Archive for the ‘Travels’ Category

Trunk Bay in the Virgin Islands National Park

Posted in Travels, tagged , , , , , on Tuesday, 5 August, 2008| 6 Comments »

We had our rental car reserved until Friday at 1:15 pm and took full advantage of it ~ returning it ONE MINUTE before it was to turn into a pumpkin & cost us an extra day. Breakfast Buffet was included in our room rate and we ate like kings every morning. My favorite being the green tea with infused pineapple and the freshly sliced mango. After a good morning nourishing, we headed to Trunk Bay which is located within the National Park. It’s the only beach on St. John you have to pay to enter but it’s only $4.00 per person and well worth it. The park service maintains the beach area and there are showers, changing areas, information desk and lifeguards.

I hate to even use the word gorgeous because all the beaches on St. John fit that description but Trunk Bay is a stand-out among them:

 

View of Trunk Bay from roadside:

We arrived by 8:30 am and, other than one other family, we had the beach to ourselves. We enjoyed about an hour on the beach and then went snorkeling along the underwater snorkel trail  which has plaques, generally located 5 to 15 feet beneath you, that give you interesting facts about the coral and fish you may see while snorkeling. There were plenty of fish to see and the swim was an easy one ~ it’s geared toward beginners and I didn’t bother with the fins. FM and FG did the trail first while I watched our stuff on the beach and then we switched. I went out with FG while FM stayed ashore. The snorkel trail takes about 15-20 minutes.

Whenever I snorkel, I get mesmerized by the fish and feel like I’m in a whole other world. I was more than a little shocked when I completed the trail, popped my head up, looked toward the beach and saw this:

 

and this:

and this:

Hoards of people had invaded Trunk Bay! FM said he was peacefully enjoying the tranquility when he heard an announcement over a bull horn calling out to a group of cruise ship people to head to the beach. FM heard them coming first and then he saw them pouring onto the beach.  Turns out, everyday, the day trippers from the cruise trips docked in St. Thomas, arrive around 10 -10:30 and then leave around 3-3:30. Needless to say, if you find yourself on St. John and want to enjoy Trunk Bay ~ go EARLY or LATE but not during the middle of the day. At first, we thought it might be entertaining to “observe” the cruise people but then the family who plopped themselves next to us started creeping me out. The husband (I’m guessing to be about 35 years old) kept calling his wife “Mommy.” She was in the water and he’d yell “Mommy, look at my mask ~ don’t I look good?”

It was definitely time to pull up the beach towel and head to another beautiful beach: Cinnamon Bay

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Skinny Legs in Coral Bay

Posted in Islands, Travels, tagged , , , , , on Sunday, 3 August, 2008| 1 Comment »

My friend, Sandie, who lives on the island, suggested we eat at Skinny Legs while we’re here. My older brother used to call me skinny legs when I was little so how could I not give it a try?! Even though we were looking like a trio of salty dogs from our snorkeling adventure, we wandered into Skinny Legs for dinner. No one gave us a second glance as to the way we were dressed or how we looked. Definitely my kind of joint:

Coral Bay is on the other side of the island, about a 45 minute drive from Cruz Bay. It has a beautiful harbor and there’s no doubt as to why the sailors would want to stop in:

 

 

 It’s very quaint and less affected by the cruise boat tourist trade and caters more to the sailing crowd. Very different atmosphere. We didn’t spend a lot of time there but it would be a place we’d go again on the next visit. Yes, we’re already thinking about the next visit.

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St. John: Touring the Island

Posted in Beach, Islands, Travels, tagged , , , , , on Sunday, 3 August, 2008| 2 Comments »

We decided to be adventurous and rent a Jeep for a self-guided island tour. Driving is on the left here and I only had to remind FM a couple times. The roads are hilly, narrow, steep and have hair-pin turns every 100 feet or so. The maximum speed limit on the island is 20 miles per hour with several sections at only 10mph.

Before leaving the hotel property, we decided to take a quick snorkel dip at a beach we hadn’t been to yet: Scott Beach. Children under 13 are not allowed on the beach so we went to the far end of the beach, put our snorkel gear on and got into the water quickly. The reason for the no kids rule is there are a lot of honeymooners at the hotel and they attempt to have a peaceful place for them to enjoy. Since there are 7 beaches here at Caneel, having two as a no children beach is a good attempt on the part of the hotel to please all their guests. It used to be no children under 13 allowed at the hotel at all but that was back in the day (80’s and before). The beach is beautiful but then again I haven’t seen a bad beach yet:

We picked up our rental Jeep at 1:00 pm and headed off to the Annaberg Ruins:

Annaberg Ruins are located at the northeastern end of the North Shore Road and this is where they made rum, sugar and molasses in the 18th and 19th Century. The hill was named after the plantation owner’s daughter, Anna. The windmill of the plantation (see photo above) was the tallest of the 5 windmills on St. John. When we toured the area, it was already hot and humid which made me think of the poor slaves and the beasts of burden (mules, horses and donkeys) who were the backbone of the plantation. How awful it must have been to work in such abhorrent conditions.

