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Trip Report 8 Tuff Miles
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chicagoans
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Trip Report 8 Tuff Miles
Trip Report for 8 Tuff Miles
I planned this trip nearly a year ago for me and my two kids, Delaney (17) and Nate (15). It was my 5th trip to STJ and their 4th. On a whim in December, I checked for flights and seats and realized that I had enough miles to get my sister and niece there too! So Jan and Gabby came along – their first time on STJ and surely not their last. I was so excited to show them my favorite island!
Sunday was travel day and nicely uneventful. After getting the cars (we got two but should have just rented one) and groceries we headed across the island to Dreamweaver, which is on the Magnificent Mile above Coral Bay. I had reserved this house originally for just me and the kids, but there was space for all 5 of us. Dreamweaver is an affordable, comfortable house with a very nicely stocked kitchen and a gorgeous view.
The road to Dreamweaver
We loved the view!
Too late for a burger at Skinny’s (the kitchen closes at nine - who knew?) so we ate at the house.
Monday – Cinnamon and Kayaking to Whistling Cay
Woke up to a beautiful sunrise and hummingbirds on the deck. Ahhh, St. John!
Kayaked from Cinnamon to Whistling Cay, then to Francis to hang on the beach there for awhile.
Ruins at Whistling Cay
Ruins at Cinnamon
Tuesday – Salt Pond Bay and Ram Head
On Tuesday we went to Salt Pond Bay, which has always been one of our favorite beaches –it’s usually pretty quiet, we love the hike to Ram Head, and we usually have good snorkeling here.
This was our first trip without my dear DH. He passed away just a few weeks after our 8 Tuff Trip last year, after a 3 year battle with cancer. We thought that a visit to Ram Head would be a great place for a remembrance for him.
We shared some stories, left some flowers, cried a little, and threw ashes to the wind.
Wednesday – Solomon Hike (and a Sick Day)
Well something broke bad* on me on Wednesday and I spent the whole day at the house, being sick! It was killing me to miss a day on St. John. (*OK I’m pretty sure it was the water. After drinking a few gallons of bottled water, we refilled them from a tap in the kitchen that had filtered water. Yes, I should know better. Yes, next time it’s bottled water only!)
Luckily everyone else felt fine, and my awesome sister wanted my kids to do something they hadn’t done before. So they all headed over to do the hike to Solomon. (We had only been there before via dinghy.)
Thursday – Little Lameshur
I’ve always had some of my best snorkeling at Little Lameshur. We took the trail toward Yawzi Point and went down to that little cove where you can enter the water. And the beach was beautiful and quiet that day!
Stopped by Tourist Trap on our way back and celebrated life
Friday – Dinghy Day
We rented two dinghies from Calypso, grabbed some lunch at Deli Grotto, and headed out to Waterlemon. It was blustery and cool, and right when we got to Waterlemon it poured rain. We jumped into the water, since it was warmer than the air, and hung out for a while. (I didn’t want to snorkel around the cay until visibility for the boats was better.)
Once the rain passed by (for the time being), we snorkeled around the cay. It was a snorkel good day – we saw a spotted ray, some starfish, the biggest trunk fish I’ve ever seen, and the coral on the far side of the cay looked great.
Waterlemon Cay
We then headed back towards Cruz Bay with stops at a few other beaches and some beverages at Caneel.
Saturday – Race Day!
One of the owners of Dreamweaver met us at Skinny Legs in the early morning and drove us to Cruz Bay. This was really great because we didn’t have to hitch in either direction; we just left one of our cars at Skinny’s. This was my third time running 8 Tuff, second for my kids and first for my sister and niece. And it was WET! It poured right before the race, during, and after.
During the pre-race deluge, I tried scrunching onto some bleachers with a bunch of other people under a shelter near the start line, and cleverly wiped out on the bleachers. Ouch! Massive bruise from ankle to knee. In addition, (and sorry because I griped about this before in an earlier post), I fell on the ice in December and fractured my sacrum, forcing me to take some time off running. So between the injuries, rain, and recent gastrointestinal fun caused by non-bottled water… let’s just say I wasn’t at the top of my game. I was very happy that I only came in 3 minutes behind last year’s time, but of course now I want to go back and beat my best time, sans injuries.
Chopper at the start
Muddy finish
My awesome sis, who doesn’t run and has tendonitis, rocked it and got her medal!
I love hanging at Skinny’s after the race for sun and painkillers. Sadly, it was raining again, so we sat in the car for a while because there was no room under the roof at Skinny’s. Finally we decided to have lunch at Miss Lucy’s. We were too early, so we killed some time getting snacks at the Calabash Market before heading back to Lucy’s for lunch.
