Day 9: Jumbie Barracudas & Ronnie's Pizza

Day 9

Today was our last full day in St. John. Tomorrow we will be lugging ourselves back to the airport and heading stateside. :( I'll be honest... I'm not ready!!! I could spend weeks longer here on either St. Thomas or St. John... or even make a trip to the BVIs! But alas, reality calls, and I've ridden the fantasy tropical wave for long enough. :)

But back to the day! Dad and I got up and out super duper early this morning to make our way to Jumbie Beach before the tourists took over the sand. When we got there NO ONE was there. It was like our own private beach. Neither of us had been to Jumbie before, so the snorkeling was trial by error. We hugged the rocks and headed out and around the reefs. Of course the first thing we ran into was this...

A BARRACUDA!!!
I was a bit nervous around it, but he didn't seem to care that we were there in the slightest! My demented father wanted to swim up next to it so he started following the damn thing around the reef. I hung back and kept all of my body parts in tact. :)

We continued further out and sadly, much of the reef had died off. There was some brain coral and fan coral started to regenerate closer to shore. We swam through schools of Blue Tang and Fries. There was some MASSIVE Parrot Fish on this swim and they are just so fantastic looking. They are all different colors and very rainbowish. They were very deep in the water so it was hard to get a good shot of them, but seriously, open a new tab and Google Image "Parrot Fish" and check out the different varieties!

Around lunchtime we went back to the villa to pick up Joan, who decided to get off of her knee for the day so it could heal up a bit more. We stopped by Ronnie's Pizza again today and, surprise! They were open! I'm very glad we tried it again because WOW! The pizza there was awesome. Much like yesterday, I have to post some food porn for you all. <3 Delish!

After lunch we all drove down to Mongoose Junction in downtown Coral Bay and went SHOPPING!!!! I'm very glad I waited really until the last day to make my biggest purchases because there was not a lot to spend... and there's not a lot left! I picked up some funky island jewelry and some trinkets to take home. I still need to find a few postcards before hitting up the airport tomorrow (and a few cigars).

By late afternoon we came back to the house and changed into our swimsuits for one final dip in the Wally pool. You would think it was a group of 10 year olds taking a dip because we got into a noodle floaty fight using the water jets at the sides of the pool. I'm pretty sure I got a lung full of chlorine from laughing so hard! :)

Now we are about to sit down for dinner. Dad is cooking up a London Broil and we're gonna finish up the fresh fruit we bought down here. Then we'll pack up and turn it in early for the night. Long travel day ahead. I'll try to make one last blog either on the plane or after I'm home.

Though I will continue to post on this blog and I'll have another day of talking about the trip, I do want to thank everyone who did read through this and those who had some fun with these posts. It was nice to write to an audience again. :)

I have a TON of photos from the trip (422 to be exact), so I'll make some more posts on here or Facebook with photos from the trip on here.

Cheers and my last St. John Brewery Root Beer!

Meg

Day 8: Nurse Sharks and BBQ

Day 8

Maybe I'm tanning and I just don't see it. LoL. My forehead and nose are getting nice and pink, but otherwise I still feel like a beacon of light compared to everyone else on the island. :) No worries though!

Snorkeling has been such an adventure during this trip. Dad and I are on the fourth day in a row of snorkeling around reefs and had some more luck today with some new finds. The three of us drove out to Francis Bay for some relaxing on the sand and swimming. There were a few others there, but thankfully Francis is spread out enough that everyone gets their own space. Dad and I snorkeled around some shallow reefs in the bay, but this time without the camera (so no photos of that today). Of course the Blue Tang were out in full force, which was beautiful! And the brain and fire coral were abundant in this little nook of a reef. But the real treasure today was finding a large black and yellow striped angel fish. This sucker was BIG! Like as in the size of a dinner plate. Very beautiful and very tropical in the stereotypical "tropical fish" sense. The next gem of the day was our encounter with a nurse shark. She/he was nuzzled in between two large pieces of coral and rock and appeared to be sleeping... or just really lazy. We swam out past her and caught sight of many more fishes before heading back. On our way back to shore we spotted a nurse shark (probably the same one) and a Jack swimming next to us in the opposite direction. We both turned around to follow the nurse shark a ways, but she/he was haulin the mail, so we lost them quickly. Very cool sighting though!

After our snorkel adventure we just bobbed around with Joan for a bit and got some sun with a Carib in hand. Don't worry, my pasty ass was covered in SPF 30. No skin cancers for me!

Around lunch time we packed it in and headed back to Cruz Bay. Originally we were going to stop by Ronnie's for pizza, but they were closed, so we made an even better decision to hit up Uncle Joe's for BBQ chicken. Oh. My. God. This was the most amazing BBQ chicken ever! I'll have to show a little food porn for you all to drool over because describing it just will do no good! During lunch we got to enjoy some island music floating over from Caps. This was very "St. John" to me. The locals were wandering around, the tourists had their dixie cups full of beer, and I was elbow deep in BBQ sauce and a Coke. :) Good times had by all.

