usvi-on-line
When and/or was your 1st Time on STJ
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SOonthebeach
- Posts: 1707
- Joined: Tue Jan 19, 2010 10:01 am
- Location: Texas
Our first time was in 1995/6 (?). We also came down right after hurricane Marilyn and stayed at Tennis Villa. Was very quiet that trip and it was before the resort became the Westin. (I think it had been a Hyatt, but not sure). Anyway, we fell in love and have been back at least once a year since. Can't wait for the next trip in August!
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GraysonDave
- Posts: 479
- Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 7:41 am
- Location: Georgia
Re: When and/or was your 1st Time on STJ
I love this thread and don't feel bad about bumping it so maybe we can get some new stories.
Wife and I are scheduled for our 5th visit in January.
In the meantime, here is a local news story about Emory's 5,000th bone marrow transplant that features our daughter's story (mentioned earlier in this thread).
http://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/164595405-video
Wife and I are scheduled for our 5th visit in January.
In the meantime, here is a local news story about Emory's 5,000th bone marrow transplant that features our daughter's story (mentioned earlier in this thread).
http://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/164595405-video
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Stella7474
- Posts: 26
- Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2014 3:20 pm
Re: When and/or was your 1st Time on STJ
We were invited to our friends timeshare at the Marriott on STT in 2013 - Took the ferry over and spent the day on St John - knew right then - this was our place. Book a week in 2014 - have a wonderful time and could not wait to get back so we book NYE 2015-2016 for a 10 day trip. Our son got diagnosed with cancer August 2015 and was fighting the battle of his life and at 40 years old had never traveled to such an amazing place. His chemo treatments were intense but the timing for a break in that process fit in perfectly for our planned NYE trip. So he flew out and I will never forget meeting him at the ferry dock. We had the most fun 5 days with him and he seemed to have so much more strength - we explored and tried to show him all that we loved about the island.....and he got it! - he got that calm wonderful feeling we get from being on St John. My husband and I will forever be grateful for those 5 days - Our son lost his battle with cancer April 19th of this year. We are retuning to St John on July 2nd for a celebration of his life. We miss him so much and I know returning to St John will be good for our souls as it is such a special place and we are so thankful he got to "get it" with us if only for that one time.
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GraysonDave
- Posts: 479
- Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 7:41 am
- Location: Georgia
Re: When and/or was your 1st Time on STJ
Wonderful, and sad, story Stella. It's so nice that you got to enjoy that time with him even as brief as it was.
I'm sorry to hear about your loss.
I'm sorry to hear about your loss.
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Stella7474
- Posts: 26
- Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2014 3:20 pm
Re: When and/or was your 1st Time on STJ
Thank you GraysonDave - Our story is not meant to be one of sadness - I hope it is seen as no matter what brought you to the island - whether for one time or many - it is a very special place - with different meaning and memories to everyone. Having spent those 5 days with Kyle - puts St John in even a more special place in my heart.
So happy that your daughter is doing well - She is one heck of a fighter -may she continue to get better and better!
Cheers,
Stella
So happy that your daughter is doing well - She is one heck of a fighter -may she continue to get better and better!
Cheers,
Stella
Re: When and/or was your 1st Time on STJ
Oh my head, you wonderful folks just turned me into a blubbering hot mess as I read through each and every story of "your first times" on St John. This thread was going strong when I was planning our first trip to St John in 2011. 
I spent the first 44 years of my life in the continental USA without much traveling except an occasional trip out west to feed my downhill skiing addiction. I had never really ventured very far from NEPA in those first 44 years, working, raises, kids, and living in the same county all that time. Fast forward to climbing out of my comfort zone, dating long distance, eventually selling most everything I owned, and moving to Western NY to begin a new life. My H (boyfriend at the time) had been to the Caribbean over 20 times by the time I met him and all he talked about was getting me to St John and his dream of owning a house there.
In June of 2011 he and I came to St John for my first trip. We stayed at Gallow's Point. I was a goner! Fell for the entire island and way of life immediately. Little did I know that on the last day of the trip, he would get down on one knee and ask me to marry him!
His quest to find the perfect house to buy on St John brought us back the next year (after the wedding) in October and again in April of 2013. We looked and looked and looked. Sad for us, we could not find the perfect house that met all of our "must haves". Andplusalso, we did not have a million dollars to spend on our dream.
No worries, in 2013 the internet and internet research was alive and well and he found a house that ticked off all but one (pool) of our "must haves" and it was in the price range we were hoping to spend. Yahoo! The only drawback was that it wasn't on our beloved St John, rather it was on Jost Van Dyke. Hmmm could this work for us?
