– St Thomas/St John Trip to Paradise.
Spirit left late by 40 minutes from Ft Lauderdale as they were waiting for a flight connection to arrive so people weren’t stranded. What a nice thing to do for an airline. Normally they just don’t care. Arrival into St Thomas, pretty uneventful. A 22 year old tried to smoke a cigarette on the tarmac! To funny, although not so funny to security. They were like – what are you crazy dude this place could explode.
Arrival to Marriott Frenchman’s Reef. It was a pleasant drive from the airport to the resort ($25.00 for 2 people, with luggage). We past Havensight and the New Yacht Haven Marina ..OMG I wished I was able to stop and SHOP! Great shops. VL Louie Vitton, Cache, and so many more.
Checked in to the Frenchman’s Reef with a nice upgrade from a 2queen standard room to a Balcony Room, ocean view. I appreciated it greatly. The view is so worth it.
Went to the Cruz Rum Bar and had a drink on the deck, had dinner at the Sunset Grill, very low keyed and no dress code TG.
6/6 – Buffet breakfast that rocked the house $21.00 pp, eggs cooked to order, fruit, meat, bagels & lox, any kind of fruit you wanted, oatmeal, cereal. The works.
Many people here on the all inclusive. We’re not. Just room and Tax and whatever happens happens! YIKES.
Today it was Pina Colada’s by the pool with the creatures. Many iguanas lurking on the pool deck. Cute but they bite. They do like pineapple.
Tonight’s it’s dinner/Linner at LINO21 in St Thomas. Got there and it was now Café Amici’s. We walked town and shopped the market (looking for a purse of course) and by the time we were ready to eat, most of the town was closing down 445pm. (a good thing to know). I’m shuttling over via the Marriott ferry for $6.00 pp and having a blast in town. We enjoyed talking to the locals about where to go and where NOT to go. Bumpa’s wasn’t a FAV. We ended up at Gladys’s Café in the Royal Dane Mall. (340) 774-6604. OK so to my disappointment Café Amici’s was closed, but that led us to this amazing alley Café with the BEST hot sauce in town, and the food was so tasty. Pauline the barmaid said the kitchen closed at 5pm, but was eager to seat us and get us a cocktail. I’m not one for frozen drinks, but had a bushwhacker. It was by far the best thing I had had all day. We ordered Group with peas, rice and plantains and were so pleased with our choice. I believe we had the restaurant to ourselves which was even better. If ever you’re in town struggling with were to eat. Struggle now longer go to Gladys’s Café.
6 wedding total today at the resort. This is seriously WEDDING CENTRAL. Beautiful set ups for receptions, and a lawn area, overlooking the water for the ceremony, with a beautiful flora walk for the bridal party.
6/7 - Sunday normally town is closed but Carnival is in port, so everything opens. Kind of comical, but that is how these local folks make there money.
Today looks like a beautiful day. A little beach, shopping for some needed essentials for St. John and some drinks. What a hard day.
Today only saw 1 wedding and the bride ended up in the pool for her final picture. To cute.
Dinner we decided to go to Iggie’s at Bolongo Bay Resort. The had a BBQ, chicken, ribs for $25.00 all u can eat. $14.00 each way to get there.
Marriott offered a BBQ, fish, steak, chicken and all the fixings for $45.00pp. It looked and smelled amazing, but since I don’t enjoy eating meat, we opted for the alternate as I didn’t feel that the buffet was the best deal for me.
We’re packing so we can leave early AM for St. John. Our driving will be here 830a and the ferry leaves Charlotte Amalie at 930a. We can’t wait to get there.
6/8 – St John – An amazing island. We think the best!
Afternoon at leisure. Room is 108. Very much the same, typical room on Hawksnest Beach.. The Garden/Tennis/poolview rooms are abit larger.
Attended afternoon 4pm Tea at the Turtle Bay House.
At 6pm the Manager’s cocktail reception started, as did a wedding that got rained out and re-positioned….guess……In the exact same room as the Managers cocktail reception. I’m not sure why, but the bride and groom still seemed happy, even though the thunder was crashing as the vows were being said.
