thoughts on our week away

well, another week away on a grand adventure, and many a lesson was learned and a thought was had...

#1 - we like the caribbean, but not as much as hawaii - go figure.

#2 - we need more to do than just sit at a pool or beach every day. unfortunately, the weather hampered our snorkeling plans for most days, which meant we spent A LOT of time just sitting on beaches and at pools...which is okay for a few days...but we would have liked a few more things to do.

#3 - it made me really want to take my kids on a tropical vacation - we've done it twice without them now, and being able to take them snorkeling and share that experience (different from swimming in the ocean on hilton head and in florida) will be cool.

#4 - our kindles were a great investment. given our totally leisurely schedule, i read 3 1/3 books while there...here's my quick reviews -

• the hobbit - i was 2/3 of the way through this when we left...it was fun to finish off...and read more of the background of the lord of the rings
• overcoming perfectionism - yes, i read it...but 90% was not pertinent to me...and the other 10% told me that i am the way i am because of how i was parented - DUH - should i just apologize to lilly now?!?
• have a little faith by mitch albom - LOVED it...great 'beach' read...love his books, and this one was great.
• the red queen by phillipa gregory - the counter-tale to the white queen - i didn't think it was quite as good as the white queen, but in general, i still love her historical fiction of this time period and it was a good read.

#5 - it's always good to be gone...and it's always good to come home.

many, many, many thanks once again, to our children's caretakers (and taxi drivers!). molly was asked by a friend before we left who was taking care of her while we were gone. she answered "grandmom!" and the woman said - "wow, your mom is lucky!" and molly answered "NO! WE'RE the luck ones!"

but really, it's still us :)

and so it goes...

another vacation coming to an end...

our weekend in st. thomas was spent much like the rest of the week...not doing much except visiting some beaches, pools, sights and eating. lots.

saturday was a 'one ship' day, so we opted to travel up to the world famous magean's bay beach (in the hopes that the offerings there would be more likely to be open). it's a trip to the other side of the island, through the middle this time, and so it's a route we haven't taken yet, which is always exciting - as i've previously mentioned - given the state of the roads, mountains and lack of signage.

we arrive at the beach to find it being populated with cruise ship go-ers, and we fall into a spot on the beach and bust out our kindles...more on that later...

unfortunately, the weather is not cooperating...and it rains on and off about every 10 to 15 minutes...we pick up our stuff every time, cover the kindles, shake off the towels and head under a pavilion until it lets up...and then back to set out our stuff again...and after the third time of doing that...we decide it's not worth being out here anymore (world famous beach or not...) we pack up and head back towards the condo, with a few planned stops on the way.

the first is to the st. thomas dairy and their udder delite dairy bar - famous for its alcohol-infused milkshakes.

YUM! I got a "jacoco" - coconut ice cream, chocolate ice cream and kahlua. jason got the "udder delite" - almond crunch ice cream with amaretto.


we took our milkshakes up to our second stop - 'drake's seat' a viewing point in the mountains overlooking magean's bay...famous as being a lookout spot for sir francis drake. we parked for a bit - waiting out that darn rain again...

several safari taxis brought trucks full of cruise ship passengers...

and eventually it was raining lightly enough that we braved some pictures.


back to the condo for the rest of the afternoon, and we catch a glimpse of the cruise ship leaving port....
we get cleaned up for our final dinner on the island

at a restaurant overlooking town and the docks on the property of bluebeard's castle.


it was fun to be a part of the 'real' pirates of the caribbean history while here..there is a lot of pirate stuff to be bought and there are many tales about what is real and what is not and the stories of blackbeard and bluebeard and their rivalries, etc.

this was our one and only meal at a restaurant that was completely indoors. it was a beautiful setting and we enjoyed some fantastic food (escargot and seared ahi tuna sashimi for appetizers...shrimp creole and stuffed salmon for dinner...coconut flan and mango cheesecake for dessert). it did not feel appropriate to take pictures of our yummy food here...or even us at our table. so also for the first time during vacation, we didn't!

we checked out sunday morning and spent many hours the next day at the neighboring pool (though our resort's pool now had water in it and the big construction fences were gone, it still wasn't open...) jason made the mistake of attempting to take in more sun, and skipped the sunscreen. i always refer to him as 'my lobster', based on a 'friends' episode...and now, well...he really looks like one.

we hit lunch at w!kked again on our way to the airport...where we bid farewell to st. thomas with another large duty-free liquor purchase.

p.s. the redness of MY skin here pales in comparison to jason's entire body...

end of the week in st. thomas

some pretty uneventful days on the island...we're truly on island time...

remember those iguanas...yeah, they're still everywhere...

thursday started with an 'owners tour'...aka sales presentation...no, moms and dads, we did not buy another week ;) as tempting as it always is!

