Oct. 24 – Nov. 2, 2013My husband and I first stayed on St. John back in 2003 at Caneel Bay. We fell in love with St. John and Caneel, but due to the seasonal closing that took place a few years back, we started staying at villas. So far we have been very fortunate enough to stay at Island Stones, Kaleidoscope and Wings Over Water.

This year marked our 10th time returning St. John and we couldn’t have been more excited especially because we were staying at the same villa that we stayed the previous year, Wings Over Water (WOW). I also made sure to ship two boxes ahead of time containing all of our toiletries, snorkel gear, and extra clothes that wouldn’t fit into our carry ons – which turned out to be a huge time saver in the long run.

Day 1 – Oct. 24th – Arriving to St. John

Being that we were flying on a Thursday, United had us connecting in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The flight from Newark to Puerto Rico was uneventful and we had a few hours to kill in between flights. We found the newly refurbished “Air Margaritaville” bar located on the two level of the airport. We thought this was a perfect spot to wait for our next flight to St. Thomas. The reason I mention “refurbished” was due to the fact the bar looked very similar to its previous state besides for a few extra signs, different menu, and new music. We still enjoyed it nevertheless

After a couple hours it was time to walk down to the Cape Air gate and head onto the plane. As usual we had to wait and see where we were going to sit – based on our weight. I was paired up with a very nice lady and sat at the back of the plane. I commented to her how normally the smallest person sits up front and I thought that it would have been her vs. the larger gentlemen that got the co-pilot seat. (Turns out the reason why the gentlemen got the seat was because he was a pilot). She smiled and said that she thought it would have been me. Immediately we started talking about where we were staying, etc. It turned out that her and her husband have a villa on St. John all the way out on the East End called Gin Del Mar. She was so nice that she invited my husband and I to stop by while we were on island to see her villa. Before I realized we were approaching St. Thomas, our plane had landed. I joked to her saying how it was the quickest flight from Puerto Rico to St. Thomas because we were talking the entire time. We exchanged our contact information and gathered our things. Unfortunately time never allowed us to drive out to the East End this trip but I would have loved to have checked it out in person http://www.vrbo.com/408124

Since we only had carry ons we didn’t have to wait for any checked bags. This was such a time saver. Our flight landed just before 3pm and we were skeptical about making the 4pm ferry. Wings Over Water is managed by Vacation Vistas, which is run by Lisa Durgin. She arranged for a taxi to pick us up at the airport. As soon as we entered the airport, Bazille (our taxi driver) was standing ready to go. We tried to look for the customs forms before we left the airport but we couldn’t find them. We hopped in Bazille’s taxi and surprisingly he made great time. We arrived at the ferry terminal in Red Hook with 15 minutes to spare! We were going to make the 4pm ferry! We thanked Bazille and we were on our way to St. John.

It was a beautiful short ride to St. John. Every time we arrive into Cruz Bay, we always notice how much every year it changes. As we docked, I gave my sister (back in NJ) the heads up that we were arriving. She was able to screen capture my image on the webcam.

We were greeted by Lisa and my husband had time to go to Connections to pick up our boxes that I shipped before they closed at 5:30pm. Once we got our boxes and rental jeep (at Bougainvillea), we were off to Wings Over Water. Even though this was our second time there, we were still excited to see it. The driveway is always “a leap of faith” when you drive down it. My husband was the sole driver on this trip. I never have driven on St. John, but hopefully one day I will gather enough courage to do so! Lisa gave us a few updated facts about several features at Wings Over Water and some new restaurants on St. John. The new restaurant Cruz Bay Landing (which replaced JJ’s) wasn’t open yet, but found out that La Tapa had opened earlier then expected for the season.

We thanked Lisa and settled in for a little bit. 

We had ordered provisions through St. John Catering so we had everything available for breakfast the next morning, but didn’t order any grill packs this time for dinner. WOW is located somewhat close to Cruz Bay so my husband had no issue with driving back to Cruz Bay in the evening for a light dinner at High Tide.  http://hightidevi.com

Our first order of business was to order to rum punches which we find to be one of the best on the island. Trying to decompress from a long day of travel, we order a few appetizers to fill our stomachs.

Soon the travel day started taking affect and we headed back to our villa.

Day 2 – Oct. 25th – Francis Bay 

We woke up to a beautiful morning.

One thing we noticed that the iguanas from last year that like to hang out on the cliff below the villa, were much more friendly. We weren’t sure if it was because people fed them or not, but they would come right up to you without any fear.

While we were on St. John last year, we missed the horrible storm Sandy back home in NJ, however the storm surge caused high surf on all of the north shore beaches.

Since our opportunity to go to them last year was shorted, we were determined to hit several this time. Our first beach to hit on this vacation was Francis Bay. We had never been to Francis before, but with recent reviews of this beach, I wanted to try it. Plus we decided this would be a trip with a few “firsts”.   We took the drive along the North Shore and were still amazed after 10 years the beauty of St. John.

The drive was about 20 minutes or so from Cruz Bay and we found a parking space close to the sign.

We noticed a bunch of vehicles parked at the beach and figured we weren’t the only ones that heard about how nice Francis Bay is….

The water was so calm and the view was just gorgeous. We now could see why this beach has become a favorite among both visitors and locals.

 Several hours passed by and we were getting a bit thirsty. We headed back into town. Our jeep was rented through Bougainvillea so we were able to park our jeep outside their store throughout our stay. It was an easy walk down past the traffic circle. Our first stop was Joe’s Rum Hut.  We each had a mojito and they definitely hit the spot.

The next place we hit was the Beach Bar – we ordered a few bushwhackers.

I texted back home to see if my sister could see us on the webcam, with the webcam being down she mentioned that the beach one was working. I ran out onto the beach for my photo opp: 

It was getting a little bit late in the afternoon so we agreed to head back to the villa. On our way back to the jeep we noticed it was happy hour. We wanted to stop in at Woody’s but there weren’t any seats available outside.

We kept walking and noticed the Quiet Mon Pub above La Tapa. We had never stopped in there before so we gave it a go. We ordered a couple of beers and watched the action go by in the street below from the outside porch.

Since we were going to take the ferry over to Jost Van Dyke the next day, we wanted to eat in at the villa. On our way back to WOW, we stopped at the Marketplace to get some fresh grouper for fish tacos.

 It was a nice evening to eat in and enjoy the views.  

Day 3 – Oct. 26th – White Bay, Jost Van Dyke, BVI The 7:00 alarm came fast that morning but it was worth getting up early to another gorgeous day. I made a quick breakfast so we would be satisfied before heading over to the Soggy Dollar Bar. http://www.soggydollar.com

We made it to the ferry dock just before 8am. While we were filling out our customs forms, we met another couple from Colorado, Pam and Drew that were visiting the islands for the very first. We were quite eager to give them some pointers as we were waiting for the ferry. 

On our way towards Jost, I noticed the ferry started to take a turn towards Tortola. I heard that sometimes the ferry first stops at West End, Tortola before ending up at Jost. And that’s exactly what happened. It turned out that we were also going to go through customs in Tortola, so we all had to exit the ferry. While we were waiting online, there was a customs agent that was checking everyone’s forms to make sure they were filled out correctly. Drew and Pam were standing ahead of us and they had to make a few changes to their form. Luckily I had a pen and they were able to make those changes. It turned out a few times they had to ask us for a pen and it wound up being the joke of the day –

Once we got through customs we had to wait outside until everyone went through. While we were waiting, we heard Pam and Drew talking about going to Foxy’s first and then go to the Soggy Dollar Bar. We then mentioned how it would probably be best do end up at Foxy’s since no one would probably be there at the bar. Plus it was the day of the Cat Fight so a lot of people wouldn’t be at Foxys’ until later on in the day.  We agreed to share a cab to take us to the Soggy Dollar Bar once we got to Jost.

Finally everyone was through customs and we were back on our way to Jost. The one positive of going through customs in Torola, once we arrived at Jost, we were able to go right into a taxi.

After a short 5 minute ride we arrived at the Soggy Dollar Bar. We asked the taxi driver to pick us back up at 1:30 so that we could go to Foxy’s before heading back to St. John. It was only around 9:40am so we had a lot of time to drink a lot of painkillers.

After a short 5 minute ride we arrived at the Soggy Dollar Bar. We asked the taxi driver to pick us back up at 1:30 so that we could go to Foxy’s before heading back to St. John. It was only around 9:40am so we had a lot of time to drink a lot of painkillers.  We wound up hanging out with Drew and Pam for the entire time and we had a blast.

After several (or so…) painkillers it was time to head back to Foxy’s. Foxy’s was still quiet but at least there was someone there to buy a beer from. We were looking for Foxy, but he was out for the Cat Fight so we didn’t get to see him.

Soon it was time to head back to St. John. Once we went through customs we said our goodbyes to Drew and Pam. We made sure that we would stay in touch and wished them well as they were spending the rest of their stay in Virgin Gorda, followed by Peter Island.

We were starving! We were both in the mood for mexican so we walked on over to Margarita Phil’s.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147410-d1079777-Reviews-Margarita_Phil_s-Cruz_Bay_St_John_U_S_Virgin_Islands.html

We ordered a couple of margarita’s and had some chips and salsa as we waited for our to go order.

Once back at WOW, we enjoyed our specialty tacos that we had ordered (I had the ahi tuna tacos and my husband had the sirloin tacos).

It was a long day.