Fast forward to today, we have our slice of heaven on earth, can/still come to St John for day trips (yes, I know we are doing it in reverse of what most do). In Nov 2016, we will travel back down together for our 10th trip to the "Islands".
God bless all and thanks for sharing your stories. If/when you are on the East End of Jost, look us up at Hideaway Villa. Always room for one or two more on the terrace for cocktails.
I spent the first 44 years of my life in the continental USA without much traveling except an occasional trip out west to feed my downhill skiing addiction. I had never really ventured very far from NEPA in those first 44 years, working, raises, kids, and living in the same county all that time. Fast forward to climbing out of my comfort zone, dating long distance, eventually selling most everything I owned, and moving to Western NY to begin a new life. My H (boyfriend at the time) had been to the Caribbean over 20 times by the time I met him and all he talked about was getting me to St John and his dream of owning a house there.
In June of 2011 he and I came to St John for my first trip. We stayed at Gallow's Point. I was a goner! Fell for the entire island and way of life immediately. Little did I know that on the last day of the trip, he would get down on one knee and ask me to marry him!
His quest to find the perfect house to buy on St John brought us back the next year (after the wedding) in October and again in April of 2013. We looked and looked and looked. Sad for us, we could not find the perfect house that met all of our "must haves". Andplusalso, we did not have a million dollars to spend on our dream.
No worries, in 2013 the internet and internet research was alive and well and he found a house that ticked off all but one (pool) of our "must haves" and it was in the price range we were hoping to spend. Yahoo! The only drawback was that it wasn't on our beloved St John, rather it was on Jost Van Dyke. Hmmm could this work for us?
Fast forward to today, we have our slice of heaven on earth, can/still come to St John for day trips (yes, I know we are doing it in reverse of what most do). In Nov 2016, we will travel back down together for our 10th trip to the "Islands".
God bless all and thanks for sharing your stories. If/when you are on the East End of Jost, look us up at Hideaway Villa. Always room for one or two more on the terrace for cocktails.
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PatrickMcc
- Posts: 223
- Joined: Sat Jan 05, 2008 2:43 pm
- Location: Boston
Re: When and/or was your 1st Time on STJ
Well I thought I would have the earliest first time but Sloop Jones (who we had the pleasure of meeting at his store last february) beat me by a mile.
We first went to Cinnamon Bay in 1983 with two kids ages 1 and 3 and fell in love. We had never camped anywhere but found the cottages to be fine and with young kids it was very convenient to be on the beach and able to eat dinner in the Cinammon restaurant every night. We sat outside every night after the kids went to sleep drinking Old Milwaukee beer and were astounded that there were never any mosquitos. The no mosquitos at night lasted for the next six years at Cinammon and once at Maho Bay. From what I hear and read on the forums this is no longer true. I wonder why. We walked to Trunk One day and rented a regular car one day to tour the island and even went out to the East End and the car made it up the hills. The next year I could only rent a safari truck for one day. No seat belts for the kids, it was a different era. Two of the first years the local islanders had a fish fry and the campground provided transportation to Cruz Bay or Coral Bay where the fish frys were. After the first fish fry we corrupted our kids by sitting at the bar in Cruz Bay which is now the Irish pub. There were no supermarkets in Cruz Bay other than a small convenience store and we did not know of any restaurants except Caneel and a place called the Upper Deck which I believe was above Jacobs Ladder. The flights were through Puerto Rico- a nightmare to book in those years- I would call at midnight 365 days ahead and the old San Juan airport was not a fun place to change planes in.
One sort of funny memory is that on the first trip my 3 year old woke up and said she couldn't open her eyes. I took her on the safari taxi to the clinic, then in Cruz Bay, thinking all the way why did I bring my child to this remote island. As the nurse was examining her a tourist in the clinic introduced himself as an eye doctor from the Manhattan Eye and Ear clinic and said he would examine her if I wanted- Yes I did. Diagnosis was sunburn and her eye hurt when she opened it. She was fine later. So we returned to this remote island through the 90's, graduating to condos and villas, took a ten year hiatus and have returned with our adult children and grandchild in recent years. Soon we hope to return with our new twin grandsons also.
We do wish St John was not as crowded as it is now but my wife and I were there this past winter and still love it. It is fun to have more restaurants to choose from and there are a lot of choices for places to stay.For us it was always an expensive vacation, even when we camped so I don't think that has changed much. We used too say that people at home would think we were crazy to pay $75 a night for a 12 by 16 concrete cabin with the bathroom a walk through the woods and cold showers, but we did.
