usvi-on-line
Very Late Trip Report from July 2005 - VERY LONG
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nothintolose
- Posts: 1960
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:36 pm
- Location: New Orleans, LA
Very Late Trip Report from July 2005 - VERY LONG
Okay I know there have been no trip reports to speak of since the new forum so I am posting the one I intended to post last summer but never got around to it because Katrina hit us and completely changed our lives. So now I am getting around to it if not for you guys, for me. Sorry there are no pics because I don't know how to do it.
Okay so our previous trips have been with friends and family and this one was going to be just the two of us. It was a last minute trip where I convince my Significant Other (EJF) to go back even though he has wanted to try a new island. To this day, I don't know what changed his mind.
When we left that Friday (July 8th), we had just had a tropical storm (Cindy) go through New Orleans and spent several days without power and were stressed because Hurricane Dennis was headed for the Gulf the Monday after we were to fly out. EJF decided at the last minute to route us to from New Orleans to Dallas to Puerto Rico to STT rather than just fly through Miami like we usually do. I HATE to fly so I was not looking forward to it. We left New Orleans that morning all stressed out. By the time we got on the flight from Puerto Rico, we were absolutely exhausted from all of the stress of the previous week. Waiting to see where a hurricane goes is REALLY stressful by the way.
As soon as we took off from Puerto Rico, the stress left me and I began to get on island time. When we got to STT I was just so happy to be back in the USVI! Would have loved to have taken that flight in the daylight; I bet it was beautiful.
We were staying in STT the first two nights because we couldn't find anywhere on STJ the whole time. We just stayed at The Holiday Inn in Charlotte Amalie. We were just looking for a place to crash and drop our bags till we got to STJ.
A guy on the little plane suggested we try going to Frenchtown for dinner because things would be open pretty late there (our plane hit the ground at 9:15pm). We ealked there from the hotel and ate at Tuscany. The food was good. We had mussles, tomato and mozzarella with basil salads. Afterwards, we went back to the hotel and passed out as we were exhausted.
Saturday, July 9, 2005
This time staying at the Holiday Inn we requested a Harbor View Room (very important because otherwise your view can be of the baseball diamond on the side of the hotel). Around 10am we were woken to the sound of a sea plane landing in the harbor. It was fun to watch them come and go.
Grabbed some food at The Green Parrot then hopped on the Charlotte Amalie ferry to Cruz Bay. They were not charging for bags at this point - just checking identification (new since last time). That was our first time taking that ferry and we loved it! Loved being on top and remembered to wear sunblock.
Got to Cruz Bay and went straight to FreeBird to buy the hook bracelet I had been wanting for at least a year but finally decided to get it. Have never taken it off since. Piddled around doing little of nothing, went to the Beach Bar. I had a mango colada. He had a bushwhacker. Just sat around there enjoying being there.
Caught the ferry back and went to dinner in Frenchtown again - this time at Hook Line & Sinker - food was fine. We both had mango coladas. He had a blue cheeseburger which he seems to love getting when we are in the USVI - guess cuz he never gets them here. Tried their mango cheesecake and it was ok but no where near as good as the raspberry/mango cheesecake we had gotten at Shipwreck Landing the previous summer.
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Took the 9am ferry to officially begin our STJ part of the vacation. Went to Courtesy and picked up our Ford Escape from Greg (always so nice) then went over to Estate Lindholm (EL) where Lauren had our room ready for us. It was the Reef Room. We have stayed in villas in the past but decided since it was just the two of us to try Estate Lindholm. The previous summer we stayed there the last two nights of our trip after everyone else left and we gave up the villa. It worked fine for us, and Lauren is always so great.
We did our usual first day drive around the island just because we love to take our time and do it. Stopped at Skinny's for pain killers and burgers. EJF had the blue cheeseburger, and I ended up with a chicken quesadilla. We drove to Lameshur Bay to see where it was so we could go back later and snorkel it.
Went back to EL and grabbed our stuff and went to snorkel Trunk Bay because it was close and it was getting late. It was not crowded at all because it was getting late. We saw a huge angel fish, a cow fish, and a trumpet fish along with all of the other stuff you usually see. It was a good first snorkel.
Went to dinner at Chateau Bordeaux and had a wonderful time. We had the portabella mushroom appetizer and EJF had the Lamb Chops that were a special (AWESOME) and I had the Caribbean Lobster (good but I like Maine lobster much better). His food was REALLY good. OUr waitress was great. The whole experience was wonderful.
