We headed to STT to have an early 40th birthday celebration for my hubby. This trip needed to be perfect. We had some friends meeting us for a few days during the trip. Our last trip to STT wasn't good. We stayed at the Pavilions and Pools. Big DUMP. We didn't have a rental car. Big Mistake! So I was redeeming myself on this trip. It all started at the airport when we heard our names being paged. They had started to board our very full flight and I thought they are bumping us off the plane for some reason. It would be my luck! The gal said I need your boarding passes. She proceeded to rip them up and give us new ones. She said board now and gave us no other information. We grabbed the tickets and headed on the plane to our now first class seats! Can you believe it? It was starting off perfect. My husband smiled all the way to San Juan.
My husband hates crowds and rushing around, remembering the huge crowds at the airport from the last trip, I did everything I could to make this an excellent trip from the get go. So we opted to spend the night at the San Juan Best Western and leave for STT in the AM rather than rush from plane to plane and fighting a huge number of people at the airport. This was the perfect way to get on island time! It was great. The hotel was clean and it was right in the airport. I would highly recommend it. We were coming in from Chicago and other people on our flight were nervous about making their connecting flight to St. Thomas. Not us we just kicked back and relaxed. Our biggest worry was getting our luggage and getting to the hotel to relax! I loved it!
We left Friday morning at 8:30 on our flight to St. Thomas. We had maybe 20 people on the plane. We were meet at the airport by Sherri who is WONDERFUL! The airport was dead. Maybe 15 of those people were waiting for luggage and it was the only flight arriving. Perfect! Sherri got us up to speed on where and what we needed to do. I can't believe how nice it is having someone who knows exactly what they are doing meet you. We hadn't been to STT for 2 years so it was all new to us again. You wouldn't recognize the airport without the crowds. We were at the airport maybe 20 mins. That included baggage and rental car! Wow! We rented our full size car from Budget. We didn't have any trouble except that the car only had 3/4 of a tank of fuel. Which we just were told it had to be full on return or it would cost us like $100.
We were off to Villa Jamie which we rented through McLaughlin Anderson! I was the driver and my husband was the looker. Great advice from another poster. Have some one remind you to stay left when turning. That was so helpful. The first day your brain keeps saying you are in the wrong lane!
Sherri has 2 way radios and was able to show us where we would be turning for our dinner reservations etc. She also pointed out good places to eat or shop along the way. It was nice to be able to ask questions. I can't begin to tell you how helpful she was. We had made an early request to see Rockworks and Stone Cottage if they were available to view. Oh my they are fabulous. The view is to die for. Both places are even more beautiful than the pictures. Both are completely private from each other. Really liked the pools (Stone Cottage pool is extremely private) and the set up with the Rockworks bedrooms. Rockworks has the main house with all the amenities and then a separate pavilion with another bedroom, bath, small refrigerator and I think Sherri said a coffee pot. It is like having 2 separate houses. A large deck separate the two areas. It is very private for 2 couples. What makes it even better, They are very CLEAN! I am a neat freak! I can't say enough good things about these 2 places. They would not disappoint you.
We were also able to meet Sherri's honey. What a great guy. We checked out their site for the new house. Maybe we can see it next year when we return.
Back on the road to Villa Jamie! By now my husband is ready to see where we will be staying. We follow Sherri on all of these winding roads toward Peterborg and wonder how we will be able to find our way out again. We finally arrive at Villa Jamie. You know I have spent several days wondering what words I would use to describe this place and I am still speechless. This place was absolutely stunning! We are still shaking our heads and smiling. Sherri gives us a tour of the house and gives us a map to show us how to find our way around town. After Sherri left I think it took my husband all of about 1 min. to be in the pool. We loved it. We had this whole place to ourselves for the next 2 days. Our friends will be arriving the next afternoon.

This was our view when we walked in.
The pool view.

Upstairs master

Once we finally decided on a room (the upstairs master), unpacked and cleaned up we headed out to Indigo. It was the best meal I have ever had! I ordered the Friday night special Caribbean Lobster $36. This thing was huge! There were 2 whole lobsters. One part of the lobster had a cream cheese crab and shrimp mixture. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. We had lobster several other times on this trip and nothing compared. We also had several Mojitos which were fabulous. By this time it was time to head back to Villa Jamie. We ended the evening on the patio listening to the water and just enjoying this wonderful place. We were in heaven and on island time. What could be better?

Check out the crowd at Indigo!

Watching the sun set on STT!

More to follow. I want to make sure these pictures post.