Post race joy:
Race swag – I love the bottle opener medals:
After lunch*, we hot tubbed for a while and then headed over to Maho. Maho never disappoints!
Then we cruised around the east end for a while so sis and niece could see what that’s like.
Warning: icky alert. *Ok, apparently I’m a slow learner because at Lucy’s we again drank “filtered water.” Yes it came back to haunt some of us. DS, all 6’5” of him, was totally down for the count on Saturday night. Puke-tacular. Since he was staying in the loft over the girls’ room, it was extra special. Teenage girls + barf = drama. Sigh. Big cleanup but my great sis helped and it was sparkling when done. And yes, the water came back to haunt sis and niece on the ferry and plane home. Yep, I should have known better, and now I do. Take it from me, if you’re out of bottled water, just drink some rum. And always carry extra plastic bags with you. Big help on the ferry and plane – no one knew of their woes!
Sunday – Walk of Woe, Small World, The Kindness of Strangers
My w.o.w. message in the sand:
At the ferry terminal, we saw a couple who had just seen off their friends. DS was wearing a high school basketball shirt, which they noticed because they’re from the same home town! They’re retired and spend half the year back here and half on St. John. Sounds great to me! Then on the plane I started chatting with the couple next to me. (I like to sit on the aisle and have my kids window/aisle across the aisle from me.) It turns out that they were staying with the couple I just met from my home town! Small world.
We had some drama on arrival at STT. DS was still feeling awful, so at each stop (Red Hook, STT, etc.) he pretty much disappeared to find the men’s room. Poor kiddo. After disembarking from the van, he took off and the rest of us found a porter and loaded our stuff onto her cart. DS found us again in line at the counter and asked where his backpack was. It was nowhere to be found, and it had his laptop, Beats headphones, and all his homework for the week. Panic! I told him to find the taxi dispatcher (“Umm… what’s a dispatcher look like?”) and asked DD to find our porter (“Mom, I don’t remember what she looks like.”) Then I ran back to where we disembarked the van to see if it was on the ground. As I was wondering whether I had time to taxi back to Red Hook and back again before the flight, the porter and dispatcher found me. I remembered our van # (thank goodness!) and they were able to contact him. He had “something” in his van, and was on his way back to Red Hook. He found a van coming to STT and passed the mystery bag to him. The second van arrived after an anxious 20 minutes or so, and he had the backpack! Hooray! I’m extremely grateful to the kindness and persistence of the porter, dispatcher, and both van drivers. Tips of gratitude all around and I’m just sorry I couldn’t give an additional tip to the first van driver, since we didn’t see him again.
Other than the filtered water drama, we all made it home safe and sound with no more excitement.
Random Sea Creatures
As always, I loved St. John and felt like I was at home, or at least my second home or my wanna-be home.
I planned this trip nearly a year ago for me and my two kids, Delaney (17) and Nate (15). It was my 5th trip to STJ and their 4th. On a whim in December, I checked for flights and seats and realized that I had enough miles to get my sister and niece there too! So Jan and Gabby came along – their first time on STJ and surely not their last. I was so excited to show them my favorite island!
Sunday was travel day and nicely uneventful. After getting the cars (we got two but should have just rented one) and groceries we headed across the island to Dreamweaver, which is on the Magnificent Mile above Coral Bay. I had reserved this house originally for just me and the kids, but there was space for all 5 of us. Dreamweaver is an affordable, comfortable house with a very nicely stocked kitchen and a gorgeous view.
The road to Dreamweaver
We loved the view!
Too late for a burger at Skinny’s (the kitchen closes at nine - who knew?) so we ate at the house.
Monday – Cinnamon and Kayaking to Whistling Cay
Woke up to a beautiful sunrise and hummingbirds on the deck. Ahhh, St. John!
Kayaked from Cinnamon to Whistling Cay, then to Francis to hang on the beach there for awhile.
Ruins at Whistling Cay
Ruins at Cinnamon
Tuesday – Salt Pond Bay and Ram Head
On Tuesday we went to Salt Pond Bay, which has always been one of our favorite beaches –it’s usually pretty quiet, we love the hike to Ram Head, and we usually have good snorkeling here.
This was our first trip without my dear DH. He passed away just a few weeks after our 8 Tuff Trip last year, after a 3 year battle with cancer. We thought that a visit to Ram Head would be a great place for a remembrance for him.