Monday, July 11, 2005
My journal got less detailed so I will be a little easier on you guys.
Drove back to Lameshur in the morning and snorkeled the far end of the beach. Didn't see much except 3 turtles. May not have snorkeled the right area. We followed the turtles around for a LONG time. A lady came by with her dog and went swimming with it. Made me miss my 11 month old puppy that I hated to leave.
Why is it that when you are on vacation and miss your dog, people are not very sociable with their pets? Just had to ask that question. Actually the owner of La Tapa was very friendly with her boxer and let me pet it alot. Yes, I know I am crazy.
So anyway, had lunch at Island Blues (it became my new favorite spot for lunch) and went back to Coral Bay for dinner at Shipwreck - the cheesecake was as awesome as I remembered. I love Coral Bay and want to stay there or closer to there next time we go. I like the more laid back atmosphere there.
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Snorkeled Cinnamon in the morning. Instead of snorkeling the island, we snorkeled to the far right between Cinnamon and Maho and it was an excellent snorkel. We saw so many fish there. It was not as deep in most places as going out around the cay and it was easier. The coral was nice and there was a huge abundance of a wide variety of fish and a stingray.
Had lunch at Chilly Billy's then crashed. We did a whole lot of just taking it easy on this trip. In hindsight I am so thankful that we were able to get there before all of this Katrina crap. EJF completely forgot we had gone and was glad that I reminded him recently. I am telling you our world changed August 29th. Okay - enough of that...
Went to dinner at ZoZo's. No reservation. Put our name on the list then went to The Beach Bar and watched the sun set. We ended up filling up on the antipaste and never got dinner. Thought we would get back but never did.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Attempted to go to Waterlemon but the water looked to rough at Leinster so we nixed it and headed to Maho (my new favorite snorkel place). We snorkeled the point between Maho and Little Maho. We saw tons of huge angel fish and parrot fish, a stingray, some barracuda, and alot of big fish. Also saw some iguanas hanging out on the shore in the rocks.
He went to lunch at The Beach Bar and I slept.
Later we went to dinner at Rhumb Lines. We had eaten there the previous year and liked it and were happy again this time. I had the tuna, wasabi and seaweed appetizer and a steak salad that were both VERY GOOD. He had the mango gazpacho and the Cuban pork and was also pleased.
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Went to Waterlemon and had a good snorkel. This time we did the cay and the along the side furthest from Leinster. Saw lots of beautiful coral (as usual) - last summer my sister pointed out that everything is LSU colors so now I think of that when we are snorkeling. Saaw the usual turtles and starfish etc. there. Not that I am not amazed by it every time - just expect to see certain things on certain snorkels and look forward to it.
Went to Island Blues for lunch. Had delicious pork and mango quesadillas. Went back to EL with every intention of going out for a snorkel after luch but a huge storm (effects of Hurricane Dennis going by) came inso we just stayed in the room. I spent alot of time on the balcony just watching and listening to the rain. It was beautiful.
Went to Morgan's Mango for dinner. We were actaully impressed with the food and their mango coladas were good. I NEVER drink those kinds of drinks here but love them on STJ.
Friday, July 15, 2005
Decided to go to Maho again this morning because Cinnamon was too rough. We saw about a 4 foot nurse shark with a remora attached to it way down below us. Lots of big beautiful angelfish, barracuda, a grouper, parrotfish and many more. The highlight was the shark - it was so cool to watch it swimming along the bottom. It came from Little Maho and headed towards Cinnamon. The colors of the Angel Fish here are so beautiful, and they are soooo big.
Had lunch at The Beach Bar - EL has a microwave and a mini-fridge so we just opted to eat out the whole time. They provide breakfast and we enjoyed visiting with everyone there for breakfast every morning and getting updates and suggestions for things to do.
Went to Hawksnest that afternoon. We like to snorkel the point between Hawksnest and Gibney/Oppenheimer. We always seem to see intersting things there. This year it was about 6 squid just hanging out in one of the "coves". We watched them for a long time. It was neat to watch them change their colors as they got closer to the rocks.
After a while we snorkeled over to Gibney/Oppenheimer and just snorkeled across the bay. It is so interesting to see the transplanted Elkhorn coral tied down and how it is growing. That reef in the middle must have been gorgeous at one time. I hope it comes back.
