Thirteen more days in paradise, part two

Travel discussion for St. John
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liamsaunt
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Thirteen more days in paradise, part two

Post by liamsaunt »

Part one: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/v ... O-5Q0J-9mA


Day five

Headed to Francis and got a great spot in the shade with a picnic table. Unfortunately, the wind was howling! I have never seen Francis like that before. No wonder we got such a great spot :lol:

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We only lasted two hours and then had to leave because we were cold. Headed to Coral Bay for lunch and ended up at Shipwreck Landing. Blackened shrimp caesar salad

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and grilled citrus mahi platter. Both were good.

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After lunch we went to Grootpan to see if we could snorkel but it was really wavy.

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We spent the afternoon at Maho. Managed a quick dip in the ocean but that was all for water today.

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We went in to town for a cocktail and decided to try Drink, which replaced Motu.

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I found their drink menu pretty appealing as it has lots of the flavors I like such as cucumber. I don’t remember what I ordered but it was something grapefruit and cucumber based. It was tasty.

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Dinner was at Waterfront Bistro. Shrimp sausage on sugarcane: I thought it was a little dry but John enjoyed it.

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We also ordered duck summer rolls (did not try as I don’t eat duck). We ordered a snapper with chipotle sauce which was excellent

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and a mahi mahi with bacon pineapple salsa.

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Tried the housemade ice creams for dessert. Lemon-cinnamon was interesting but my favorite was the mint chocolate chip.

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Day six

Woke up to find out that a blizzard was scheduled to hit Boston on the day we were scheduled to fly home and our current flight was not going to go, so we spent the morning making arrangements to stay a few days. Unfortunately absolutely everything (and I mean EVERYTHING, we looked!) on St. John was booked as it was President’s week, so we had to make plans on St. Thomas. We booked an ocean view room at Frenchman’s Reef for two nights and hoped for the best.

Weather was rotten in the morning with pouring rain, so there was no real reason to leave the house. It cleared up around noonish so we decided to head over to Caneel for some sushi.

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Spicy bite

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I love shrimp roll

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and baja roll.

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Caneel is so beautiful.

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Went back to Maho for the afternoon. The swells were still up and there were actually pretty big waves breaking. So odd for Maho.

Went into town for dinner again. We tried to go back to Drink for a pre-dinner cocktail but Grande Bay was having their manager’s reception there. They invited us to stay but John and I left pretty quickly. We got shoehorned into a time share sales pitch at a manager’s reception on our honeymoon and ever since have avoided them like the plague. (I am not saying that this was a time share pitch at all, it's just that the words "manager's reception" give us the heebee jeebies)

We had dinner at Rhumblines, which is always fun.

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We shared some of the appetizers: blackened and cornmeal crusted shrimp, crab cakes

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John had the tempura lobster tail

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and then we split the Szechuan tuna.

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Another uneventful evening back at Coqui.

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Day seven

Headed to the east end to meet with Leslie and Steve and Annette and hubby to snorkel out to Pelican Rock. Everyone else was already in the water by the time we got there. On our way over to join them, John found an eagle ray! Luckily I heard him calling me over, and we got to spend some time with it floating around.

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We also saw two different octopi

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brittle star

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balloonfish

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flamingo tounge

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squirrelfish

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Queen angelfish

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Unfortunately I got too cold and could not make it all the way out to Pelican Rock as my leg and left foot started cramping up. What we saw was pretty good though, and we will go back this summer.

Headed to lunch. Skinny’s was full so we went to Shipwreck for blackened shrimp appetizer and grouper tacos. YUM

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Spent a lazy afternoon hunting for sea glass and reading books. This was my haul on this day

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We stopped by Cinnamon on the way back to the villa and the surfers were out

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Dinner was at Oceans 362. We drove up to Gallows and then found out that there is no longer valet parking for the restaurant like there used to be when it was Zozos. However, someone from the resort was in the lot and offered to park our car for us and leave the keys at the front desk, and we gratefully accepted that offer. We tried a special of local pumpkin soup which tasted JUST LIKE the roasted squash soup I make at home even down to the same condiments haha.

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Saltfish fritters:

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We also had a tuna with beets (very nice) and a mahi with butter beans and bacon (too bacon-y. How is that even possible?).