Leinster Bay is very close to Annaberg Ruins, so we left our jeep parked there and walked .8 miles down an easy, well-maintained trail. Originally, FM wanted us to swim to the nearby Watermelon Cay but once we got to Leinster Bay, several people told us they saw more fish and sea creatures snorkeling in the bay rather than around the Cay. Plus those pesky jelly fish were out at the Cay. We snorkeled in the bay and what a treat. We saw several sea turtles who were so unaware of us. They just swam around and ate the seagrass on the ocean floor. FG loved the turtles but was not as calm when she got a glimpse of the sting ray who was also just hanging out and digging in the sandy bottom. I was fascinated by it all especially the rays and the turtles. They are so interesting to watch and I was very close to them. I’m very leery of the ray though and can’t help but think of the freak accident that Steve Erwin had with the sting ray. I try to stay on the head side of the sting ray but that’s easier said then done. I didn’t have to worry about FG ~ she was “out of there” as soon as we said “look at the sting ray, it’s swimming below you.”

Looking lovely with our “snorkel” hairstyle and feeling wet & sandy, we headed to the town of Coral Bay for an early dinner…

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St John, USVI: Fur, Fins and Feathers

Posted in Beach, Carribean, Islands, Travels, tagged , , , , , on Friday, 1 August, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Besides the fabulous fishes in the sea, we’ve seen some great wildlife just outside our room. This handsome fellow was wandering around the other day…

An employee told us he has a much bigger brother living outside the cottages just up the hill. We’ll have to check for him tomorrow.

The donkeys always bring a smile when we see them. I can’t help but think of Donk-kay from Shrek:

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Virgin Gorda, BVI: Day trip from St John, USVI

Posted in Beach, Carribean, Islands, Travels, tagged , , , , , , on Friday, 1 August, 2008| 3 Comments »

St. John has so many beautiful beaches so we needed to go to at least two a day just to get our fill. We took a break from St. John beaches to visit Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands.

Virgin Gorda is much more dry than St. John ~ complete with cactus plants. We walked around the property which took all of 10 minutes then headed to the beach. The fish were very friendly, almost playful.

A couple photos of the ABOSOLUTELY GORGEOUS Little Dix beach!

We caught the return ferry to Caneel at the Little Dix Bay dock but we were late departing. A honeymoon couple (so we’ll forgive them if they were a little distracted) got on the wrong boat and were on their way to Beef Island. We had to wait until they returned to Little Dix and could get on our boat. Travelers Hint #256: Always ask “Is this the boat (plane, bus) to “where ever” you’re heading?”

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Virgin Gorda ~ Another Stamp in My Passport

Posted in Beach, Islands, Travels, tagged , , , , , on Thursday, 31 July, 2008| 2 Comments »

Yesterday, we took the weekly ferry from Caneel Bay to Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands. This is a day trip which leaves at 8am and returns at about 4pm The boat trip was about an hour and a half &, along the way, we were able to see Tortola, Norman Island, Peter Island, Salt Island, Cooper Island, and Beef Island. The Caribbean is littered with these wonderful drops of land.

As a teenager, we lived in Puerto Rico and the resorts where my dad worked had two sister properties: Caneel Bay and Little Dix Bay. I was fortunate enough to spent time on both St. John and Virgin Gorda visiting friends of my parents. I would babysit for their children and during my off-duty time, I went to the beach, played tennis and enjoyed the area. As you can see, my love of islands comes from my parents.

This trip was planned so I could show FM and FG this beautiful part of the world. For me, it’s a little strange because most things are the same and feels so familiar but, then again, after so many years, a lot of changes have occurred. 

Virgin Gorda is still as beautiful as ever but has a lot of new construction and additions. The boat landed at the dock, we went through immigration which is where I got another passport stamp, then we headed about 1.2 miles by taxi to The Baths. At the Baths, there are several big boulders leaning against one another and water flows in-between creating a very interesting hike and swim area. 

