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T&T Tour - Day 1 Gromit's version with tips and playlis
T&T Tour - Day 1 Gromit's version with tips and playlis
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/9D ... site"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4ypwZiy7vU8/Sky_d ... 7.JPG"></a>
Cast of Characters
Flip Flops: FF, Mr. FF, Mini FF & Belly Flop
Gromits: Me, Mr. Gromit aka Tony Stewart, Mama Gromit, Auntie Gromit and Cousin Gromit
Disclaimer: I write these mostly for myself to keep track (or try to at least of my trip). Apologies in advance for crass humor, ridiculous detail, hyperbole and general silliness.
DAY 1: Travel Day
iTunes Daily Soundtrack:
Rock & Roll – Eric Hutchinson
Stuck in the Middle With You – Stealers Wheel
Swing on Down – Donavon Frankenreiter
Caravan – Van Morrison
Cobrastyle – Teddybears feat. Mad Cobra
Gone Fishin – Louis Armstrong
Here Comes the Sun – Nina Simone
Iko Iko – Belle Stars
ALWAYS sucks. No matter how much I try not to stress about this day I cannot seem to quite let go. In fact I really don’t relax until I have all my peeps and all of our luggage and are on the ferry on the way to STJ.
This time we opted for AA from DCA thru Miami to STT. I hadn’t done this route in a while and now I wonder why I ever stopped.
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/zR ... site"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_4ypwZiy7vU8/Skovr ... 1.JPG"></a>
From DC this breaks up our trip quite nicely into roughly two even segments of about 2-2.5 hours each.
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/de ... site"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4ypwZiy7vU8/Skovs ... 2.JPG"></a>
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/5T ... site"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4ypwZiy7vU8/Skovu ... 3.JPG"></a>
Plus since MIA is a major hub for AA their lounges are very nice. Even nicer to be able to share it with the Flip Flops. It just makes what is otherwise a brutal travel day that much more civilized.
Arrived at 2:30 pm on STT. Of course ours were the LAST bags on the carousel. UGH!
Gromit Tip #1: If you are a lot of people with a lot of luggage, spend $10 and get a porter.
Since we had so many people we pretty much used porters every chance we got. This made things much easier in the long run. Sure it cost a few extra bucks but we thought it was worth it.
We really wanted to make the 4 pm ferry from Red Hook and at this point it was roughly 3:30. Since the car rental places close at 5pm and we are staying in Coral Bay (and didn’t want to have to come all the way back the next day to fill out paperwork) we really wanted to get to STJ with plenty of time and not have to rush. So we really wanted to snag the Red Hook ferry if we could.
We asked the driver if he thought we could make it. He said “Yes.”
FF looked at me and I looked at her and we both looked at our watches. Then I remembered a phrase from a previous trip… so I asked, “You gonna ‘shoot the hills’?” The driver smiled and he said, “You got it.”
Gromit Tip #2: When pressed for the Red Hook ferry, tell the driver to “Shoot the Hills”
We arrived at the Red Hook ferry with about 5 mins to spare and before we knew it we were headed to our Happy Place.
Arrived on the Rock and put the master plan into play- Pick up respective rental cars (we used St. John car rental and STILL love them!)
Flip Flop and I let Mama Gromit, the hubbies and the kiddos follow the villa greeter to Casa Luna while we stayed back to do grocery shopping and pick up Auntie Gromit and Cousin Gromit on a later ferry.
We ordered a ton of stuff from Uncle Joes and then headed off to Pine Peace to start the grocery extravaganza.
Gromit Tip #3: Don’t fear Pine Peace.
I know some folks like to shop at Starfish cause it feels more like the stores you find at home, but trust me, Pine Peace has a great selection at great prices for MOST things. Sure their grocery carts are a little jacked up and maneuvering thru the store with your jacked up cart can be challenging but hey, it’s vacation!
Our strategy for this trip was to shop for items to make a couple of simple suppers, occasional lunches and lots of snacks for the beach and house.
At Pine Peace we FILLED UP the cart with sodas, case of Ting, fruits, veggies, lunchmeat, cookies, chips, hot dogs, buns, bagels, oil, butter, liquor etc. etc. and the total was around $245 for all of it.
This is definitely the cheaper place to shop for liquor and mixers. Also their bagger helped us out to the car with all our stuff—SUPER nice folks!
Gromit Tip # 4: JUST BAGELS. Buy them!! For someone who knows a good bagel these are probably the best bagels we have ever found in a store. They are usually found in the frozen section of either Pine Peace (in Cruz Bay) or Lilly’s (Coral Bay). They are made in Bronx, NY and shipped down. Seriously these are the BEST bagels and when you try them you will know what I mean. They are crisp on the outside and soft on the inside just like REAL bagels should be. They aren’t expensive and come min pkgs of 6. We love the multigrain and the cinnamon raisin, but trust me and grab a bag on your next trip!