and then we decided to plop ourselves down on a beach...and this time we chose Morningstar Beach...one of the island's best beaches (just for hanging out and water sports, but not snorkeling...) and it's located on the adjacent Marriott property....

we found ourselves some chairs and umbrella and only had to vacate them for a short time for a quicky rain...

we ran into our friendly east-coast couple (the poor woman with the broken nose) as they were headed from the beach to one of the hotel pools...she was looking a bit better, but is stuck wearing her prescription sunglasses everywhere because they are the only ones she can tolerate to have on the bridge of her nose...

we hang at the beach reading....not even a swim in the ocean today...it's very rough out and even the water sports station is closed.

as we head up the steep drive on our way back to our hotel, we notice that the construction crew we passed on the way in is now directing traffic on the 'one lane' road (the other lane being obstructed with construction equipment). one of the construction containers (like a freighter shipping container, or semi-truck trailer) has TIPPED onto just two of its supports...leaving it now precariously perched on the edge of the road/cliff, looking like it was about to tumble down....yikes.

we continue to our hotel and get cleaned up for one of our two 'fancy' dinners...the ones we knew would be a splurge when we got here.

we take the 'scenic' and sometimes scary drive to the restaurant (a wrong turn here and there got us on some streets we probably shouldn't have been driving down...crime in town at night is notorious....) but we eventually make it (with 5 minutes to spare) to our restaurant - mafolie - overlooking all of town.

being the 'off season' here on the island, most restaurants are not busy, and some of the more 'famous' ones are closed for a few weeks for renovations and what not, as they prepare for their busy season here. there were only a few other couples dining at mafolie's with us....one of them was our east-coast friends (we booked our reservations at the same time...)

we chatted with them for a bit - and discovered that they felt the same as we did about the sales presentation (and new points system for our timeshares) and were, unfortunately, forced to evacuate from the pool earlier today because of the tipping container! there was fear that it was going to fall down the hill....and apparently the pool they were enjoying was at the bottom...needless to say, they are feeling like they can't catch a break and are more than ready to be flying off this island!

but back to our romantic dinner *splurge*....we each ordered an appetizer...nutty brie and prosciutto-wrapped sea scallops...

both were amazing....and then came our dinners....i went for the totally outrageous surf and turf...chef's choice angus beef and stuffed caribbean lobster....

jason ordered the peppered filet mignon....

and no dinner splurge would be complete without dessert....jason ordered an excellent key lime pie....

and mine was a flaming creme brulee...i blew it out almost immediately...but it turns out i should have let it burn for a bit more, as the alcohol on top was so strong i actually poured it out onto the plate!

friday was another beach lounging day...we opted to hunt down one of the beaches we heard was excellent for snorkeling - sapphire beach - which is part of another resort complex on the other side of the island.

it's gorgeous when we arrive and we're greeted by a waiter ready to serve us up some rum drinks (it was just past noon...) but we actually choose to find a place to set up camp and pull out the kindles (we were 2 of 4 kindles spotted on the beach this time!)

the water is pretty rough, so we spend a couple hours reading, waiting for the wind to die down...we can see lots of reef...and other snorkelers attempt to check out what the ocean has to offer...the beach is really quite empty (ah, the joys of being here in the off-season) it sprinkles a bit and finally we decide it's now or never for the snorkeling....

jason's snorkel ends up being defective and damaged somehow, so he buys a cheapo one from the water sports rental station at the beach and we're ready to hit the water when it starts pouring rain (and consequently, the water sports rental station closes up shop and the other people on the beach also pack up and leave!) combine the rain with the winds and for the first time during this vacation i was actually cold. we decide that there's no reason not to snorkel given the rain... so we decide to give it whirl...

unfortunately as with a couple other things with this vacation, it doesn't quite go as we would like...the coral is hard to see and we get whipped around in the waves...and every time we head back towards shore we are swarmed by a school of white fish that seem to think we belong with them. it was actually quite amusing. and we remind ourselves that i don't have a broken nose, and things could be worse!

we packed up in the rain and headed back (to the other end of the island...again) to clean up for dinner, and then headed almost all the way back to go to a restaurant that jason picked...based on one menu item....

molly molone's irish yacht pub was serving bangers and mash...who could resist?! so we toasted to irish pub fare while drinking some blackbeard's ale....

midweek in the caribbean

so our tuesday and wednesday were pretty low key "island time" days...

made breakfast in the condo (eggs and toast - purchased from KMart, the 'best' grocery store in the area....and well, that ain't saying much!)

we decide to spend the day that the pool of our neighboring resort - as our pool is under construction. fortunately, we're there early enough in the day to secure chairs under a big umbrella, cause being in the sun is just plain killer. the humidity is overwhelming, but having the pool nearby to cool off is great...and in fact, necessary.

