Let me start by tell you that we typically don't vacation in the same spot twice, my philosophy is there's so much to see and do, why revisit a destination....however, this trip has changed my mind.
Our trip total was 9 days, 7 spend on St. John, and 1 1/2 on St. Thomas (but keep reading because the last day we ventured out to another country!)
Day 1 - Thursday: we had an 8 am flight from Houston to Miami, then off the St. Thomas. We arrived at the airport and it was raining, but that didn't last long. Once inside the airport, it seemed like a bit of a cluster. We got our bags, called the car rental company and waited outside for about 20 minutes until they came, picked us up, and headed to their office for paperwork. Jeep looked to be in good condition, and we drove off. At this point, neither of us were impressed with St. Thomas, and we were hoping that St. John was a little different (sights, views, etc). I had my ipad with me that helped navigate the roads and we made it to red hook, hopped on the car barge, called seaview homes to let them know we were on our way, and took lots of pictures on the ferry and enjoyed the scenery.
Wow St. John is beautiful! We drove off from the car barge, Mary with seaview homes met us and I rode with her while my husband drove the jeep. She pointed out all the markets, gas station, dumpsters, and we quickly made it up to the villa. The house was perched up above the Westin resort, out looking Cruz bay. It was a 3 bedroom with a loft, wrap around porch, and an outside shower. It was around 5 pm at this point, we quickly dropped our things off and headed to St. John market, got a few things, and headed to dinner at the Beach Bar (little did we know this place became a favorite of ours). This little gem was a bar literally on the beach, live music around 9 pm, had some AMAZING drinks (painkillers, bushwackers, lime and cocnut - my favorite that tasted like key lime pie!). The food was amazing, tuna bites were out of this world! Fish tacos and tuna sandwich for dinner, followed with a few painkillers, and a lime mojito. Headed back to villa and passed out!
Day 2 - Friday: we woke up early every day, we left blinds open so we can wake up to the sunlight. We made breakfast and sat outside on the wrap around porch, our views were breathtaking, I couldn't believe a gem like this place exited in real life. We changed, and headed out to venture out on this little island. We drove down and hit Hawksnest beach first, became one of our favorites also. Took a quick picture, and headed down the road. There was no parking at Trunk or Cinnamon bay, so we decided to do those beaches the next day and early. We drove down and saw a little sign that said "Peace Hill" with a small parking lot, and no cars. We decided to stop and explore, a short hike and we were on top of a beautiful hill out looking the water, the views were breathtaking! We took a few more pictures, hung out for a bit, then decided to continue, there was another path on the same hike that we decided to do at a later date as we weren't sure where it took us (later found out it was Dennis beach - long hike, didn't think beach was all that great but we also didn't venture out and stayed close to the rocks). Next was Maho, we loved this beach, it was so calm, and relaxing, again we took a few pictures and on our way we went to coral bay. We stopped for lunch at Shipwreck Landing, they couldn't serve mixed drinks till after 4 due to it being Good Friday but still served beer and wine and we enjoyed a few island beers, food was good, John had the curry coconut crusted grouper that he really liked, I had mahi mahi which was good as well. Drove all around down to salt pond, and decided to head back since it was getting later in the day and needed to change and head to dinner. We had made reservations at Zozo's that night. We got back, cleaned up and headed to Caneel bay, valet parked and headed to dinner. The restaurant is beautiful, looked like an old sugar mill plantation perched up on top of a hill. We waited for about 15 minutes at the bar and they had a table ready for us right on the terrace, the views, again were amazing. We ordered the pork dish and shrimp risotto and it was delicious! We were amazed at the food here, everything tasted so good!
Day 3 - Saturday: this was our first charter day and we were excited about our fishing charter. Let's just say this was one of the low lights of our trip. All we caught were trigger fish and barracuda. It started storming so bad out there on us and started to heavily rain, he gave us rain jackets. At the end of it, we were both disappointed but hey, it's called fishing and not catching right?!? Lunch was at sun dog cafe, good food, no complaints! It was tacos to the rescue and a few drinks to forget about our charter. We headed to Cruz bay waterspouts, rented snorkel gear and headed home. Dinner that night was at the beach bar again, tuna sandwich again, and chicken spinach melt, both wonderful, and again a few mojitos. It rained for a few minutes and we took cover under the patio (this was actually fun!) then headed back out to the beach table once it cleared up and had a few more drinks and watched the boats drive by... It's so perfect and relaxing here...