After the first hit at Pine Peace we headed to the dock to pick up Auntie Gromit and Cousin Gromit.
Once they were on board we headed to Starfish to grab the remainder of our grocery list: Frozen burgers, chicken breasts and a handful of other items. Total: $143. At this point we were happy that we’d hit Pine Peace first!
Finally with all our krewe together and groceries in back we swung by Uncle Joes, picked up dinner and then headed up the North Shore Road to Coral bay just as the sun was starting to set. Thsi was definitely the pain free way to get UJ's!!
At this point it started to pour. I think I discovered every pothole on the North Shore Road that evening!
Finally we arrived at the house, unloaded groceries. I usually keep EVERYTHING in the fridge, especially bread. The humidity is so high that it will make everything pretty soggy and items will spoil faster. Once you open a package of anything it is best to just put it in the fridge.
Finally we dug in to UJ’s BBQ. It was FANTASTIC!!
After dinner we spent a bit of time upacking and settling in so that we could start the trip fresh the next day.
Of course, it wasn’t all work! Several of us opted for a dip in the pool followed by some quality time in the hot tub to relax our sore muscles from the long travel day. We had been up since 4:30 am and we were WIPED!!
Gromit Tip # 5: If you are traveling with multiple couples or groups, we always make sure that each couple has their own vehicle. Better yet, vary the sizes of those vehicles for maximum flexibility.
For the Gromits we rented a Nitro and a Jeep Wrangler. Most of the time Mr. Gromit and I used the Wrangler and let my mom use the Nitro (which was a bit more civilized). But for venturing out with a few more people the Nitro allowed us to only take one car. So the flexibility was nice.
Gromit Tip #6: Bring Nalgene bottles, fill them up with water every night and put them in the freezer for the next day. Everything melts so quickly on island that by the time you need water its melted and ice cold!! ALWAYS drink plenty of water on island. You can become dehydrated quickly, especially in the summer months when it is hotter.
With the brutal travel day behind us, we were looking forward to a spectacular week! Sorry I don't have more pictures of this day! More pics soon come!
Cast of Characters
Flip Flops: FF, Mr. FF, Mini FF & Belly Flop
Gromits: Me, Mr. Gromit aka Tony Stewart, Mama Gromit, Auntie Gromit and Cousin Gromit
Disclaimer: I write these mostly for myself to keep track (or try to at least of my trip). Apologies in advance for crass humor, ridiculous detail, hyperbole and general silliness.
DAY 1: Travel Day
iTunes Daily Soundtrack:
Rock & Roll – Eric Hutchinson
Stuck in the Middle With You – Stealers Wheel
Swing on Down – Donavon Frankenreiter
Caravan – Van Morrison
Cobrastyle – Teddybears feat. Mad Cobra
Gone Fishin – Louis Armstrong
Here Comes the Sun – Nina Simone
Iko Iko – Belle Stars
ALWAYS sucks. No matter how much I try not to stress about this day I cannot seem to quite let go. In fact I really don’t relax until I have all my peeps and all of our luggage and are on the ferry on the way to STJ.
This time we opted for AA from DCA thru Miami to STT. I hadn’t done this route in a while and now I wonder why I ever stopped.
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/zR ... site"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_4ypwZiy7vU8/Skovr ... 1.JPG"></a>
From DC this breaks up our trip quite nicely into roughly two even segments of about 2-2.5 hours each.
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/de ... site"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4ypwZiy7vU8/Skovs ... 2.JPG"></a>
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/5T ... site"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4ypwZiy7vU8/Skovu ... 3.JPG"></a>
Plus since MIA is a major hub for AA their lounges are very nice. Even nicer to be able to share it with the Flip Flops. It just makes what is otherwise a brutal travel day that much more civilized.
Arrived at 2:30 pm on STT. Of course ours were the LAST bags on the carousel. UGH!
Gromit Tip #1: If you are a lot of people with a lot of luggage, spend $10 and get a porter.
Since we had so many people we pretty much used porters every chance we got. This made things much easier in the long run. Sure it cost a few extra bucks but we thought it was worth it.
We really wanted to make the 4 pm ferry from Red Hook and at this point it was roughly 3:30. Since the car rental places close at 5pm and we are staying in Coral Bay (and didn’t want to have to come all the way back the next day to fill out paperwork) we really wanted to get to STJ with plenty of time and not have to rush. So we really wanted to snag the Red Hook ferry if we could.
We asked the driver if he thought we could make it. He said “Yes.”