Day 4 – Oct. 27th – Gibney Beach and Stolen Spare

Once again we woke up to a picture perfect day. While I was making breakfast we decided to give Gibney Beach a try. We tried going to Gibney several years ago but we didn’t walk far enough down the beach to where it opened up and thought there wasn’t much of a beach.

After breakfast we gathered all the essentials, snorkel gear, sunscreen, soft-sided cooler containing water and beer….

We drove up to the gate and noticed there was no one parked in front of it so we had an easy area to park our jeep in. As we were exiting our jeep and headed down the road, there was a white pick up truck that drove by and parked next to the building below. We notice several people around and a few tents set up in the area. It was a bit strange but we kept on walking.

We walked far enough down (to the left) and made it to the “beach” at Gibney. It was just beautiful. We were the only ones on the beach.

As we sat there I noticed that across the way there was something going on at Hawknest. We could hear faint sounds of singing and saw a large group of locals wearing their Sunday’s best and a few gentlemen in white. I figured that it must have been a baptism of some sort.

We were alone on the beach for most of the day besides a few dingy visits… and a local who came out from one of the cottages behind us to take his kayak out for the day.

Once a large group of people arrived in a dingy, it was time to head out. Plus we wanted to catch some of the NY Giants game back at our villa.

We walked back up towards our jeep and noticed the white pick up truck was gone. We didn’t think anything of it until when we got to our jeep there wasn’t a spare on the back of our jeep??!! Who would steal someone’s spare tire? My husband is a mechanic and noticed there wasn’t a lock on the spare to begin with and that it was one with an alloy wheel so it was worth a lot of money.

Immediately we headed back to town and to Bougainvillea. We told them what happened and he seemed a bit puzzled. It was a Sunday so the owner was not available. He took down our information and said we would be contacted the next day.

We spent the later part of the afternoon watching the game and relaxing at WOW. It wasn’t a very exciting game (5 field goals really?) but at least it was a win to put us in a good mood. We decided to freshen up and get ready for dinner. We thought that we would go to the Lime Inn for dinner that night.

We got to the Lime Inn and sat at the bar. Unfortunately they told us that they only had a limited menu and they would be closing early for food. We looked at the limited menu and nothing impressed us. We headed out and walked to Rhumblines. http://www.rhumblinesstjohn.com

Rhumblines was a bit crowded but they accommodated us nicely with a corner table. 

Our first course was an order of the tempura rock lobster tail and the cracked-pepper tuna.

For dinner I had the tofu pad thai and my husband had the steak special.

Everything was delicious.
Again after dinner we were tired and were probably back in the villa, asleep before 10pm!

Day 5 – Oct. 28th – Hawknest

We woke up again to another beach perfect day.

After breakfast at our villa we decided on Hawknest for the day. Hawknest was quite busy for this time of year but I managed to take a few pictures to make it appear very quiet.

It was then time to get out of the sun and head into town. We wanted to check in again with Bougainvillea about the stolen spare. We went back to Bougainvillea and told them again what happen. They asked if we were going to be in town for a bit and we said that we would walk around and leave it outside their shop.

We walked around and grabbed a few mango mojitos a Joe’s Rum Hut which tasted very good after being out in the sun for a while.

Once our mojitos were empty, we walked over to the Motu Bar for a beer for my husband and a pumpkin buschwacker for me (yum!)

Before we headed back up towards Bougainvillea, we stopped for a rum punch at Woody’s since there were seats.

We went back and noticed a spare was on our jeep! Hopefully this was covered by insurance and we will not be charged… I will wait and see when I get my credit card statement….

We went back to WOW to freshen up for dinner. There was a beautiful sunset that evening.

Dinner tonight was going to be La Tapa. http://www.latapastjohn.com/menu.html
This is one of our favorite places and it never disappoints. We sat outside along the road which we always enjoy.

We started out with the charcuterie and braised pork belly.

Our main courses were linguine tossed with shrimp, lobster, chanterelle mushrooms, eggplant,
garlic, olive oil & albariño and seared local yellowfin tuna, shaved fennel, red beets, white beans, arugula, lemon truffle vinaigrette & crispy fresh herb polenta

It was a VERY good dinner!

Day 6 – Oct. 29th – Villa Gravity Day

Today we woke up a little later then normal. We were kind of dragging our feet and taking our time. After breakfast we decided to just relax at the villa for the day. We were on the go pretty much every day so we wanted to relax for a bit.

Spending some time at WOW is never a difficult thing to do.

and enjoy the wildlife:

While we were spending time at the villa, we noticed that when the iguanas wanted food, they would come right up the stairs and wait.

A few years ago we went to the Bahamas and took a boat trip to iguana island where you would feed them grapes. So we would feed them grapes. Just be careful because they can bite….

Later that evening we headed back into town. We went back to Spyglass during happy hour. We had a couple of margaritas before heading out to dinner.

That night for dinner we decided to go to the Banana Deck. http://thebananadeck.com

For starters we shared the Crab & Shrimp Spring Rolls and the jalapeno poppers.

My husband ordered the Shrimp Curry for dinner and I had the Grilled Mahi-Mahi – Topped with a crab scampi sauce 

We enjoyed our dinner, but not really overly impressed… later we found out they are known for their steaks.

We went back to the villa and called it a night.

Day 7 – Oct. 30th – Cinnamon Bay and Ted’s Supper Club

We woke up to another gorgeous day and we were eager to hit another North Shore beach. Today we decided on Cinnamon.

Before we left for St. John I remember reading about this one villa being built on St. John. There is a blog written by Mike Mullen documenting this villa. It is called Bordo Mare. I contacted him before we left and he said he wanted to come by during our stay, we could check it out, even though it wasn’t completed yet. http://mikemullenblog.wordpress.com

I got in touch with him and we decided to meet him on location after breakfast. The villa is located in Chocolate Hole area on Great Cruz Bay road. It is being built right below Sopre Mare, his other villa. We pulled up and were great by Mike. He was very nice as he showed us around the construction site. We walked to the area of the living room where you could see out over the cliff onto the water. As were standing there I noticed WOW across the way.

I told Mike that’s where we were staying. He thought the villa looked larger then two bedrooms but we explained how it is broken up in pods. The villa he is building is more or less set up like a house. The first level has the living/dining room area and kitchen. Above are the bedrooms. The pool area was very spacious. We actually prefer the pod style for villas, but I do know some families prefer to be in one villa at the same time, and this one looks like it is going to be quite nice.

Once our tour was complete, Mike offered to show us Sopre Mare, however the renters had left the house locked. We thanked him for his time and we were on our way to Cinnamon.

When we first got to Cinnamon, it started to rain. We hopped in the water since we were getting wet anyway. Before we knew it, the rain stopped and the sun came back out.

It would up being a beautiful beach day and by far the longest day we spent on any beach.

After a long time spent on Cinnamon we headed back to WOW to get ready for dinner. Tonight we were having Ted from Ted’s Supper Club cook for us. I told him to come by around 5:30 since it takes him about 30 minutes for the first course.

http://tedssupperclub.com/Teds_Supper_Club/welcome.html

At 5:30 Ted showed up right on time. He was familiar with the villa so we didn’t have to show him where things were in the kitchen.

While we were waiting for our first course, we sat back and watched another beautiful sunset.

Our first course was tuna dumplings with an amazing tapenade like dipping sauce

Ted then brought out his infamous skillet roasted focaccia bread that is large enough to feed an army and then some!

The next course was soooo good. It was pan seared day boat scallops with smashed fingerling potatoes

We were getting a bit full at this point but we had to keep on going! The next course was a warm baby spinach salad, topped with apple wood smoked bacon and sparkling cider vinaigrette. I never thought a salad could taste so rich and delicious.

Our last course (thank goodness, because we could barely fit anymore) was potato wrapped mahi with roasted local vegetables and a lemon and extra virgin olive oil.

Everything was delicious and just amazing. It was totally worth the price. ($125 per person including gratuity)

We thanked Ted for everything and he was on his way. (and he also cleaned everything up for us)

After that feast we could barely keep our eyes open! Bedtime soon followed….

Day 8 – Oct. 31st – Halloween
During the night we were woken up by some serious downpours….
When we did finally wake up that morning, it was the first day with overcast skies. We weren’t too disappointed since every day so far had been so beautiful. We just decided to have another villa gravity day. Plus we were meeting our friend Captain Joe (from the Scubadu) later for dinner.

The sun did come out for a little while so we were able to relax around the pool and feed the occasional iguana.

and see a coqui frog

Since were still so full from the dinner the night before, we skipped breakfast. Around lunchtime we had a snack

After spending most of the day at WOW we took showers and made our way back to town. (Last year we used the shower off the master bedroom but felt it lacked privacy – when a passing ship would go by and would get a bit brisk with the wind off the water – so we used the shower off the kitchen bathroom that faced towards the back of the house. We preferred this shower over the master bedroom shower)

Once we got to town, you could tell Halloween was in the air. We walked around and saw everyone dressed up.

We walked on over to Mongoose Junction not realizing that’s where everyone gathers for Halloween. We walked up to the Tap Room, but it was too crowded. We walked back down to the Ocean Grill. http://oceangrillstjohn.com

We hadn’t been in the Ocean Grill since it was redone a few years ago. We walked in and it was quite nice. We each had a cocktail as we watched all the kids run around collecting candy throughout the shops.

We also noticed that the Ocean Grill had steel pan music every Monday and Friday. Interesting… the next day was Friday so maybe we would stop by.

It was getting close to 5 to meet Joe at the ferry so we headed back to High Tide. High Tide is a great place to wait for people coming off the ferry.