We shared some stories, left some flowers, cried a little, and threw ashes to the wind.
Wednesday – Solomon Hike (and a Sick Day)
Well something broke bad* on me on Wednesday and I spent the whole day at the house, being sick! It was killing me to miss a day on St. John. (*OK I’m pretty sure it was the water. After drinking a few gallons of bottled water, we refilled them from a tap in the kitchen that had filtered water. Yes, I should know better. Yes, next time it’s bottled water only!)
Luckily everyone else felt fine, and my awesome sister wanted my kids to do something they hadn’t done before. So they all headed over to do the hike to Solomon. (We had only been there before via dinghy.)
Thursday – Little Lameshur
I’ve always had some of my best snorkeling at Little Lameshur. We took the trail toward Yawzi Point and went down to that little cove where you can enter the water. And the beach was beautiful and quiet that day!
Stopped by Tourist Trap on our way back and celebrated life
Friday – Dinghy Day
We rented two dinghies from Calypso, grabbed some lunch at Deli Grotto, and headed out to Waterlemon. It was blustery and cool, and right when we got to Waterlemon it poured rain. We jumped into the water, since it was warmer than the air, and hung out for a while. (I didn’t want to snorkel around the cay until visibility for the boats was better.)
Once the rain passed by (for the time being), we snorkeled around the cay. It was a snorkel good day – we saw a spotted ray, some starfish, the biggest trunk fish I’ve ever seen, and the coral on the far side of the cay looked great.
Waterlemon Cay
We then headed back towards Cruz Bay with stops at a few other beaches and some beverages at Caneel.
Saturday – Race Day!
One of the owners of Dreamweaver met us at Skinny Legs in the early morning and drove us to Cruz Bay. This was really great because we didn’t have to hitch in either direction; we just left one of our cars at Skinny’s. This was my third time running 8 Tuff, second for my kids and first for my sister and niece. And it was WET! It poured right before the race, during, and after.
During the pre-race deluge, I tried scrunching onto some bleachers with a bunch of other people under a shelter near the start line, and cleverly wiped out on the bleachers. Ouch! Massive bruise from ankle to knee. In addition, (and sorry because I griped about this before in an earlier post), I fell on the ice in December and fractured my sacrum, forcing me to take some time off running. So between the injuries, rain, and recent gastrointestinal fun caused by non-bottled water… let’s just say I wasn’t at the top of my game. I was very happy that I only came in 3 minutes behind last year’s time, but of course now I want to go back and beat my best time, sans injuries.
Chopper at the start
Muddy finish
My awesome sis, who doesn’t run and has tendonitis, rocked it and got her medal!
I love hanging at Skinny’s after the race for sun and painkillers. Sadly, it was raining again, so we sat in the car for a while because there was no room under the roof at Skinny’s. Finally we decided to have lunch at Miss Lucy’s. We were too early, so we killed some time getting snacks at the Calabash Market before heading back to Lucy’s for lunch.
Post race joy:
Race swag – I love the bottle opener medals:
After lunch*, we hot tubbed for a while and then headed over to Maho. Maho never disappoints!
Then we cruised around the east end for a while so sis and niece could see what that’s like.
Warning: icky alert. *Ok, apparently I’m a slow learner because at Lucy’s we again drank “filtered water.” Yes it came back to haunt some of us. DS, all 6’5” of him, was totally down for the count on Saturday night. Puke-tacular. Since he was staying in the loft over the girls’ room, it was extra special. Teenage girls + barf = drama. Sigh. Big cleanup but my great sis helped and it was sparkling when done. And yes, the water came back to haunt sis and niece on the ferry and plane home. Yep, I should have known better, and now I do. Take it from me, if you’re out of bottled water, just drink some rum. And always carry extra plastic bags with you. Big help on the ferry and plane – no one knew of their woes!
Sunday – Walk of Woe, Small World, The Kindness of Strangers
My w.o.w. message in the sand:
At the ferry terminal, we saw a couple who had just seen off their friends. DS was wearing a high school basketball shirt, which they noticed because they’re from the same home town! They’re retired and spend half the year back here and half on St. John. Sounds great to me! Then on the plane I started chatting with the couple next to me. (I like to sit on the aisle and have my kids window/aisle across the aisle from me.) It turns out that they were staying with the couple I just met from my home town! Small world.
