" around 1 pm. Our new best friend "Web" hooked me up with a Bushwhacker and a cold bud light for hubby. The water was beautiful, the fish were everywhere, my drink was amazing and the sun was shining - again no better way to begin our vacation. Besides the smell of marijuana all around us the day was awesome. I don't remember where we went to dinner that night - so I will add that on my next report.
Lots more to come, restaurant reviews, day-sails & day trips.
Thanks
Jeniffer
Jeniffer,
You were SO close to me! I wish I had known! Love what you have written so far, keep it coming!
We are trying to figure out exactly where Hull Bay Cottages are! Will have to ck out the web-sight!
Hope I was of some help to you with some your questions you had e-mailed me!
Can't wait to hear the rest! 🙂
Love reading your report. My husband and I have been 4 times and are going again in Jan. It is always fun to read how others preceive the island. We love it!! Our son was married at the gazebo at the Frenchman Marriot.
Thanks Jennifer for your trip report, so far. So fun reading.
I know all about getting lost on STT, especially at night it's very hard.
Keep it coming!
I need to make a quick correction - I had the chicken cordon blue sandwich and my husband had the steak & cheese. Both were excellent. The North Drop prices are competitive - very close to say Duffy's Love Shack or Caribbean Saloon. Just an FYI
Before our trip we made plans to take the ferry over to Tortola to look at several sailboats. We would like to purchase a live-aboard in the next two years. The salesman at B.V.I Yacht Sales had company planned so instead of going on Saturday, spending the night on JVD and returning on Sunday we decided to go on Friday - this way their offices would be open thus not having the salesman come in to meet us on the weekend. So off we went to Red Hook - we had just enough time to have a quick breakfast at Molly Malone's - our favorite server is Penny. You just cant beat breakfast at Molly's.
Our ride to Tortola was uneventful and we thoroughly enjoyed the scenery. I was shocked at how close Tortola is to STT. Last year when we went on the New Horizon's day-sail to VG it seemed to take all day to get there. Oh well - live and learn. We arrived in Tortola, went thru customs...everyone was splendid - taxi's were readily available as well. We grabbed a taxi and headed to the "Moorings" - for some reason we thought it was next door to the BVI Yacht Sales. Guess what? WE WERE WRONG! Well as you know, things sometimes happen for a reason. We decided to take a look at Moorings since we were already there. We met a nice young man named Giles - cute British accent. ha ha He showed us no less then 8 boats and then we met our original taxi driver for our return trip to STT. This is where things get interested. Not two blocks from the Moorings we were involved in a hit & run accident. Our taxi was rear-ended by a small pickup truck. Nobody was hurt, limited damage to the taxi - all is well in the world. We get back on the road and where do we end up? The Tortola police department (LOL) We laugh and say this will be great to tell our family. "Yes Mom, you heard right...we were taken to the police station". The shock value alone was enough to look forward to.
We get back to the Ferry, it leaves at least an hour late (Island Time) and we had a smooth ride back to STT. The day was a complete success! I had a terrible sunburn and staying out of the sun as much as possible was a great idea. We got to Red Hook and decided to have a drink at Duffy's. They have great Bushwhackers!!! We also enjoyed their guacamole - for 9 bucks you get enough guacamole for 4. I didn't see anything on the menu that sounded good so we went over to Molly's and we ordered a couple of appetizers to go.
At this point I was hungry, tired, my sunburn was hurting, needed a bath, the list goes on. Well darling husband couldn't find the road back to the villa. We drove for what seemed like hours!!! We saw parts of STT that we never should have seen. We found where many of the local "farmers" live - I could see the headlines in the St. Thomas Source, "Two stupid tourist mugged after getting lost" Ok, I'm being dramatic but I've read the message boards! Tourists should avoid shady areas of town....just as we would in our own cities. We finally made it to our villa....I must admit at this point I wished we had stayed at the Wyndham - I was just tired & grouchy though. Our villa was amazing - we couldn't have asked for more.
On Saturday we headed back to Coki beach - we snorkeled both sides & had a great afternoon. After we snorkeled we went back to the villa, changed and headed to dinner. A couple we met at Coki suggested we try dinner at Bella Blue in Frenchtown. Forgive me if I spelled the Blue wrong. We started off with a drink at Margarita Phil's. Phil served us himself - what a great guy. I couldn't decide on a drink and he surprised me with a passion fruit / guava frozen margarita in their medium size glass (enough for FOUR). It was soooooo good! Hubby got one sip!! That's it!!
When we left Phil's we had every intention of going to Bella Blue's but for some reason (I really don't recall) we ended up at Hook, Line and Sinker. We read great reviews on the board so we were prepared for a great meal. Let me interject right now that I'm not a fish eater and my husband is thrifty. I ordered their French Onion soup - very good! For our main meals I ordered a burger - cooked medium. Hubby ordered their chicken sandwich. My burger arrived, charred black! I could hardly eat it - I hate to think what well done looks like. I tried eating it but for the most part I just ate the veggies, bun and my fries. Our waitress was far from cordial - we were a bit disappointed but neither of us judge a restaurant by one bad meal. We didn't go back this visit but I would definitely go back. Everyone deserves a second chance right?