Day 4 - Sunday: we decided to forget about day 3, and pretended that it didn't happen. It was Easter Sunday, and we headed out early to trunk bay, plenty of parking! We snorkeled the underwater snorkeling trail, we both loved it, saw plenty of fish, took lots of pictures, and shortly after we headed to cinnamon (still trying to beat the crowds) we found a parking spot and headed right in, very beautiful beach, I can see why it's so popular. We hung out for a while then decided to try Dennis beach (trail by peace hill). It was ok, long(ish) hike, leads to a rocky beach, you can walk a little further to the "nice" part of the beach but we were worn out. We hung out for a bit then headed back home, showered and got ready and headed out to dinner at the banana deck, again having fish (I think I rotated between mahi mahi and ahi tuna every night, and I was in HEAVEN!)
Day 5 - Monday: second excursion day and this was what we were looking forward to. Our BVI excursions with pirates penny. We were picked up at the dock at 8 am and greater by savannah and captain Al. There were a few other couples on the boat (max capacity is 12 I believe). Both Savannah and Al were so sweet and nice and we started our trip by sailing through the north shores of St. John, we saw Kenny Chesney and Renee Zellwegger's house (well old house now I guess) and made our way to customs where savannah and Al took care of everything (paperwork) while we quickly ate and shopped (had about 20 minutes). Back on the boat, and headed to Virgin Gorda and to The Baths. We jumped in the water (no docks!) and snorkeled to shore where savannah and Al gave us a personal tour. They were very well versed and educated about the history of the baths which we very much enjoyed. leave it to John who tore his swimming shorts while climbing on one of the rocks which made the rest of the trip very amusing! We then snorkeled around he baths and headed back to the boat, where we had cold rum punch waiting for us which was a nice treat! Next stop was Cooper Island for lunch, and luckily there was a shop where we could purchase a pair of swim trunks and ate quickly. The food here was wonderful (savannah took our order while we were on the boat and called it in) I ordered the chicken rotti based on her recommendation and was not disappointed! Headed back to the boat and off to Jost Van Dyke we went. We pulled up and the beach was absolutely breathtaking, white sand and soggy dollar! (If you haven't heard of Soggy Dollar - check out the live camera online. It's wonderful!) It's called Soggy Dollar because there is no Dock on this beach, you have to jump in fromt he boat, swim to shore, and pay for your drinks with "soggy dollars) We jumped in and swam to shore, and headed straight to soggy dollar for a painkiller. We had about an hour to hour and half on Jost, and let's just say we consumed SO many painkillers (actually we discovered Nilla Killa's - painkiller but with vanilla rum) and Oh my goodness, let's just say the swim back to the boat was a struggle! Everyone was laughing on the boat, having a good time, and again had a few more rounds of rum punches waiting for us from savannah. It was a fun trip back, made it to customs back on St. John, and we went straight to Hawksnest to get in the water and hang out and we swam as the sunset went down (we had the WHOLE beach to ourselves which was amazing). We made it back home around 7, cleaned up, and with Savannah's recommendation we went to Rhumb lines for dinner and again was not disappointed! We had the tuna plate and the pad thai, both very delicious! Headed back home, made a drink and sipped it on the patio as we watched the lights flicker down in Cruz Bay from all the sailboats, yachts, and catamaran's.
