by Marty Coleman | Jun 18, 2013 | Travel, Virgin Islands |
Disclosure: I exchanged photographic work for a 5-day stay at the Island Cottage mentioned in the following blog posts. Blog entries or any other social media amplification were not included in the exchange. I was and am free to say and show anything I want about the trip. All opinions are my own.
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This morning was the beginning of our last full day at the Island Cottage. I got up early and made my coffee, drew a little bit and had some breakfast.
I still had some photography to do to make sure I got the entire place so I set about doing that.
The hot tub is fantastic, with a great view day or night, ocean breezes. It’s even great in the rain (as long as it’s not a thunderstorm!)
If you are sitting in the hot tub without a ocean view you get to see a fantastic mountain view so you really can’t lose.
Roosters Do Crow!
One of the most wonderful things about the Island Cottage is the small wall paintings all around. This rooster crows next to the front door. Real roosters crow throughout the day as well, something that is odd at first but you get used to it and it just becomes part of the ambiance in the background.
The Secret Painting
I found this woman spying on me in the bathroom! She didn’t tell me what she was thinking but it I figure it had to be ‘Wow, what a hot bod that guy has!’ right?
Above each window fish frame the view.
And what tropical beach vacation would be complete without colorful clothes drying in the breeze!
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The Kayak Adventure
Our big adventure for the day was to go kayaking and snorkeling. We got the snorkel gear the day before but went down to Crabby’s to get the two-person kayak around 10am.
Crabby
We were told the wind and waves would be lighter in the morning. Afterwards we realized they meant REALLY early morning because by the time we started out it was a hard paddle into the wind for almost an hour. But we made it out into open water, around a point and back into a bay. We saw a bright white spot that we paddled towards, hoping it would be a nice beach.
Tulsa Tough For Sure!
Happy to Find Land!
Turned out it was and we felt quite accomplished in our first open water kayak journey. We were happy knowing the way back would be easier…or so we thought.
We spent a few hours collecting shells, snorkeling, eating and otherwise relaxing. I took advantage of the one and only time I knew we were completely alone to go skinny dipping, though I did not go commando while snorkeling. WAY too many very sharp and scary looking Sea Anemones around for that!
No Skinny Dipping Near These!
We saw some amazing fish and coral. I always thought of my neuroscientist daughter Rebekah when I saw the brain coral.
I didn’t catch it with my camera but later I drew one thing I did see. Aquatic mammals are amazing.
We set out later that afternoon for our paddle back around the point and into Coral Bay. Since we knew the wind would carry us for the second half we were looking forward to a faster and easier time of it. Little did we know that the wind wasn’t pushing into the Bay but was pushing us into the rocks! We had to paddle twice as hard to crab into the wind to avoid getting too close.
Linda’s years of personal training, Yoga and Pilates paid off big time. She was rock solid in paddling the whole time. I did my part as well in spite of having a nice snorkeling sunburn and we made it back without crashing into the rocks.
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Relaxing and Shopping
I was pretty zonked from the kayaking but luckily Crabby’s Kayak Shack is right next to the Aqua Bistro, where we were able to have a drink and a very needed lunch. I had just enough energy to draw this scene.
The bartender told us about how he and his wife had left a stressful life in Pennsylvania and now lived on their sailboat, traveling the Caribbean and just taking it easy. His wife was visiting him at the bar while we talked. I noticed she had 2 identical tattoos of Holly leaves on her chest, coming up from under her strapless top. Why those I asked? Well, her name is…Holly. What more reason do you need, right? And yes I was tempted to ask if there was a whole Holly Wreath around her chest to her back. And no I didn’t ask.
We had gone in this cool shop earlier in the week but returned because Linda had found some awesome items for Christmas presents (shhh….don’t tell). Turns out the couple, Anna from Colombia and Sebastian from France, had moved to St. John from Miami 6 months ago and had just bought the store 1 week before. It was fun to help them get off the ground by buying some of their cool stuff. Our friend Tracey (who you met in adventure #4) had some nice leather items in the store as well.