Dining tonight at Morgan’s – Just beyond Mongoose Junction in town. I love this restaurant. 340-693-8141
6/9 Snorkeled all day on Hawksnest Beach. Saw Elk Coral, brain coral, all kinds of fish. Seriously felt like I was swimming in the blue lagoon, only with a suit on!
Dinner was at the Caneel Beach Bar & Grill. Mahi Mahi was excellent, as was the sirloin!
Drinks….Mudslides were, as usually wonderful.
6/10 We’re off to Virgin Gorda on the Caneel Ferry, to Little Dix Bay and the Baths.
8am ferry from Caneel Bay to The Bath’s and then Little Dix Bay!
We arrived The Bath’s (Virgin Gorda) around 10:15am after clearing customs and immigration with the British Government.
The Bath’s were gorgeous. A boulder labyrinth created by volcanic activity.
12:00noon we headed out to Little Dix Bay a luxury resort by Rosewood Resorts, to meet with the Sales Rep Nicole Stevens and view this beautiful property.
Rosewood Little Dix Bay, the first and largest resort on Virgin Gorda,
Little Dix Bay boasts a spectacular setting on Virgin Gorda, its reef-protected ... offers bathrooms with outdoor showers, a private pool and dining pavilion/barbeque area. This resort is a favorite of the stars and offers a romantic setting for a Destination Wedding.
My accommodation choice is a 1 bedroom Suite, oceanview. All rooms at The Little Dix Bay Resort have been renovated recently, within the last year, year ½.
The Spa is a beautiful display of tranquility from the moment you enter and see the amazing view of the bay, overlooking the two-tier infinity pool and an exclusive Cliff Spa Suite is available for couples.
6/11 2nd to last day. The morning was cloudy, however it cleared up. We did an amazing snorkel on Hawksnest from ridge to ridge and between both buoys. We saw many turtles, 2 very large rays, reef squid and so many different fish, to many to mention.
Afternoon tea at 4pm. We stumbled on to the Governor of St Thomas’s wife - Celine Dion with her 3 body guards. They were meeting at Turtle Bay. After that went down to the main building and witnessed a private school graduation taking place in what is typically the Caneel Restaurant for breakfast. Steve Simonsen was the photographer.
Dinner was spent at the Equator with our dear friend Lovia who works at the resort. The grouper was amazing. We enjoyed our dinner and said goodbye once again to her, as she is off the next few days. We truly love the family feel at Caneel Bay and the personal touches the staff give.
So many of these people here have become friends.
6/12 – our last day here? What to do!????BEACH, SUN, SNORKEL – Snorkeled Turtle Bay Beach in the morning and Scotts Beach (center reef) in the afternoon. Both were amazing, really some of the best snorkeling we’ve seen. On Scott’s Beach we got to see a shark, resting ever so still on the ocean bottom.
6/13 – Parting Caneel is always so hard. Goodbye to all of our friends. This is such a family now to us.
We took the 1215p ferry to St Thomas and went to Café Amici’s for lunch located in the alley of A.H Rise. The Margarita Pizza was awesome.
In town we were going to show for liquor however the store attendant told us that Spirit would charge us for an extra piece of luggage. When we asked at the airport, we were told that this was not true that they do ship it for free.
Note – if you wait and shop in the airport, you don’t have to lug it around, AND the prices are only 1.00 or more a bottle more. Not bad! And you can carry it on.
BTW, Spirit was effortless checking in on both ends. We were amazed as we have experienced long lines in Ft Lauderdale and St Thomas before.
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A great website to view Sightseeing and local Restaurants is www.VInow.com
Michelle Thurston ~ Owner
Your Travel Concierge of Naples
Email: Michelle@YTCNaples.com
Website: www. YTCNaples.com
Phone: (239) 403-7703
Fax: (888) 590-7703
*Certified Travel Associate ... Senior Destination Wedding Specialist…..CLIA Master Cruise Counselor ... Destination Specialist~ Caribbean ... US Virgin Islands Specialist*
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