Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/495279029sjyaWJ

Summary – This was my 9th or 10th trip to St. John, my favorite place on Earth. I’ve gone alone, with a lady friend, with family and with groups of adult friends. I definitely have opinions about what I like and don’t like. This group had 10 people, plus our friend Ralph already on the island. All 11 of us are accomplished homebrewers, and most of us are certified beer judges. So, the beer and drinking experience is important with the group this trip. We have two visits planned in 2006 – January with only my partner Christine and November with the extended family, 24 people from tiny to Grandparents. 

Villa – I strongly prefer villas that are laid out with the kitchen and pool on thesame level. I tend to do a good bit of cooking, but want to be part of the action. Carrying pitchers of papaya coladas down wet stairs is recipe for broken bones. We had a larger group than normal this trip, 5 couples. The list of affordable villas with 5 bedrooms is short. We went with Caribe Villa from VIVA Vacations, also known as the Peter Max Villa.  

Caribe Villa has a great layout for good weather. It is on Boatman Point facing East across Rendezvous Bay towards Ditleff Point. The upper level consists of a living room, open kitchen, two large bedrooms and an enormous deck with a medium size pool. The lower level has three equal size large bedrooms with a laundry room/kitchen with a large washer dryer and second refrigerator and stove. The kitchen has a counter area that is open to the outside. There is a dining table that nearly seats 10 between the kitchen and the pool. The table and an additional furnished lanai are sheltered by roofs once the sun gets up a bit. The sun is very bright in the morning. The house is well furnished in a reasonable rental format that was quite comfortable – Lots of high quality deck and pool furniture with a good mix of loungers, chairs and side tables. A party house. The Peter Max prints and posters throughout the house set a festive atmosphere. Ironically, our firstnight in thevilla Peter Max was at a gallery show in our home town of McLean, VA.

We had some issues with the house that were driven by the torrential rains of the prior month. VIVA handled the issues with professionalism and we were pleased with the way things worked out. As I expected for an East facing house this time of year, the pool was quite cool with the steady hard breeze. We spent less time in the pool than during previous trips.

Travel to St. John – Most of you know the drill. We flew the United direct flight from Washington Dulles to STT with a good fare. This was the first time all of us took the same flight. It was nice getting in early, but I like having a beer and greeting folks as they get off their planes too. No Charlotte Amalie ferry, we reserved a taxi with Wheatley’s, 340-473-8900, for the Red Hook transfer. 10 is a good number, it fills a taxi. That means no stops on the way to Red Hook to drop off other passengers. There seems to be many fewer bags of groceries and packs of diapers going across the ferry with the new $2 per bag fee. 

Rental Cars – We rent with Conrad Sutton. He takes good care of his vehicles and is always polite and efficient. He personally owns these vehicles and it shows in the way he feels about his cars. For 10 we got 2 Monteros and 1 2-door Vitara. That worked out fine. We parked in his lot in the evening when we were in town. While we were filling out the paper work for the vehicles we left the rest of the group at the Beach Bar to start getting on island time. Michelle was working and everything tasted just right. We followed Jack from VIVA up to Caribe Villa and he gave us a nice tour.

Groceries & Supplies – As soon as we checked into the house we sent out two teams to pickup the groceries and supplies. Starfish Market is where we head when we have a big buy to get done. I actually prefer Pine Peace Market for many things (dried black beans, salt fish, etc.), but Starfish is more user friendly for continentals. We phoned our beer and liquor order to Gary at Mixology Warehouse near the Lumber Yard (340-714-5985) and he had everything boxed and waiting. I really wish we could do this for food like Bobby’s does on Tortola. Mixology is short on interesting beers, but they have the best prices on the staple beverages. He does not stock some of the more interesting liquors, but will order anything you like with some notice and pack them to take home. We hit Starfish Market and Pine Peace Market for the interesting island beers – Guinness Foreign Extra Stout, Tennants, Royal, ABC and various other Western Indian Viagra. 

The first night we get a jerk pork and chicken on the grill using the last of last year’s St. John Jerk and Jerome’s hot sauce on the grill, get the rice and peas working, get the blender started and enjoy the view. The jerk chicken, done “beer can” style, was extremely good. We got our only torrential rain of the week at about 9PM. It was the only time we used the living room of the house. 

Day 1 – Sunday – Francis Bay

Traditionally, our first morning on the island is started with Mimosas, Bloody Marys, Fuzzy Navels and a big breakfast. Rising times for this crew varies from 7AM to 9AM. The Bloody Mary master gets up at 9AM. After a big breakfast we make our lazy way over to Francis Baywith snacks and a cooler full of canned beer. Bottles on National Park beaches are a big $$ fine. We generally stick to Heinekens. 