Anna and Sebastian
And finally I wanted to introduce you to someone we met a few days earlier at Salt Pond Bay. I forgot to include him in the blog post that day. Ital is his name and Tracey had emphasized we needed to come see his work at the beach. he works right there hollowing out and carving gourds. Very cool work. We picked one and wrapped it extra special to make sure we got it home in one piece.
Ital means a natural state of being, nothing artificial or processed. It refers to food but also to a way of life.
Ital’s Gourd
That night we were wiped out but managed to go out to Shipwreck Landing for another great dinner before crashing pretty early.
Part 1 – St. Thomas
Part 2 – The Island Cottage
Part 3 – Exploring Coral Bay
Part 4 – Clean Beaches and Dirty Pictures
Part 5 – Hiking Above, Snorkeling Below
Part 6 – Kayaks and Mermaids
Part 7 – The End – the Native and the Screamer
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Tomorrow we leave St. John and make our way home!
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by Marty Coleman | Jun 15, 2013 | Travel, Virgin Islands |
Disclosure: I exchanged photographic work for a 5-day stay at the Island Cottage mentioned in the following blog posts. Blog entries or any other social media amplification were not included in the exchange. I was and am free to say and show anything I want about the trip. All opinions are my own.
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Sunrise, Coffee and Birds
I started out my early morning time drawing and reading, as usual. I had found a french press coffee maker and I am now a convert. What a great way to brew a cup of coffee.
Sunrise at Island Cottage
While I faced the sunrise I kept hearing little clicking noises behind me. I turned around and didn’t see anything. But I did looked up the mountain, away from the sunrise, and saw this amazing sight. There are some seriously amazing homes up there!
Homes Up High
I turned around after hearing the same sound again and this time I caught the culprits in the act. It had rained the night before so the birds were busy drinking from the gourd bird bath.
They hung out on one of the succulent tree tops when they were waiting their turn.
Since it was such a sharp sunny day I wandered around to some of the areas of the cottage I hadn’t seen in the full sun and found this contrasting gem.
Pitcher and Leaf
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A Morning Hike
Linda wasn’t feeling good this morning so I took off to give her some rest time and do an activity she wasn’t all that keen on doing anyway, a hike into the Virgin Island National Park. I didn’t go nearly as far or deep as I wished I had but it was a fun exploration, nonetheless. That just gives me a reason to go back another time, right?
As I drove into the area I thought I spotted something in the trees beside the dirt and gravel road. Can you see it?
Can you see it?
I started the hike at Little Lameshur Bay, just east of Salt Pond Bay, where we had been the day before. I parked at the beach and found this shot waiting for me as I got out of the car. Perfect.
Lameshur Bay
Right up from the beach was an abandoned ruins of some buildings. Some looked very old, some old with new repairs (that were still old). How old, I don’t know, but they looked great.
Ruins and Little Lameshur Bay
Window onto Lameshur Bay
I met two hikers who had just come from where I was headed. They were happy to be at the beach, ready to transform from hikers to swimmers! They said the hieroglyphs were underwhelming but some other trails farther on were great.
Hikers
As happened yesterday, moving from one part of St. John Island to another can bring you to another world in a flash. I went from beach to dappled sunlight forested trail in 20 yards.
I wasn’t sure what the big thing in the tree was, but it wasn’t made by humans and sort of looked like the biggest wasp nest I had ever seen in my life (even though I didn’t see any wasps) so I didn’t hang around to poke at it and find out. I saw a number of these throughout the day. I found out later they are termite nests. I didn’t see the trail of them but I was told that the trail looks like black tar across the path. I am glad I didn’t see them.
Lameshur Bay Trail
I calculated how much time I had left before I was suppose to be back at the cottage and realized a trip up the mountain wasn’t going to be feasable. I saw a sign for Europa Trail and it looked like it was headed out to a rocky point overlooking the Bay so I took it instead.
One of the things you do not expect on a Caribbean Island is coming upon a Southwest US desert ecosystem but that is almost exactly what I found as I moved up the trail.
Cactus on the Trail
When I did reach the end it was an amazing view, combining something I would find in New Mexico with a Caribbean picture postcard.