We had some drama on arrival at STT. DS was still feeling awful, so at each stop (Red Hook, STT, etc.) he pretty much disappeared to find the men’s room. Poor kiddo. After disembarking from the van, he took off and the rest of us found a porter and loaded our stuff onto her cart. DS found us again in line at the counter and asked where his backpack was. It was nowhere to be found, and it had his laptop, Beats headphones, and all his homework for the week. Panic! I told him to find the taxi dispatcher (“Umm… what’s a dispatcher look like?”) and asked DD to find our porter (“Mom, I don’t remember what she looks like.”) Then I ran back to where we disembarked the van to see if it was on the ground. As I was wondering whether I had time to taxi back to Red Hook and back again before the flight, the porter and dispatcher found me. I remembered our van # (thank goodness!) and they were able to contact him. He had “something” in his van, and was on his way back to Red Hook. He found a van coming to STT and passed the mystery bag to him. The second van arrived after an anxious 20 minutes or so, and he had the backpack! Hooray! I’m extremely grateful to the kindness and persistence of the porter, dispatcher, and both van drivers. Tips of gratitude all around and I’m just sorry I couldn’t give an additional tip to the first van driver, since we didn’t see him again.
Other than the filtered water drama, we all made it home safe and sound with no more excitement.
Random Sea Creatures
As always, I loved St. John and felt like I was at home, or at least my second home or my wanna-be home.
Re: Trip Report 8 Tuff Miles
Great trip report! What a beautiful view from Dreamweaver. I love Coral Bay and would find myself just gazing at that view.
3 minutes off from last year, that is definetly cause to go back for a redo. LOL!
Hats off to your sister! Not a runner and she concoured 8 tough miles. Woohoo! That is impressive. Was it her first race?
Rams Head is a special place. We have brought floweres from the funerals of several Loved ones there. It just seemed like the right thing to do, and helped to sooth our sadness. I hope it had a similar effect for all of you.
3 minutes off from last year, that is definetly cause to go back for a redo. LOL!
Hats off to your sister! Not a runner and she concoured 8 tough miles. Woohoo! That is impressive. Was it her first race?
Rams Head is a special place. We have brought floweres from the funerals of several Loved ones there. It just seemed like the right thing to do, and helped to sooth our sadness. I hope it had a similar effect for all of you.
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msgcolleen
- Posts: 1497
- Joined: Thu Oct 05, 2006 8:33 am
- Location: Allen, Texas
Re: Trip Report 8 Tuff Miles
WOW! What an adventure! The GOOD, the bad, the HAPPY, the sad! These are the amazing experiences you will always remember on your island adventures!
The 8 Tuff Miles is on my bucket list! Hoping to make it over the finish line one day and maybe see you there too...
Sorry for all the tummy troubles but I guess bottled water, and lots of it, is the way to go~
Thanks for sharing your trip with us! Cheers to you and your family with more island memories to come!!
The 8 Tuff Miles is on my bucket list! Hoping to make it over the finish line one day and maybe see you there too...
Sorry for all the tummy troubles but I guess bottled water, and lots of it, is the way to go~
Thanks for sharing your trip with us! Cheers to you and your family with more island memories to come!!
I've got 2 tickets to paradise~Pack your bags we'll leave tonight!
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
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michigan girls
- Posts: 595
- Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2012 5:06 pm
- Location: West Michigan
Re: Trip Report 8 Tuff Miles
Great report - thanks!
I loved staying up on the Magnificent mile. I really do believe they have the best views of anywhere on island.
I had bag drama last year at the airport also. After I got through customs I realized I didn't have my laptop bag. We had the wonderful Daphne as our porter and she dashed back through customs and found it for me up by the ticket counter.
I'm impressed that you managed 8 tuff with all your recent challenges - Kudos to you!
I loved staying up on the Magnificent mile. I really do believe they have the best views of anywhere on island.
I had bag drama last year at the airport also. After I got through customs I realized I didn't have my laptop bag. We had the wonderful Daphne as our porter and she dashed back through customs and found it for me up by the ticket counter.
I'm impressed that you managed 8 tuff with all your recent challenges - Kudos to you!
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chicagoans
- Posts: 1586
- Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2007 2:51 pm
- Location: IL
Re: Trip Report 8 Tuff Miles
Daphne was our porter too! Hats off to her - extremely nice and very helpful.michigan girls wrote:
I had bag drama last year at the airport also. After I got through customs I realized I didn't have my laptop bag. We had the wonderful Daphne as our porter and she dashed back through customs and found it for me up by the ticket counter.
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MadCityMom
- Posts: 124
- Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2013 5:45 pm
Re: Trip Report 8 Tuff Miles
What a great trip report Chicagoans! I remember your story from last year and what a wonderful way to remember your husband. And even with the rest of your trip's highs and lows, illness and lost bags, it sure makes for great memories! We call it an adventure. Thanks also for the wonderful pictures!