We didn't head directly home after lunch, but took a cruise in the Suzuki up some hills and dips around Chocolate Hole, Rendezvous Bay, Fish Bay and to the edge of Reef Bay, scouting out villas. Apparently this is customary for Dad and Joanie to plan out their next vacation stay on the island. :) Maybe if I give enough input I can talk my way into their next trip out this way. However, this was an epic birthday/Christmas gift for me, so they have taken super duper care of all my expenses and meals. Next time I would like to say I'd have saved enough money to contribute more substantially. <3 Trust me, I'm not complaining about the top of the line treatment I've gotten down here. This is an amazing experience! But I like contributing to the cause as well. NOTHING here is cheap... except maybe limes.

We called it a day and settled back at the villa and took a dip in the pool again. After a spell Dad cooked up some awesome clam pesto spaghetti for dinner. The rest of the evening consisted of lazying around on the couch with a box of Oreos. ;)

Last full day on the island tomorrow so I'm going to make the most of it!

Cheers and Caps' Coldest Beers!

Meg

Buster, Ruins and Flamboyant Trees

As promised, here are a few photos of my day yesterday. We did so much that by the end of the day I was too tired to do much of anything but pass out!

Buster

Miss Buster is the local cat at Shipwreck Landing restaurant in Coral Bay. She has been a restaurant kitty for 13 years, but just started walking around the serving area recently. She would wander to each patron and mew until they dropped some grub. But this gal was no easy tart! She loved fish and crab cake. All other food was left where it was dropped for the chicken to come through and pick it off.

Danish Ruins at Little Lameshur Bay

These ruins were fabulous! You can see them from the Little Lameshur beach and facing the bay.


Flamboyant Trees

My father is dead set on wrecking the rental car to get a good look at the local Flamboyant trees. I can't say I blame him. These are the brightest crimson red trees around the island. They certainly live up to their names!


The real blog from Day 8 will be posted tonight... but here is a preview:

Cheers and Carib Beers!
Meg

Day 7: Petroglyphs and Little Lameshure Bay

Day 7

Third day in a row of snorkeling and I still feel pale! How is this even possible? :) Lack of tanning aside, I am having a great time snorkeling. Dad, Joan and I went out to Little Lameshure Bay for some quiet and snorkeling. Usually Lameshure is a very isolated beach area because the road to the beach is mostly washed out with crater like potholes. Today, however, a large group of kids and their parents were there for a birthday party. So Dad and I snorkeled by the cliff wall around the bay.

We saw a bunch more of the Blue Tang, which has quickly become my favorite tropical fish. Dad spotted a big ole Grouper down there as well... that woulda made a yummy sandwich. I unfortunately saw a sea snake wrapped around a piece of coral down there. I would have taken a photo but I was too busy screaming through my snorkel mask and kicking in the opposite direction. Ugh! lol. So it turns out I am a pansy! ;)

After our snorkel session we floated out near the shore and enjoyed the sunshine a while. There were these great ruins of a Danish governor's home at Lameshure. I got some great shots but I haven't loaded them on here yet, so I'll put them up tonight. <3

We set off for lunch at Shipwreck again. We all got some fish and chips. The local restaurant cat, Buster, came over to hang out with us in hopes of grabbing some fish. She was a sweetie (and yes, Buster was a she). By the way, I'm adding a cool photo of the Flamboyant tree blooms so you can see how fabulously red they are! :)

After lunch we trekked the almost hour drive back to Cruz Bay for some shopping! Dad and Joan were lovely and got me a Petroglyph key pendant and chain which I was poised to buy myself. But they beat me to it. ;) This particular petroglyph has become a signature of St. John because it was found here along with many other old Indian stone carvings. It is literally everywhere!

I picked up some great Larimar stone earrings as well. More shopping is to be had before I set back to the mainland on Tuesday. :)

When we finally got back to the villa, we popped into the Wally pool for some relaxing floating before a night in. I finally finished submitting all of my grades for the summer term. So I am "officially" on break! LoL. :)

Cheers and Coral Bay Excursions!

Meg

Day Six: Blue Tang and Pink Cadillacs

Day Six

Another beautiful day for snorkeling! We trekked out to Oppenheimer Beach for some sun and swimming. After bobbing around like corks for a time, Dad and I geared up and set out to snorkel around the reef. No sea turtles today, but a LOT of Blue Tang and Parrot Fish. Schools liked to hang around the reef and cliff walls off of Oppenheimer. The Brain Coral had started to regenerate which looked pretty cool! I kept glancing behind me pathetically, looking for sharks. Of COURSE it was shark week on Discovery this past week, and I caught a few of the shows on attacks. And being the big ole puss that I am, I was hesitant to kick around in the waters out there. But no sharks, just Cuddlefish and some small Fries. :) We snorkeled a little over a mile one way, out towards the "Easter Egg." and then back to shore. (Any of you who have been to St. John know what the Easter Egg is, I'm sure).

We stayed out on the beach for a good long stint today. Joan was feeling much better so she floated around near the shore with us. There was a large group of local kids having what looked like a parks and rec day at Robert Oppenheimer's old home. They spent most of the day splashing around in the water, having a good ole time!

