~Livin' La Vida Lovango~ Trip Report day 1

msgcolleen · Post by **msgcolleen** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 9:50 pm

~Livin' La Vida Lovango~

A bit of background: This was our 7th trip to St. John over the last 8 years. (yes we are truly blessed!)Mainly with family but now our 3rd trip for just the two of us! (highly recommended!)

Last fall we read about Lovango Cay & the Love Shack in the St. John magazine thinking how amazing it would be to live there! As I was doing my usual ultra-mega endless search for the perfect villa, I stumbled on a site that listed the Love Shack & cottage for rent!! I raced back to the magazine and stuck it in hubby's face and said, this is it!! Funny, that just days after that, the on-stjohn blog site featured a video all about it! I quickly emailed to see if the beach cottage was available! It was, but we had to wait till 2 weeks before our trip to see if the Love Shack main house was going to rent first. If it did not, then we could have the cottage to ourselves. Since October is super low season I had a back-up list of villas on STJ that were available so we crossed our fingers and hoped for the best! Good news: Lovango Cay, here we come!

*** Oh, btw, I just heard they are dropping the "wait till 2 weeks before the trip rule", so now you can book the cottage anytime!!***

Oct 1~ Travel Day!

I'll spare you the boredom getting there but made it right on time into St. Thomas with Rachel Taxi waiting for us to load up our 1 carry-on suitcase and 1 carry-on cooler full of frozen steak, shrimp, and other tasty treats for the week! She told us great stories along the way and could not believe that the 46 years she has lived on STT, she has NEVER been to St. John!! WOW! Too scared to get on a boat or ferry but she can maneuver her van all over the crazy roads of St. Thomas every day. I don't get it! Anyway we made it to the American Yacht Harbor near Red Hook in record time to meet our Lovango island hosts for the week, Dan & Marcy Boyd (yes, the same Marcy that manages the Cloud Nine Villas that we stayed at 2 years ago so we didn't know we already knew each other!)

After a quick stop at Marina Market for some island beverages we loaded the boat for Lovango Cay! OMG! I can't believe we really made it!

Marcy showed us around.

The front porch with awesome views of St. John!

Looking out the cottage door!

~Comfy cottage bedroom~

~Screened in kitchen~

~Private cabana bathroom~

With lovely view of the ocean from the shower!

We met our caretaker named Santa who lives close by. What a sweet and quiet man that we can call anytime to take us to St. John or fetch fresh eggs from the chicken coup up the hill. After settling in, Marcy and Dan were ready to drive their truck up to the top of Lovango where they lived. (lucky ducks) We had everyone’s cell #'s in case we needed anything! (AT&T cell phone coverage worked great!) As they walked down the beach to head home, we felt like teenagers who’s parents just left and we had the whole place to ourselves! Ahhhh~ paradise!

As the sun faded away and the lights around St. John started to glow, we unpacked and whipped up some garlic shrimp tortellini for dinner. YUM! Everything tastes better here! The almost full moon was coming up and the sound of the constant waves and trade winds were soothing our minds. We were ready to crash after a full day of cars, planes, taxis & boats!

Coming up: Snorkelin', chillin' & grillin' on Lovango

Lovermont · Post by **Lovermont** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 10:01 pm

Lucky you! Looking forward to the rest of the report. Thanks for sharing.

Lovermont

lprof · Post by **lprof** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 10:05 pm

Those are great views across to St John... you are off to a great start, and I get the feeling that this trip was very special.
... and that shower is certainly a true "outdoor" shower.
Looking forward to more of Lovango....

Carolyn · Post by **Carolyn** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 10:08 pm

Great start! Love the view of St John. The cottage and surrounds looks absolutely glorious... can't wait to hear more!

Exit Zero · Post by **Exit Zero** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 10:16 pm

Thank you for taking the time to post about your trip - I appreciate it.

JJShaw · Post by **JJShaw** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 10:17 pm

We have been waiting to see your report...cant wait to read more...

California Girl · Post by **California Girl** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 10:34 pm

Oh boy! You started your trip report!

msgcolleen wrote: Everything tastes better here!

I know what you mean. That's how I felt on our trip, too! Every meal was divine, no matter how simple it was.

Your pictures are gorgeous!

Pianogrl · Post by **Pianogrl** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 11:00 pm

YEA!!! Your first installment of your trip report! We've been waiting....thank you, thank you, thank you!

Awesome start.....the pics are beautiful. Looking forward to more!

Glad you made it home safely.

iowaguy · Post by **iowaguy** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 11:44 pm

Now THIS is a fun trip report....you are living my fantasy...I have been dreaming about Lovango Cay lately so the timing is perfect!

XOXO · Post by **XOXO** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 11:51 pm

Sounds wonderful! I can't wait to hear more.
Gina

hoosierdaddy · Post by **hoosierdaddy** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 1:01 am

I didn't know you could stay there. This promises to be a one unique trip report.

Maggy · Post by **Maggy** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 2:56 am

This looks fantastic. I didn't know you could rent this either. Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to the rest.

cptnkirk · Post by **cptnkirk** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 5:57 am

Can't wait to here more. Honey and I have spent many a days sitting under our palms on Salomon staring at Lovango. I always like taking zoom photos of the places over there.

Wanda Creech · Post by **Wanda Creech** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 7:02 am

We have been looking at this place for years from
Sago Palms. Thanks for sharing. Can't wait to hear about the snorkeling.

mindehankins · Post by **mindehankins** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 7:35 am

I have SO been looking forward to this! Thanks so much for not making us wait. Beautiful!

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