There’s also a beautiful bay at The Baths to swim and snorkel in ~ unfortunately, there were a ton of other “daytrippers” attempting to enjoy paradise. And the jelly fish decided to make it an adventure in pain for all of us. Fortunately, we all saw several jelly fish floating but we all managed not to get stung.

After spending the morning at The Baths, we headed over to Little Dix Bay to enjoy yet another gorgeous beach. More to follow tomorrow…

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St John: Beachbums in Paradise

Posted in Carribean, Travels, tagged , , , , , , , on Thursday, 31 July, 2008| Leave a Comment »

We surely are in a beach lover’s paradise.

Caneel Bay is a beautiful resort which blends in with the natural surroundings of the island. Built in 1956, it’s a classic and traditions run deep with guests still dressing up for dinner, not wearing their swimsuits to meals and the number one priority here is relaxing. There are no phones or TV in the rooms which I love so much!! But never fear, there’s WiFi.

Families come to visit year after year. I met a couple at the beach bar celebrating their 30 year anniversary ~ they’d come to St John for their honeymoon in 1978.

Caneel Bay has seven beaches on the property. We swam at the beach outside our room, Caneel Bay Beach, and then we went to Hawksnest Beach for a snorkel and swim. At all the beaches, there are hammocks, lounge chairs and floats.

After all our beaching, we were hungry for a good meal. We caught a cab into Cruz Bay which is known as “Love City” ~ a quirky but fun little town.

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Medical Scare at 30,000 Feet

Posted in Travels, tagged , , on Tuesday, 29 July, 2008| 1 Comment »

As a seasoned traveler and having been on many, many  flights, I keep an eye on the crew members for any signs of distress ~ if they’re calm, I know all is well. As I was watching “Fool’s Gold” on our flight from Newark to San Juan, I noticed three flight attendants scurrying to the front of the plane. Uh, oh…I leaned over to FM and said “Pay attention, there’s something wrong.” No sooner did I say that then an announcement came over the intercom asking if there was a doctor or nurse on board.  FM, who was sitting in the aisle seat looked over his shoulder and across the aisle, two rows back, was a woman who was unconcious and looking very ill. Thankfully a doctor came forward ~ popping out from behind the curtain that leads to first class 😉 Where else would you find a doctor on a plane!

The whole incident had my heart racing and, of course, FG and I said a prayer for her. The woman’s abuela (grandmother) starting wailing and panicking about her grand-daughter which lead me to believe the woman was dead. Turns out, the woman is a diabetic, was having a reaction and the doctor was able to stabilize her. Once we landed, we were asked to remain in our seats until the woman departed the plane and, to my relief, she was able to do so on her own.

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St John, USVI: Beach Time Again

Posted in Carribean, Islands, Travels, US, tagged , , , , , on Monday, 28 July, 2008| 3 Comments »


We made it back to the beach today ~ we’re in St.John, US Virgin Islands. It’s paradise and we’re all so happy to be here but both FG and FM are asleep already and I’m right behind them. It took 3 flights and a boat ride for us to get here. It was so worth it.

More to follow…

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Family Picnic

Posted in Favorite Man, Travels on Monday, 7 July, 2008| 5 Comments »


Actually, it’s traditionally called a “Pig Roast” but to make it more palatable to non-meat eaters such as FG & I, we started calling it the Family Picnic. It was a day of sunshine, good food and good company. There were lots of people to talk with ~ a lot whom we hadn’t seen in a long time as well as some I had never met. One thing about FM’s family, they do a really good job about gathering together whenever possible. There were aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, etc. In fact, all three of FM’s siblings attended so the four were together again.

I don’t think my siblings have been all together in one place in decades!!

My MIL & FIL (in-laws) have done the Pig Roast a few times before and do a really organized event especially considering the number of people who attend. The food was delicious. My sister-in-law, JR & her husband, WR always make sure when we visit that there’s some type of yummy veggie dish for FG & I to enjoy. This time it was a summer pasta salad which tasted like it was direct from Italy ~ W. is not shy with the garlic which I love. I should have gotten the recipe but I was too busy eating it to ask.

A lot of FM’s relatives read my blog so it keeps them posted on what we’ve been up to ~ it’s so much easier  than having to remember what I’ve been up to since we last saw one another. In fact, I noticed my readership was way down on Saturday ~ I think half of them were at the Picnic.

In the 14 years, FM and I have been together, this was my first trip to Ohio in the summer and, I have to admit, it’s very pretty with all the flowers blooming and all the outdoor activities. We may have to visit more often in the summer…

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