Once we met Joe we headed over to Fatty Crab. http://www.fattycrab.com/menus/st-john/
It was great to see him!

Our first course we shared was the ahi tuna ceviche.

Next we had the fried calamari followed by the tempura shrimp.

Next was my favorite, the watermelon with the crispy pork belly.

The evening spent catching up and having a great time.

We went back to High Tide for a night cap

Joe offered to meet us at the ferry that Saturday on St. Thomas to take us to the airport so we would see him again. We were very excited and thanked him for the offer. We said our goodbyes until Saturday.

Day 9 – Nov. 1st – Last Full Day

We woke up to another overcast sort of day, but we were determined to head back to Francis for our last full day on St. John.

We made our way to Francis and found a parking spot quite close to the beach. We found a spot and camped out for a while. As the day went on the sun would try to make its way through and more people would arrive.

Several people would go in and out of the water snorkeling and mention how many turtles they saw… I was starting to get a bit jealous.
(I wound up cleaning our snorkel gear the day before so it would have time to dry before packing, so we didn’t bring it with us.)

While we were sitting there I notice an odd current moving across Francis. I heard the stories of the large ray that had been spotted there last year so I quickly got out of my chair. My husband and I started following this “current” as it started to come closer to the shoreline and continue to swim across the bay. People noticed it too as we walked on by. As we neared towards the end of Francis, we could see it was a small shark. I am not sure what type it was, but then I was glad I didn’t bring my snorkel gear…. I would have freaked out!

On our way back we finally saw a few donkeys:

That night I had made reservations at Zozo’s which recently moved to Caneel Bay. http://www.caneelbay.com/sugar-mill-restaurant.html
So we headed back to our villa to get ready and pack up some things since we were leaving the next day.

My husband didn’t have a problem driving to Caneel, so we took our jeep to Caneel. We were greeted at the gate and they just told us where to park. Unfortunately it began to rain – a lot. We parked the jeep and were a little early for our reservation so we headed down to the Caneel Beach Bar. It was the 2nd day Caneel was officially open for the season and it was very crowded. I did notice that the logo had changed, but besides that, everything else looked the same.

My husband and I ordered two glasses of wine as we waited out the rain. We probably should have ordered two cocktails instead (at $11 a piece), because the price for 2 glasses of cabernet wound up being $28!!

We then walked up to Zozo’s and were seated at a nice table along the edge. Zozo’s was already pretty crowded when we got there and our reservations were for 6pm.

We ordered (one of the most reasonable) bottles of red for $42.

For starters, my husband had the calamari and I tried the italian style blue cheese wrapped in prosciutto and deep fried. It was delicious.

For our main courses, I had the pistachio crusted mahi mahi and my husband splurged and had the porterhouse

Everything was delicious and we both agreed that Zozo’s is going to do very well at Caneel.

After dinner we walked down to our old room at Cottage 7. We definitely prefer staying at a villa vs. Caneel, but we still have great memories of staying there. Then we headed back towards our jeep.

On the way back to town we stopped at Ocean Grill to check out the steel pan music. Surprisingly he was very good. If we weren’t leaving the next day we probably would have stayed a lot longer.

This is one place I would definitely come back for dinner next time.

We set the alarm so that we would be up by 7am. This made us not rush for our last morning at WOW. Unfortunately when we woke up the skies were dark. We were able to take showers even though the rain made it a bit uncomfortable. I contacted Lisa about returning to WOW but unfortunately the owners are staying next fall for a few months which makes it unavailable for our annual October trip, which I completely understand since afterall it is their villa and if I owned it, I would be sure to stay there as much as I could. Disappointed, we thanked Lisa for another wonderful stay at  WOW.

Once everything was packed and washed, we were on our way back to town. My husband dropped me off near the ferry with our luggage, while he went to drop the jeep off at Bougainvillea. I gave Joe a call to see if he was still available to pick us up at the Red Hook ferry terminal and he was. I told him we would be on the 10am ferry and see him soon.

Luckily the skies cleared somewhat so the ferry ride wasn’t too bad. We gathered our things and met Joe. We had some time before going to the airport. He wound up taking us around the island showing us some beautiful sights, including the overlook to Magen’s Bay.

Eventually it was time for him to drop us off at the airport. With sad faces, we thanked Joe for the ride and wished him well – until we would see him again next year.

We made it through customs with ease. We did have one bag that we had to check because we had an overflow of clothes and some liquid items (toiletries) that we couldn’t carry on. We also stopped at the duty free shop to get a few bottles of liquor – (1) grand marnier (1) golden Petron (1) cruzan aged rum and (2) bottles of russian vodka – all for $132. Not too bad!

While we waited to board our flight the skies opened up again and it started to pour. Despite the weather, we were able to board on time. The weather did make it a bit easier to leave however. We landed back in Newark around 6:30 that evening to 50 degrees. It was another great time on St. John and stay at WOW.

Now its back to reality. We are now on a mission to find another villa that is comparable to WOW but I know it iss going to be a tough act to follow. We are determined to return to St. John next year and make it our 11th time!

Thank you for taking time to read my blog….

until next time…..

Day One – March 19 – Arrival Day

This was our 8th time going to Key West and we were very eager to return after a long and cold winter season in NJ. Despite getting between 6-7 inches of snow the night before, we were able to get to Newark airport without any delays. Our flights were on time and not before long, we arrived in Key West a little after 1 o’clock in the afternoon. The weather was a little bit disappointing with overcast skies with some showers, but we figured at least we made it! After grabbing our checked luggage, we went outside to find a taxi. Being it was mid March, there were quite a bit of people waiting for taxis. We had to wait about 20 long minutes or so for a pink taxi that pulled up and took us “home” to the Garden’s Hotel http://www.gardenshotel.com.

Upon check-in, Nancy poured us two glasses of chilled prosecco. She gave us the run down of what things were new since our last visit the previous year.  

We noticed that they now have a beautiful gazebo pool side where the jacuzzi used to be. Our room wasn’t ready so we decided to sit at the Garden’s bar near the pool to relax for a bit.

As we were waiting Nancy came outside to give us two more glasses of prosecco which made the waiting seem not so long. Once our room was ready, we quickly changed into something more comfortable to begin our walk down Duval Street.

Our ritual is to make our first stop Willie T’s for one of their two for one margaritas http://www.williets.com.

We quickly drank them down while listening to some entertainment. The place was very crowded so we headed out and made our way down to Caroline St. and to Kelly’s http://www.kellyskeywest.com.

After the margarita from Willie T’s, I was in the mood for the key Lime margarita. It wasn’t happy hour yet, so we were able to grab a seat near the bar. Kelly’s margaritas never disappoint and the lush surroundings is so appealing.

We originally headed down to Key West back in 2006 to visit friends of ours who come down for half the year from NY (a.k.a. Willy Hoppey his wife Lynda). Once we went we were hooked and have been going down to see them every year. I knew that our friend Will was playing at the White Tarpon that afternoon until 4pm so we headed out towards the White Tarpon to catch his final set http://whitetarpon.com/.

When we arrived he was finishing up, but we were able to hear his rendition of Jimmy Buffett’s “Tin Cup Chalice” that he just learned not too long ago.

Once he was done, we caught up for a little bit and helped him get ready for his next gig that evening by bringing his equipment next door to the Galleon’s Tiki Bar. http://galleonresort.com/tiki-bar-deli.htm

Soon it was getting to be that time to return back to the Gardens and freshen up. I knew that Billy the bartender would be working by the time we got back and wanted to touch base with him regarding our up and coming fishing trip that was scheduled for that Thursday. We got back to the Gardens and had a few drinks poured by Billy. Since he wasn’t able to take a couple of people out on the water because of the weather, we decided to change our fishing trip to Friday, which was fine by us.  We freshened up and had one last beer at the bar.

We were beginning to get hungry after the long travel day and we noticed that the Gardens now offers a few food items at the bar. We ordered the hummus dip and the pizza to tide us over. Unfortunately the pizza wasn’t available at the time so we settled on the hummus and a few other snacks.

Last year when we came down to Key West, we met up from fellow friends of Will and Lynda, Chip and Johnnie. They were scheduled to arrive in Key West a bit earlier that day, but ran into an issue with their flight. They had to make an emergency landing in NC due to a passenger’s medical condition. Luckily they made it to Miami, however they had to rent a car to Key West, because they missed their connection to Key West. We finally got in touch with them and they made it town to Key West around 5pm.

We agreed that we would all meet up at the Galleon’s Tiki Bar since Will was already playing there, and we were going to meet up with his wife Lynda as well.

The skies were beginning to clear and I knew it was a positive sign that no more overcast skies for our trip. Once we made it to the Galleon, everyone was already there.

Unfortunately we just missed the sunset, but it was great to see everyone again and enjoy a fun evening of good friends and music.

After a long travel day, everyone was getting tired. Once Will finished his set, we said our good byes and headed back towards the Gardens Hotel. Chip and Johnnie accompanied us back since they were staying at the Chelsea House, located a few blocks behind the Gardens. We made it back to Angela St., but then decided to have a night cap at 915.

As we headed down towards 915, we noticed a cute Irish pub called McConnell’s. So we changed our minds and had a beer at McConnell’s. Everyone was tired but also hungry. Once a few wings were ordered, I realized how tired I really was. Our flight out of Newark was at 6:30 that morning and I was up since 3:45am. Needless to say I was done. It wasn’t too far of a walk back to the Gardens, so I wound up headed back to the hotel on my own. I made it back but had some trouble opening the 2nd gate to the gardens with my key. I told the staff the following day and they said that the 2nd gate should have been opened for guests during the evening and not locked. Luckily for the rest of our stay it was open and didn’t run into that problem again.

