St John USVI, Trip Report October 24th-31st 2006

October 24th: Nightmare flight 671 at Miami Airport: We are up at 3:30am to pack up the car and go. Leave the house at 4:30 and get to Winner Airport parking in Philadelphia around 5:15. Check in and leave on our flight to Miami at 6:00. Flight from Philly to Miami was overbooked and they asked for four to take vouchers and a later flight. Our connection doesn’t leave until 12:05pm so we grab breakfast and a few smokes in the outdoor leper colony; I mean smoking area. Again flight to STT is overbooked from Miami and they have one last voucher to give if someone will fly into Puerto Rico and to STT at 7:00pm. We were supposed to board at 11:40am. It was around 12pm when they get on the intercom and announce that our plane has a mysterious mechanical problem and they will be taking the plane out of service to investigate. About 12:40 they announce that a flight coming in from Boston will take us. It is only a few gates down and will be ready to go after refueling. We’re happy again and not too delayed. We wait about 30 minutes, the plane is refueled and we board the plane. Waiting for about 15-20 minutes and then an announcement that this plane has two warning lights on and they are going to try to fix this while we sit on the plane. It is getting hot, people are asking for water. They fix one problem and ask us to be patient while they try to get a part. The guy in front of us asks for a glass of water. The attendant is getting upset and then goes to the back and announces that she will now prepare water for 166 passengers. After an hour and a half we are told we can get off the plane and wait in the lobby where it is cooler and they are still working on the problem. It was about 3:30pm by this time. They continue updating the time for take off first 4pm, then 4:30, then 5:00, then 5:30 and it is getting ugly. They had given us each $10 food vouchers around 4pm. We ate some nasty airport food and at 5:30 they tell us that they will take this plane out of service and we should go to terminal C, all the way from terminal D at the other end of the airport. We should have taken that flight to San Juan. We get to terminal C and find that they have pushed the time to 6:30pm departure in order to refuel etc. Then around 6:00 pm tell us that they must change out the flight crew and we will not be leaving until 7:30pm. They give us one more $10 food voucher but people wanted drinks. It was looking like an angry mob at the desk, there were a few families with small children and many of us going to ST John and just wondering if we would even make the last ferry over. We finally take off around 7:45pm. The flight crew is joking with us. We arrive at STT around 10, get our luggage, and have to share the private taxi that we booked because we were so late arriving. We get to the ferry dock and one of the small ferry boats say they will take us right over- very nice of them and they got us there in like 10 minutes flat. We call Caribbean villas again and tell them that we are in now at 11:45pm. Curtis takes us to C&C to pick up our Jeep but the keys are not in it. We found out later that the guy at the dock in Cruz bay was trying to help us contact C&C and C&C staff was in Coral Bay at this hour with our keys. Curtis drove us to our villa (Allesandra) and by this time it is 12:05am and we are really tired. We go on the deck and look at the stars finally happy to start our vacation.

October 25th: I had scheduled a massage with Nomadic Spa. Jennifer & Jesse showed up and set up in minutes at the villa. I had the 1.5 hour signature stone massage by Jesse and it was very relaxing and just what my overworked muscles needed. John went out to get the rental Jeep from C&C and buy groceries at Starfish while I had my massage. Afterwards we were still weary from the airport so we decided we would drive around and orient ourselves. First we stopped at Cruz Bay to get some items from St John Spice and Sparky’s for cigarettes. We also got a smoothie from “smoothie guy”. They are the best smoothies! We drove down North shore road, then drove all the way out East end road and passed Vie’s snack shack which was open but we were already full from breakfast so we didn’t stop. We then went out to Coral Bay Road and Salt pond Road and backtracked stopping at Aqua Bistro for drinks and took Centerline Road back to the villa. In retrospect we should’ve taken our snorkel gear because it did not rain at all this day and the North Shore beaches had calm waters. We went to Starfish again this day for some more grocery items and then to Baked in the Sun Bakery where we bought some cookies and Tiramisu (very good). Went to Pine Peace for booze because Mixology was closed. Enjoyed dinner at the villa and some swimming and hot tubbing.

