ejcrowe

Hi, y'all. Got back from our first mini-vacation to St John with my husband and our granddaughter and we had a great time. Thanks for all of your help here at Fodor's for pointing me in the right direction for this trip. The link below takes you to my blog, with photos, on a day-by-day trip report.

http://asthecrowefliesandreads.blogs...ohn-day-1.html

sharona

Thanks! Can't wait to read the rest.

virginia

fun start to your report ej, can't wait to read the rest

Jayneann

Enjoying your trip report, ej. It's bringing back fun memories of our trip to St John back in April. We stayed across the street at Lavender Hills which was great, but Gallows Point looks fabulous!! Looking forward to more!

ejcrowe

Thanks for reading, y'all! Here's part two, along with more photos, in which we visit Trunk, Maho, and Coral Bay:

http://asthecrowefliesandreads.blogs...ohn-day-2.html

ejcrowe

Here is the next installment, in which we travel to the BVI and later my husband is verbally accosted over dinner.

http://asthecrowefliesandreads.blogs...-in-eight.html

brenandg

Sounds like you are having mixed feeling about STJ . I have never eaten at High Tide, but that whole situation sounds completely unacceptable.

Rhumblines does remain one of my favorites though. I don't care for cilantro at all! I guess the dishes I ordered did not have alot.

Yep, the taxis from the airport do make stops at times. We have had many occassions where we barely made the ferry like you. We never plan on eating at Red Hook though because of the time factor. You probably could have gotten a bite to eat and then take the next ferry.

I agree, Grande Bay is a bit of an eyesore, but it is there, not going anywhere, and the price has been right for us. We also like the unit that we have rented and the convenience to town. Having said that, I do prefer Gallow's Point, but just too expensive for us.

I have only done a multiple party boat trip once our first time to STJ and that was New Horizon's II. For a first trip, I thought it was great but wouldn't do it again. We love Palm Tree Charters, John Brandi's boat! But, we have always shared the price with other couples. This trip, including the people we are meeting on STJ, there are too many for John's boat . I actually think we may skip the boat charter this time and just take the ferry to Jost. Sounds like you were not thrilled with White Bay, but you did have so little time there. It really can get crowded in high season. We usually venture away from The Soggy Dollar. Cooper Island sounds nice. Have not been there.

After reading your report, Bad Kitty would definitely be out of the question for us. Who wants to be inside of the boat???? Our group had considered Born to Rhumb since there are alot of us, but again, I think we will just forego the boat trip this time.

Glad you got a better impression of STT than you expected! I have friends who moved there a few years ago and I went and stayed with them in May. I really enjoyed it. More built up than St John, but it still has some realy nice points. I like the Frenchtown area on the Charlotte Amalie waterfront alot for restaurants etc.

I have never seen anything like what you experienced on Maho!! I have an acquaintance who posted a video of what I would guess was the same day on Facebook. That was crazy! We have seen rays there near the shore and turtles in the seagrass, but nothing like that ever! Those Tarpon were huge.

Looking forward to your next installment. Sorry some of my food recommendations weren't really to you liking. I have a couple of new places that I want to try in November. The food industry/ownership changes rapidly on St John!

ejcrowe

brenandg, thanks for your reply! No, not mixed feelings towards St. John, which we liked very much and might get my vote for most beautiful island, edging out Grenada and St. Lucia (except for the Pitons, which are incomparable). Just mixed feelings towards High Tide!

I really liked White Bay, but on the stop we had, we only had 40 minutes until we had to get back on the boat, which wasn't enough to see anything beyond Soggy Dollar. I thought Jost was beautiful and White Bay was lovely and I'd really like to go back and spend the day there.

That Maho experience was unreal--I'm going to go check out that Facebook video now!

brenandg

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=2446683043525

ejcrowe

I meant to say that I was going to check out the video on Youtube, and didn't realize that I said Facebook. I tried your link and it didn't work but I did see a couple of recently posted vids on youtube for Maho Bay. then I got distracted and started looking at all kinds of Caribbean videos.

Jayneann

Loving your blog, ejcrowe. So sorry you and your family had such an awful experience at the restaurant.

We also looked into sailing with Bad Kitty, but it was out of our price range. Instead, we took the ferry from STJ to JVD and really enjoyed it. We sat up on the top deck relaxing while taking in the beautiful views. Not everyone recommends the ferry, but for us it was great. We were able to go to Soggy Dollar for awhile, cool off at the Bubbly Pool on the other side of the island and still to do some shopping at Foxy's. Of course, no snorkeling..

Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip!

ejcrowe

Thanks for reading, y'all! Yeah, it was too bad about that one dinner, but it didn't dim our view of St. John overall. jayneann, we'll do exactly as you did next time--no reason not to do the ferry if we want to stay put all day long and sample the various beach bars!

Here's the next installment, with more beach visits, photographing Annaberg, and a simply marvelous dinner:

http://asthecrowefliesandreads.blogs...ohn-day-4.html

greenie

Great report, Emily. I loved your narrative. Totally agree with your assessment of the Baths. I'm like your DH and would have stayed at the Top of the Baths myself. We went over to Spring Bay and enjoyed it much more because there were no people.

