When and/or was your 1st Time on STJ

Travel discussion for St. John
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kklay
Posts: 504
Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2007 3:17 pm
Location: Lima, Ohio

Re: When and/or was your 1st Time on STJ

Post by kklay »

Bigdog - I'm sure you'll have a great time! What a wonderful present for your parents. Enjoy every minute.
Pulley
Posts: 161
Joined: Tue Dec 29, 2009 11:42 am
Location: Beaufort, SC

Re: When and/or was your 1st Time on STJ

Post by Pulley »

May 1998. Delta arrived at dark then. Our taxi driver from the airport was driving like crazy to get us to Red Hook in time to catch the last ferry. The safari taxi from Cruz Bay to Maho Bay camps was very scary. We arrived at Maho and were met by "security", a guy with dreadlocks to his waist and no shirt on. :) We didn't care but we were expecting what you might see at the Westin. We were inexperienced to say the least. Anyway we get in his truck and he drives us further up as we staying in Harmony Studios. FYI - At this time my wife and I were each completely out of shape and weighed 40 lbs more than we do now.

He opened our room and put the key in wall said this is how you get electricity. A shock to us but not in a bad way. It was around 11:00 pm by this time and we had been traveling all day so we passed out. When we woke up the next morning the view from our balcony looking at Whistling Cay was the most beautiful thing (besides our children) we had ever seen. We were instantly hooked.

We made the very long walk down 9,000 stairs to the restaurant for breakfast and it almost killed us. We went to the beach for our first ever snorkel and we were hooked on snorkeling from then on. We then had to walk from the beach to the top studio carrying 2 gallons of water. 1/2 way up my wife uttered the famous "Go on without me" and started crying. :( We took a cab into to town to rent a car to drive from our studio to the restaurant! I told you we were out of shape. After three days we couldn't take the steps anymore and called the Westin. We needed A/C and we needed flat.

May of 1998 the island was very quiet and the Westin gave us super deal on a room in building 21. We had early check-in and went to the pool for the day. After a few hours we go back to our room to find out they had cut the power to our building to do maintenance. I talked to the manager and basically gave him my sob story of how our delayed honeymoon was turning into a nightmare. Moved with compassion he upgraded us to a beach front room, included the breakfast buffet each day for free and gave us two bottles of wine. Being a devoted member of AA the wine was of no use but the buffet was music to my stomach.

We went to Trunk Bay and remember that it started to rain while we were snorkeling so we high tailed it to our stuff on the beach only to have the rain stop. This happened twice more before we realized that we were in the water anyway and our stuff would be dry soon enough. Oh how naïve we were. Hawksnest and Salt Pond were other snorkel spots on our first trip. We were so impressed and in awe of the coral and fish we couldn't have been any happier.

Uncle Joe's, Woody's and an Italian restaurant (La Tratorria??) were the restaurants we went to and had good food at all.

22 trips later we are still in awe of St. John and all it has to offer. We've taken friends and family to STJ for 18 years now. When birthdays, Christmas and graduations come around we would asked our children "Do you want a memento or a memory?". thankfully they have always chosen the memories.

Whenever I hear the "Long & Winding Road" it makes me think of my past struggles and how they eventually led me to my wife, my children and then to St. John. Life changing experiences that make me the luckiest man alive.
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StJohnbum
Posts: 172
Joined: Wed May 14, 2008 11:16 pm
Location: Southern Indiana

Re: When and/or was your 1st Time on STJ

Post by StJohnbum »

Pulley:

Great post. Thanks for sharing. This is exactly why I love this thread. Great to hear everyone's story.

Keep posting your story folks. It is making for great reading and brings back great memories for all!
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Beth Cruz
Posts: 194
Joined: Tue Aug 03, 2010 9:46 am
Location: NH

Re: When and/or was your 1st Time on STJ

Post by Beth Cruz »

It all started with a stay at Cinamon in 1967. Returned in '68 for our honeymoon and haven't skipped a beat since--usually twice a year for 2-3 weeks. We love the island, its people, all the friends we have made and our favorite beaches.