After a bulk of the morning and early afternoon at the beach, we set back to Cruz Bay for some lunch. We settled on Deli Grotto in Mongoose Junction. I was feeling particularly adventurous so I grabbed a bottle of Ginger Beer and ordered a Pink Cadillac. A Pink Cadillac is a sandwich consisting of turkey, cheddar, guac, salsa, and cream cheese on pumpernickel. It was definitely different, and pretty good!

Sadly, when I got back to the villa I had to get to the grading. So I spent much of the rest of the afternoon in the house with the laptop. Dad made a fabulous London Broil for dinner and we settled onto the porch to watch the lights come on at St. Thomas.

Good day. Good night!

Cheers and Ginger Beers!
Meg

Day Five: Turtles and Shipwrecks

Day Five

I SNORKELED! Yayyyyyyyy!!! This wasn't my first rodeo. I've snorkeled quite a bit before in the Gulf of Mexico, but still, I was uber excited to get down here and snorkel around the reefs and beaches. Dad and I set off from Maho beach and snorkeled around towards Francis Bay. We saw about half a dozen sea turtles (Squeeee!) and a bunch of fishes including a Blue Tang which I have a photo of above. Both of those images are not mine since I did not have an underwater camera on me. I came across this fabulous, tomato red starfish just chilling out 10 feet down or so. So Dad dove down and scooped him up for me to hold a few minutes before dropping him back to his home. It was a truly amazing time! Saw a barracuda as well... but I was on land, so no screaming and swimming away at top speed lol. Can't wait to do it again. Hopefully we can get out to Waterlemon Kay this week.

The other great event of the day was to trek out to Coral Bay on the other coast of the island. Dad and Joanie usually get a house down in Coral Bay, but this time they decided to change it up, so we're in Cruz Bay instead. Coral Bay is something otherworldly to me. It is fantastically quiet and lazy... and I mean that in a good way. Not a lot of people live on this end of the island, so there are fewer cars and even fewer homes or shops. There is, however, a fantastic little bar restaurant called Shipwreck Landing down there (not the same as the one Dad and I ate at on St. Thomas when Joan was in the hospital). I got a delicious crab cake platter and munched on some conch fritters. Plus I got a nifty girlie mixed drink called "Bushwacked." It was some mix of rum, bailey's and coconut cream. Yum!

We drove around Coral Bay after lunch and checked out the wildlife. Lots of chicken, goats, big ole pigs and donkeys roaming the streets. :) Dad snapped a few shots of me at an overlook near the restaurant. Enjoy me in my natural, unphotoshopped glory ;)

After our excursion, Joan was feeling a little under the weather so we headed back up and over the mountain to Great Cruz Bay. The pops and I dropped her off and drove back out to Starfish Market for some groceries for the rest of the week. WHEW they are expensive here! We got enough food for about 5 days and it cost over $100!!!! And of course gas is about $4.57/gallon here because we are so far out. I can see why much of these islands are like a third world country. It's rough to afford the cost of living here. The economy here does remind me of that in Hawaii. You are either rich or dirt poor. And all the economic stimulation comes from tourism.

But I digress. What a long and wonderful day! I really got to enjoy the beaches today and catch a glimpse of the sea life. I do hope we snorkel again soon... and that I get some semblance of a tan... I'm as white as the sand out here still! Eek!

Cheers and St. John Root Beer!
Meg

Day Four: Duty Calls

Day Four

So even though this is in fact paradise, I still have a job to do. My students' finals are due for NVCC this week so I spent the entire day on the villa porch with my lappy and a rum and coke. I would have to say that this should be the ONLY way in which college profs are allowed to grade anything. :) So I'm over halfway done with my grading responsibilities for the summer! I should be done by tomorrow evening.

The other nice part of being at home and out on the porch all day was the nature watching I got to do! The island is full of iguanas and tropical birds, so spotting them is fairly easy. There is probably a 40-60 foot drop to the ground from the porch, so there are a few trees below that you can look straight down into from the railing. The iguanas here are fantastically lazy creatures who crawl up the tree branches and sun themselves... all day. We have an average of 6 of them in the trees at a time, keeping a watchful eye over us humans! So I got out my nifty, broke ass camera and took some closeups of these dashing young lizards.

After much grading, Dad and Joan's friends Patty and Joe came by to visit a bit and check out our end of the island (they are staying in Coral Bay). After they left, I suited up as Barney would say, and took a dip in the pool. Since the tropical storm is swinging north now, we got some early rain and a LOT of humidity today, making it rather sticky outside. However, I'm feeling for everyone up in NOVA. I've been watching the weather and DC looks to be getting some really crap heat.

Oh yes, and the bird up top is a Banana Quip. They are TINY little guys who love sugar water. They're pretty quick so I was lucky to get as good a shot as I did. Cute lil guys. <3

I don't have much more to report today other than the fact that my father is an amazing cook. Which most of you already have heard. :) Tomorrow if Joan's leg is a little less sore, I think we'll hit up Francis Bay again for some swimming, or down to Cruz Bay to shop. :)

Cheers with Cruzan Rum!
Meg