October 26th: Reef Bay Hike. It was hot waiting at the National Park office. The hike is pretty easy downhill but long. There were a whole lot of people on this hike. We passed a few people doing the hike down and up. The waterfall at the Petroglyphs was running due to all the rain they had had the week and month before, about 8”. We had to reapply bug spray quite often and if we stopped, the mosquitoes were on us (again probably worse due to the rain). We saw the Kapok tree, Banana spiders and large webs, the petroglyphs and the bats and land crabs in the sugar mill. We couldn’t believe all the crabs in the sugar mill. We enjoyed a very brief swim at Genti Bay at the end of the hike. We saw a sting ray right at the waters edge while waiting for the boat. I thought it was kind of funny when the boat captain came over with the dinghy and one guy says “There is a Sting Ray
Right there” and the captain says “Cool huh?” and the guy replies “Well, I just didn’t want you to step on it.” All I was thinking was ‘Cool- a sting ray’ although one can’t help but think of Steve Irwin now when you see one. Bring lots of bug spray, water, a snack and tissues for potty stops in the woods. A pit toilet is at the end of the trail but I have to say, pit toilets in a Caribbean climate are not a good idea! P-U! The Sadie Sea came to pick us up. I was upset that we did not get a seat on the top deck, until it started pouring. Had to bail out the Jeep when we got back on land because we left the windows off, then we realized that there are plugs in the bottom to drain it out. Back to the villa, showered and headed to Cruz Bay. We visited the Quiet Mon Pub. That is our kind of pub. Met Kenny the bartender who made me his special drink called Blackout Punch. I had about 4 or 5 of these. They are mostly Stoli’s but only tasted like punch-very dangerous and they live up to their name. FYI- Quiet Mon is cash only. We went to Rhumblines for dinner. I had already scoured all the menus for the restaurants and decided I wanted the corn & shrimp fritters which were very good and the coconut curry soup. The soup was too spicy for me. I am used to just the coconut, chicken and lime or lemongrass soups around here with no curry. I am told I asked for another Blackout punch at Rhumblines and they made it for me. I don’t recall the rest of the night but the pictures look like I was having fun.

October 27th: We were up early again. It was raining on and off which made this huge, vivid, double rainbow that went from the Westin, Great Cruz Bay all the way over to Centerline Road. I couldn’t capture the whole thing in one picture. It was so beautiful I wanted to cry I was so awestruck. We went to Waterlemon this day and snorkeled. The current was pretty strong. We snorkeled out to the cay and started to go around it but I got a little worried because it was raining and very strong current. There was a small craft advisory in effect for the rest of our trip. John said let’s go back. When we were about 20-30 feet more towards shore he told me that I swam right by a big Barracuda. He was disappointed that we did not go all the way around the cay. He said it started to get really cool back there with much more live coral. Near the shore people were yelling that they were seeing turtles. I was a little disappointed that I did not see them. We saw the starfish though. Back to the villa and had burgers on the grill. We walked around Cruz Bay, got some deals at Big Planet on Columbia Wear and got a Cowboy hat (Oh yeah- I am truly screaming tourist now). Walked to Everyting and thought they did not have much of anyting. Bought a Ting to drink. If anyone misses Ting, try Wink. It is a grapefruit soda I have been drinking for years. It is slightly sweeter than Ting. We went to Quiet Mon again for Happy hour. Met a sailboat captain who told us some stories of his famous clientele and their bad behavior. We also met Allex the day before, a chef at Zozo’s and he was there again. Controlled myself this time on the drinks:) Back to the villa by 7 or 8 to swim and hot tub.

October 28th: I’m up very early again. I can’t miss a thing!!! We took Gift Hill Road to Centerline and then on to Salt Pond Bay. We were the first to arrive at Salt Pond and passed a native woman who told us that the trail to Drunk Bay was underwater. We went a few yards and then turned back and snorkeled Salt Pond Bay. Salt Pond Bay is beautiful. As recommended in many guidebooks, if the North Shore Beaches are rough then head to the south shore beaches. This is good advice. We enjoyed our day at Salt Pond. John saw a Queen Angelfish and we saw a flounder who kept camouflaging himself on the rocks. He also saw a nurse shark and got video of that. When we left only about 10 people were on the beach. We went on to Little Lameshur beach and snorkeled there next. Spotted a deer on the way. John saw a sting ray and got video of that too. It started raining and I got out to move our stuff under a tree. We left and headed to Vie’s but it was Saturday and she was not open so we went to Skinny Legs instead and John had a fish sandwich and I had a bleu cheese burger. Both were very good. The flies were pretty pesky though. They could use some fly paper. Could have been all the rain bringing them there though. On the way back we stopped at Colorful Corner and I bought two hand painted ceramic turtles. The lady working there was originally from Philly so we had a little chat. We went back to the villa to shower and then back to the Quiet Mon. No Kenny and it was pretty dead. We went to La Tapa for dinner. It was very good. It started raining really hard and we had to switch tables before the appetizer came. I had a Mojito; John had the sangria which were both good. I had the goat cheese salad and lobster and he had the artichoke and Tuna for dinner-yummy. Dinner was kind of pricey but it is the kind of place where you don’t feel out of place if you dress up and their menu changes nightly. Back to the villa for aloe treatment as we were becoming red from all the snorkeling.

October 29th: I am up at 5am. We had breakfast at the villa again. We went to Caneel bay and walked to honeymoon beach. It is a very pretty beach with really good snorkeling. We snorkeled a little while and the people who were there (all four of them) had left so we had the beach to ourselves. The ocean was still choppy and still had a small craft advisory in effect. By this time I was determined to see a turtle. We stopped at the bar on the way to Scott beach. Two drinks, one without alcohol-$16.00 + tip. We trekked to Scott beach and admired the grounds along the way. We also commented that we had much better digs with our villa. We started to snorkel and really didn’t see anything but the sea grass. I was just about ready to give when I put my mask back on and looked down and right below my feet was a big hawksbill turtle. His buddy was swimming around but left. I waved to John-over here! It was the highlight of my snorkeling and I followed him around for about 15 minutes taking pictures and video. Turtles are so cool. We headed back to the villa and had to rest there for the night. We were burnt, bug bitten and tired. We had steaks on the grill and lounged in the pool. No hot tub. It does not go well with sunburn.