Thanks bigcheeze for the chance to write this.
We first went to Cinnamon Bay in 1983 with two kids ages 1 and 3 and fell in love. We had never camped anywhere but found the cottages to be fine and with young kids it was very convenient to be on the beach and able to eat dinner in the Cinammon restaurant every night. We sat outside every night after the kids went to sleep drinking Old Milwaukee beer and were astounded that there were never any mosquitos. The no mosquitos at night lasted for the next six years at Cinammon and once at Maho Bay. From what I hear and read on the forums this is no longer true. I wonder why. We walked to Trunk One day and rented a regular car one day to tour the island and even went out to the East End and the car made it up the hills. The next year I could only rent a safari truck for one day. No seat belts for the kids, it was a different era. Two of the first years the local islanders had a fish fry and the campground provided transportation to Cruz Bay or Coral Bay where the fish frys were. After the first fish fry we corrupted our kids by sitting at the bar in Cruz Bay which is now the Irish pub. There were no supermarkets in Cruz Bay other than a small convenience store and we did not know of any restaurants except Caneel and a place called the Upper Deck which I believe was above Jacobs Ladder. The flights were through Puerto Rico- a nightmare to book in those years- I would call at midnight 365 days ahead and the old San Juan airport was not a fun place to change planes in.
One sort of funny memory is that on the first trip my 3 year old woke up and said she couldn't open her eyes. I took her on the safari taxi to the clinic, then in Cruz Bay, thinking all the way why did I bring my child to this remote island. As the nurse was examining her a tourist in the clinic introduced himself as an eye doctor from the Manhattan Eye and Ear clinic and said he would examine her if I wanted- Yes I did. Diagnosis was sunburn and her eye hurt when she opened it. She was fine later. So we returned to this remote island through the 90's, graduating to condos and villas, took a ten year hiatus and have returned with our adult children and grandchild in recent years. Soon we hope to return with our new twin grandsons also.
We do wish St John was not as crowded as it is now but my wife and I were there this past winter and still love it. It is fun to have more restaurants to choose from and there are a lot of choices for places to stay.For us it was always an expensive vacation, even when we camped so I don't think that has changed much. We used too say that people at home would think we were crazy to pay $75 a night for a 12 by 16 concrete cabin with the bathroom a walk through the woods and cold showers, but we did.
Thanks bigcheeze for the chance to write this.
Re: When and/or was your 1st Time on STJ
My first trip to St. John was a day trip in 1978, that has stayed with me to this day...... I was in college and spent my summers waitressing saving all my change.... my best friend at the time and I plopped our money down on a Caribbean cruise (my one and only..... I wanted an island vacation and my girlfriend and I were talked into a cruise to see 4 islands...lol). At any rate - St. John was a day trip and I remember we took a boat over from Charlotte Amalie - and we hitch-hiked over to Hawksnest and then to Trunk Bay, which had no real facilities - a restroom of sorts (no snack stand) as I recall.... There were only 3 of us on the beach at Trunk, and 2 of us just standing there in awe - I had never seen water those amazing blue colors before ... or sand that white that felt like talcum powder between my toes..... the palm trees swaying in the breeze... it was mezmerizing..... I vowed to myself while looking up at fluffy white clouds as I floated in that crystal clear water, that I would come back again. I remember seeing my first mongoose and saying "OMG there's Rikki Tikki Tavi!!" Cruz Bay itself was small as I recall - no Mongoose Junction - not a lot of places to eat - but there was a bar near the boat dock where my girlfirend and I got a bit tipsy and almost missed getting back to our ship. It took awhile, but I came back to STJ in 2001 when I re- married (I found someone who got STJ the way I did), for what was one of many subsequent trips, and was awed by STJ all over again..... There have been quite a few changes since 2001 as well.... but I still feel like I've arrived "home" everytime I step off the ferry and onto the Cruz Bay dock.
[/url]Re: When and/or was your 1st Time on STJ
It was 1994, my fiance and I worked with a travel agent who told us about St. John. Omaha to Atlanta then on to St. Thomas where we went to the Caneel Bay reception area.
We took the Caneel ferry to what I thought was either heaven or paradise. We were married in the sugar mill ruins which now is the home of Zozo's by the Reverend Emmanuel Jaggernauth. I remember we had two strangers act as our witnesses and knew that it would truly be a blessing to be able to make St. John a place we would come back in the future.
