[color:"orange"]Trip Report – July 12-27, 2010 STT, STJ, and Tortola[/color]
[color:"#666666"]Please don't judge my lack of consistent tense, this was a stretch for my rum soaked brain as it is.[/color]
A few juicy details may have been left out to protect the "innocent". <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" />
[color:"blue"]July 12:[/color] Arrive Monday afternoon at STT, love the first sip of Cruzan rum free in the terminal, just wish they had the welcome band like in Jamaica. Budget doesn’t have our jeep (several are out for seat belt repairs), but they’ll give us a compact for now, and we can be on the waiting list. David reminds me how they told him no cars when he called the island office originally, even though I had a confirmation number and double checked with corporate on the phone weeks ago. But I saved $80! Spend the first few hours of the vacation wondering what else is going to go wrong. Find the first place we can to fill up on ice, Carib, and Presidente. Now things are looking up! We circle the main drag several times trying to find Bluebeard’s Castle, I know it’s that big one on the hill with red roofs, but you don’t see the sign by the driveway coming from the airport. I had read online that the check in staff was rude, but they were nice to us, and offered a free rum punch by the pool bar. The restaurant bartender warned us “it was crap”, and said to come back after 5 for one of his. He was right, and the pool area left a bit to be desired, so we politely poured out the drinks, and headed to the room. Room looked like an average Motel 6, not bad, not great, had a mini fridge, sink, and microwave with a few dishes, nice clean bedding, cold A/C, and a great sunset facing harbor view. For $70/night, half of anything else I could find, and centrally located, it was perfect! We went to the Flying Fish in Red Hook for dinner on the docks, and really enjoyed the blackened Queen Snapper.
[color:"blue"]July 13:[/color] Woke up to a little rain, but it sooned passed. Call Budget to check on the jeep, no luck, let them know we’re moving on the St John tomorrow, and must have 4-wheel drive. Started the day with a visit to Kmart – looking for deals on beach supplies and staples. Not here, but splurged on the umbrella for $40, got some juices and rum. Know now why beach chairs are so scarce at $50, and pool floats were $15, at least triple what we pay at home. Decided this is the perfect day to spend on Magen’s Bay, which was beautiful and quiet down on the far left side. Watched a group of teen boys, half of them black, half white speaking patois, and day dreamed about how cool it would be to move to the islands with our 3 kids. Showered and headed back to Red Hook for Taco Tuesday at Duffy’s Love Shack. David bragged about how he drank $2 beers, and my tropical cocktails in their cute ceramic mugs tallied over $40. What fun we had – margarita shots poured in your mouth, watched a table of older ladies sharing a volcano complete with fog and Buffett’s song, a group of bridesmaids dirty dancing for the bride, a full table of locals with little kids out at midnight, and a few drunk cougars giving all older women a bad name. Talked to a couple of male nurses, just moved to STT sight-unseen, and heard about the 14 year-old girl shot by a gang at a funeral that day while sight seeing from the cruise ship. Glad we were moving on in the morning!
[color:"blue"]July 14:[/color] Called Budget again – we have a jeep! Picked up our green beauty w/o windows at Havensight cruise dock, and drove straight to the Red Hook car ferry. A rough passing, where I spent most of the time with my eyes fixed on land, and we were on St John. No luck calling our house manager, so we set out to Coral Bay to find our Surf Sound Cottage on our own. Quick stop at Dolphin Market for more beer, juice, and fresh produce - where I proudly asked for my 10% discount from the cute checkout girl wearing a coat. In Coral Bay, we had to stop at the hot dog cart for lunch, and just in time as we ate his last ones; he was closing for the season. We then made it all the way to Miss Lucy’s before stopping for directions – just around 2 more turns, and we were home. The cottage was basic, had a window unit in the bedroom, a nice view of the surf, washer and dryer, a tiny wood deck behind the carport with 2 plastic loungers, a makeshift outdoor shower, and lots of bottled water there for us to use. Again, I’m happy for the $1,000/week I paid. It was no “Apito” (11/09), but we could stay here twice as long for the price. The bedroom never got really cool, so we slowly adjusted to sleeping with no sheet, a little sweaty - until the mosquitoes found us, that is. Food put away and car unloaded, we spent the remaining afternoon on Maho beach with cold Presidente, and watched the sunset. A perfect St John day!
[color:"blue"]July 15:[/color] To Cruz bay for lunch and bars, ate stewed conch for $15 at Sheila’s Pot, wasn’t as good as I had hoped, but came with a ton of sides (macaroni, sweet potatoes, rice, breadfruit). I gave the leftovers to a homeless man in the park. David had nachos and we sat at a sidewalk table under an umbrella in the rain with a bucket of Dos Equis (only $20) at the Love City Taco stand. Talked with a nice couple with teens boys from Colorado that used to live in Dallas; they were in a Westin timeshare. Ended up at the Beach Bar for $4 HH Painkillers, and had a great time watching Dr. Woo, the crazy Asian play in the pouring rain. On the way back home, took a nice picture of Trunk Bay in the rain from the lookout.