We decided to meet back up with Chip and Johnnie the next morning for breakfast at Blue Heaven.

Day Two – March 20 – Walking the Bight and Latitudes
After the long travel day, I think my husband and I slept very well. The beds at the Gardens Hotel are very comfortable. So comfortable that we overslept a bit. We managed to get to Blue Heaven a little before 9am so there wasn’t a line. (When we go to Blue Heaven, we usually try and get there before 9am so we don’t have to wait for a table.)  http://www.blueheavenkw.com

Everyone had a great breakfast while enjoying the sunshine and warmer temperatures. With our stomachs full, we went our separate ways to do some shopping and would meet up later on at some point. My husband and I debated about relaxing by the pool at the Gardens for a while, but it was still too cool out. Plus the vegetation had a the majority of the pool area covered with shade. Instead we opted to head back out onto Duval and make our way up to the Bight.

I read that Jimmy Buffett was in town the month before working on his “Songs from St. Somewhere” album.

I never realized that the white box of a building near the start of the historic walk was his recording studio. I guess its unassuming on purpose so you don’t recognize it.

After taking a picture of the recording studio we walked around a couple of the shops.

We didn’t find anything worth purchasing ,so we walked passed the Schooner Wharf and noticed this new beautiful looking schooner called the Schooner American 2.0. I knew I wanted to go out at some point on that boat during our stay. I took down the info for later on.

http://www.sail-keywest.com

We didn’t realize that if we kept walking past the Schooner Wharf Bar, Turtle Kraal, and the Half Shell, we would wind up at Dante’s. We stumbled upon this place last year without ever realizing where it was. I looked it up on the map and saw that it was really close. http://danteskeywest.com/dantes-keywest.html

They were just opening up so we had the majority of the place to ourselves. It was nice to grab a few cruzan rum drinks and sit by the pool.

The sun was beginning to feel stronger so we finished our drinks and headed out back towards the Sunset Pier to meet up with Chip and Johnnie. On our way to the Sunset Pier, we walked by the Pier House.

I have read reviews of their beach bar and was curious to see what it looked like, including their small beach area. We followed the signs through the property to the beach bar. The grounds were very pretty with lush plants and flowers. We made it to the beach bar, but were not too impressed. It was a nice area but to us, felt more or less like a typical hotel bar you could find anywhere. We walked around and saw the small beach area which was very crowded.  We wound up walking around the hotel to the other side where we could see the Ocean Club Resort’s Sunset Pier.

We didn’t feel like stopping at the bar so we eventually made our way towards the lobby and wound up back on Front street. It was then just a short walk to the Sunset Pier. http://www.oceankey.com/key-west-sunset-pier.aspx

Once we grabbed a few chairs our friends soon met up with us. After a few rounds of mojitos and sweet teas, we left and walked back towards the Gardens. Our friends wanted to grab something to eat so we told them we would maybe meet up after dinner since I had reservations for my husband and I at Latitude’s.  (I always wanted to have dinner at Latitude’s but never made reservations. This year I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity again so I went online and booked a table.) I called the Westin and asked when we would should pick up the boat that would be taking us over to Sunset Key. I made the reservation through Open Table for 6:45, but not realizing the time was for the boat, not the dinner. So we had to be by the pier around 6:30 to head over.

On our way towards the Gardens, I wanted to make a detour to Smokin’ Tuna. Another new place I read about that I wanted to check out. Smokin’ Tuna isn’t on the main drag of Duval, but it is very easy to find. The street where it is located, is right across from Sloppy Joe’s. We walked down Charles St. and walked right in. Immediately we liked the place. The vibe and setting was very appealing. I noticed that they had hogfish as a special (this my favorite fish btw). Knowing we had dinner later on at Latitude’s I passed up on a late lunch so I didn’t ruin my appetite. A few minutes later our friends walked in. So we wound up hanging out a little longer together. They ordered the tuna salad and the hogfish special and were very happy with their selections. We noticed they also had entertainment throughout the week. I knew that I wanted to come back at some point to catch one of the musical acts. http://smokintunasaloon.com/

It was getting later in the afternoon and we had to get back to the Gardens to get ready for dinner. Once we freshened up, we stopped by to see Billy at the bar and had a quick beer and told him we would see him on Friday. Then we headed back onto Duval to make our way back down towards the Westin. The evening was shaping up to be perfect as far as the weather and sunset conditions.

Before getting on the boat to Sunset Key, we stopped by to see Jimmy (a.k.a. Mr. Mojito) and ordered up two mojitos. They were delicious. (When we normally see Jimmy at the Westin, we have one of his signature “green things”, but this time we thought we would see if his mojitos lived up to his reputation and they did not disappoint.) With our drinks in tow, we walked down the pier to catch our boat. We saw a line of people waiting, so we knew we were in the right spot. Unfortunately we were told that we could not bring our drinks on board with us. My husband managed to finish his drink in time, but I had to throw mine away.

They loaded everyone onto the boat and it was about a 10 min. boat ride to Sunset Key. http://www.westinsunsetkeycottages.com/latitudes-restaurant

Once we arrived it felt like we were on our own little island in the Caribbean. We walked down the pier to the restaurant. I requested a table for two, near the water and/or on the beach. We walked up to the hostess and I gave her our name. She sat us at a table for two right on the beach. I was so happy! It was perfect.

We shared a bottle of wine with a plate of assorted cheeses and crackers.  It was an appetizer that was perfect to split between two people. During our first course we watched the sunset and took a few pictures to capture it. (Unfortunately no green flash – some day I will catch it!)

It was a beautiful sunset nevertheless. For dinner, my husband wasn’t too hungry (since he had a bite to eat at Smokin’ Tuna), he ordered the eggplant and I had the yellowtail snapper special.

The food, the service, and of course the ambience was terrific. I would definitely make it a point to do again if we have the opportunity.

After dinner we went back to the boat where they took us back to the Westin. We were going to give our friends a call, but we were quite tired. Plus we were supposed to meet up with them for breakfast at the Banana Café the following morning.

We walked back to the Gardens Hotel and there were Johnnie and Chip at the Garden’s Bar! So we enjoyed a couple glasses of wine before heading back to the room.

Day Three – March 21 – Fort Zachary Taylor State Park
We woke up to another beautiful sunny day and were excited to try a new place for breakfast. Our friends were staying at the Chelsea House so we agreed to meet them at the Banana Café since they were close to the place. http://bananacafekw.com/

It was a good walk but it was easy to find. The café was very cute and accommodating with a diverse menu specializing in french fare. My husband tried one of their signature crepes, while I chose the smoked salmon eggs benedict.

Since it was still a bit breezy in the morning we wound up eating inside instead of outside. We did hear a few people say they were cold, so we were glad we were inside. We discussed about what to do for the day since the next day we were scheduled to go fishing with Billy. Johnnie and Chip wanted to go to the beach for the day and I wanted to see Fort Zachary Taylor State Park.

After a very good breakfast, we wanted to stop at a sandal place we passed on the way to the Banana Café. As we were walking down Duval, all of a sudden we see 5 planes fly over us very closely. We realized it was the Blue Angels, and they were flying over Key West because of the air show that was happening on the weekend. It took us by surprise, but it was amazing to see them like that. I was bummed that I didn’t have my camera ready for the picture.
http://keysnews.com/node/46442

After our fly over, we went our separate ways to do some more shopping. We told them that we would probably run into them at some point at Fort Zachary.

We walked down Duval into the Kai-Kai Sandals store. As soon as we walked in the store, the salesperson was right on us. He was a character and a good salesperson because we each walked out with a new pair of the most comfortable flip flops we have ever owned.  We dropped our bags off in our room at the Gardens and headed back out to Fort Zachary.

The sun was out in full force that day and it was getting hot. We passed by a bicycle place but I insisted that it wasn’t that far and we can walk to the fort. The best part of the walk was walking through Truman Annex area of Key West. It was so beautiful that I could imagine having a house here. Unfortunately we don’t have several million $$$$ lying around where we could, but it was really gorgeous – a girl can dream right?

We finally made it to the entrance to the park and were given a pamphlet and an explanation of where to walk to. We had to walk farther?! I thought to myself. Yes we should have gotten the bicycles. Since we were already there we didn’t have much of a choice besides walking into the park into Fort Zachary Taylor. http://www.fortzacharytaylor.com/home.html

The fort was larger then I thought it was going to be and we were quite impressed. While we were walking around the fort we noticed two familiar faces – Johnnie and Chip! They were almost done with walking around the fort so they headed out to the beach.

We saw some wildlife too around the area. We were curious about doing one of their tours, but the tour didn’t start for another 45 min. After we explored the area, we walked to the beach area. The water looked beautiful, but the beach itself was filled with pieces of coral and sand. It didn’t look as nice as the typical beach we are used to in the Virgin Islands, so we took a few photos and walked back to the snack bar where we grabbed a couple of cold beers to quench our thirsts. (If you do go to the snack bar to have a beer, you have to drink the beer there and cannot bring it to the beach, most likely because of the glass bottles.) Once we finished our beers we made the journey back towards Duval.Thankfully the walk back didn’t seem anywhere near as long as the way there. We walked passed the Green Parrot and gift shop so I went in to grab a shirt. Then our next stop was the Porch. 