we enjoyed some mango rum drinks (go figure) from the pool side bar, and even ate lunch at the poolside restaurant.
one thing for sure on st. thomas...food is expensive. it doesn't matter what it is or where it's from...it's 3 times the price of home. even hawaii was no where near as expensive...it was more, but not totally inflated. HOWEVER - we have gotten some great meals - with portion sizes being enormous. our salads for lunch from the pool-side restaurant are an example...i ate maybe half of mine!


we hung at the pool for several hours, headed back to our condo to clean up for dinner, and then took the short (but still winding, steep and scary) car ride into town for dinner - at a very nice restaurant situated in one of the 'cruise ship shopping areas' - w!kked. we had some delicious lobster rolls for an appetizer, with seafood pasta and cuban sandwich for dinner...followed by our first slice of key lime pie for dessert (every restaurant here has key lime pie for dessert - and a drink on their menu called a 'bushwhacker' - a frozen drink with baileys and whatnot...we each had one of those, too!) our table overlooked the harbor and town, so the lights from the houses up the mountain make for a cool effect.


wednesday brought a 'two ship' day on st. thomas,

so we opted to hit the road to neighboring St. John....we took the car ferry (once again not wanting to be dependent on the very expensive taxi service)...the car ferry was an interesting experience....coupled with the drive, it left me wanting a barf bag...

we land in st. johns and head up the coast to the world famous trunk bay...

supposed to be one of the best snorkeling spots in the world...complete with an underwater snorkeling trail with signage to point out fish types, etc. upon arrival, we're informed that the trail is, in fact, closed for the day and that they are not advising even swimming in the water, as a result of the large swells. we opt to pay our admission (it's national park land) and check it out...

it is, in fact, a gorgeous beach and we finally take our first swim in the ocean on this trip.



there are passengers from one of the ships that have made the trip here, and one of them goes snorkeling, but isn't impressed with the sites. there are plenty of people in the water, as it's quite fun to be tossed around a bit in the swells, but i can certainly see why they were advising against it. one woman arrives and says "ah, it's much calmer than yesterday....yesterday, a woman broke her nose, and another one had to be pulled from the water...." crazy. we later find out that the woman who broke her nose is someone we met here at our resort during our session with our personal concierge! she was looking a little rough, but in pretty good spirits....

since we were really hoping to take in some snorkeling, we opted to find ourselves another location that might be a bit calmer...we head up the coast a bit farther to cinnamon bay....not any calmer and totally deserted. so, we decide to head to the other side of the island to locate the burger joint we've heard we should enjoy for lunch...we run across some mongooses on our way, as well as donkeys just hanging by the side of the road...

we pass some great views of coral bay, a harbor,

and locate the restaurant nearby - skinny legs...once here for a few days you learn to look for the right places for signs to find what you're looking for...this one was hanging from a tree at the 'entrance'.

we seat ourselves in the quaint little shack (that is only open from 11am- 4 pm every day) and notice the 'lost soles' decor...

we're interrupted at one point in our meal by a couple with two small children that finally get our attention by calling to jason "hey, ORANGE GUY! what's with the orange toe nails?" they presumed (given the orange rash guard, orange toe nails and orange flip flops) that jason must be a hard-core fan for clemson or what not....we simply indicated no...he just likes orange...and everyone in our household usually has their toe nails painted, even the boys...i'm not sure what they made of that...but they did end the conversation with bon appetit, so they couldn't have thought we were all THAT bad :)

the burgers at 'skinny legs' were definitely delicious,

and we made note that the popular condiment holders around these islands are 6-pack containers. amusing.

we leave lunch and head back to the north end of the island to try to find some more remote snorkeling. we stop by and tour some sugar mill ruins,

and to catch a glimpse of the british virgin islands in the distance.

across the street from the ruins site is a three-quarter mile long trail that leads to a great snorkeling beach...we decide to load up our stuff and give it a whirl....

so we trek about 1/2 a mile...in our $2.50 each old navy flip flops....across a trail made of rocks and coral...we decide we've gone far enough and find a good, calm place we can enter the water to check out some reef.

it is fantastic, and essentially becomes a private snorkeling spot for us...as only 2 other couples even walked down the trail past where we were.

we spotted many colorful fish, but even more so, the coral itself. the reef is in excellent condition in comparison to what we saw in hawaii, and it was a great stop to snorkel for a bit.

then it's back to the car for the return trip to town - we visit the 'cruise ship shopping area' on st. john, known as mongoose junction, and hunt down the tap room, a little restaurant serving the virgin island brews on tap...

we enjoy some good beer and do some window shopping, and take in the greater st. john cruz bay area (it's MUCH smaller than st. thomas, and the island time feeling is twice as strong on this island...) we heard tale of a good bbq joint from friends who honeymooned on st. johns,

so we stop in to get some take-out to eat back at the condo and get directions to the car ferry dock (which was definitely needed, as we were totally turned around with where we were and how to get back there!) the ride back is a bit calmer, and the view of st. john as we depart is spectacular...