[color:"blue"]July 16:[/color] up early to hike the Anaberg trail, it rained all morning, so we doused ourselves in 29% Deet, and prepared to get muddy. Found tiare flowers on the trail – they remind me of Moorea, and smell so sweet. Garlic fried chicken at Vie’s with Johnny cakes, and Presidente. She only had wings, though. I just love Vie and her daughter – they are always so happy. They gave us some genips from the tree, and our search for more began with those.
[color:"blue"]July 18:[/color] Ate lunch at Miss Lucy’s – conch chowder. 4 hours of sun at Maho beach, but it started to rain mid-afternoon and everyone left, so we decided to make the best of the situation, and swam naked in it. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Blush.gif" alt="" />
[color:"green"]July 19:[/color] Loaded up our wet green Jeep to move over to Tortola – with all the food, the beach umbrella, and suitcases – we looked ridiculous, I’m sure. Took the car ferry back to Red Hook, David dropped me with bags at the ferry dock in Charlotte Amalie, and he went to return the jeep. Taxis don’t care to take just one, so he didn’t make it back in time for the 11:45am, so we checked our bags in for the 1:30, and went upstairs to have some cheeseburgers and beer. Whew! But we saved $80…. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" /> Crossing was rough, and a local woman would scream every time the boat heaved. It was pretty funny. Got the car at Jerry’s, and moved into “Tortola Adventure” on Zion Hill. It’s a nicely decorated open beach house with spectacular views. The 3 bedrooms are on different levels, and there’s a small dipping pool. No A/C, with mosquito nets – which are very much needed! At this point, I am starting to look like I have the chicken pox. We unloaded the food, and went to Beef Island to pick up our friends at 5pm. AA lost their bag – of course the one with the frozen meat in it, so we killed 4 hours waiting on the next flight. Ate the fish sandwich at Cyber Café – always a favorite! We enjoyed talking to Jeremy and the Loose Mongoose guy until a guy came in from a boat with “food poisoning” – needing a ride for 4 to the hospital. Cab was called, and we slowly got the full story – bad shrooms was the culprit. I decided then that my bucket list would have to be edited – I would NOT be trying the tea at Bomba’s!
[color:"green"]July 20:[/color] Rainy day, what to do. AT&T service only available at the Jolly Roger, so we stopped at the Jolly Roger Bar, met “Big Sexy”, had Painkillers, beer, and some nachos (it was too early to get the ceviche that I really wanted). We were all really craving fresh fish, so Big Sexy told us where to meet the fishermen (his cousins). We got some good advice on a napkin for the best nightspots to hit from an English ex-pat land developer and her 2 friends at the bar (later to learn that one was Manpot). Asked for beach recommendations, and ended up driving all over the jungle to find Smuggler’s in the dark. We found Nature Boy, and decided to come back there the next sunny day.
[color:"green"]July 21:[/color] It rained all day and we sat in the house, which was quickly losing it’s charm (all the art about the coast of somewhere beautiful and living by the sea; the vast amount of unused sunscreen just laughing at me). I was depressed. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" /> I had flashbacks to 7 rainy days in November 2009 on STJ, when I fantasized about taking a plane to anywhere sunny, and had consoled myself then with the fact that at least my 2010 vacation would have to be good, as I was certainly getting my bad weather luck out of the way. Ha!
[color:"green"]July 22:[/color] THE SUN, THE SUN!!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Groovin.gif" alt="" /> Had a little Caribbean afternoon shower on the beach, and laughed that this is what those “positive people” on TTOL always say you get when you ask about weather. Boy, I’d like them to come on my next vacation. If you’ve seen the pictures of the landslides near Cane Garden Bay, the ones of the brown water on the coast, or the locals piling up sandbags – you know what I’m saying. We drove over to CGB, as I’ve read for years that this was THE beach, but sadly it looked worse than the beach at Lake Texoma . We tried to tour the Callwood distillery, but they were closed due to flooding. Nature Boy was out of rum, so Steve got a Painkiller made with whiskey - eeww.