FF looked at me and I looked at her and we both looked at our watches. Then I remembered a phrase from a previous trip… so I asked, “You gonna ‘shoot the hills’?” The driver smiled and he said, “You got it.”
Gromit Tip #2: When pressed for the Red Hook ferry, tell the driver to “Shoot the Hills”
We arrived at the Red Hook ferry with about 5 mins to spare and before we knew it we were headed to our Happy Place.
Arrived on the Rock and put the master plan into play- Pick up respective rental cars (we used St. John car rental and STILL love them!)
Flip Flop and I let Mama Gromit, the hubbies and the kiddos follow the villa greeter to Casa Luna while we stayed back to do grocery shopping and pick up Auntie Gromit and Cousin Gromit on a later ferry.
We ordered a ton of stuff from Uncle Joes and then headed off to Pine Peace to start the grocery extravaganza.
Gromit Tip #3: Don’t fear Pine Peace.
I know some folks like to shop at Starfish cause it feels more like the stores you find at home, but trust me, Pine Peace has a great selection at great prices for MOST things. Sure their grocery carts are a little jacked up and maneuvering thru the store with your jacked up cart can be challenging but hey, it’s vacation!
Our strategy for this trip was to shop for items to make a couple of simple suppers, occasional lunches and lots of snacks for the beach and house.
At Pine Peace we FILLED UP the cart with sodas, case of Ting, fruits, veggies, lunchmeat, cookies, chips, hot dogs, buns, bagels, oil, butter, liquor etc. etc. and the total was around $245 for all of it.
This is definitely the cheaper place to shop for liquor and mixers. Also their bagger helped us out to the car with all our stuff—SUPER nice folks!
Gromit Tip # 4: JUST BAGELS. Buy them!! For someone who knows a good bagel these are probably the best bagels we have ever found in a store. They are usually found in the frozen section of either Pine Peace (in Cruz Bay) or Lilly’s (Coral Bay). They are made in Bronx, NY and shipped down. Seriously these are the BEST bagels and when you try them you will know what I mean. They are crisp on the outside and soft on the inside just like REAL bagels should be. They aren’t expensive and come min pkgs of 6. We love the multigrain and the cinnamon raisin, but trust me and grab a bag on your next trip!
After the first hit at Pine Peace we headed to the dock to pick up Auntie Gromit and Cousin Gromit.
Once they were on board we headed to Starfish to grab the remainder of our grocery list: Frozen burgers, chicken breasts and a handful of other items. Total: $143. At this point we were happy that we’d hit Pine Peace first!
Finally with all our krewe together and groceries in back we swung by Uncle Joes, picked up dinner and then headed up the North Shore Road to Coral bay just as the sun was starting to set. Thsi was definitely the pain free way to get UJ's!!
At this point it started to pour. I think I discovered every pothole on the North Shore Road that evening!
Finally we arrived at the house, unloaded groceries. I usually keep EVERYTHING in the fridge, especially bread. The humidity is so high that it will make everything pretty soggy and items will spoil faster. Once you open a package of anything it is best to just put it in the fridge.
Finally we dug in to UJ’s BBQ. It was FANTASTIC!!
After dinner we spent a bit of time upacking and settling in so that we could start the trip fresh the next day.
Of course, it wasn’t all work! Several of us opted for a dip in the pool followed by some quality time in the hot tub to relax our sore muscles from the long travel day. We had been up since 4:30 am and we were WIPED!!
Gromit Tip # 5: If you are traveling with multiple couples or groups, we always make sure that each couple has their own vehicle. Better yet, vary the sizes of those vehicles for maximum flexibility.
For the Gromits we rented a Nitro and a Jeep Wrangler. Most of the time Mr. Gromit and I used the Wrangler and let my mom use the Nitro (which was a bit more civilized). But for venturing out with a few more people the Nitro allowed us to only take one car. So the flexibility was nice.
Gromit Tip #6: Bring Nalgene bottles, fill them up with water every night and put them in the freezer for the next day. Everything melts so quickly on island that by the time you need water its melted and ice cold!! ALWAYS drink plenty of water on island. You can become dehydrated quickly, especially in the summer months when it is hotter.
With the brutal travel day behind us, we were looking forward to a spectacular week! Sorry I don't have more pictures of this day! More pics soon come!
*Another fine scatterbrained production
-
nothintolose
- Posts: 1960
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:36 pm
- Location: New Orleans, LA
Gromit, we did the nalgene bottles this year too. I was kicking myself the whole time wondering why I didn't do it sooner. Saved tons of $. We also brought a large extra bottle to the beach for refills as I drink a ton of H2o on the beach.
"Sponges grow in the ocean...I wonder how much deeper it would be if that didn't happen."