Caribbean Cactus
I found myself WAY up high overlooking 2 bays and a big wide ocean. I had just started a new book called ‘Wild’ about a woman who hikes the Pacific Crest Trail along in California, Oregon and Washington. She starts the book with her losing one of her hiking boots off a cliff. This was fresh in my mind as I put my camera bag down to change lenses. I wasn’t just worried about the cameras but about me slipping as well. I was VERY careful!
The Deep Crevice
I took advantage of the distant view to bring out my telephoto lens and take some long distance shots. This sailboat was 2 bays over.
Sailboat in Great Lameshur Bay
On the way back I came across this awesome dead tree, split down the middle. I really wished Linda had been with me at that point so she could pose inside it.
I also came upon another deer (that is what is in the photo above that is titled, ‘Can you see it?’). This one allowed me to get much closer.
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VIERS and TEKTITE
As I drove into the Lameshur Bay area I noticed a road going off with a sign saying ‘VIERS’. It also said ‘Visitors Welcome’ so on my way out I took a detour and went to see what it was.
Turns out it’s a combination Environmental Resource and Research Station as well as a camp for local youth.
The coolest part was a small museum dedicated to an amazing underwater living experiment from the 60s and 70s called TEKTITE.
TEKTITE Illustration
TEKTITE – Small Scale Model
TEKTITE – Note the actual size
It was amazing to read of it. You can read more about Tektite here.
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Snorkeling
In the afternoon Linda was feeling better so we picked up some snorkel equipment and headed back to Lameshur Bay to do our first Snorkeling adventure. We had a small underwater camera (that wasn’t very good) but we had fun poking the small reef area these snorkelers were exploring when I did my hike.
When I did poke my head up this bird was keeping watch over us. I assumed he would alert us to any sharks or barracudas!
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Sunset and Bistro
Finally we headed back to the comfy cottage for a late afternoon nap as the sun set.
We then headed out to another great meal. This one was at Aqua Bistro right at the bottom of the hill from where we were staying on. I had a Ponzu Wahoo and it was delicious!
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Part 1 – St. Thomas
Part 2 – The Island Cottage
Part 3 – Exploring Coral Bay
Part 4 – Clean Beaches and Dirty Pictures
Part 5 – Hiking Above, Snorkeling Below
Part 6 – Kayaks and Mermaids
Part 7 – The End – the Native and the Screamer
Tomorrow: We work hard, kayaking in open water and snorkeling at an isolated beach. And I might see a mermaid.
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by Marty Coleman | Jun 15, 2013 | Travel, Virgin Islands |
Disclosure: I exchanged photographic work for a 5-day stay at the Island Cottage mentioned in the following blog posts. Blog entries or any other social media amplification were not included in the exchange. I was and am free to say and show anything I want about the trip. All opinions are my own.
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Sunrise and Frankenstein
We were told that St. John has about 3 days a year that are overcast all day. Yesterday was one of those days. It didn’t ruin anything but we were excited to see the sun shine and get to the beach. But first I did my usual early morning time alone as Linda slept in.
First I spent time photographing the cottage and I found a secret area I had not explored. This is a little retreat area in back, secluded and peaceful. Great for reading, writing, or just daydreaming. Plus there is a very cool island mermaid mural to contemplate, who could ask for more!
The Secret Garden
The Mermaid Mural
I also spent some time reading the final chapters of a book I had been reading since January that was very hard to get through. The book? Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.
Frankenstein’s Monster
What a bizarre and compelling book. Nothing at all like the movie versions, not even the same story in many ways. Worth reading but not your present day summer reading, that is for sure. I left it at the cottage for someone else to pick up and read.
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Tracey’s Studio
First thing we did this morning was go visit Tracey Keating, the person who is the on-island host for the Island Cottage. She preps the cottage for each guest’s arrival, including supplying groceries, breakfast, and any other number of things for them if they want. It’s a pretty sweet deal to have her nearby. She also happens to know everything there is to know about where to go, what to look for, watch out for, and enjoy.
She is also an artist/craftsman, specializing in leather goods. I wanted to see her workspace and she was kind enough to allow it.
