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kmusserA brief recap of my lovely weekend in the Virgin Islands with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
radiant_one. Her brother let us stay in his condo and borrow the car, making the vacation affordable. Google map here
Thursday we take an afternoon flight out from BWI, flights are uneventful, though the first leg is a little late so we don’t have time for dinner doing the layover in Miami as planned. Arrive into St. Thomas at night and are greeting by rain and free rum! Successfully find the car and fortunately the rain soon stops. The condo is a few miles away – driving here reminds me of Wales, little twisty roads and driving to the left. A few wrong turns, but the condo is found and then up the rather intimidating driveway (easily twice as steep as mine). We manage to cobble together a late night meal from food that’s been left here and then collapse.
Friday we wake up and actually get to see the absolutely gorgeous view from this place. Really there’s no reason to leave the front porch – ever (provided you can find pizza delivery here). But leave it we do, mainly due to the lack of food, which means going down the driveway of doom, feels sort of like driving off a cliff – and into Red Hook, after a little trouble finding parking, we find a place to have lunch and I have a scrumptious dreamsicle drink. Then we drive over to Sapphire Beach to get some beach time in. Later we stop at the grocery to stock up from the weekend and have a quiet dinner and evening in including margaritas and looking at the stars.
Saturday a good chunk of the day is spent at Coral World, a rather nice aquarium, I especially like the sea turtles, stingrays (which they let people pet and feed), and sea lion (even though it was scared away by a noisy child). We also drive around the island a bit just to take in the views and get some nice ones at a scenic overlook called Drake’s Seat. Mountaintop proves disappointing as they’re closed (no banana daiquiris for us) and no view from the top, but the drive back down gets some nice views overlooking Charlotte Amalie. We have a very tasty Valentine’s day dinner and finally back to the condo.
Sunday is for island hopping. We pick up the car ferry over to St. John. Most of St. John is part of the Virgin Islands National Park, so it’s a lot less developed than St. Thomas. The ferry itself is kind of fun, though I’m glad I have my motion sickness patches. Upon arriving our first stop is the park’s visitor center to pick up maps, which we have to drive in circles a few times to find – Cruz Bay is a cute looking town but we don’t spend much time there. We drive towards the other side of the island taking brief stops to peek at the beaches on the way. They all look absolutely stunning. Our initial target is the Annaberg sugar mill ruins to get some history in, the ruins are pretty impressive and their located on a hill which has an amazing view looking out towards the British Virgin Islands. From there we continue on to Coral Beach, the small hippyish town on the east end of the island – carefully dodging goats and chickens. Lunch is had, our table maybe 2 feet from the ocean, and includes some delicious crab bisque. We also pick up some cheap sandals for Michele, the better to go walking around in water that has critters in it. The afternoon is spent in the water. We return to an area near Annaberg where shoals extend far out into the bay. The water is only a few inches deep and we wade out looking for critters – there aren’t many, just a few urchins, is really cool though to stand out in the middle of the bay is such shallow water. Also have a lovely view of Tortola. After that we stop at Maho beach as it appeared to be the calmest and least crowded of the beaches we passed earlier. This proves to be one of the highlights of the trip. The sand is like walking on silk, I’ve never felt anything like it. The water is warm and his many little fishies in it which are fun to watch; also good eating for the pelicans that go whooshing by. We even spot some stingrays in the wild! Eventually we have to go if we’re going to make the ferry back to St. Thomas. Once we’re back we have dinner at an Irish pub in Red Hook, food is ok, but the service and atmosphere not so great.
Monday is fairly uneventful, we sleep in and spend the morning doing laundry and cleaning up the condo. We take our last trip down the driveway and on into town for lunch. How can we resist a place called Wikked? It proves to be fairly yummy. Our flight to Miami proves uneventful, but the last leg is very late (at least we have time for dinner this time). I finally make it home in the wee hours of the morning. All in all a most excellent trip.