We went on snorkeling to the other side of the bay towards Jumbie and were snorkeling around when EJF poked me and pointed. I turned to my left and there was a HUGE ASS nurse shark about 5 to 6 feet away from me. It was "sleeping" under a rock overhang. It looked about 8 feet long with a head about 15 to 18 inches wide and a finspan of about 3.5 feet. I was not scared of the shark as much as the idea that EJF might try to wake it up. We snorkeled on towards the point then went back past it on our way back. We walked the beach instead of snorkeling across the bay again because it was getting late.
When we got back in the water we saw the squid still hanging out there and we also saw a pufferfish with about a 15 inch body. I am telling you, we ALWAYS see neat things there. The previous summer there was a huge Trunk Fish and a HUGE crab.
Went to dinner at Asolare. The food was good but would have expected better for the price. You gotta love that view though.
Saturday, July 16th, 2005
I wrote "lazy day" in my journal. Last night I dreamt that my friends switched my dog out on me like people do when fish die while the owners are on vacation. I will never forget that dream. Too crazy. They wanted to keep my dog because they liked him so much. Yes, I am mental.
Had to swap out the rental car for a Montero because the Escape was rented the last 3 days of our trip - no worries though - we were fine with it.
Went to Drunk Bay to take pics and ended up deciding to hike to the Blue Cobblestone Beach so I could video it and get the sound of the water flowing through the rocks - my favorite sound. Didn't have enough water and it was the heat of the day too - we always seem to do that.
Anyway, after the hike we went to Island Blues for lunch. I love to just sit there on the water and take our time and do nothing but drink and eat our lunch - wish they had Carib there. Island Blues is so much more laid back than Skinny's which is why I think we like it.
There are a couple of more days but I have to get off the computer now so I will bore you with them later.
I hope this report isn't boring - it would have had more detail had I written it last summer but I just couldn't. I can't remember all of the things we did except what I wrote in my journal which I didn't keep in the normal way I usually do.
So a couple of more days to come later.
nothintolose
Okay so our previous trips have been with friends and family and this one was going to be just the two of us. It was a last minute trip where I convince my Significant Other (EJF) to go back even though he has wanted to try a new island. To this day, I don't know what changed his mind.
When we left that Friday (July 8th), we had just had a tropical storm (Cindy) go through New Orleans and spent several days without power and were stressed because Hurricane Dennis was headed for the Gulf the Monday after we were to fly out. EJF decided at the last minute to route us to from New Orleans to Dallas to Puerto Rico to STT rather than just fly through Miami like we usually do. I HATE to fly so I was not looking forward to it. We left New Orleans that morning all stressed out. By the time we got on the flight from Puerto Rico, we were absolutely exhausted from all of the stress of the previous week. Waiting to see where a hurricane goes is REALLY stressful by the way.
As soon as we took off from Puerto Rico, the stress left me and I began to get on island time. When we got to STT I was just so happy to be back in the USVI! Would have loved to have taken that flight in the daylight; I bet it was beautiful.
We were staying in STT the first two nights because we couldn't find anywhere on STJ the whole time. We just stayed at The Holiday Inn in Charlotte Amalie. We were just looking for a place to crash and drop our bags till we got to STJ.
A guy on the little plane suggested we try going to Frenchtown for dinner because things would be open pretty late there (our plane hit the ground at 9:15pm). We ealked there from the hotel and ate at Tuscany. The food was good. We had mussles, tomato and mozzarella with basil salads. Afterwards, we went back to the hotel and passed out as we were exhausted.
Saturday, July 9, 2005
This time staying at the Holiday Inn we requested a Harbor View Room (very important because otherwise your view can be of the baseball diamond on the side of the hotel). Around 10am we were woken to the sound of a sea plane landing in the harbor. It was fun to watch them come and go.
Grabbed some food at The Green Parrot then hopped on the Charlotte Amalie ferry to Cruz Bay. They were not charging for bags at this point - just checking identification (new since last time). That was our first time taking that ferry and we loved it! Loved being on top and remembered to wear sunblock.
Got to Cruz Bay and went straight to FreeBird to buy the hook bracelet I had been wanting for at least a year but finally decided to get it. Have never taken it off since. Piddled around doing little of nothing, went to the Beach Bar. I had a mango colada. He had a bushwhacker. Just sat around there enjoying being there.