Day 6 - Tuesday: this was the day we wanted to explore coral bay, salt pond and hike Ram's Head. We left that morning and found a little cafe close by the villa called "baked in the sun" and stopped for a small breakfast that consisted of a stuffer (kolache). We headed to coral bay and stopped at every lookout along the road for pictures and to enjoy the view. Headed to the Annaberg ruins and walked around, read all the little signs with information about the rich history of the place. Made a stop where the lady baked fresh bread and went on our way. We made a stop at Francis bay which was so gorgeous! Finally we headed to salt pond and the beginning of the Rams Head trail. It was hot and we wished we had done it early in the morning. Let me tell you, this was one heck of a hike (it was my first hike ever if I don't count the small one to Dennis beach) and boy did I pick a tough one. It was hot, long, and some parts very challenging, BUT when we finally made it to the top, we were both in awe of the view. Beautiful, breathtaking, calming, just perfect. There was no one else up there besides us for at least 30 minutes. We took lots of pictures, and just sat and enjoyed the view and watched the waves crash below. Another couple had made there way up, we chatted a bit and decided to give them some privacy and we stared the hike down. The hike down was much easier! We got to a point where an arrow pointed us to salt pond, but I think we went the wrong way because we came upon a lake that had brownish water, from a distance I thought it was salt and got really excited, however I got close and discovered it was foam... I'm not sure where it came from but it was everywhere on the shore, we left and headed back to the car which was a hike on its own. We headed to the famous skinny legs for a burger, which were very delicious! Had the signature drink of the day, guave margaritas which were very good and had to have a key lime pie to finish off the meal which was delicious. We then ventured to Leinster bay where we saw a HUGE stingray upclose, very neat!! Dinner was at The fish trap, again wonderful dinner.
Day 7 - Wednesday: We decided to do an intro to scuba class with Cruz bay sports. Met at the Westin at 8 am, we had one other couple with us. We did skill work, hopped in the pool, finished around 10:30, free for lunch and we were to meet back around 1:30 for the actual dive. We quickly headed to our favorite spot, the beach bar, ordered food and a drink, sat at a table underneath the tree on the beach and ate and sipped on a few frozen drinks. We both actually fell asleep and took a nice little nap right there...it was perfect. Headed back to dock, went out, salt water was sure different from the pool, and we took our first dive. We went down to a depth of 10-15 feet or so, and all the sudden my mask flodded with salt water, and when I attempted to clear it, I accidently inhaled salt water and couldn't breath, I quickly freaked out and by the mercy of god I made my way to surface. On the way up I had lost both fins, one was recovered and who knows where the second one went. I didn't go down a second time, instead I let the instructor and John along with the other male take another dive. John loved it and would like to get certified, I probably will too. Probably will feel more comfortable if I had a few days of actual class vs just 2 hours. We then snorkeled where we say 2 small squid which was very cool, and leave it to John he swam and scared them away (he apparently wanted them to squirt ink...go figure) and made it back to the boat. We headed back home, got dressed up, took more pictures on the amazing porch we had and headed out to mongoose junction to try the tap room. Food menu was very simple and nothing really sounded appetizing, so we decided to have a drink there then find a place for dinner. We headed to a few small shops, purchased our ornaments (we collect ornaments from every vacation we take) and decided to try Virgin Fire, seemed like a new restaurant and we figured why not. Let me just say that besides Zozo's, this was probably our other favorite restaurant for a fancier dinner. First thing that caught my eye was an appetizer which consisted of a block of Himalayan sea salt that is scolding hot and they serve you raw meat/fish to cook yourself, We had to get it as it sounded amazing! We also ordered the passion fruit ceviche, both were phenomenal! We both sat and talked about it being our last night, and seriously contemplating visiting again and even purchasing property here. We headed to get some ice cream at "scoops" and we tried the painkiller flavor and drove up the hill to the first lookout and sat on the wall looking at all the city lights and enjoying our AMAZING ice cream. Headed home, packed and got ready to head to St. Thomas for our last 2 days.