Francis Bay is busy on weekends, but we grab a good mixed shady/sunny spot. The water clarity is fair and the water is quite warm. At 2:30 I pop over to Maho Bay Campground to pick up our friend who is doing a month of work exchange at the campground, he makes 11. We hang out on Francis Bay until the Noseeums come out. 

Dinner at Skinny Legs was a hit. 8 of the group head back to the Villa to clean up and lounge there. Three of us stick around for a couple hours before dropping Ralph off at Maho Bay Campground. Driving up the hill from the Francis Bay road up to Centerline Road we are paced by a couple of enormous bats, more like cats with wings, following our headlights and romping about. 

Christine and I head back to house and clean up. The two of us hit Woody’s for a beer and a snack. There is a wedding party in the bar and the antics ensue. I hope the bride doesn’t remember the body shots. Chad apologized for the silliness. We head over to the Beach Bar for a couple of Mount Gay Cuba Libres. A nice surprise, they now have Barritts Stone Ginger Beer on the island. Dark & Stormys with Barritts is killer. We stay too late and hurt ourselves for Monday’s Reef Bay hike. 

Day 2 – Monday – Reef Bay Hike 

9 of us meet at the National Park visitor’s center at 9:30 for the guided Reef Bay hike. We had all 6 of the St. John newbies along for the flora/fauna/history walk. I found it quite interesting and time well spent. The gang was happy and doing well until the Noseeums started getting past the DEET. I’m allergic to DEET and use something non-toxic that could be used as a salad dressing and is nearly as effective at stopping biting insects. Welcome to my world. All in all, worth the trip. My favorite part of the hike was the interpretation of the fauna by Ranger Pat– genip trees, bay trees, trees for making baskets, roofs, marsh apple – it went on. We saw white tailed deer, evidence of wild boar and talked about the mongoose eradication program. Lunch was at the Petroglyphs with a historical commentary by the ranger. Ranger Pat did a great job - she was a wealth of knowledge and very enthusiastic, ask for her if you do the Reef Bay Tour in the future. She made the hike well worth repeating for the folks that had been through three years before. Once down to the beach we were ferried out to the Sadie Sea where refreshments were waiting. Captain Ben motored us back to Cruz Bay with his color commentary. Sadie Sea is utilitarian, but comfortable. 

Is it a coincidence that you get back to Cruz Bayfrom the Reef Bay Hike in time for happy hour at Woody’s? We got a table out front and ordered a round of beers and shark bites. It was a good time to lounge and enjoy the afternoon. We left before they played Raw Hide and headed back to the villa. The 10 of us all stayed at the villa that night, cooked dinner and goofed around. Face it, with 10 people you do not need to go to a bar to have fun and get in trouble. 

Day 3 – Tuesday - Big Maho Bay and Waterlemon Cay 

Every year part of our group takes a day at the house to relax and sun. On a one week trip I feel the need to get out about the island each day to see the sights, swim, snorkel and relax on the beach. So, after a big pancake breakfast half of our group aligned the lounge chairs with the sun and the other half jumped in a Montero for the North Shore beach menu. Big Maho bay was calm and not crowded, so we pulled over. This bay has a very gradual drop and is sandy without rocks. It’s also very long so there is plenty of room to spread out. It is also directly next to the North Shoreroad so there is no hike and the car is nearby. 

The energetic swam around the point between Big Maho and Lille Maho. I had seen that on Sunday so I relaxed and swam with a large school of tarpon who were sucking down bait fish. The water was so peaceful that I blessed out for a couple of hours in the water. The snorkeling folks were gone a good while and came back all smiles.

At 2:30 we walked up the Maho Campground goat trail and picked up our buddy Ralph at his tent. He was off work at 2:00 from his work exchange. We met some of his co-volunteers (fellow slaves as he called them) and talked about life as a volunteer at the campground. Ralph wrote a poem about his experience, which I include here without permission. 