We stayed on Scott beach, which is truly beautiful and I remember the beautiful coral and I still feel lucky that I did not step on a sea urchin! Back then, Caneel had the activity "snorkeling with Lucy", and we went out several times with her. She said she had just taken the Clinton's snorkeling do I knew we were in good hands!
There were no kids or air conditioning at Caneel back then but part of the allure was the simplistic and natural feel of the resort.
We have been back to St. John over 20 times since and every time it brings back great memories and is just as magical. It was especially exciting for us to bring our son, who is now a Finance major at Boston College to St. John and to see him love it as much as we do.
It has been wonderful reading through this thread and hearing other great stories connected to such a special place.
Take care,
Dave
We took the Caneel ferry to what I thought was either heaven or paradise. We were married in the sugar mill ruins which now is the home of Zozo's by the Reverend Emmanuel Jaggernauth. I remember we had two strangers act as our witnesses and knew that it would truly be a blessing to be able to make St. John a place we would come back in the future.
We stayed on Scott beach, which is truly beautiful and I remember the beautiful coral and I still feel lucky that I did not step on a sea urchin! Back then, Caneel had the activity "snorkeling with Lucy", and we went out several times with her. She said she had just taken the Clinton's snorkeling do I knew we were in good hands!
There were no kids or air conditioning at Caneel back then but part of the allure was the simplistic and natural feel of the resort.
We have been back to St. John over 20 times since and every time it brings back great memories and is just as magical. It was especially exciting for us to bring our son, who is now a Finance major at Boston College to St. John and to see him love it as much as we do.
It has been wonderful reading through this thread and hearing other great stories connected to such a special place.
Take care,
Dave
Re: When and/or was your 1st Time on STJ
GraysonDave: GREAT THREAD and a wonderful video on your daughter, glad it turned out well. It was sad reading Stella's story but she has so much grace in how she recalls the good times. I do hope her upcoming trip to St. John will refresh those good memories even more.
For us we found paradise in 1987. We took our first trip to ST. Croix in 1986 and it was a great adventure. Tales for another day of night watchmen with the biggest dog I've ever seen and a Rasta drug dealer with an automatic weapon near the beach! But we loved our time in the Islands and immediately went home and began to research. The more I read on STJ the more I became convinced it was the right place for us.
In March of '87, Kate was a school teacher and we went on Spring Break, we came to St. John for 5 glorious days. We stayed at Gallows which we thought was the greatest place we had ever seen. We had an upper unit with all of the big windows open looking at the most beautiful blue water. We rented a Jeep and to this day, 16 trips latter, I can remember the first time we stopped at the pull over looking down on Trunk Bay. For the entire trip every time we saw that amazingly blue water and perfect white sand beaches it nearly took our breath away.
Does anyone else remember the ferry dock in those days. It seemed like nothing more than a little hut.
We did a day sail,I've forgotten the name, but it was a red sail boat that was docked in Cruz Bay for years. A family lived on it and their kids took the boat over eventually. Someone else may remember the name. Sailing to Norman Island and the Indians got us completed hooked.
We discovered Jumbie Beach on that trip. People still used it as a totally nude beach at times, that was interesting! Jumbie has been our favorite beach since then. It is ins't as big or beautiful as some of the other beaches but it has a vibe that fits us well.
As we and St. John have aged things change. Cruz Bay is too busy for our tastes and we generally stay on the Coral Bay side of the Island. However our "go to" Villa, Casa Tua, was sold a couple of years ago and we've since been staying at Wings Over Water on the opposite side of the Island. This is a GREAT Villa for those looking for a Villa that is truly wonderful.
We haven't been back to St. John in nearly 2 years. The heat impacts some health issues so we've been spending our time in the San Juan Islands off the coast off Washington as of late. Still a piece of our heart will always be in STJ. It is a very special place with some very special people and life long memories for us.
Thank you so much for bumping this thread. It is great to hear everyone else's story about when they first "got" St. John.
I am looking forward to others contributing their stories and seeing St. John through many eyes.
Thanks again for bumping a great thread.
For us we found paradise in 1987. We took our first trip to ST. Croix in 1986 and it was a great adventure. Tales for another day of night watchmen with the biggest dog I've ever seen and a Rasta drug dealer with an automatic weapon near the beach! But we loved our time in the Islands and immediately went home and began to research. The more I read on STJ the more I became convinced it was the right place for us.
In March of '87, Kate was a school teacher and we went on Spring Break, we came to St. John for 5 glorious days. We stayed at Gallows which we thought was the greatest place we had ever seen. We had an upper unit with all of the big windows open looking at the most beautiful blue water. We rented a Jeep and to this day, 16 trips latter, I can remember the first time we stopped at the pull over looking down on Trunk Bay. For the entire trip every time we saw that amazingly blue water and perfect white sand beaches it nearly took our breath away.