Tracey’s Abode
She built her own home and studio here on the island and it’s a fantastic artist’s hideaway.
Tracey’s Studio and Raised Bed Garden
The land is definitely not kind to gardens at this end of the island but her BF made a raised bed garden for her so they could grow some much needed veggies.
Tracey at Her Work Bench
Work Bench with a View
Tracey makes leather goods of all sorts and sells them at various outlets on the Island.
She made me an awesome belt.
She has a website as well where you can order items. Check it out at Awl Made Here.
Tracey Keating of Awl Made Here
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A Clean Beach, Dirty Women and the Epic Salt Pond Suck Down
After our time with Tracey we finally made it to our first real Caribbean beach. Salt Pond Bay is a classic island beach; beautiful sand leading to bright blue waters in a curving protected bay. It was hot but there was a nice breeze and we found a picnic table in the shade to drop our stuff.
Salt Pond Bay
But as soon as we were in the water I had to get out to take a photo. What of you ask? What else but dirty women in bikinis of course. And I mean that literally. They were covered head to toe in mud and I couldn’t resist taking their pic.
The Dirty Women in Bikinis
The Dirty Women Washing Off
Turns out Salt Pond Bay is named after Salt Pond, and Salt Pond is a mud filled pond about 20 yards away. These women had been in the mud pond before and said it was fun, the water was about 100 degrees, it felt great and was wonderful for your skin. So, after taking their pic and seeing how easy it washed off Linda and I decided to take the little walk over the hump and do the same. Not pretty but what mud pond is, right?
So, two things happened that we did not expect from this mud bath. One, I got stuck. I walked in a bit farther than Linda did and got sucked down to just below my knee. That would have been fine but I had my sandals on and I could NOT for the life of me pull my legs out of the mud with them on. I was in quicksand and going down quick! I had to pull my feet out of the sandals, then reach down into the mud and pull the sandals up separately. It probably took 5 minutes but man, was it hard to do!
The second thing that happened was that the mud, while feeling good, also stripped off all our sunscreen. Oops. Linda and I didn’t get badly burnt but it definitely made a difference. You can see why in the photo below. I am as white as it comes!
The Dirty Couple
Washing Off and Floating Away
After I got out I spotted a young couple following something in the water, I never did find out what it was but it was most likely a tropical fish from the nearby small reef where people were snorkeling. I loved how crystal clear the water was, seeing everything that came by.
The Observers
Meanwhile, this guy was not impressed.
Another Animal Floating
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A Different World
We had been told that if we continued on the trail past the notorious Salt Pond we would come to Drunk Bay, which we just had to see. It is not a soft sandy beach in a protected cove, but an open rock and coral beach facing the Atlantic. It was as if in 1/4 mile we walked from the Caribbean to Maine. The waves were crashing, the wind was blowing and the water was dark. A pretty amazing transformation. It was much less colorful but much more textured.
But was even more astounding was the ‘Coral People’. Among all the rocks people had arranged coral and rocks to resemble people. Some included messages to loved ones, some just by themselves.
Linda made a romantic arrangement for us, then we made messages for our daughters. I was taking pics with my iPhone so we could post them right away and knowing daughter Connie is off the grid and never online I didn’t make one for her. I regret that now, I should have made it anyway. Hi Connie!
Finally, we debated if more men or women came to Drunk Bay because there were more Coral People with penises than boobs. I thought that meant more women came over since wouldn’t most men make their sculptures with breasts not penises? Linda thought the opposite because men are adolescent idiots and penises are funnier to put on a stone person than a breasts. She was not referring to me, I am sure. What do you think?
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Shipwreck Landing
The best meal of the entire trip was at a restaurant called ‘Shipwreck Landing’ on the road back from Salt Pond Bay. I love scallops, getting most any time I see them on the menu. The scallop dish I had here was probably the best I have ever had. The waitress said the secret was in making sure the scallops were very dry when you started the sear. I will try to remember that because it really paid off.
Shipwreck Landing
While we were eating we met another of many people from the northeast US who had moved down here. In this case they had retired after making their fortune in stock algorhythms of some sort. They still did occasional webinars and consultations but did them all from the comfort of their island home, with very little traveling needed. It seemed like a pretty sweet set up.