[color:"green"]July 23:[/color] Up early Friday, and it’s sunny!!! We rented a great powerboat “Froliking” from King at Nanny Cay, and headed over to Sandy Spit. King told us about a good website to use for weather – windguru.cz. He said our day looked great – no rain in sight! Hoped to show our friends the best deserted beach in the world, but had to share it with 13 other boats that day! WTH – had never seen so many people there before. I guess all the charter boats were just as happy as we were to finally get a beach day. Sandy Cay didn’t look much better, so we made our way to Foxy’s (local got $10 from us the dock), got some ice and a variety of single beers at the grocery store (Shaefer, anyone?) and then on to White Bay for Ivan’s and the Soggy Dollar. Ivan has really aged, and it made both David and I teary eyed to know he wouldn’t be here forever. They had a bartender, so I was also sad that the honor bar was gone. Writing my name in the book was a highlight for me, and the bar just isn’t the same without it. Surprised to see Mic back at the bar, and David anxiously waited for Shereek to start her shift. My husband is obsessed with his island bartender friends, and he was smiling ear to hear when she recognized us. We had a few Painkillers (I do think these tasted better than last year, lots of rum, not too sweet), played some ring toss, rested in a hammock, and went for a swim after 3pm when a few of the boats left. Decided to try one of the Sandy’s again, and saw Spit was deserted! Woo Hoo! We had a joyous time rolling in the sand, <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" /> and then headed back to Nanny Cay after sunset.
[color:"green"]July 24:[/color] Soggy Dollar’s 40th anniversary party had been on my list, but we thought about how crowded it would be, and combined with our hangovers, decided not to go over on the ferry. We love White Bay, but not so much when you can’t see the water for all the boats. I told David if Jimmy or Kenny made a surprise appearance, I would cry forever. We spent the afternoon at Nature Boy’s beach, where we enjoyed the sun. Steve challenged Wiston to a game of volleyball for $20, and made sure to lose. I hope he went for rum with his proceeds. We finally caught up with the local fishermen over around Windy Hill about 4, and got some teeny little silk snappers to cook for dinner. Later that night we went to the Jolly Roger for the “Flatiron Refugees” band – doctors from Ft Worth, of all places! Our English friends from Tuesday were there, and the adorable red head was dancing with 60’s style. Big Sexy was working, but having a beer (you just gotta love this place). Angel and I ended up swimming topless off the dock to the amusement of the few folks left at closing time. Realized again that these folks would have a heart attack if they ever visited Cozumel – or St Barts, for that matter!
[color:"green"]July 25:[/color] Spent Sunday at Smuggler’s beach, then over to Long Bay for Nature Boy and his surfer friend’s beach party at “tree o’clock”. He had promised a DJ with lots of girls dancing, but there was just another couple or two, and the same few people we had seen all week walking their dogs. Fine with us, as we explained to Wiston how precious an almost deserted beach is to people that come on vacation to escape the city. I think he gets it, and in spite of his lack of business is thankful to have this beautiful beach to himself most of the time. That night we went to the Festival in Road Town. We really loved this experience – free admission, local families, fantastic jerk chicken and pork, bars lined up in a circle, and a great soca band. We all marveled at how nobody was dancing! Couldn’t figure out why they didn’t enjoy the music – just reserved, battle of the bands really serious here, freaked out by the 2 white couples that showed up? I sat down next to a sweet young lady who knew my name from our TMM charter 2 years ago – totally wild experience. We enjoyed gambling for $1 – put your bill on a color under a rock, a ball is thrown into a chicken wire cage, and the winning color pays 3 to 1. “Ball In!”
[color:"green"]July 26:[/color] Full Moon Party day!!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Banana.gif" alt="" /> It’s sunny, and our last day to spend on the beach, but we’re all pretty wiped out, and a little bored with the same ole options (several beaches were still brown from the runoff). We decided to try the beach we’ve been looking at from our deck all week – Apple Bay, right in front of Big Sexy’s house. It was great – waves were big but manageable, large rocks spread out, with a nice sandy strip in the water. We snorkeled a bit, but nothing to see. Sexy called his cousin for lobster, but he wasn’t going out until tomorrow. We showed up at Bomba’s about 10. I enjoyed the 2 bars with live music, watching the cute young girl dancing by herself in her own world (saw her again the next day in the Miami airport looking just as you can imagine), and the 2 middle-aged women with silicone enhancements doing body shots to the delight of a huge crowd. We took some great pictures with the incredibly wacked out Rasta dude making the tea. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" /> Steve got one cup, and we each sipped a bit. I had a tiny cup of rum and coke for $4, but David said he saw another guy order just a cup of rum for the same price. Funny how different drinking is on the island - to go cups, driving with a drink, walk into a bar with drink in hand, liquor cheaper than beer, mushroom tea sold in a bar! Ended the night with a healthy buzz, and one more thing checked off the bucket list.
[color:"green"]July 27:[/color] flight home at 11:30 – one last grouper sandwich at Cyber Café (this time we all have water!), and one more chance to get sandy feet. It’s been the longest vacation we’ve ever taken, and I’m ready to get home to my 3 kids… and the sun.