My husband and I recently have gotten into craft beers and wanted to check out their selection. We walked up the stairs into the “house” where we found a small bar inside. There we ordered two beers and took them outside on the porch. http://www.theporchkw.com/ It was a beautiful place to sit down and watch all the people and conch trains go by.  We were sitting in the shade for a while and I wanted to go back in the sun.

We finished our beers and walked down Duval back to the Sunset Pier. The Sunset Pier is one of my favorite places to grab a drink while taking in the sun. We walked down the pier and grabbed a seat in the sun. We enjoyed a few drinks and listening to some good music.

My husband checked his phone and got a message from Johnnie and Chip that they were at Rick’s. We finished our drinks and then walked to Rick’s to meet them. I asked them if they would be interested in going on the Schooner American on Saturday for a day sail and everyone was in. I gave them a call the sail was booked for Friday.

Our friend Will was playing later that evening at the White Tarpon and we hadn’t seen him or his wife Lynda since the Galleon the first night. I had made a dinner reservation for the four of us at Café Sole, but we had time to meet up with them at the White Tarpon before dinner.

We finished our drinks at Rick’s and made our way back to get ready for dinner. Since Duval was getting more crowded as the week went on, we decided to walk down Simonton St. to get to the White Tarpon. Simonton is a nice alternative to Duval if you want to avoid the crowds on the street. We made it to the White Tarpon as we walked in, we could her Will’s voice singing away.

We walked up to grab a table and his wife Lynda was already there. We shared a nice bottle of red wine and listened to some great familiar tunes. Not before long, it was time to head out to dinner with Johnnie and Chip. We got directions from Lynda to get to Café Sole so we were once again on the move. (I know Café Sole is a bit tricky to find, however after drinking all day, it becomes even harder to find.) We called the restaurant to tell them we were running late. I wound up calling back Lynda and thankfully she managed to get us to the restaurant. We arrived only about 15 min. late so our table was still available. http://www.cafesole.com/

For the first course, I had the escargot while my husband had the beef carpaccio. For dinner, everyone but Johnnie ordered the hogfish for dinner. It was amazing like I always remember. Its a shame this fish isn’t available in more places, but it never disappoints. The flavor cannot be beat. We also got a kick out of the service. Our waiter was right off the boat from Poland and my husband speaks a little bit of polish. Lets just say they had some conversations going back and forth that no one else knew what they were saying!

When dinner was over, we went our separate ways. We were scheduled to meet Billy at 9:30 the next morning at the Gardens so we didn’t want to be up too late. It was around 9 o’clock when we were finished with dinner, and Will was still playing at the White Tarpon. We walked back to the White Tarpon to catch a few more of his songs before he was done for the evening. We said good night to Will and Lynda and told them we would try and get together the following night after the fishing trip.

On our way back to the Gardens, we took a side turn onto Southard Street to the Green Parrot. When we walked to Fort Zachary earlier in the morning, we noticed there was a sign in front of the Green Parrot of a band playing at night called “Defibulators”. They sounded sort of familiar and were curious about them. We walked into the Green Parrot and headed to the back bar where it wasn’t as crowded. We grabbed a couple of PBRs and listened to some great music. (If you are staying at the Gardens Hotel, this place is located very close by and its worth a stop to hear some music.) http://greenparrot.com

It was getting late and we knew we would be in trouble if we didn’t head back to the hotel to get some sleep. We finished our beers and called it a night.

Day Four – March 22 – Fishing with Billy
We woke up to a bright and sunny day, perfect to go out on the water. Since Billy was picking us up at the Gardens that morning, we didn’t want to walk too far for breakfast.

We all met up at Sarabeth’s for some breakfast.

I enjoyed their signature scramble with smoked salmon, where as my husband enjoyed their “Fat and Fluffy” french toast.

After another satisfying breakfast, we all walked back to the Gardens to wait for Billy. He gave us a call when he was on our way. We piled into his pick up truck and headed to the dock to begin our day out on the water.

I mentioned to Billy that I didn’t want to go out as far as the previous year, even though it was a great day out. We decided to go to a closer spot to do some fishing that about 30 minutes away. The spot proved to be a good one as everyone caught something. Yellowtail snapper and porgy were the two types of fish that were caught.

I was feeling a bit of the night before so I decided to sit back and watch the action.

A few hours passed and I was feeling better. Everyone had their fill of fishing, so Billy took us to a sand bar. It was high tide when we got to the sand bar, so it was completely covered with water. We were still able to get out walk around.

Then we all got back into the boat and cruised around the water. From a far, we could see the Blue Angels from the air show that was going on in nearby Boca Chica Field.

It was nice to relax and have a few beers on the water. It was a great day to be out on the water.

When we got back to the dock, Billy took our catch and cleaned the fish for us. He even dropped off at a nearby restaurant so that we would have “our catch of the day” for dinner.

He recommended the Flaming Buoy for dinner and we told him we could be there around 6:30, so we were all set.

Billy dropped us off and thanked him for a great day out on the water and told him we would be going back to the Smokin’ Tuna later that evening after dinner if he wanted to meet up, if not we would see him the next night bartending. (To the best way to get in touch with Billy to book a day out on the water is contact the Gardens.)

We all departed to our accommodations to get ready for dinner. The Flaming Buoy is located near the Chelsea House where Johnnie and Chip were staying so we would meet them at their place. We were already for dinner and headed back out towards the Chelsea House. We got a message from Johnnie and Chip that they were having a drink at a place called Duffy’s. We wound up meeting them there for a drink before walking to the Chelsea House. They showed us their place and thought it was very charming.
http://www.historickeywestinns.com/the-inns/chelsea-house/

It was then time to walk to the Flaming Buoy. The Flaming Buoy is located off the main drag and in a residential area. It was very cute and tiny place. We walked in and the staff was notified about our catch of the day by Billy. They sat the four of us outside where we enjoyed a great dinner. http://theflamingbuoy.com/

I started with the tuna ceviche, while my husband had the lobster mac and cheese.

For dinner everyone had the catch of the day with their side dishes of the day.

After a wonderful dinner we agreed to walk back to the Gardens Hotel first for a glass of wine before going out to the Smokin’ Tuna. Once we all had our glasses of wine, we realized that we were all pretty tired after being out on the water all day. I had already gotten in touch with Will and Lynda and they were on their way to the Smokin’ Tuna. I convinced my husband to go, while Johnnie and Chip headed back to the Chelsea House. We told them good night and we would meet them again at Blue Heaven for breakfast.

Once we started walking again towards the Smokin’ Tuna I did get a second wind (sort of). We walked in and saw Will and Lynda at the bar.

The place was jammed packed with people. We ordered a couple of margaritas and listened to Caffeine Carl play. It was a great time, but I was getting tired. It was another long day. After the second set we left and headed back to the Gardens for the night.

Day Five – March 23 – Last Full Day – Schooner American 2.0
We woke again a bit later then we wanted to. We gave Johnnie and Chip a call before heading down to Blue Heaven. When we first left our room, we noticed that it was probably the hottest its been during our stay. Chip and Johnnie were waiting for us at the bar when we walked in to Blue Heaven. We made it just in time to grab one of the last remaining tables of 4. We all once again enjoyed a great breakfast. This time I tried their veggie eggs benedict which was very good.

When we finished our breakfast we realized it was our last full day and wanted to get some shopping done. Our day sail was set at 1:30 on the Schooner America 2.0 and had to check in around 15 min. before. We decided to split up and get our shopping done and meet up in a few hours.

We walked around looking at different shops for some souvenirs. I began to notice that many shops have the same things in each one, as far as t-shirts, etc. We made our way town to Peppers. My husband tried a few hot sauces, but I decided to sit it out. We purchased a few hot sauces and headed back to the Gardens to drop off our bags.

We walked back onto Simonton to go to Captain Tony’s. I usually forget my business card to hang up at Captain Tony’s, but this year we each had our own and were determined to get back there. As we walked towards Captain Tony’s, we noticed how quiet the streets were.

We were told a lot of people were at the air show. We walked into Captain Tony’s and were the only patrons at the bar.

We ordered something to drink and left our business cards behind – mission accomplished.

We also tried the coin toss outside of Captain Tony’s, but weren’t very successful (or even close). http://www.capttonyssaloon.com/

It was getting closer to our day sail time, so we headed back towards the Schooner Wharf Bar where we met up with Johnnie and Chip. http://www.schoonerwharf.com/

We still had some time to spear, so we went to the Tower Bar at the Turtle Kraal for a couple of drinks before the sail. http://www.turtlekraals.com/page11/page11.htm

We checked in about 15 min. before the sail and grabbed our boarding passes. We all boarded the boat and found a perfect spot to sit.

The boat was barely half full when we took sail – which was great. Beer and wine were offered for a $1 a piece, while soda was included. We all had a beer and watched as they raised the sails.

The Schooner America 2.0 is a beautiful boat – I even got to steer her.

I highly recommend going out on a day sail or even a sunset sail on this schooner. The sail lasted about an hour and a half and we were all feeling pretty good.

Our friend Will was playing at Rick’s that afternoon, so when we got back to the dock, we walked back to Rick’s to meet up with Will and Lynda. We grabbed a few seats and listened to Will as he finished up for the day.

I had made reservations for all of us that evening at Michael’s for our last dinner. So when Will was done playing, we headed back to the Gardens to freshen up for dinner.