Re: Trip Report 8 Tuff Miles
Congrats to all of your group who ran the 8 Tuff Miles -- a feat to be quite proud of.
I was surprised to hear of the drinking water problem - I went to the Dreamweaver VRBO page and they mention specifically that the water is treated and " An in-line Seagull water filter system ensures water is pure and clean for drinking".
I was surprised to hear of the drinking water problem - I went to the Dreamweaver VRBO page and they mention specifically that the water is treated and " An in-line Seagull water filter system ensures water is pure and clean for drinking".
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Teresa_Rae
- Posts: 2053
- Joined: Mon Oct 09, 2006 5:44 pm
- Location: Downstate IL
Re: Trip Report 8 Tuff Miles
On STJ I won’t drink tap water from the villa, but I will drink it at restaurants. I’ve convinced myself, whether it’s true or not, that restaurants have their water tested. Plus, all those rum drinks come with ice, and I assume the ice is made with tap water. At the villa I make my own ice with bottled water.
Let us live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.
- Mark Twain
- Mark Twain
Re: Trip Report 8 Tuff Miles
Beautiful report all around! Congrats on the 8 Tuff. Don't know how anyone does it!
Trip report 2009
http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... highlight=
Trip report 2008
So good, so good, so good!
http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... highlight=
http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... highlight=
Trip report 2008
So good, so good, so good!
http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... highlight=
Re: Trip Report 8 Tuff Miles
Wonderful report, great pictures! Congratulations on doing so well at 8 Tuff despite all of the challenges you faced.
I am glad that you got to come back with you kids this year. I remember your report from last year, and how sad I was for you and your family after your husband passed. I wish you all the best.
I am glad that you got to come back with you kids this year. I remember your report from last year, and how sad I was for you and your family after your husband passed. I wish you all the best.
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
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chicagoans
- Posts: 1586
- Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2007 2:51 pm
- Location: IL
Re: Trip Report 8 Tuff Miles
Thanks all for reading!
On the water issue... yes Dreamweaver has a tap for filtered water, and I've had my share of drinks with ice on the island over multiple trips. Maybe it was something else that affected all of us (but that seemed to be the common denominator.) Hmmm... maybe after months in the clutches of the Polar Vortex our systems were just in shock from being warm and sun burned!
On the water issue... yes Dreamweaver has a tap for filtered water, and I've had my share of drinks with ice on the island over multiple trips. Maybe it was something else that affected all of us (but that seemed to be the common denominator.) Hmmm... maybe after months in the clutches of the Polar Vortex our systems were just in shock from being warm and sun burned!
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Teresa_Rae
- Posts: 2053
- Joined: Mon Oct 09, 2006 5:44 pm
- Location: Downstate IL
Re: Trip Report 8 Tuff Miles
The bottled water we buy on STJ is labeled that it's been purified via reverse osmosis...I wonder if restaurants buy their ice (which would have been made with RO water) or if they have ice makers in house?
Either way, I'm glad your family had a nice trip, I can imagine that it was difficult and emotional without your husband, I'm sorry for your loss.
Either way, I'm glad your family had a nice trip, I can imagine that it was difficult and emotional without your husband, I'm sorry for your loss.
Let us live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.
- Mark Twain
- Mark Twain
Re: Trip Report 8 Tuff Miles
Great pictures! I'm adding "kayak to Whistling Cay" to my wish list for next week!
Re: Trip Report 8 Tuff Miles
Loved your review and the video your daughter did. Glad your sister was able to experience it with you. What a wonderful way to tribute your husbands ashes. He would be so proud of you and how you are celebrating LIFE with your family.
I have yet to rent kayaks and go to whistling cay. It is always too rough at Cinnamon. We have to try it next year.
I have yet to rent kayaks and go to whistling cay. It is always too rough at Cinnamon. We have to try it next year.
Re: Trip Report 8 Tuff Miles
Enjoyed the report. Sorry to hear about the bout with the shissues. Never fun, especially when air travel is involved.
Congrats on 8 Tuff. I like to jog, but still don't get how people can run up that first incline out of Cruz. I'd have to hike it.
Good on ya.
Congrats on 8 Tuff. I like to jog, but still don't get how people can run up that first incline out of Cruz. I'd have to hike it.
Good on ya.
It’s not about yesterday or tomorrow...It’s about today, for come what may – Sun, rain, or hurricane – we've only time for a smile, and none for sorrow