Caught the ferry back and went to dinner in Frenchtown again - this time at Hook Line & Sinker - food was fine. We both had mango coladas. He had a blue cheeseburger which he seems to love getting when we are in the USVI - guess cuz he never gets them here. Tried their mango cheesecake and it was ok but no where near as good as the raspberry/mango cheesecake we had gotten at Shipwreck Landing the previous summer.
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Took the 9am ferry to officially begin our STJ part of the vacation. Went to Courtesy and picked up our Ford Escape from Greg (always so nice) then went over to Estate Lindholm (EL) where Lauren had our room ready for us. It was the Reef Room. We have stayed in villas in the past but decided since it was just the two of us to try Estate Lindholm. The previous summer we stayed there the last two nights of our trip after everyone else left and we gave up the villa. It worked fine for us, and Lauren is always so great.
We did our usual first day drive around the island just because we love to take our time and do it. Stopped at Skinny's for pain killers and burgers. EJF had the blue cheeseburger, and I ended up with a chicken quesadilla. We drove to Lameshur Bay to see where it was so we could go back later and snorkel it.
Went back to EL and grabbed our stuff and went to snorkel Trunk Bay because it was close and it was getting late. It was not crowded at all because it was getting late. We saw a huge angel fish, a cow fish, and a trumpet fish along with all of the other stuff you usually see. It was a good first snorkel.
Went to dinner at Chateau Bordeaux and had a wonderful time. We had the portabella mushroom appetizer and EJF had the Lamb Chops that were a special (AWESOME) and I had the Caribbean Lobster (good but I like Maine lobster much better). His food was REALLY good. OUr waitress was great. The whole experience was wonderful.
Monday, July 11, 2005
My journal got less detailed so I will be a little easier on you guys.
Drove back to Lameshur in the morning and snorkeled the far end of the beach. Didn't see much except 3 turtles. May not have snorkeled the right area. We followed the turtles around for a LONG time. A lady came by with her dog and went swimming with it. Made me miss my 11 month old puppy that I hated to leave.
Why is it that when you are on vacation and miss your dog, people are not very sociable with their pets? Just had to ask that question. Actually the owner of La Tapa was very friendly with her boxer and let me pet it alot. Yes, I know I am crazy.
So anyway, had lunch at Island Blues (it became my new favorite spot for lunch) and went back to Coral Bay for dinner at Shipwreck - the cheesecake was as awesome as I remembered. I love Coral Bay and want to stay there or closer to there next time we go. I like the more laid back atmosphere there.
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Snorkeled Cinnamon in the morning. Instead of snorkeling the island, we snorkeled to the far right between Cinnamon and Maho and it was an excellent snorkel. We saw so many fish there. It was not as deep in most places as going out around the cay and it was easier. The coral was nice and there was a huge abundance of a wide variety of fish and a stingray.
Had lunch at Chilly Billy's then crashed. We did a whole lot of just taking it easy on this trip. In hindsight I am so thankful that we were able to get there before all of this Katrina crap. EJF completely forgot we had gone and was glad that I reminded him recently. I am telling you our world changed August 29th. Okay - enough of that...
Went to dinner at ZoZo's. No reservation. Put our name on the list then went to The Beach Bar and watched the sun set. We ended up filling up on the antipaste and never got dinner. Thought we would get back but never did.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Attempted to go to Waterlemon but the water looked to rough at Leinster so we nixed it and headed to Maho (my new favorite snorkel place). We snorkeled the point between Maho and Little Maho. We saw tons of huge angel fish and parrot fish, a stingray, some barracuda, and alot of big fish. Also saw some iguanas hanging out on the shore in the rocks.
He went to lunch at The Beach Bar and I slept.
Later we went to dinner at Rhumb Lines. We had eaten there the previous year and liked it and were happy again this time. I had the tuna, wasabi and seaweed appetizer and a steak salad that were both VERY GOOD. He had the mango gazpacho and the Cuban pork and was also pleased.
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Went to Waterlemon and had a good snorkel. This time we did the cay and the along the side furthest from Leinster. Saw lots of beautiful coral (as usual) - last summer my sister pointed out that everything is LSU colors so now I think of that when we are snorkeling. Saaw the usual turtles and starfish etc. there. Not that I am not amazed by it every time - just expect to see certain things on certain snorkels and look forward to it.