On our way back I remembered that I wanted to stop at the Margaritaville store for a few girls for some friends. When we walked in we noticed that the display of pet photos was gone. We asked about the display and the employee told us that they no longer have it, but a fellow employee scanned in all the photos of pets wearing a Margaritaville collar into a slide show that was looping on a tv screen above our heads. (As a side note, a few years back I took several pictures of our cat wearing a Margaritaville collar and sent it to them but never knew if they got the photos or not.) As I was paying for my order of Margaritaville apparel, my husband was watching the looping tv screen of all the pets. Within a few minutes as we both looked up we saw a picture of our cat. She made the cut! We got a big kick out of it knowing our cat is now being shown in Margaritaville everyday in Key West.

We made it back to the Gardens to get ready for dinner.

When we walked in we noticed that there were a lot of people gathering around the pool area. The Garden’s hotel was an event for the evening which we didn’t mind since cocktails were free for guests of the hotel.

Will and Lynda met us at the Gardens and when we walked to Michael’s. Being we were with Key West regulars, we didn’t have any trouble finding the place.

For an appetizer I had the oysters rockefeller – and didn’t take a picture because I ate them to fast! For dinner I had the pan seared snapper which was very good.

I can’t remember what everyone else had, but my husband and Will both had the Michael’s Meatloaf which they really enjoyed. http://www.michaelskeywest.com/

It was a great place to spend dinner together for our last night, even though its a bit blurry!

We had to be up early the next morning for our 7am flight out of Key West so we said our good byes. We told them we would see them when they come back to NJ/NY area this summer.

Day Six – March 24 – Travel Day
We woke up around 5:00am to catch the 5:30 taxi the Gardens had called for us. It was pitch black out and again very warm. The streets were silent until we heard our taxi pull up to the hotel to take us to the airport. The flights were uneventful and before we could even realize, we were already back home in NJ.

Even though we have been to Key West for the past 8 years, we had a wonderful time experiencing places both old and new with our friends. We hope to be lucky enough to return again next year. I guess you can say we have a case of the “keys disease”.

Thank you for taking the time reading my experience in Key West. Until next time remember to eat, drink, travel and be merry….

Survived Sandy by Escaping to St. John

==Day 1==

Thursday – October 25

Getting to St. John

We woke up early to make our flight that was scheduled to leave at 8:45am from Newark to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

We only had a 25 min. layover but usually Cape Air flights never leave on time so I wasn’t too concerned. Unfortunately by the time we left the gate there was a lot of backed-up traffic at Newark. We wound up being 15th in line for take off. Needless to say we were over 45 min. behind schedule as we were on our way (finally) to Puerto Rico.

Our flight was scheduled to leave at 1:09 and we landed in Puerto Rico at 1:10. The flight crew allowed us to get off the plane first as we ran to the Cape Air gate. Once we got to the gate, we noticed that our flight had been delayed and didn’t leave yet – thank goodness! So we did make our connection, but obviously we knew that our checked bag would not.

We landed in St. Thomas and met Bazille our taxi driver that Lisa @ Vacation Vistas arranged for us. He waited for us as we worked out the delayed bag situation with Cape Air. Eventually we were on our way to Red Hook. We managed to catch the 4pm ferry and notified Vacation Vistas.

We arrived at the dock and I first made sure my sister could see us on the webcam.

In addition, friends or ours were already on island so they were waiting for us at the dock with rum punches! We gave them a warm welcome and found KD the other Vacation Vistas rep. We told our friends that we would meet up with them later we got settled in our villa. KD took us to Bougainvillea Leasing so we could pick up our jeep rental.

We got into the jeep and followed KD to our villa Wings Over Water. The drive overall was fairly easy and not too far from Cruz Bay. I was told that the driveway to the villa a “leap of faith”. Once we saw the entrance I realized what people were referring to.

We pulled into the driveway and were blown away. The location of where this villa is built on is mind blowing. It is set just off a rocky bluff. It took over 8 years to build and has only been on the rental market for a year and a half. KD showed us around and all of the provisions we ordered from St. John Catering. Vacation Vistas also had a nice welcome gift with some of their own provisions for us. Between the two we were pretty much set for the week!

Luckily I did ship a box ahead of time to Connections that KD picked up for us with all our toiletries. We had an extra set of clothes and bathing suits on our carry on bags. We each took an outdoor shower outside of the master bedroom.

It was a bit breezy but felt refreshing. Note that if you have another couple staying at this villa with you, you can see the person showering…. Soon it was time to head into town and give Cape Air a call about our luggage. We were told that we should get it that night and I gave them my cell # to call.

We met our friends at High Tide for some rum punches and appetizers.

I tried calling Cape Air a few times while we were there, but no luck. We weren’t getting our luggage tonight. Overall, it was a good time and we got to see Inner Visions as well. After a long travel day, we headed back to our villa and said good night to everyone.

==Day 2==

Friday – October 26

Our first full day on St. John After a good night sleep we woke up to a very hot day with some moderate cloud cover.

We started the day by making coffee that I also had shipped down from our favorite neighborhood coffee shop. I highly recommend doing this, because the coffee variety on St. John isn’t exactly plentiful or cheap. I cooked my husband and I up some breakfast while my husband contacted Cape Air again about our luggage. It turned out they had the wrong number for my cell phone (off by one digit) and tried calling us last night! After straightening everything out with him, we were told that our luggage would be coming over on the 10am passenger ferry. As a side note, if you have luggage tags on your bags, be sure to have your cell # on the tags vs. your home #. When we got home we had about 4 voice mail messages from Cape Air – so they did try and contact us that evening.

We headed to Cruz Bay to wait for our luggage. About half way there, my phone rang and it was the guy who was sending our bag over. He said he had a flat tire and wouldn’t make it until the 11am ferry. Plan B – we wound up meeting our friends at JJ’s. To kill some time, we did some shopping and hit St. John’s Spice to grab a few bottles of Jerome’s hot sauce. It was getting hot out and we were getting thirsty. We walked town to Joe’s Rum Hut. They weren’t quite open yet, but they were able to accommodate us a little early.

The 11am ferry finally showed up around noon. I was pretty happy to see our big blue bag come off the ferry. With our bag in tow, we headed back to the villa. We figured that we would meet back up with our friends for the 3rd annual Woody’s Save Second Base.

The afternoon was spent relaxing at our villa and enjoying the views.

It was also nice to finally change into some new clothes. We were going to grill up some mahi mahi filets that we had ready from St. John Catering, but the grill wasn’t working. So we wound up cooking them inside, which still was very good. (We wound up calling Vacation Vistas a couple days later and the problem was fixed.)

Soon enough it was time to head to Cruz Bay. We parked our jeep at the Bougainvillea Leasing/Amore Center and walked down to Woody’s. The road was completely blocked so you could stand in the street. They had a great turn out and it was a lot of fun. We also got to here Inner Visions play again.

It was a fun time and eventually we had to make our way back to the villa. It was our friends last night so we wished them a safe trip home.

==Day 3==

Saturday – October 27

Day on Jost Van Dyke

Last year we joined our friend Captain Joe aboard the Scubadu during the Cat Fight. This year we wanted to go over to Jost but spend time on the island.

We woke up around 7am and drove to town. It wasn’t time yet to check in at the Inter Island Water Ferry to take us over to Jost, so we stopped by at Jake’s for a quick and very good breakfast. We walked down to check in and grabbed our tickets to the ferry. It took us about 30 – 40 min. to get over to Jost. After checking in, we headed to Foxy’s.

It was getting close to the Cat Fight check in time so we walked over by the dock. You could see all the catamarans getting ready for the race.

People were coming over in their dinghy’s and we spotted Captain Joe! It was great to see him. He invited us to come on board for the race but we declined and wished him good luck.

Going over the rules:

Once everyone left we grabbed a couple of beers and waited for a taxi to take us over to the Soggy Dollar Bar. I started to wonder if we would see a taxi but eventually one came by. I asked the driver if he could take us over and he said he just needed to take care of something first and would be back to pick us up. It turned out that he was one of Foxy’s sons who runs the Perfect Pineapple on Jost and there was a problem with the pipes at his small hotel. He was trying to get a hold of the person who had the supplies to fix it, but he wasn’t answering his phone. He came back to pick us up and then had to make one more stop. He stopped and found the guy. It turned he wasn’t answering his phone because he was drinking a bottle of rum – you gotta love the islands!

After he got what he was looking for, he made a quick stop at the Perfect Pineapple to drop off the supplies. On the way, he stopped so I could take a picture of the beautiful overlook of White Bay.

Within minutes we arrived at the Soggy Dollar Bar. I asked him if he could pick us up at 3pm and he said it wasn’t a problem. My husband asked him how much for the taxi, but he said not to pay him until he takes us back – which I thought was very trusting.

The weather was beautiful to spend the day on White Bay.

It was also the first time we ever arrived at the Soggy Dollar Bar dry and with flip flops on! We could see the catamarans in the distance as they raced all day. We picked a nice table in the shade and chatted with other visitors also enjoying the day. We took a few breaks and went into the water to cool off in between a few painkillers and some snacks.

Soon it was time to check and see if our taxi driver was there. Around 5 min. to 3, I checked around back and sure enough he was waiting. We grabbed our things and we headed back to catch the 4pm ferry.

On the way back, a commercial for the Perfect Pineapple came on the radio, so he raised the volume and listened to it. We told him we approved of the commercial and he was pretty happy. Once we got to the ferry dock, we thanked him for taking us back and wished him luck with fixing his place.