Day 8 - Thursday: check out was at 10 am and we decided to wake up early and head to the only beach we didn't get a chance to go to, Honeymoon beach. We went to Caneel, parked and hiked down to Honeymoon, took a picture (we write the name of each beach in the sand and took a picture) and headed back to the villa. We grabbed our things and left, headed to the car ferry and on our way to St. Thomas we went. We got on the ferry, made it to St. Thomas. And we were quickly hit in the face with the trash smell, the crowded streets, the busyness of the town, the stop lights, etc...we both looked at each other and wished we were back on St. John. Couldn't believe that these 2 islands were only 20 minutes apart, we felt like we were on a different island... We made it up the hills to the Bellavista bed and breakfast were we were greated by Wendy and Doug, the owners. They were so incredibly sweet and let us leave our bags, change into bathing suits and head to the one place I wanted to see while we were here, Magen's Bay. We made our way (finally, some streets were closed off due to Carnival). Parked and got out. Luckily here was a small shack that served hamburgers, we got lunch and sat on the beach. We both were not very impressed with Magen's. It was crowded, and honestly didn't compare to the worst beach on St. John. We realized at this point that we had been spoiled by the beauty and beaches of St. John. We left and headed back to the BNB, where we hung out by the pool, met another couple staying there, and decided to get cleaned up and ready for dinner. Wendy was gracious enough to have a better room for us since this was our honeymoon, it was beautiful and spacious and so very nice of her. She gave us suggestions on where to go for dinner. We didn't venture out too far and headed to "Fresh" where we enjoyed sandwiches, a few beers and watched the rich on their yachts that were docked at the marina, we sat there wondering what they did for a living and what it would be like to own one of those things...
We headed home and decided that we didn't want to spend our last day in St. Thomas. It just wasn't for us and we didn't enjoy it one bit. A decision was made that we will take the passenger ferry over to Jost Van Dyke and enjoy a beautiful beach for our last day, we looked up the schedule, seemed easy enough and packed a bag and was ready for the morning. Jost is where Soggy Dollar is (we apparently didn't get our fill of Painkillers, and back to another country we go!)
Day 9 - Friday: Headed to the red hook ferry and was there at 7:30 am. We purchased our tickets, filled out paperwork and waited for the ferry. We hopped on around 8:15, headed to St. John to pick up a few more passengers and on our way we went to Jost. We arrived at the dock and taxis were lined up to take you to the beach, and they dropped us off very close to soggy dollar. It was perfect there, not a lot of people (yet), or boats. It seemed like we had that beautiful beach to ourselves for a while. We sat down at the breakfast area and had breakfast at soggy dollar which was simple yet delicious. We grabbed some chairs and a hammock and got ourselves a "Nilla Killa" and sipped on it while we sat in paradise. The drinks continued along the day, while we alternated sun bathing and taking dips in the cool refreshing water. It was almost lunch time and John noticed a lot of people down the way on the beach infront of another restaurant so I told him to go check it out and see if they have good food for lunch. He was gone for some time and I decided to go that way as well. I found him at One Love bar chatting up with a few guys. The bar was not crowded and seemed like a hidden gem. Soggy dollar seemed like where all the tourists go, and this is where the regulars go (and by regulars I mean there was about 10 people there). Someone had their phone hooked up playing some good country music (Some Kenny Chesney...Duh!) and 2 guys who were visiting the island for their 2nd time this year and are regulars at this bar where behind the bar mixing our drinks and helping the bartender out, it was just such a neat atmosphere and we both wished we had found this place a few hours ago. We ate delicious grouper quesadillas, sipped on ALOT of bushwhackers, and chatted with the guys and even the owner who showed me some magic tricks. Pictures of jake Owen and Kenny Chesney were displayed, they regularly visit this bar, and even Kenny Chesney has written a song about it ( Song: This Bar ). The time passed by too quickly and we had to leave and head back. It was the perfect way to spend our last day in paradise. We headed back to the villa, and jumped directly in the pool to cool off, got cleaned up and headed back to the same area for dinner.
Our thoughts: After being spoiled by the beauty of St. John and the British Virgin Islands, it leaves you thinking about the life that we choose to live. Life is simple here. We met a bartender at the last restuarant we ate at in St. John that simply said " If you are barely gonna get by, you might as well do it in paradise..." and How true is that. These people don't have much, but what they do have is this: peacefulness, happiness, and a calmness about them that I was fortunate enough to experience for a week and I feel very blessed. This life is short, enjoy it with someone who you love to spend time with. Explore, try new things, and get out of your comfort zone, because there's so much out there to see....
St. John.....Until next time.