October 30th: Our last full day on the island. The plan was to snorkel Tektite. Tektite is a hike from Lameshur and mostly rock scrambling/climbing. We made it up the trail, past the tektite site and then down onto some big rocks. I was not going to go in there. The current was rough still. Climbing back out of this area was a challenge. We saw wild orchids and huge century cacti and barrel cacti along the way. The look down was gorgeous too. We made it back to Donkey Bite and snorkeled from there. We saw a big nurse shark lounging under a rock shelf. I finally saw an angel fish and then this huge fish kept following me. It freaked me out at first. John said it is a Permit and he would not leave us alone. Not a pretty fish to be sure! Back to the villa for a shower and then on to the Quiet Mon to say goodbye to our friends and get t-shirts. We took pictures of some locals, Jeff with his parrot MaryAnn, John with Mark and me with Kenny. I talked to Van, the bar manager for a while and he told me some stories of crazy Halloween goings on and funny stuff that happened at the bar. We also met the owners. I can’t wear the T-shirt I got in public but I still like it. We went to Morgan’s Mango for dinner. This was more my speed for dining as there is something for every taste. I had the conch fritters and coconut shrimp and a hurricane Hugo-all was good except I had drank too much again and couldn’t finish my dinner. John had the Tuna Carpaccio and the surf and turf. He said it was some of the best Tuna he has ever had and my man likes his Tuna. This was the only time I used the St John Island discount card. Honestly, I don’t think you need it unless you plan and actually do the things that are discounted, like take a sail boat tour or dine out every night. Most other places will throw in something or give you a discount if you are making a significant purchase.

October 31st: Our last day and we are really sad. Caribbean villas let us store our luggage since check out was at 10am and ferry was not until 2pm. We headed to Cruz Bay and had breakfast at JJ’s Texas Coast Café. It was good and they were busy. I bought some T-shirts and magnets for folks at home at Sparky’s/ Captains Corner. I also shopped at Into the Blue for some earrings with petroglyphs on them. Lastly we stopped at the National Park Office for some book purchases. And we got our last smoothie from smoothie guy. I almost cried on the ferry ride to STT. Our private taxi from Dynamic tours was waiting for us. We checked in the airport no problem and even upgraded to first class from STT to Miami. We never flew first class and were sorry that we bought hamburgers at the airport. First class really rocks. More anything? More everything! Of course flights home from paradise never get delayed. We were in on time. Our pictures are listed at http://www.bowwowandmeow.com/album Just click on a picture to enlarge it. Not all pictures are up yet.

In summary-
Villa Allesandra through Caribbean Villas was excellent-excellent views, nice size pool and hot tub, a/c in the bedrooms, staff is nice (took us to our villa at Midnight!), very private villa-couldn’t see any neighbors. Only complaint was that Bose stereo system was not there because it was broken. We have already booked two weeks here for next year. Thank you waterguy for your reassurance that this is a first class villa.
C&C Jeep Rental- Great staff (they were waiting to give us the keys at midnight!), nice, clean maintained vehicle, good price.
Dynamic Tours Private Taxi- Excellent service and worth a few extra dollars to go right to the ferry dock.
Starfish Market is nice and many items are really not any more expensive than back home such as cream for coffee and wine.
Favorite Bar-Quiet Mon- great music, great local people and best bartender Kenny. In my opinion Woody’s is not our style and reminded me of Hooters in the states. It was always packed though-standing room only out on the sidewalk.
Favorite restaurant- I liked Morgan’s Mango and John liked that and La Tapa. I wanted to like Rhumblines but the food is just too spicy for my delicate stomach. Maybe if I wasn’t so wasted I could’ve picked something without curry. I really do like the ambiance though. It is very romantic. We only tried these three for dinner.

Highlights: Salt Pond Bay, Waterlemon Bay, Honeymoon Beach, Donkey Bite/Tektite, Smoothie Guy (he’s across the street for the post office) Quiet Mon-the Heineken Chandelier really makes the place:)

What I learned: From the message board-the J&J baby shampoo and water is a great defogger for the snorkel mask and the mask strap cover is great if your hair is always getting ripped up; a dry snorkel is the way to go as well as buying your own snorkel vest or floatation device if you are not a good swimmer; make friends with the locals and they will treat you like family and hook you up; Rhuli gel is great for bug bites and burns; Bug Spray and lots of it, 100% deet is probably best; In off-season you can always find a parking spot and a restaurant you will like; Dress code- leave the dressy stuff at home unless you are dining at a really fancy place or going to a wedding. Locals dress in shorts and t-shirts mostly I felt overdressed most of the time but I never get to dress up for my job so I did not care too much; expect to not do all the things you planned, we didn’t and I was not disappointed; I felt safe there. When we were waiting at the ferry dock at midnight for Caribbean Villa's Curtis a police officer pulled up and asked if we were ok. Finally-there is nothing-absolutely nothing like the moist sunny climate to cure all that stress and make you smile.