Edit: Pictures
radiant_one. Her brother let us stay in his condo and borrow the car, making the vacation affordable. Google map hereThursday we take an afternoon flight out from BWI, flights are uneventful, though the first leg is a little late so we don’t have time for dinner doing the layover in Miami as planned. Arrive into St. Thomas at night and are greeting by rain and free rum! Successfully find the car and fortunately the rain soon stops. The condo is a few miles away – driving here reminds me of Wales, little twisty roads and driving to the left. A few wrong turns, but the condo is found and then up the rather intimidating driveway (easily twice as steep as mine). We manage to cobble together a late night meal from food that’s been left here and then collapse.
Friday we wake up and actually get to see the absolutely gorgeous view from this place. Really there’s no reason to leave the front porch – ever (provided you can find pizza delivery here). But leave it we do, mainly due to the lack of food, which means going down the driveway of doom, feels sort of like driving off a cliff – and into Red Hook, after a little trouble finding parking, we find a place to have lunch and I have a scrumptious dreamsicle drink. Then we drive over to Sapphire Beach to get some beach time in. Later we stop at the grocery to stock up from the weekend and have a quiet dinner and evening in including margaritas and looking at the stars.
Saturday a good chunk of the day is spent at Coral World, a rather nice aquarium, I especially like the sea turtles, stingrays (which they let people pet and feed), and sea lion (even though it was scared away by a noisy child). We also drive around the island a bit just to take in the views and get some nice ones at a scenic overlook called Drake’s Seat. Mountaintop proves disappointing as they’re closed (no banana daiquiris for us) and no view from the top, but the drive back down gets some nice views overlooking Charlotte Amalie. We have a very tasty Valentine’s day dinner and finally back to the condo.
Sunday is for island hopping. We pick up the car ferry over to St. John. Most of St. John is part of the Virgin Islands National Park, so it’s a lot less developed than St. Thomas. The ferry itself is kind of fun, though I’m glad I have my motion sickness patches. Upon arriving our first stop is the park’s visitor center to pick up maps, which we have to drive in circles a few times to find – Cruz Bay is a cute looking town but we don’t spend much time there. We drive towards the other side of the island taking brief stops to peek at the beaches on the way. They all look absolutely stunning. Our initial target is the Annaberg sugar mill ruins to get some history in, the ruins are pretty impressive and their located on a hill which has an amazing view looking out towards the British Virgin Islands. From there we continue on to Coral Beach, the small hippyish town on the east end of the island – carefully dodging goats and chickens. Lunch is had, our table maybe 2 feet from the ocean, and includes some delicious crab bisque. We also pick up some cheap sandals for Michele, the better to go walking around in water that has critters in it. The afternoon is spent in the water. We return to an area near Annaberg where shoals extend far out into the bay. The water is only a few inches deep and we wade out looking for critters – there aren’t many, just a few urchins, is really cool though to stand out in the middle of the bay is such shallow water. Also have a lovely view of Tortola. After that we stop at Maho beach as it appeared to be the calmest and least crowded of the beaches we passed earlier. This proves to be one of the highlights of the trip. The sand is like walking on silk, I’ve never felt anything like it. The water is warm and his many little fishies in it which are fun to watch; also good eating for the pelicans that go whooshing by. We even spot some stingrays in the wild! Eventually we have to go if we’re going to make the ferry back to St. Thomas. Once we’re back we have dinner at an Irish pub in Red Hook, food is ok, but the service and atmosphere not so great.
Monday is fairly uneventful, we sleep in and spend the morning doing laundry and cleaning up the condo. We take our last trip down the driveway and on into town for lunch. How can we resist a place called Wikked? It proves to be fairly yummy. Our flight to Miami proves uneventful, but the last leg is very late (at least we have time for dinner this time). I finally make it home in the wee hours of the morning. All in all a most excellent trip.
Edit: Pictures
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no subject
Date: 20 Feb 2009 23:06 (UTC)Thank you for sharing such an amazing weekend with me. I'll get the photos up this weekend and give you e-copies.
*smooch*
That porch was delightful!
no subject
Date: 21 Feb 2009 05:42 (UTC)Must have been nice to see rather more of the islands and to actually stay at a "not a hotel" for a few days there!