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Too full for dessert. Leaving we noted how crazy crowded town was. All of the pay lots were full. President's week had arrived!
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
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Caw954s
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Re: Thirteen more days in paradise, part two

Post by Caw954s »

You are a true foodie liamsaunt! You could easily be a food critic for the Tradewinds news. I really enjoy your pics and commentary on the food, drinks, beaches, weather, sea life, I love it all, keep it coming and thanks for sharing!
Have a wonderful time :D
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Teresa_Rae
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Re: Thirteen more days in paradise, part two

Post by Teresa_Rae »

I'm starving now and I don't think I can eat anything in your pictures (I have celiac disease so no gluten plus an anaphylactic allergy to shellfish) :D

Thanks for the trip report. How is your health, Becky?
Let us live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.
- Mark Twain
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EagleRayLover
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Location: St. John -WooHoo!!

Re: Thirteen more days in paradise, part two

Post by EagleRayLover »

Still can't believe I didn't see the eagle ray!! Soon come please !!! Had fun with you!!
Leslie, Kids Night In Babysitting
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mahojim
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Re: Thirteen more days in paradise, part two

Post by mahojim »

Just wonderful.
Hope to meet up with Steve and Leslie in a couple of months...
Kind of concerned about the crowd potential when we visit during the week of Love City Country Music Festival.
Thanks so much for your gorgeous report and photos.
Smiles-
MJ
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SusanNJ
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Re: Thirteen more days in paradise, part two

Post by SusanNJ »

Love your trip reports as always! :D That's a great shot of the surfer... never would think you would see surfers on St. John!
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liamsaunt
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Re: Thirteen more days in paradise, part two

Post by liamsaunt »

Teresa_Rae wrote:I'm starving now and I don't think I can eat anything in your pictures (I have celiac disease so no gluten plus an anaphylactic allergy to shellfish) :D

Thanks for the trip report. How is your health, Becky?

We usually don't get shellfish because my nephew also has an anaphylactic allergy to crustaceans too. I almost never cook it at home, and when I do it is in a special pan and only if I know he is not coming over for at least three days. I do love shrimp and so I splurged on this vacation! You won't see any shellfish photos this summer because he is coming with us. Gluten however, that I cannot avoid. I did notice that there are a lot more gluten free products in the St. John markets. Have you found shopping a little easier in recent years, or do you still bring most of your food?

My health is good at the moment. I have to go for lab checks every three months for the forseeable future but so far all is well. Thank you for asking :D
EagleRayLover wrote:Still can't believe I didn't see the eagle ray!! Soon come please !!! Had fun with you!!
It was really fun hanging out with you and Steve! We will have to do it again this summer.

Final installment should be up at some point today. Once I start these reports I like to finish them as soon as possible. :lol:
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
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michigan girls
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Re: Thirteen more days in paradise, part two

Post by michigan girls »

I always get excited to see you post your trip reports because I know I'm going to get some great underwater and food porn pics!

You are clearly a better sea glass hunter than I am, I'm happy if I come home with 10 pieces. Where do you have the best luck?
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Teresa_Rae
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Re: Thirteen more days in paradise, part two

Post by Teresa_Rae »

liamsaunt wrote:
Teresa_Rae wrote:I'm starving now and I don't think I can eat anything in your pictures (I have celiac disease so no gluten plus an anaphylactic allergy to shellfish) :D

Thanks for the trip report. How is your health, Becky?

We usually don't get shellfish because my nephew also has an anaphylactic allergy to crustaceans too. I almost never cook it at home, and when I do it is in a special pan and only if I know he is not coming over for at least three days. I do love shrimp and so I splurged on this vacation! You won't see any shellfish photos this summer because he is coming with us. Gluten however, that I cannot avoid. I did notice that there are a lot more gluten free products in the St. John markets. Have you found shopping a little easier in recent years, or do you still bring most of your food?

My health is good at the moment. I have to go for lab checks every three months for the forseeable future but so far all is well. Thank you for asking :D
I've seen several GF specialty items at Starfish but they were so dang expensive that I would never buy them on STJ. One item I remember would cost $3 at home in a regular/gluten-containing version, an astounding $8 at home in the gluten free version, and Starfish had the GF version for $22!
Let us live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.
- Mark Twain
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shoemak38
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Re: Thirteen more days in paradise, part two

Post by shoemak38 »

:D :D :D
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ColumbiaSCTraveler
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Re: Thirteen more days in paradise, part two

Post by ColumbiaSCTraveler »

We do love that blackened shrimp from Shipwreck. YUM!

And we LOVE Rhumblines (Ultimate Pad Thai!!!!), but this trip, the one night we picked to visit, they were closed! Grrrr. But it's okay - we discovered La Tapa that night, so all was well.

What do y'all do with all that sea glass? GORGEOUS!!!!
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