Does anyone else remember the ferry dock in those days. It seemed like nothing more than a little hut.
We did a day sail,I've forgotten the name, but it was a red sail boat that was docked in Cruz Bay for years. A family lived on it and their kids took the boat over eventually. Someone else may remember the name. Sailing to Norman Island and the Indians got us completed hooked.
We discovered Jumbie Beach on that trip. People still used it as a totally nude beach at times, that was interesting! Jumbie has been our favorite beach since then. It is ins't as big or beautiful as some of the other beaches but it has a vibe that fits us well.
As we and St. John have aged things change. Cruz Bay is too busy for our tastes and we generally stay on the Coral Bay side of the Island. However our "go to" Villa, Casa Tua, was sold a couple of years ago and we've since been staying at Wings Over Water on the opposite side of the Island. This is a GREAT Villa for those looking for a Villa that is truly wonderful.
We haven't been back to St. John in nearly 2 years. The heat impacts some health issues so we've been spending our time in the San Juan Islands off the coast off Washington as of late. Still a piece of our heart will always be in STJ. It is a very special place with some very special people and life long memories for us.
Thank you so much for bumping this thread. It is great to hear everyone else's story about when they first "got" St. John.
I am looking forward to others contributing their stories and seeing St. John through many eyes.
Thanks again for bumping a great thread.
Re: When and/or was your 1st Time on STJ
Long time lurker here but that will be explained...
My first time on St John was back in August 1998... honeymoon with my ex. I always had a dream of vacationing in a grass shack on the beach so we started with that idea when we were looking for places to stay. It eventually got narrowed down to the USVI and then St John. We basically booked the trip and the villa but did very little additional research about the island so we were a blank page in an open book... no expectations and did not know what to expect.
The day of flying down was quite hectic, I recall that we didn't get to St John until after dusk. Trying to follow our villa rental agent to our villa was quite terrifying to my ex. First time driving "way the h*ll to fast" on the narrow twisty roads in the dark just freaked her out, but within 3 minutes of waking up that first morning we fell in love with the island and immediately started talking about our next trip back. Most days were spent exploring the island and snorkeling and most evenings were spent at Pussers for dinner. We ended up going 4 more times, staying for up to 3 weeks at a time, with 2006 being the last time.
Every year since I've toyed with the idea of going back by myself for a week to just chill out and relax but life has always gotten in the way. The closest I'd get is visiting this forum every June/July when I'd get the bug and read up on what had changed around the island... re-living my trips on the island through others trip reports.
Now in a little over 20 days I'll be back on the island... It's my parents 50th wedding anniversary this year and they've never been anywhere tropical so my sister and I figured we'd take them on a family vacation to St John. It's been 10 years for me but I'm the designated tour guide and happy to play the role... I think it's a job that I'm going to love.
My first time on St John was back in August 1998... honeymoon with my ex. I always had a dream of vacationing in a grass shack on the beach so we started with that idea when we were looking for places to stay. It eventually got narrowed down to the USVI and then St John. We basically booked the trip and the villa but did very little additional research about the island so we were a blank page in an open book... no expectations and did not know what to expect.
The day of flying down was quite hectic, I recall that we didn't get to St John until after dusk. Trying to follow our villa rental agent to our villa was quite terrifying to my ex. First time driving "way the h*ll to fast" on the narrow twisty roads in the dark just freaked her out, but within 3 minutes of waking up that first morning we fell in love with the island and immediately started talking about our next trip back. Most days were spent exploring the island and snorkeling and most evenings were spent at Pussers for dinner. We ended up going 4 more times, staying for up to 3 weeks at a time, with 2006 being the last time.
Every year since I've toyed with the idea of going back by myself for a week to just chill out and relax but life has always gotten in the way. The closest I'd get is visiting this forum every June/July when I'd get the bug and read up on what had changed around the island... re-living my trips on the island through others trip reports.
Now in a little over 20 days I'll be back on the island... It's my parents 50th wedding anniversary this year and they've never been anywhere tropical so my sister and I figured we'd take them on a family vacation to St John. It's been 10 years for me but I'm the designated tour guide and happy to play the role... I think it's a job that I'm going to love.
Last edited by BigDog on Tue Jul 19, 2016 8:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: When and/or was your 1st Time on STJ
Just to prepare you, Pussers is gone but if the last time you where there was 2006 you probably know that. It is a little busier and a little more developed but still St. John.