“A day in the working life at Maho Bay” by Ralph Bucca 

I get up at the crack of dawn

with the sound of crashing waves

and climb down 75 steps

to get my snorkeling fix

Throw down some breakfast to get into the mix

put back on my dirty duds, pin on my badge

Time to trudge up another 75 steps, punch the clock by 8

Then its 6 hours of assorted slave labor

fighting mosquitoes, rain and sweat

but it don't matter what

cause i'll be done by 2

grab my reward beer from the store

that sure taste fine

hit the beach till 6

cause that’s what its all about

chasing large fish around the colorful reef

Got to head back to Maho, just before dark

Do dinner and crash,

listening to the waves below and the tree frogs up high

Till the next sunrise

Ralph loves Waterlemon Cay and so do I; we head over there for some fun. It’s later in the day and a lot of folks have been splashing around. We see some cuttlefish, sting ray and barracuda close to shore. Out near the mooring buoys we see the starfish. They seem to get bigger every year. The biggest are as wide across as my forearm. We see lots of great hard coral and large fish on the West side of Waterlemon Cay. The hit of the day was a seven foot nurse shark sleeping with his head stuck under a large brain coral. Half of his body was sticking out. The East side of the Cay was dark and silty. 

After our snorkel we head back to the house. The stay behind crew has had a rough day of it. The rum is heavily depleted, a couple of folks are dozing and one person is stretched out on a lounge chair with a beer in his hand while snoring. Time to catch up. Another round of beer can Jerk Chicken, rice and peas, and salad for the hungry crew of 11. By the end of the night the rum is about gone and the beers were low. Hmm, I thought we bought enough for the whole week. 

Day 4 – Wednesday – New Horizons II BVI Cruise 

We normally do a BVI day sail. This year we decided to cover more territory and opted for a high speed tour on the New Horizons II. We meet the boat at the Cruz Bay national park dock at 7:30. It’s a nice boat, but slightly cramped since every seat was taken. Capt. Dave, Ivy and Eliza have mimosas in our hands as we get settled. Breakfast is fresh fruit and fruit and chocolate quick breads/cakes. The itinerary takes us to Virgin Gorda, the Baths, Marina Cay for lunch, Diamond Reef for snorkeling, Jost Van Dyke’s White Bay for happy hour and back to Cruz Bayfor immigration. 

I enjoyed the New Horizons cruise. It was a long day and a big crowd. Reviews from our group ranged from not enough snorkeling to blissed out smiles. Personally, I like the comfort of a big day sailing catamaran. But, I really enjoyed being able to cover a lot of territory quickly. 

After New Horizons, we headed over to the Beach Bar for Dark & Stormys, Painkillers and more beers. Dinner was Uncle Joes Barbecue. Folks went to sleep relatively early. 

Day 5 – Thursday – Trunk Bay, Date Night 

After a long day cruising the BVIs the gang was ready for an easy day. After a big breakfast the decision pretty much made itself – no cruise ships in St. Thomas means that Trunk Bay should not be too crowded. We arrived around 11AM and found the last two parking spots in the lot. Trunk Bay is a nice place on a nice uncrowded day. This day was pretty overcast and there was some chop and the water was not clear. A pretty good beach day, as those things go.

Day 6 – Friday – Vie’s Beach 

We picked our buddy up from Maho Bay Campground and headed over to the East End to hit the beach at Vie’s on Hansen Bay. You pay $2.50 to use the private beach there. That gets you a nice long beach, beach chairs, a pit toilet and a rain water rinse hose. 

The real attraction here is the mirror calm water and a very easy snorkel for the less than confidant swimmer. There was some light surge and a little bit of murk in the water, so things were not as perfect as normal. For the good swimmers, there is a very good snorkel around the right point towards the second set of rocks that are slightly above the water. For the hardcore, there is a 300 yard swim to Pelican Rock to the East (left). This is a hot beach, so bring lots of water. We worked through most of our remaining house beers and enjoyed our picnic lunch on the beach 

For dinner Friday night we made Black Bean Soup and ate the rest of our leftovers. The gang was working its way through the left over beer and liquor when Christine and I headed out to the Front Yard to see The Supervillains. They are a high energy ska/punk revival band from Orlando. Hard core and lots of fun. They play until 1:30AM and we are back at the house by 2AM. Everyone has crashed, but there’s a blender of something scary in the refrigerator – the last of all the liquor and mixers, nearly gone. 

Day 7 – Saturday – Heading Home 

Saturday morning dawns bright and sunny. Looking across Ditleff Point to Rams Head there’s a flawless blue Caribbean sky and a nice snapping breeze. We clean the house up, drop the cars off at Conrad’s and lounge in Cruz Bay while we wait for the Charlotte Amalie ferry. St. John Spice is right next to the ferry dock, so we load up on more St. John Jerk seasoning. The ride on the ferry is always a bit of tear jerker. Nice, but sad to leave paradise. Another awesome trip... Until next time.