We didn’t see anyone waiting for the ferry, or a ferry yet, so we walked into the little market near the ferry. We grabbed a few beers and sat down and waited. We had a nice view of a blue grill which was a bit odd, but maybe it was used by the same place.

It was getting closer to 4pm, no ferry and I was starting to get nervous. My husband got up and walked around to where you would check in and sure enough there were people there waiting. A few minutes later we see the ferry pull up. Everyone got on board and we were on our way.

We wound up making a stop on Tortolla before going back to St. John. The ride back was longer then the ride there. We pulled into Cruz Bay a little after 5pm and checked in through US Customs.

Being that we were quite hungry and didn’t feel like cooking, we walked up to Margarita Phil’s. We had a couple of margaritas while they prepared our order. I ordered the grouper burrito and my husband ordered the beef burrito.

We decided to take the order to go and head back to the villa. We thoroughly enjoyed our

dinner and shortly after that we were exhausted. Time to turn in for the night.

 

==Day 4==

Sunday – October 28

Trunk Bay and the News of Hurricane Sandy

We woke up to another beautiful day and gave Vacation Vistas a call to see about our grill.

We had someone come by and he said that he needed to change the propane tanks and it wouldn’t be for a few hours. We said it wasn’t a problem since we were headed out to one of the North Shore Beaches.

While we were getting ready in the morning we called back to the states to check in. We heard that this potential “Frankenstorm” was more and more going to become a reality. We made sure we gave them the land line phone # at the villa so they could reach us. As we set out to the North Shore beaches, I had my heart set on going to Francis Bay. We have never gone to this beach and I have seen pictures of it. We passed Caneel, then Hawksnest and then as we neared Trunk Bay, I noticed the parking lot was practically empty. Since we hadn’t been to Trunk in a couple years we decided to spend the day there.

My husband grabbed his kindle, while I grabbed my snorkel gear and went into the water. The water was a little cloudy, however I was able to see a lot of fish as I got closer to the cay.

I even saw a stingray go by. It was a beautiful day spent surprisingly quiet on Trunk Bay.

Being that my husband and I are Giant fans, we wanted to get back to the villa to watch them play the Cowboys. We made it back in time and watched a great game. My husband grilled up some bacon wrapped pork tenderloin from St. John Catering with grilled green and yellow squash.

We continued to see the news regarding the hurricane and couldn’t believe it. We were on St. John the year before when a freak snowstorm hit the NJ area. It was unbelievable to think that we would be missing another bad storm TWO YEARS in a row.

After a nice day it was time to go to bed.

==Day 5==

Monday – October 29

Starting to see the affects of Hurricane Sandy

We woke up to another sunny day and I was getting excited to try Francis Bay this time. I cooked us some breakfast while we watched the news. The hurricane was scheduled to hit that night. I called my sister and she said that they were prepared as best as they could be for the storm. She checked on our cat and also gave our key to our neighbor in case she couldn’t make it back to our house the next day.

We made the drive back up the North Shore Road and passed by the beaches. We noticed that Hawksnest was empty and so was Trunk, followed by Cinnamon. We were kind of perplexed by this as we drove closer to Maho. As we drove by Maho, the water was coming up onto parts of the roadway. There was literally no beach – at all. We couldn’t believe it. We drove further and made it to Francis. We got out of the jeep and it was the same story.

The waves were covering the entire beach. We met up with another couple and they said the same thing that all of the North Shore beaches have a high surge due to the hurricane. You could also look in the distance and see white caps. We have never seen anything like it before.

A bit disappointed we figured we would go back to town. We stopped at the Trunk Bay overlook and took a few pictures of the high surf. 

On the way back we stopped at Mongoose Junction. I realized my memory card on my camera was nearly full and needed to buy another one. We stopped at the new watersports store I believe was called Everything Beach but they didn’t have any. We walked around a little and stopped at the Sun Dog Cafe for a cold beverage.

Once we got back to Cruz Bay we parked our jeep and walked over to the Beach Bar for a refreshing bushwacker:

I heard about the new Motu bar and was on a quest to find it. It wasn’t too hard to find if you just make a right when you leave the Beach Bar and head down past the new Terrace Restaurant.

The bartender was just opening up and we ordered a couple of Virgin Islands Pale Ale. I had the mango ale and my husband had the IPA. It was a nice location and different view from what we were used to.

We thanked the bartender and drove back to Wings Over Water.

The infamous tube outside on our balcony (that we never used):

We relaxed for a bit and thought about going back to town during happy hour and give Spyglass a try.

When we walked up to Spyglass the bar area was quite crowded. We found two seats on the end and ordered a couple of drinks. The menu was very reasonable for happy hour. I ordered the fish tacos, while my husband ordered the sliders. We also split an order of chicken wings that were priced at $1 each. The food was very good and satisfying. It was a nice early dinner for $29!

We then walked over to 420 to check it out. There we watched more coverage on the hurricane on their tvs. It was a nice sports bar. We each had a drink and headed back to the villa.

==Day 6==

Tuesday – October 30

Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy

Today was the day our friend Ashley who used to live on St. Thomas would be staying on St. John for a few days for a photo shoot. I also contacted her to see if she could pick me up a memory card. We woke up to another picture perfect day and enjoyed another breakfast at the villa.

We turned on the tv and couldn’t believe the damage that Hurricane Sandy caused. I tried calling our house back in NJ hoping the answering machine would pick up but it didn’t. I knew we lost power. I couldn’t get in touch with my sister at that point to see how bad it was. My husband tried contacting his brother and they also lost power. Thankfully they had a generator. I finally got a hold of my sister and she said she would try and get to our house later that day to see if there was any damage and check on our cat. We figured that the best thing was to go out and head to a beach. Maybe Francis?

We left the villa and began the drive again up the North Shore Rd. We noticed there was a sign out near Caneel Bay saying “High Surf Advisory”. Here we go again. We only made it to Hawksnest and realized once again, it wasn’t going to be a North Shore beach day. So my husband suggested driving to Coral Bay.

We drove along Centerline Rd. and eventually arrived at Aqua Bistro for a cold beer. We stopped at the market near Aqua Bistro and grabbed a bottle of Cruzan Rum for $8 – you can’t beat that! We contemplated driving down all the way to Salt Pond or Great Lameshur Bay, but we figured we would drive back to Cruz Bay because we were going to meet Ashley later that afternoon.

We got back and as I walked down the stairs to the pool area at our villa, a saw an iguana near the pool. I must have scared him because he ran into the pool and then leaped over the edge. The longer we stayed at Wings Over Water, the longer we realized it should be called Iguanas Over Water. There are a lot of iguanas around. We got a kick out of them and most of them tended to hang out on the rocky bluff below and not bother us.

I texted my sister to call me on the landline at the villa after she got to the house to let me know what happened. I was trying to relax by the pool but it seemed like a long afternoon.

Eventually I heard the phone ring and it was her. I can tell she was so scared but also relieved to tell us we only lost a tree, and luckily it fell onto the street so the town already cleared it. If it fell the other way it would have hit our house and my jeep!

She said we had no power and there was a lot of damage in the area with down wires and trees. Our cat was fine so she fed her and headed back home. A bit relieved, we freshened up for another grilled meal at the villa. We still had the left over bacon wrapped pork tenderloin and paired it with a nice caesar salad.

It was almost time to meet Ashley at the ferry so we drove back into Cruz Bay. We grabbed a couple of rum punches at High Tide as we waited for her. She finally made it and it was great to see her. And she remember the memory card! After she checked in at the Inn at Tamarind Court nearby, we went to the Tap Room.

They were having their Halloween Party so we saw a few locals dressed up in costumes.  I got a kick out of someone wearing a cowboy hat and a Woody’s t-shirt. I wonder who he was supposed to be?

Since Ashley didn’t have a rental car, she asked us to pick her up the next morning to look at different beaches for her photo shoot. We told her about the high surf so we thought that maybe a good option would be Caneel. It was getting late and we were all tired so we dropped her off and headed back to the villa.

==Day 7==

Wednesday – October 31

Halloween

We had to pick up Ashley so we didn’t have too much time for breakfast. We stopped at the Deli Grotto for a great cup of coffee, before stopping by the Tamarind to pick her up. It was a cute little place, reminded me a bit like a B&B you would find in Key West with the chickens and roosters running around.

Ashley was ready to go so we drove to Caneel. Being that Caneel wasn’t open yet (they were opening the following day for the season), we had to park on the side of the road.

Security stopped us and eventually let us in to walk to Caneel Beach. The beach wasn’t too bad and she thought she could do her photo shoot there. However, the security mentioned that this was their final day of cleaning up before their opening so there would be a lot of activity around (basically don’t use the beach for the shoot). He suggested going to Honeymoon so we walked down to that beach. Honeymoon was the same story as the other beaches – very high surf and little room to walk on the beach.

Grounds at Caneel:

After going back and forth, she wound up going to the Westin to do her shoot. We told her we would meet up with her later for some Halloween bar hopping.

We went to JJ’s Texas Coast for a late breakfast where I ordered my favorite – huervos rancheros.

After taking a picture of the sign my husband and I both realized the same thing – after all these years its called JJ’s Texas Coast – and we always thought it was JJ’s Texas Toast?! Wings Over Water is such a beautiful villa that we did wind up spending a lot of afternoons there. This was another afternoon where we relaxed.

My husband got in touch with our next door neighbor who would let us know if and when we would get power back to our house and he said that it could be between 7 – 10 days! He mentioned about cleaning out our fridge so I called my sister and she was able to do it thankfully.