The waitress was willing to pose briefly for me so I could get her into the edge of my napkin I had been drawing. Turns out she had been working there 17 years, as had the bartender, after coming down to the islands and falling in love with the place.
Here is the napkin from our time at the restaurant.
Shipwreck Landing
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The Spider
And finally, late at night, right as we were about to go to sleep, Linda discovered a monster.
If you ask her, it was BIG, if you ask me, it was just big. We found out later they are very common and are harmless. And no, they aren’t really pink.
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Part 1 – St. Thomas
Part 2 – The Island Cottage
Part 3 – Exploring Coral Bay
Part 4 – Clean Beaches and Dirty Pictures
Part 5 – Hiking Above, Snorkeling Below
Part 6 – Kayaks and Mermaids
Part 7 – The End – the Native and the Screamer
Tomorrow I hike, we snorkel, we continue to have great meals and we have an easy day of it.
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by Marty Coleman | Jun 13, 2013 | Travel, Virgin Islands |
Disclosure: I exchanged photographic work for a 5-day stay at the Island Cottage mentioned in the following blog posts. Blog entries or any other social media amplification were not included in the exchange. I was and am free to say and show anything I want about the trip. All opinions are my own.
Rain? Who cares!
Our first full day on St. John had a forecast of rain, but that didn’t dissuade us. We hung around the cottage taking it easy in the morning, reading, drawing, taking photos. We had breakfast fixings and that made for a very relaxing and stress free start to the day.
The rain held off most of the day, just sprinkled here and there and, while it wasn’t a beach day, we found great things to do. We found that, like Hawaii, it often will rain for 5 minutes and be done. It’s a warm and easy rain that doesn’t really stop anyone from doing anything they want.
Rain
We decided we could go check out renting a kayak and snorkel gear at Crabby’s. We didn’t rent then but made plans for later in the week. Crabby himself wasn’t there that day so we were excited to come back a few days later and finally meet the legend!
Crabby’s Snorkel and Kayak Rental Shack
We grabbed some lunch at a restaurant, Aqua Bistro, we had heard was pretty good and it was. Plus, you gotta love a Caribbean bar with a bartender who has a Betty Ford Clinic Visor on. Most everyone we met was a transplant from the mainland US or from other islands in the Caribbean. Many came from the east coast; NY, NJ, Penn. They came on a vacation, loved it so much they came back to live permanently. It’s a tempting life of relaxation, easy going rules, camaraderie and friendships. Making a living isn’t always that easy but they find a way.
Caribbean transplant
While there I drew two women at the bar having an interesting conversation. They were regulars from the interactions they were having, enjoying a rare cloudy, rainy day by hanging out under cover with friends.
The Conversation
And then there was shopping. Linda got excited at the prospect! Linda is the type of person who the second she arrives somewhere on vacation she starts thinking about what she needs to buy as gifts for her friends and co-workers back home. She is also looking for Christmas presents.
Full Moon Gifts
While Linda went shopping I walked around taking photos. I found a siren calling sailors to her rocky shore.
A Siren
And I found a fishwife waiting for her sailor to come home.
Waiting for Her Sailor to Return From the Sea
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The East End
After lunch we decided to take a drive up what is called ‘The East End’, a peninsula that heads south out into the Atlantic at the far eastern end of St. John.
Caribbean Highway Median Strip
The donkeys came out to greet us as we entered their domain.
Donkey Greeter
We missed Vie’s Snack Shack being open by 5 minutes but the donkey said hello to us anyway.
We took a very steep road, incredibly well paved and lined with an impressive stone wall, all the way up until it just stopped. Their were huge mansions on cliffs overlooking the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean along the way. Then we arrived at a point where the road narrowed to one lane, the stone wall trailed off and collapsed and the brush was overgrown well into the roadway. Goats greeted us then ran off before I could get a photo. We learned later that when the recession hit the islands they just ran out of money for the road, people stopped building and that was that. Turning around was a challenge because it was one lane and the drop off looked like this:
What an amazing view but the amount of effort it would take to build and live here has to be astronomical. We saw a lot of buildings half done and were told the combination of the recession hitting hard and bids being unrealistic to start made some people unable to finish homes. Some finished part but had to cut back plans for more grandiose versions.