We did St John on a cruise earlier this year and agree with the crowded aspect. I much prefer no crowds. Savannah Bay on Virgin Gorda or Aquarium Beach on Greneda are more my speed. I've yet to try Anguilla...it's on the short list, though!

Thanks for the great report!

Peace, Greenie

ejcrowe

Greenie, you just listed three of my favorite beaches in the Caribbean. And wait 'til you try Anguilla and see Shoal Bay East!

Thanks for reading, everybody, and extra big thanks to everybody who left me a comment. Here's the final installment, with photos and parting thoughts about St. John:

http://asthecrowefliesandreads.blogs...-thoughts.html

kellybeaches

Hi EJ!

Thanks for the great trip report! I've been reading it each day and really enjoyed it. So glad you liked Gallows-it looks really nice. Love that you can just walk into town. Did you make it over to Mongoose Junction and the Tap Room-that's probably our favorite hangout. Or Woodys?

That really stinks about your bad experience at High Tide. We ate there during the day and had wonderful fish tacos. I can't believe those people accosted you like that. How rude!

One thing that's starting to make me a bit nervous about our return trip there this coming June is the crowds! We were there over Labor day about 4 years ago and felt like we were the only people on the island. To the point where most everything was closed on the island and we rarely saw anyone else on any beach. And all beach facilities were closed. I'm surprised it was so much more crowded in October. And from seeing Kristen's report from this past May, it was really crowded when she went as well. I guess our saving grace is we've already been there, and our villa is overlooking Cinnamon Bay, so maybe we'll just spend most of our time there! Was the Coral Bay area crowded as well on your trip? Annaberg looks beautiful -we didn't make it there last time so we'll be sure to check it out in June.

My favorite photos from your trip are the Maho bay ones with all the fish and the tarpon and rays. Wow. You should enter those in the CT&L contest this year. They're amazing! I've never seen anything like it! That experience right there would be the highlight for me I think! Just awesome!

ejcrowe

kelly, we ended up not eating anywhere in Mongoose Junction except for the Deli Grotto. Are you the person who was eager to try a root beer cocktail something at the Tap Room? I must be getting old 'cause the mental notes I made to myself about your and Kristen's comments mostly eroded away while we were there.

Coral Bay wasn't crowded when we were there, but even at 3:00 in the afternoon there were about 6 tables of people at Skinny Legs. Most things in Coral Bay looked closed and we didn't drive far enough to see that one beach bar/restaurant with the woman's name that I cannot recall at the moment. Ugh--what was I just saying about memory?

The villa you're staying in looks really, really pretty--I'm sure you'll be able to find quiet spots of your own on the island. We never actually stopped at Cinnamon Bay since the parking lot was crowded each time, but Maho always had some space, even shady beach space.

Hope you have a great time!

Kristen1206

Great report, Emily! I have been swamped at work and busy at home so this is the first time I have been on Fodor's in a while. Was so glad to see it!

First, so sorry about expeience at High Tide. Wow. I guess the rude man could have been at any place/restaurant but the delays and forgetting to comp your drinks was not acceptable. Like Kelly, we had a great experience there years ago and the fish tacos were outstanding. We returned in June and they were marginal at best. So disappointing. We won't be going back next trip.

And bummer you didn't have a great meal at Rhumb Lines. We have had 2 excellent meals there. And bigger bummer that you didn't make it to La Plancha Del Mar. Outstanding!!! My favorite restaurant in the Caribbean aside from Blanchards in Anguilla. But glad to hear you had a wonderful meal at ZoZos. Like you, we never want to do Italain in the Caribbean but will definitely put it on the list for a future trip! The Beach Bar and Woody's are great, fun casual places with good drinks and food.

Next time you must visist Salomon! It's a 15 minute hike but it's a gorgeous, quintessential semi-private Caribbean beach experience. The hike keeps crowds down but even it is getting more popular.

We went in high season (March) 3 years ago and it was crowded but not terrible. Our trip in late May this year was almost as crowded as March was 3 years ago. Not sure it was because of the super low airfares that were offered for this year or if it's a general trend. I am hoping it's not the latter! We shall see next June though! Airfares for next year are double what we paid for this past trip. But it will be nice to have our own private oasis overlooking Cinnamon and the BVIs!

Bad Kitty...the lack of outdoor seating was my only complaint about the trip. Our boat was almost full and many people were stuck inside. I wasn't having that so we made our way up top which was fabulous and did rotate down a few times but they allowed us to have 10 people up there the whole time so that helped! Did you have Capt Bob? He was great. We also thourougly enjoyed Cooper Island. My one great desire was to be able to swim into the Baths as opposed to the taxi/hike. Bad Kitty is one of the few that allows it if conditions are good. And it was calm when we went so thankfully we got to swim in. Sorry you didn't get to! But unless you were on a smaller private charter like Palm Tree (who will will use if we do another BVI day trip) you would have to cab it in no matter who you went with.

Gallows looks lovely! I wish we had stayed there in June just because of the proximity to Cruz Bay the views and the fact that it was just adults on that trip.

I hope you give St. John another shot one day! And we are trying to plan a trip back to Anguilla sooner rather than later...still our favorite I think! Though the views from St. John cannot be beat!