Went to Island Blues for lunch. Had delicious pork and mango quesadillas. Went back to EL with every intention of going out for a snorkel after luch but a huge storm (effects of Hurricane Dennis going by) came inso we just stayed in the room. I spent alot of time on the balcony just watching and listening to the rain. It was beautiful.
Went to Morgan's Mango for dinner. We were actaully impressed with the food and their mango coladas were good. I NEVER drink those kinds of drinks here but love them on STJ.
Friday, July 15, 2005
Decided to go to Maho again this morning because Cinnamon was too rough. We saw about a 4 foot nurse shark with a remora attached to it way down below us. Lots of big beautiful angelfish, barracuda, a grouper, parrotfish and many more. The highlight was the shark - it was so cool to watch it swimming along the bottom. It came from Little Maho and headed towards Cinnamon. The colors of the Angel Fish here are so beautiful, and they are soooo big.
Had lunch at The Beach Bar - EL has a microwave and a mini-fridge so we just opted to eat out the whole time. They provide breakfast and we enjoyed visiting with everyone there for breakfast every morning and getting updates and suggestions for things to do.
Went to Hawksnest that afternoon. We like to snorkel the point between Hawksnest and Gibney/Oppenheimer. We always seem to see intersting things there. This year it was about 6 squid just hanging out in one of the "coves". We watched them for a long time. It was neat to watch them change their colors as they got closer to the rocks.
After a while we snorkeled over to Gibney/Oppenheimer and just snorkeled across the bay. It is so interesting to see the transplanted Elkhorn coral tied down and how it is growing. That reef in the middle must have been gorgeous at one time. I hope it comes back.
We went on snorkeling to the other side of the bay towards Jumbie and were snorkeling around when EJF poked me and pointed. I turned to my left and there was a HUGE ASS nurse shark about 5 to 6 feet away from me. It was "sleeping" under a rock overhang. It looked about 8 feet long with a head about 15 to 18 inches wide and a finspan of about 3.5 feet. I was not scared of the shark as much as the idea that EJF might try to wake it up. We snorkeled on towards the point then went back past it on our way back. We walked the beach instead of snorkeling across the bay again because it was getting late.
When we got back in the water we saw the squid still hanging out there and we also saw a pufferfish with about a 15 inch body. I am telling you, we ALWAYS see neat things there. The previous summer there was a huge Trunk Fish and a HUGE crab.
Went to dinner at Asolare. The food was good but would have expected better for the price. You gotta love that view though.
Saturday, July 16th, 2005
I wrote "lazy day" in my journal. Last night I dreamt that my friends switched my dog out on me like people do when fish die while the owners are on vacation. I will never forget that dream. Too crazy. They wanted to keep my dog because they liked him so much. Yes, I am mental.
Had to swap out the rental car for a Montero because the Escape was rented the last 3 days of our trip - no worries though - we were fine with it.
Went to Drunk Bay to take pics and ended up deciding to hike to the Blue Cobblestone Beach so I could video it and get the sound of the water flowing through the rocks - my favorite sound. Didn't have enough water and it was the heat of the day too - we always seem to do that.
Anyway, after the hike we went to Island Blues for lunch. I love to just sit there on the water and take our time and do nothing but drink and eat our lunch - wish they had Carib there. Island Blues is so much more laid back than Skinny's which is why I think we like it.
There are a couple of more days but I have to get off the computer now so I will bore you with them later.
I hope this report isn't boring - it would have had more detail had I written it last summer but I just couldn't. I can't remember all of the things we did except what I wrote in my journal which I didn't keep in the normal way I usually do.
So a couple of more days to come later.
nothintolose
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nothintolose
- Posts: 1960
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:36 pm
- Location: New Orleans, LA
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Jan&MikeVa
- Posts: 1084
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 5:32 pm
- Location: The Chesapeake Bay
Hey girl, good to hear from you. Thanks for the Trip Report, yours is the first on the new forum!
I tried to email you direct last year after Katrina but I think the address was an old one, it came back. Hope things are settling down for you.
You and Jorge are as bad as I am with the pets. We're cat people and I think our cats get more attention when we're on vacation! At Anole Villa last December we had our first ever resident cat and she was so sweet (we named her Snowflake). The next night she brought a friend (we named him Sam). They hung out with us ALL week!