You might notice that it seems a bit hazy. We thought it was just because it was an overcast day but we were later told that it was actually dust from the Sahara desert across the Atlantic Ocean that had come over. It gets blown across the sea in the same pattern that tropical storms form but actually help to diminish storm severity because it reduces heat due to refraction of light.
We came back down the mountain and stopped at a little stone and coral beach. We walked along it, finding this young honeymooning couple enjoying a picnic and skipping stones. She did as good or better than he did.
We also came across these two grave markers right at the edge of the beach. Who they are we had no idea, Maybe they were trucks or donkeys for all we know, but we thought it was sweet that they were buried together. That is if ‘Finetuning’ actually died. It looks like they died, someone put the final date, then they thought better of it and decided being alive was better and had the date wiped out. They do seem to be confident they will kick the bucket by 2019 or they will have to wipe out the 1 as well.
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The Cottage Retreat
We were pretty tired by that point and really were looking forward to getting back to Island Cottage. It just has a really calm comfortable feel to it, great to retreat back to after a long day. We decided to cook at the cottage so we went to the gourmet market and picked out some shrimp, bamboo rice and fruit. Turned out to be a wonderful meal on the deck as the sun went down.
You can buy groceries in Cruz Bay when you get off the ferry but many items you can get either at ‘Love City Mini Mart’ or at ‘Lily’s Gourmet Market’ in the Coccoloba Shops, both in Coral Bay. Everything is pretty expensive but you don’t need much. Some veteran vacationers bring their own dry goods from the states and just buy the perishable foodstuff on the island.
Sunset Clouds
I can’t tell you how nice it was to come back to a cottage where we could relax, watch the sunset, listen to music and enjoy the night together. It’s an amazing and relaxing place!
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Part 1 – St. Thomas
Part 2 – The Island Cottage
Part 3 – Exploring Coral Bay
Part 4 – Clean Beaches and Dirty Pictures
Part 5 – Hiking Above, Snorkeling Below
Part 6 – Kayaks and Mermaids
Part 7 – The End – the Native and the Screamer
Tomorrow
Tomorrow I enjoy the Island Cottage deck as the sun rises, visit an incredible artist’s studio in the morning, take pictures of dirty women in bikinis and ruin some ‘perfectly fine’ sandals in the afternoon and have my favorite meal of the vacation in the evening. There might be a spider in there somewhere as well. You will regret it if you don’t come back to read and see all about it!
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by Marty Coleman | Jun 12, 2013 | Travel, Virgin Islands |
Disclosure: I exchanged photographic work for a 5-day stay at the Island Cottage mentioned in the following blog posts. Blog entries or any other social media amplification were not included in the exchange. I was and am free to say and show anything I want about the trip. All opinions are my own.
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Keep Left!
Want to guess the only place in the US where you drive on the left side of the road? It happens to be the hilliest set of islands EVER (that I have been to at least). Yep, the US Virgin Islands are one big undulating set of hills PLUS you drive on the left.
Keep Left!
I thought I would have more problems remembering to stay on the left but I didn’t. But when I got home to Tulsa I did have a problem remembering to stay on the right. I have found myself on the left coming out of 2 driveways so far, luckily isolated and clear of traffic but freaked me out nonetheless!
The Island Cottage is in Coral Bay on the east side of the Island of St. John. The ferry from St. Thomas goes into Cruz Bay on the west side so we rented a Jeep for the week. It was pretty darn expensive but the alternative was to hike 8 miles of hills to get there so rental car it was. It really was a cool way to get around, actually it was the only way to get around. Many of the roads were gravel, some were incredibly bumpy as well, so if you didn’t have a 4 wheel drive, I don’t know how you made your way around.
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The Island Cottage
What an incredible place the Island Cottage is. After our up and down Jeep drive we were so happy to finally arrive and move in for our stay. We had to climb a steep hill to get to the cottage but thoughtfully Cindy, the owner, had painted this sign on the the side of the driveway to let guests know we were home. It’s touches like this that made us feel at home right away.
