Michigan Girls trip report part one
- michigan girls
- Posts: 595
- Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2012 5:06 pm
- Location: West Michigan
Michigan Girls trip report part one
I will try to limit my descriptions, as I tend to be really long winded. Also, I will make a separate post reviewing the services and business we used/visited after the trip report
04/10/12 - travel day
Left Detroit at 6AM. The only thing that makes it OK to be up and moving at 4AM is our destination. Not being a morning person, I managed to drop my suitcase on my toe in the airport and broke it. Oh well, a broken toe is a small price to pay. Our transfer in Miami was smooth, with time for lunch. Our arrival on St Thomas was beautiful, sunny and 86, and 15 minutes ahead of schedule! Found our rep from Christopher Taxi waiting at the baggage claim. Bags came out quickly and we were off to Red Hook. Met our Dohm's water taxi captain, Ryan, at the dock and we're on our way! Ryan was kind enough to pick up some Red Stripe for us before we landed, so we enjoyed our ice cold beer and a pleasant ride to Cruz Bay.
After unloading at the National Park dock, we were not quite sure which way to head for our rental car. A friendly taxi driver gave us instructions, then offered to drop us there for $2. It was hot and we had been traveling all day, so this sounded like a great deal to me. Arrived at Conrad Sutton shortly thereafter and picked up our Jeep Liberty. A quick review of the map to be sure we knew where to head from there and we're off to Coral Bay. The drive was beautiful, and not nearly as scary as I thought it might be. We arrived at Skinny Legs and called Marcia (our hostess) and let her know we were here. She said she would be down to find us shortly, so we split a turkey sandwich and a brownie and had some yummy cocktails.
[img]<a%20href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/77562199@N ... F2212"></a>[/img]
Marcia arrived by foot, so we all got into our rental and she directed us back to her home. I will review the cabana separately - here I'll just say it was charming and comfortable. We got all unpacked, made ourselves some rum & diets from the supplies left for us by our provisioner, and flipper through FFFWD to decide where to head in the morning.
04/11/12 - first full day
Off to the beach by 8:00AM. First stop - Salt Pond Bay. Saw lots of different fish. I particularly enjoyed the rocks along the right side, although it was rougher over there and had to fight the current some. As you can see, when we arrived, we mostly had it all to ourselves.
[img]<a%20href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/77562199@N ... _0017"></a>[/img]
After several hours it got a little busy (seems funny saying it was busy when there were maybe 40 people there) so we packed up and moved on to Little Lameshur. More people there than I expected, but not too bad. Although it was a little rough, the snorkling was not bad. Got lost in a huge school of small fry and got to swim with a ray. A visit to the ruins ended out day beautifully.
[img]<a%20href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/77562199@N ... _0048"></a>[/img]
Made a quick stop at Great Lameshur on our way out. Very pretty there, hope to be able to spend some more time there on a later trip.
[img]<a%20href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/77562199@N ... _0069"></a>[/img]
Not a lot of great snorkeling pics for this day, as I went in without the camera quite a bit. This one at least shows how nice and clear the water was
[img]<a%20href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/77562199@N ... T0008"></a>[/img]
Dinner was Aqua Bistro, I had a lovely grouper, and Sherry had swordfish. Shared an order of Conch fritters and a slice of key lime pie. Painkillers for both of us. Sorry, left the camera behind at dinner.
04/10/12 - travel day
Left Detroit at 6AM. The only thing that makes it OK to be up and moving at 4AM is our destination. Not being a morning person, I managed to drop my suitcase on my toe in the airport and broke it. Oh well, a broken toe is a small price to pay. Our transfer in Miami was smooth, with time for lunch. Our arrival on St Thomas was beautiful, sunny and 86, and 15 minutes ahead of schedule! Found our rep from Christopher Taxi waiting at the baggage claim. Bags came out quickly and we were off to Red Hook. Met our Dohm's water taxi captain, Ryan, at the dock and we're on our way! Ryan was kind enough to pick up some Red Stripe for us before we landed, so we enjoyed our ice cold beer and a pleasant ride to Cruz Bay.
After unloading at the National Park dock, we were not quite sure which way to head for our rental car. A friendly taxi driver gave us instructions, then offered to drop us there for $2. It was hot and we had been traveling all day, so this sounded like a great deal to me. Arrived at Conrad Sutton shortly thereafter and picked up our Jeep Liberty. A quick review of the map to be sure we knew where to head from there and we're off to Coral Bay. The drive was beautiful, and not nearly as scary as I thought it might be. We arrived at Skinny Legs and called Marcia (our hostess) and let her know we were here. She said she would be down to find us shortly, so we split a turkey sandwich and a brownie and had some yummy cocktails.
[img]<a%20href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/77562199@N ... F2212"></a>[/img]
Marcia arrived by foot, so we all got into our rental and she directed us back to her home. I will review the cabana separately - here I'll just say it was charming and comfortable. We got all unpacked, made ourselves some rum & diets from the supplies left for us by our provisioner, and flipper through FFFWD to decide where to head in the morning.
04/11/12 - first full day
Off to the beach by 8:00AM. First stop - Salt Pond Bay. Saw lots of different fish. I particularly enjoyed the rocks along the right side, although it was rougher over there and had to fight the current some. As you can see, when we arrived, we mostly had it all to ourselves.
[img]<a%20href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/77562199@N ... _0017"></a>[/img]
After several hours it got a little busy (seems funny saying it was busy when there were maybe 40 people there) so we packed up and moved on to Little Lameshur. More people there than I expected, but not too bad. Although it was a little rough, the snorkling was not bad. Got lost in a huge school of small fry and got to swim with a ray. A visit to the ruins ended out day beautifully.
[img]<a%20href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/77562199@N ... _0048"></a>[/img]
Made a quick stop at Great Lameshur on our way out. Very pretty there, hope to be able to spend some more time there on a later trip.
[img]<a%20href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/77562199@N ... _0069"></a>[/img]
Not a lot of great snorkeling pics for this day, as I went in without the camera quite a bit. This one at least shows how nice and clear the water was
[img]<a%20href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/77562199@N ... T0008"></a>[/img]
Dinner was Aqua Bistro, I had a lovely grouper, and Sherry had swordfish. Shared an order of Conch fritters and a slice of key lime pie. Painkillers for both of us. Sorry, left the camera behind at dinner.
- michigan girls
- Posts: 595
- Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2012 5:06 pm
- Location: West Michigan