Bob& Jean
Ctr. Hbr, NH
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Suziekue
Posts: 189
Joined: Wed Aug 08, 2007 1:51 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: When and/or was your 1st Time on STJ

Post by Suziekue »

It wasn't easy to figure out exactly when my first trip was but I stumbled on an old villa review that helped me out LOL. I think my very first time on STJ was in the late 90's during a cruise on a Windstar sail ship, we stopped at STJ for a day trip. It was a smaller boat, 150 passengers that actually stopped at STJ not STT, that's when I fell for the island. Fast forward to March of 2002, the very first time I stayed on the island, with my old travel buddy Anne (who sadly passed way too young in 2008). We rented a villa way out on the east end called Raj Mahal from Great Caribbean Getaways (funny now), it was awesome but the drive back there was a trip. We had such a great time, I just LOL remembering Anne trying to deal with the goats that got in the yard. The villa was huge almost so big it was slightly scary for only two of us staying in totally separate areas and so dark at night but boy it was gorgeous in the daytime. I have no idea what ever happened to it you never hear about it anymore. That trip led to several more we stayed a couple times at Stoneharbor Cottage in Coral Bay. I know you'll all understand that feeling you get when you are on the ferry from Red Hook coming into Cruz Bay and you feel like...finally I'm back home and everything is going to be OK, total serenity. There was a sad period of time after I lost my dear friend Anne that I didn't travel to STJ for a while. Luckily I'm back on the annual ten day trip to the USVI's, so far I've been to STJ twice and STX once and will be back to STJ this November, I'm counting the days till we leave now. This is the third time I'll be staying at Bayview villa, up on Ajax Peak, it's a great place to relax and the views are breathtaking. The owner has actually written a book called Murder in Coral Bay, I've read it and it's an interesting story as he captures various real locations in the fictional story. Reading all the entries in this post has been enlightening, so many have been traveling to STJ for much longer than I but I am grateful for each and every trip I've made, especially for all of the memories I have, with Anne (she loved it so), my sister Jan, and now I look forward to the next trip in November with a newbie Alease. Can't wait!
Soarin' with the eagles all week long, and this is all that we've learned about living - VACATION!

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Bigcheeze
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Joined: Tue Nov 13, 2007 11:13 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: When and/or was your 1st Time on STJ

Post by Bigcheeze »

Greetings from the Original Poster and absent STJ Forumite. It was almost Love City Karma that brought me back to the Forum in the past few days...that and I needed to do some Tickers too.

So, before I go any further, STJ please accept my apologies for 'cheating' on you the past 2 Spring Breaks.

Now this is where someone should punch me in the face when I say we decided after 13 consecutive trips to the Rock...we wanted to try something different. ( I know most of the people I know don't even know where STJ is let alone have traveled here)...so saying something to them that we were 'bored' will get you a punch in the face or at least a look of disgust.

So in 2015 we decided to see what we could do about the local economy in Tortola and VG and spent a great week in CGB(Cane Garden Bay). Great times, restaurants, amazing views, Full Moon party, missed ferry from VG back to Tortola and had to get a private boat back...but in wasn't STJ...but it sure was nice. On the way home we had to stop and clear customs in STJ and it brought tears to my 15yr old Dau, Lil Cheeses' eyes. She even tried to convince us to change our plans of staying at Emerald Beach and get a few nights on STJ. She even had phone numbers on speed dial on her phone and was calling for rates...that's my girl. So, to make it up to her, we did get to STJ for a long 5 day weekend in Nov of that year for her 16th Bday( so, we didn't break the consecutive years so to speak...so all is good).

So, one would think after that experience dad would be booking 2016 on STJ for Spring Break ...right???? WRONG. I say let's go to the Bahamas...not the Nassau type but the Abacos...and Green Turtle Cay. Their Forumites are as addicted to their slice of paradise as the VIOL Forumites are...and with good reason. Again, it wasn't STJ, BUT it was awesome and had many things we don't get...like the jet not landing at Marsh Harbor for 2 days in a row because the airfield doesn't have instrument equipment plugged in YET...meaning they take you back to Miami and say comeback tomorrow and we try again. But it was nice and a great house on the beach, travel by golf cart, travel by center counsel boat to various islands..great, friendly people and awesome food...and we got to see where Vicki H hangs out too.

So, that brings us to NOW...is Dad going to deprive his family and spoiled brat Lil Cheese another Spring Break without a trip to STJ??? Only if he wants to be keel-hauled from stem to stern and not from side to side. Therefore, Spring Break is booked( the air at least), and she reminded us that it was nice spending a long weekend in Nov for her Bday, so we booked that too. And now this is where I will get punched in the face again, we have a 3rd trip in the works too all within a 4 month time period. One of my business associates knows how I have waxed on and on and on and on and on( ok you get the idea) about STJ he has enlisted me to be his travel coordinator for his 50th Bday Party among 20-30 of his closest friends and family and some that just want to go to STJ. And I told him I would have to go and be there to act as their concierge. :D

Might as well start a Travel Agency too...and so I did with the affiliation with a Host agency; Travel Planners International out of Miami. our focus will be on trips to STJ...well duh...LOL.

Well, there you have my sorted tale of woe and can't wait to read and post again on the VIOL Forum.

Bigcheeze/Dave

'Enjoy the Journey'
Dave@VacationPlanningCenter.com
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