And when we got out of the Jeep this is the scene that greeted us!
Staircase to the Cottage
Another nice touch came at the bottom of the stairs. It seems like small things but they add up to make a big difference. Inside we also found fresh cut flowers and a hand written note from the on-island caretaker of the cottage, Tracey. I mention more about her below.
Panorama of the main cottage space
The main room is a combination living room, dining room and kitchen. The couch is a pull out Futon for a 3rd person or a second couple. It is airy and light, breezy and warm.
Bedroom
Through the living room is the bedroom. Talk about a caribbean retreat! This room has A/C, which is actually not needed usually. However, there are some very talkative roosters down in the valley below and being able to close the windows and doors to get a good night’s sleep is a nice touch.
Bedroom and Living Room
Bedroom from the Patio
Bathroom leading to Outdoor Shower
The bathroom off the bedroom leads directly to a private outdoor shower area. It was a great feeling to have a warm ocean breeze and rustling palm leaves while I showered.
Bathroom
The Island Cottage is hosted by Tracey, who lives in Coral Bay. She comes before and after the guest’s stay to prep the cottage, delivers fresh food and breakfast if you want it, and do any number of things for you in advance of your arrival. You can even ship things to her that you don’t want to take on the plane if you want. We met her at her art studio later in the week and I will post photos of her and her place in a few days.
After I took photos (before we unpacked, just to makes sure we had it exactly as it should be) we settled in and put away the groceries we had bought when we first arrived on the Island. It came in very handy to have all sorts of things to eat, drink and snack on right away.
I will post more photos of the cottage, indoors and out, in the next few days.
If you are interested in renting the Island Cottage, contact Cindy and Harry Sauers at http://www.vrbo.com/108972
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Skinny Legs and Donkeys
We didn’t arrive until late afternoon so we were pretty much ready to find a spot to eat dinner as soon as we unpacked. We had heard great things about a spot called Skinny Legs, probably the most written about restaurant bar in Coral Bay.
The place, like all places in St. John, was outdoors, part of it covered, part of it not. It was threatening to rain that night but it only sprinkled slightly while we were there. We found out that rain comes often but lasts briefly, a shower and it’s done. But there were weather reports that Monday night and Tuesday all day was going to be rainy, a very rare occurrence. We sat outside anyway, next to the horseshoe pit. They had a movie on the TV, The Beasts of the Southern Wild, about a little girl’s adventures in the middle of a huge hurricane.
The first person we met in Coral Bay was Lindsay our Waitress. She explained why the movie was on so loud. It was Monday night Movie Night at Skinny Legs, a tradition going back 20+ years. We thought it ironic that they had a movie on about a hurricane right at what is considered the official start of hurricane season We found out later that tropical storms don’t really start up until the fall but there is a bit more rain starting in June.
She, like everyone else we met, was not from St. John, but had come down to the islands to visit from the states and loved it so much she found a way to make it back and live there permanently. Most everyone had a variation of that exact same story. It was one of the most interesting elements of the vacation, was to learn about how these people made the choice to chuck it all and come down to live the island life. Some were young adventurers like Lindsay, others were wealthy entrepreneurs who had made their fortune and then retired to the islands. Some were from other islands but came to the US Virgin Islands long ago because there was much more opportunity and infrastructure support being that the islands were part of the US compared to many of the other Caribbean islands that didn’t have the same possibilities. We met all types.
One type that didn’t have much choice in the matter were the donkeys.
Linda and Her New BFF
Donkeys roam the island freely. They walk the roads, come to the edges of restaurant patios, visit the beaches and just generally do whatever they want. This one was intrigued by my camera, unaware that Linda was being a silly girl behind him.
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Part 1 – St. Thomas
Part 2 – The Island Cottage
Part 3 – Exploring Coral Bay
Part 4 – Clean Beaches and Dirty Pictures
Part 5 – Hiking Above, Snorkeling Below
Part 6 – Kayaks and Mermaids
Part 7 – The End – the Native and the Screamer
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