Jorge, I can picture you running all over town hugging stray cats, LOL!
Thanks for the TR, looking forward to hearing more. EL sounds like a nice place.
Jan (aka Charlie)
I tried to email you direct last year after Katrina but I think the address was an old one, it came back. Hope things are settling down for you.
You and Jorge are as bad as I am with the pets. We're cat people and I think our cats get more attention when we're on vacation! At Anole Villa last December we had our first ever resident cat and she was so sweet (we named her Snowflake). The next night she brought a friend (we named him Sam). They hung out with us ALL week!
Jorge, I can picture you running all over town hugging stray cats, LOL!
Thanks for the TR, looking forward to hearing more. EL sounds like a nice place.
Jan (aka Charlie)
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nothintolose
- Posts: 1960
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:36 pm
- Location: New Orleans, LA
A trip report! 
Nothintolose, you have my greatest admiration. You saw sharks! I've only seen two small ones (both nurse) in all of our trips, and John won't admit that I've seen any, since he was wandering off doing whatever, and not looking at what I was looking at!
Are you back in New Orleans now? Or someplace else?
Nothintolose, you have my greatest admiration. You saw sharks! I've only seen two small ones (both nurse) in all of our trips, and John won't admit that I've seen any, since he was wandering off doing whatever, and not looking at what I was looking at!
Are you back in New Orleans now? Or someplace else?
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
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nothintolose
- Posts: 1960
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:36 pm
- Location: New Orleans, LA
liamsaunt - there is one more shark and some really huge fish left to come - much more exciting.
The shark that we were so close to at Gibney/Oppenheimer would have scared me more if Lauren at Estate Lindholm hadn't just told us that the nurse sharks are harmless and usually just sleep on the bottom during the day. Like I said in the report though, my biggest fear was that my significant other would try to wake it up. I forgot to mention that he tried to get the squid to ink and the puffer to puff up (both with no success but not alot of effort on his part). I wouldn't put it past him to wake the shark
As for your New Orleans question, hard to explain. My house was in Metairie (right near where all of the people were on the interstate waiting to be picked up). It was 3/4 of an inch away from taking on water. I escaped with minimal damage but sold my house because it was just too close for me. Am now in another subburb of New Orleans just 5 minutes further out. I go into the city almost every day for work. My parents' house took 5 feet on their first floor and my sisters' family lived near the 17th Street Canal. They had 10+ feet on their first floor. Both are rebuilding and almost finished. I still consider myself living in New Orleans because where I live is considered part of The Greater New Orleans Area. I just don't vote or pay taxes in Orleans Parish. All of my family that lived here prior to Katrina is back in one way or another and thank God none of us have to live in FEMA trailers! I went in one the other day for work and couldn't believe how small they are inside.
We are thinking that if we make it through this hurricane season ok. We may all go back to STJ as a family again because our last "family trip" was the one in June of 2004 to STJ, and we all really need another one like that
nothintolose
The shark that we were so close to at Gibney/Oppenheimer would have scared me more if Lauren at Estate Lindholm hadn't just told us that the nurse sharks are harmless and usually just sleep on the bottom during the day. Like I said in the report though, my biggest fear was that my significant other would try to wake it up. I forgot to mention that he tried to get the squid to ink and the puffer to puff up (both with no success but not alot of effort on his part). I wouldn't put it past him to wake the shark
As for your New Orleans question, hard to explain. My house was in Metairie (right near where all of the people were on the interstate waiting to be picked up). It was 3/4 of an inch away from taking on water. I escaped with minimal damage but sold my house because it was just too close for me. Am now in another subburb of New Orleans just 5 minutes further out. I go into the city almost every day for work. My parents' house took 5 feet on their first floor and my sisters' family lived near the 17th Street Canal. They had 10+ feet on their first floor. Both are rebuilding and almost finished. I still consider myself living in New Orleans because where I live is considered part of The Greater New Orleans Area. I just don't vote or pay taxes in Orleans Parish. All of my family that lived here prior to Katrina is back in one way or another and thank God none of us have to live in FEMA trailers! I went in one the other day for work and couldn't believe how small they are inside.
We are thinking that if we make it through this hurricane season ok. We may all go back to STJ as a family again because our last "family trip" was the one in June of 2004 to STJ, and we all really need another one like that
nothintolose