On Sunday we got up and went to breakfast at the Delly Deck - always a good choice. After breakfast we strolled thru a couple of shops - then we went back to Coki. What can I say? It really is our favorite beach. 🙂 Our usual beach bar was closed so a lady from a bar on the opposite side brought us a bucket of beer and we enjoyed our morning. We had already planned on going to Hull Bay for lunch and snorkeling....we read on the site that the snorkeling was good. Our lunch at Hull Bay Hideaway was very good! As we headed to the beach the band was setting up. A few locals scattered about - for the most part the place was empty. When we arrived at the beach the sun was shinning - as soon as we got into the water the rain came. I went to the right side of the beach to snorkel and didn't see much. I was disappointed needless to say.
We went back to the villa, changed our clothes and decided to have dinner at the North Drop because it was close to the Villa and we had a day sail scheduled for the next day. The ND had the patio closed due to the rain so we had to sit inside. I'm not ancient by any means but let me say that I could barely read the menu - the place was so dark. We ordered our usual drinks and watched Dallas on their big screen. I had one of their pizza's and hubby had a burger. We truly live on the edge when it comes to eating. lol That changes though so stay tuned. During dinner a huge white Poodle showed up at the door, he had this look on his face that said "Table for one please". He and I made eye contact and he sauntered over to our table and stood beside my husband. He sat down and appeared to be thinking..."Sorry for being late but I'm here now....where is my plate?" Our waitress appeared and nicely told "Pierre" to go outside - which he did. I peered out and saw his empty plate. We were told that Pierre lives next door and comes to visit regularly. I enjoyed watching the staff talk to him - we could tell they care for him. When we left, Pierre was outside waiting by our jeep...we said our good-nights and luckily found our way back to the Villa.
A bit more information about our villa - http://www.hullbaycottages.com/ Can I just say that STT really needs to work on their signs?? Take for instance "Four Corners" - it's actually 5 roads that meet. How in the world did they come up with 4 corners? No wonder we were lost half the time. Even when we asked for directions people hesitated to give us directions. The girls at "E & M" actually said that they were told NOT to give directions to the tourists. That made me giggle...since we were devastatingly lost when we asked. That was the night that we had to call the villa owner to help us get back.
Okkie dokkie - that's part two. I cant wait to tell you about our day sails!!
Love Jeniffer
Sherri you were a lot of help!! We truly appreciate all the great advice.
Love Jen
Jennifer, thanks for sharing your trip reports. Looking forward to Part 3.
--Islander
Jeniffer,
Enjoyed reading! Just the other night we drove by North Drop and the poodle was outside hanging out! We had thought that someone had brought them to dinner with them, so you answered that question! lol!
I will be sure to give the girls at E&M a hard time about giving directions, what's that all about? LOL! The truth is, they couldn't answer your question I am sure! 🙂
I am wondering if when you went down the road with the farms, if you were on our road! Not far from were you were staying at all! I ck'd out the Hull Bay Cottages sight and see you were up higher than I had thought, but it looked to me like you may have been on the road that we call Suicide Hill! Did you hear anyone call the road that name? The road goes down off from rt. 40, am I right?
Anywho, keep it coming! Great trip report! 🙂
Yes the name Suicide Road did come up but when you come from South Texas, where all the roads are flat...they all look like potential "Suicide Roads". LOL
The girls at E & M were soooo sweet! If you stop by ask to speak with the one that speaks the best "Yankee" - they will explain it. They argued over which could talk "Yankee" the best.
I do remember 40, & 39...and I'd like to shoot the person that came up with those darn starfish! LOL
I will finish my report soon - I also would like to post some pics...any idea how that is done? I have a picture of myself & Foxy that I thought was cute. 🙂 And of course I have a pic of "Pierre" the poodle too.
Jeniffer
Jenifer...
I kind of like the starfish...it got us to the airport withough going through Charlotte Amalie, which was great considering there were so many cruise ships in port.
I'm not sure how to post on this board....
Maybe you could PM Islander and he/she could tell you.
Good luck....
To post pictures, you first need to put them on a public sharing site like Webshots, Flickr, or Photobucket.
Then go to the photo that you want to post (at the on-line site) and perform the following actions:
1. Click it once with the right mouse button and a window will open with options on it
2. Click the option for "properties" (it will be the bottom option)
3. The Properties window will then open and in the middle of that window you will see "Addres(URL"…..
4. Highlight and copy the address there
5. go back to the post on the forum and type after the address. You DO NOT need brackets around the address.
6. That's it! You have to repeat these steps for every photo you want to show.
Hope this works for you!
Final trip report will be posted this weekend!!
PROMISE!!!
Jen
Hey Jennifer great report so far
I think you stayed kinda where we did last year.
I dont know who told you snorkeling is good at Hull bay but its not known for snorkeling even though we did see a lot of squid when we were their
Did you meet Thor at Coki?
Just love him
Cant wait to see the pictures
go bucs
Hmm, Homer Calloway has made a business out of snorkel/kayak tours at Hull Bay. It does tend to get the north swell, but when the weather is good, the snorkeling is good...