With the uncertainty of when the power was going to come back and knowing we would have the added expense of replenishing our food, I opted to cancel our daysail with Captain Joe aboard the Scubadu. He fully understood and we decided to meet go out to dinner the next night and he would take the ferry over.

We then had a few snacks before heading back out for the evening. We freshened up and headed back to Cruz Bay. Our first stop after picking up Ashley, was the Motu Bar. It was a lot more crowded that evening then when we were there a few days earlier.

Nevertheless, we enjoyed watching the sunset on the nice comfy couches.

Our next stop was the Banana Deck.

We used to travel to St. John towards the beginning of October when fewer restaurants were open so we were never able to make it to the Banana Deck. We walked over and I was quite impressed with the place. It is set up high over the street with a nice ambiance. The place was pretty quiet so we grabbed some seats at the bar. We ordered some appetizers and enjoyed the place a lot.

The last stop for the night was Spyglass. 

Ashley had never been there so we wanted to go back since we had a good experience a few nights ago with their happy hour. Plus the Beach Bar and Joe’s Rum Hut were very crowded at that point in the evening. We headed up and it was very quiet. I assume they normally get the Happy Hour rush and then most of the crowd leaves. The bartender was nice and friendly as we enjoyed our last stop for the night. I tried his sangria frozen concoction – which was interestingly tasty. We said our goodbyes to Ashley and would try to meet back up with her before we left even though she was going back to St. Thomas.

We got home and had some Sesame Soba Noodles we had from St. John Catering (which were really good). It was great having food available when we would get back to the villa – we were really hungry!

==Day 8==

Road Block and Cinnamon Bay

Around 7am my husband’s phone went off. He grabbed his phone and it was our neighbor. We got power!! I was so relieved that we wouldn’t be coming home to no power at all. It was a huge weight that was lifted. My husband stayed up to read but I wound up falling back to sleep for a bit.

I eventually woke up and made us breakfast to start the day.

We heard around the area that the swells along the North Shore should have calmed down by that day so we weredetermined to go. The verdict was Cinnamon since it has a larger beach then the other beaches to begin with. We loaded up the jeep and we were on our way – or so we thought. As my husband was driving up the driveway, we hit a road block – an iguana. He would NOT move. My husband was afraid of running over his tail and could not move around him and still get up the driveway.

He ran into the villa to grab a couple pieces of apple to lure him away from the middle of the driveway but he didn’t budge. Plan B was to get the pool net/pole and nudge him over to the side of the driveway so we could drive by him. My husband ran to get the pool net and I ran on the other side of the jeep to put it in his hand (like a jouster) and I ran back into the passenger side. We slowly went up the driveway as my husband lowered the net to nudge him over. With a lot of effort, he finally moved over enough (2 inches) so we were able to drive up the driveway.

Once again we drove up the North Shore Rd. and saw the High Surf Advisory signs. We wouldn’t be stopped today! We drove by Hawksnest and noticed more vehicles in the parking lot. We made it to Cinnamon where there weren’t many vehicles. We grabbed our things and walked down to the beach. The surf was still high but thankfully there was enough room to set up our chairs. I noticed there were a couple of people in the water but they were all jumping in the waves. No one was snorkeling.

The waves were quite high for Cinnamon but we are used to it after spending summers down at the Jersey Shore. We both jumped in and enjoyed the waves. It was definitely a different experience to be had while on one of beaches on St. John. At one point a fairly large wave was coming and I was going to dive through it. My husband said I didn’t have a enough time so I sort of stood there – motionless. Yup – I got nailed! I only hit my knee a bit on the sand so it wasn’t to bad, but after that – I was ready to get out of the water and relax on the beach.

It was a beautiful day to spend on Cinnamon. As the day went on, we noticed the beach had a lot more people on it. I guess everyone was missing the North Shore beaches too.

It was getting later in the afternoon so we headed back to our villa. On the way I contacted Captain Joe and he said he could make it over on the 5pm ferry. No problem. When we got back to the villa, I started to walk down the stairs and immediately stopped. The same iguana from before was on the stairs. He was a big boy too. We still had the pool net so I grabbed it and nudged him down the stairs. He finally made it by the pool and like the previous iguana, jumped in the pool and leaped over the other side. He was stubborn fellow!

After freshening up we went back to Cruz Bay to wait for Captain Joe. We went to High Tide for a couple of Rum Punches, which during happy hour are only $4 a piece. As we waited for Joe, I took a few pictures of Cruz Bay as the sun was setting.

He arrived with a huge grin as always. It was great to see him again. After some discussion we figured we would go to Fatty Crab for dinner. I always wanted to try this place, and after seeing the chef on the Food Network’s show Chopped. We walk up and it was practically empty so there was no problem getting a seat.

The hostess sat and our server then came over to tell us how it worked. You would basically pick a few items on the menu and they would bring it out one at a time while everyone tries it (similar to tapas). Sounded like fun – so we gave it a try.

For the first course we had two orders of the fish fry sliders – which were amazing – made with fresh wahoo. 

The next course was an order of the soft shell crab sandwich, followed by pork spare ribs. All were eaten too quickly before I could take a picture.

Following the ribs, we had the watermelon pickle and crispy pork belly which was delicious.

The last course was a pulled leg of lamb with a mint curry yogurt served on a roti.  

Everything was delicious and the service was outstanding. I would DEFINITELY go there again! Plus we had great company –

I highly recommend checking out Fatty Crab while on St. John. We gave Captain Joe a big hug and reassured him we would be back next year.

==Day 9==

Friday – November 2

Our Last Full Day on St. John

We slept in a bit later this morning since we knew we would be getting up early the next day when we had to leave.

After a few cups of coffee we decided to relax at the villa for the day. It was a wonderful day watching the boats go by and laying by the pool. The pool is on the smaller side, but its large enough to cool off in.

Originally we were going to have Ted cook for us from Ted’s Supper club, but again, to save some money we decided to cancel. The night before we had reservations to go to the Sugar Mill (formally the Equator) Restaurant at Caneel Bay for my belated birthday dinner, but rescheduled after going out to dinner with Captain Joe for our last night. This was Caneel’s second day being open for the season so I was excited to go back and see it.

The last time we had dinner there, it was cut short by Hurricane Omar. We hadn’t been back since–We drove into town and parked the jeep in the free parking lot and decided to take a taxi to Caneel. We figured it would cost about the same taking a taxi vs. parking at Caneel. We stopped for one last rum punch at High Tide before grabbing a taxi.

Once we got to Caneel it was already dark. The Sugar Mill looked pretty much the same as the Equator.

We were greeted with a warm hello and sat right a long the edge to watch the lights on St. Thomas. It was a beautiful setting to spend our last dinner on St. John.

My husband started off with the shrimp cocktail while I had their version of pork belly. Both were very good.

For our entrees, my husband ordered the filet and I had the seafood pad thai. 

We had a great dinner at the Sugar Mill and it brought back a lot of wonderful memories from our past vacations at Caneel.

After dinner we strolled along the grounds to check out our old room, Cottage 7E. We weren’t supposed to walk there but it was very quiet so no one bothered us. We walked back and managed to get a taxi fairly quickly to take us back to town.

Once back, we want to have one last night cap somewhere on St. John. We had never been to the Lime Inn before and saw that their bar was open.

Again, this restaurant is usually closed while we are on St. John, but knowing the owners formally part owned the restaurant Chesapeake Bay in Long Valley, NJ (that my family used to frequent many years ago), I wanted to stop in. We walked over and no one was there. Eventually the bartender, Tyler came out. He was very nice and talked to us while we drank our beer. He even gave us our round on him! We thanked him and walked back to our jeep. It was the last night heading out of Cruz Bay and back to our villa.

We got back to the villa and called it a night.

==Day 10==

Saturday – November 3

Going Home

We got up early to spend some time cleaning up the villa and doing laundry before leaving the villa. We enjoyed some cups of coffee and packed our things up.

After we returned our rental we walked down by the ferry dock to get 2 tickets for the 10am ferry. We walked back over to JJ’s to have breakfast. We noticed a lot of people at JJ’s with their luggage by their side. I guess Saturdays are the busiest days when people leave/come in since that is the majority of when villas are rented.

Soon it was time to go on the ferry and leave St. John behind. The ride over was nice and calm. We arrived at Red Hook and then got on the taxi/van to take us over to the other side of the island where the airport is. It was a long ride and very hot. The AC needed to be charged and I don’t think the taxi driver was aware of it until one of the passengers mentioned it to him while we were leaving.

Eventually we made it to the airport. Our flight was on schedule and left on time. As we neared Newark Airport I could see areas down below of lights and areas of black. It was kind of bizarre to see. We landed about a half hour late (big surprise). It was freezing when we got off the plane. It was a big difference from 88 – 92 degrees to 40 degrees! My sister was originally supposed to pick us up, but with the gas situation she wisely conserved her gas and stayed home. I was able to get our normal car service to pick us up.

It was a relief to see him waiting for us. We grabbed our luggage and headed home. We noticed all the gas stations that were closed and the ones that were open had very long lines of cars with police stationed at them.

It was pretty dark so it was hard to see all the damage around the area. We got home and our kittie was so happy to see us. We are so thankful and grateful that this is all that happened (if that tree fell the other way…):

Thank you again for reading my report. For a 2nd straight year we have missed a major storm while on St. John. I think it will be a good idea to head back down again, the same time next year to St. John!