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Trip Report:7 Year Itch (9/28-10/12/13)
Trip Report:7 Year Itch (9/28-10/12/13)
Just returned from 2 weeks on island.
We were married on 9/30, 7 years ago and we honeymooned on STJ. That was our first visit.
This was my introduction to St. John
I distinctly remember arriving that day and saying to my husband "I already know I want to return here. Maybe for our 10 year anniversary?". Ha....I am not the patient one in the marriage. This was our 6th trip!
This was our first time staying 2 weeks. I was unsure if that would be too long or if I would never want to leave. Turns out it was neither. 2 weeks was nice but I think we are better off in the 10-12 day range. We have been for 7 days and I am not a fan of just staying one week. Not enough time for me to really get in the groove. At 14 days we had the luxury of not having to do everything every day. We would do 2 weeks again if the price was right for airfare or something but 10 days is probably just right for us.
Lodging: Our first week was at Coconuts villa on Gifft Hill. We shared the villa with friends (also forum members) and we had a really great week despite the annoyance of shutdown. Much has been written here about Coconuts so I won't rehash. We really enjoyed this villa. Very comfortable and with all the modern conveniences you could want and then some. I was very very glad to have this villa to return to each day after trying to do the "shutdown beach shuffle".
After being asked to leave Hawksnest one day we felt like going to the beach was starting to become a hassle. How much time would you have at the "banned beach of the day" before being asked to leave. Floating around at the villa pool presented no such issues.
Kevin, owner of Coconuts and forum member himself, was great to work with. We will definitely look at returning to Coconuts or Plumeria in the future.
Second week was at Gallows. We have stayed at Gallows before and we really enjoy that property. I will say though that the units are not that well equipped if you plan to do a lot of cooking. We cooked breakfast and one dinner that I recall. Otherwise we were out at night or getting take out.
We are not snorkelers so for those of you looking for underwater photos I can't help you. Sorry! Seems I take less and less photos with each trip. I did enjoy using the new "pano" feature on iPhone and will include some of those at the end of this report.
Thankfully, the beach ban ended on Sunday of our second week. We had been talking about making all sorts of contingency plans for our second week (STT, BVI). None of which came to fruition once the ban was lifted. We just wanted to stay on STJ and enjoy our favorite spots with no worries.
This trip was a much needed break from the stresses of every day life. We enjoy returning to STJ because it is familiar and we don't feel the need to get here, there or the other place. We just do what we want when we want to. That is the beauty of returning for us. We will be back....some day. Not sure when but it's nice to know that the island will be there waiting for us when we are ready.
Maho pano
Hawksnest pano
Coconuts view pano
Trunk Pano
Mongoose pano
Gallows pano
Sunset pano
Ferry dock pano
We were married on 9/30, 7 years ago and we honeymooned on STJ. That was our first visit.
This was my introduction to St. John
I distinctly remember arriving that day and saying to my husband "I already know I want to return here. Maybe for our 10 year anniversary?". Ha....I am not the patient one in the marriage. This was our 6th trip!
This was our first time staying 2 weeks. I was unsure if that would be too long or if I would never want to leave. Turns out it was neither. 2 weeks was nice but I think we are better off in the 10-12 day range. We have been for 7 days and I am not a fan of just staying one week. Not enough time for me to really get in the groove. At 14 days we had the luxury of not having to do everything every day. We would do 2 weeks again if the price was right for airfare or something but 10 days is probably just right for us.
Lodging: Our first week was at Coconuts villa on Gifft Hill. We shared the villa with friends (also forum members) and we had a really great week despite the annoyance of shutdown. Much has been written here about Coconuts so I won't rehash. We really enjoyed this villa. Very comfortable and with all the modern conveniences you could want and then some. I was very very glad to have this villa to return to each day after trying to do the "shutdown beach shuffle".
After being asked to leave Hawksnest one day we felt like going to the beach was starting to become a hassle. How much time would you have at the "banned beach of the day" before being asked to leave. Floating around at the villa pool presented no such issues.
Kevin, owner of Coconuts and forum member himself, was great to work with. We will definitely look at returning to Coconuts or Plumeria in the future.
Second week was at Gallows. We have stayed at Gallows before and we really enjoy that property. I will say though that the units are not that well equipped if you plan to do a lot of cooking. We cooked breakfast and one dinner that I recall. Otherwise we were out at night or getting take out.
We are not snorkelers so for those of you looking for underwater photos I can't help you. Sorry! Seems I take less and less photos with each trip. I did enjoy using the new "pano" feature on iPhone and will include some of those at the end of this report.
Thankfully, the beach ban ended on Sunday of our second week. We had been talking about making all sorts of contingency plans for our second week (STT, BVI). None of which came to fruition once the ban was lifted. We just wanted to stay on STJ and enjoy our favorite spots with no worries.
This trip was a much needed break from the stresses of every day life. We enjoy returning to STJ because it is familiar and we don't feel the need to get here, there or the other place. We just do what we want when we want to. That is the beauty of returning for us. We will be back....some day. Not sure when but it's nice to know that the island will be there waiting for us when we are ready.
Maho pano
Hawksnest pano
Coconuts view pano
Trunk Pano
Mongoose pano
Gallows pano
Sunset pano
Ferry dock pano
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needmesomesun
- Posts: 236
- Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2010 3:51 pm
- Location: Unfortunately, not on St. John
Re: Trip Report:7 Year Itch (9/28-10/12/13)
Hi Marybeth and Charlie,
Happy Anniversary!
Beautiful photos. It was fun to meet you and be your *partners in crime* at Maho, lol. I think we were all troopers for dealing with the shutdown. Definitely made the best of it
Hope to see you again someday!
Happy Anniversary!
Beautiful photos. It was fun to meet you and be your *partners in crime* at Maho, lol. I think we were all troopers for dealing with the shutdown. Definitely made the best of it
Hope to see you again someday!"The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea."
~ Karen von Blixen
~ Karen von Blixen
Re: Trip Report:7 Year Itch (9/28-10/12/13)
Fun to meet you guys too!needmesomesun wrote:Hi Marybeth and Charlie,
Happy Anniversary!
Beautiful photos. It was fun to meet you and be your *partners in crime* at Maho, lol. I think we were all troopers for dealing with the shutdown. Definitely made the best of it
Re: Trip Report:7 Year Itch (9/28-10/12/13)
Those are great pictures for a phone!
Re: Trip Report:7 Year Itch (9/28-10/12/13)
Marybeth---I remember your first trip as honeymooners----cannot believe it has been 7 years! Thanks for the report---loved your pano shots---I need to try that on my phone.
---Jim
Re: Trip Report:7 Year Itch (9/28-10/12/13)
Thanks. The best feature by far of iOS7 is that pano. Really easy to use, also.
I have other photos that I am working on and will share here and/or on FB.
I have other photos that I am working on and will share here and/or on FB.
Re: Trip Report:7 Year Itch (9/28-10/12/13)
I was logging on to make the same comment as Iowaguy! You stayed at Bongo Bongo on your honeymoon, right?
Those pano pics are really nice.
Those pano pics are really nice.
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
Re: Trip Report:7 Year Itch (9/28-10/12/13)
Yes, we did! And we finally got the meet the Bongo boys on this trip. That was fun!liamsaunt wrote:I was logging on to make the same comment as Iowaguy! You stayed at Bongo Bongo on your honeymoon, right?