spur of the moment trip!

JT · Post by JT » Wed Oct 25, 2006 12:11 pm

I've been stumped for a 60th birthday present for my wife. Funds are alot thinner this year then years past. Just out of curiosity I checked flight prices from Dulles to STT and got a $268 RT for Nov.7-21 [the week after her birthday], and said, "shoot, gotta do that!" Having a problem trying to find a 2 door Suzuki, low end car rental. Everybody is down to Libertys and Explorers. Got in touch with some friends down there who offered to let us stay in their camper down on the water near John's Folly and let us borrow their old beat up Dodge Spirit. Gonna take 'em up on the car, but rented a villa in Callabash Boom.The free camper was a temptation, but decided it was a little too hard on us at this point in our lives. Windspree is trying to find us a Vitara or Sidekick type car, but, if no luck, we gotta a back up plan with the old Dodge. Really want one more time in Coral Bay before the "progress" changes it forever. We swore last year when we left it would be our last STJ trip and Carriacou would be our next Carribean trip, but familiar faces, and the pull of STJ won out.So, 2 weeks from today we'll be in STJ for 2 weeks, with a weekend in Delaware, right before we leave, for the World Championship Pumpkin Chunkin Festival. We do that every year with a friend who built a cannon that shoots pumpkins almost 4000 feet! So a lot going on for the next 4 weeks,eh?

liamsaunt · Post by **liamsaunt** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 1:14 pm

Now that is the kind of birthday present that I want to get! I am jealous. Have a great trip, and post a report when you are back.

RJ in Wisconsin · Post by **RJ in Wisconsin** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 1:31 pm

JT:

Love the Calabash Boom views - which villa will you be staying in?

sea-nile · Post by **sea-nile** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 2:08 pm

RJ in Wisconsin.
I love your quote for you signature! I would love to live on STJ and spend Aug and Sept in Wisconisn (hurricane season and still pretty nice in WI.)

JT · Post by JT » Wed Oct 25, 2006 3:15 pm

RJ In Wisc- We'll be staying at Casa Nita. It's really more then we need, but affordable. No pool, no spa, but that doesn't really bother us. Got a great deck, sunrise view, close to some friends, close to Shipwreck,Saltpond,etc.We stayed there in May/June 2005 and they were building a house next door, but it didn't affect us.

Coden · Post by **Coden** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 5:40 pm

Love spur of the moment trips!! Have a wonderful time!!

AquaGirl · Post by **AquaGirl** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:19 pm

Boy are we jealous of this spur of the moment trip. Which airline did you book? That's a great fare. What is the routing for you flight? Do you have to fly all over the place to get there? Just curious - we live in the DC area too.
Thanks
B&J

JT · Post by JT » Thu Oct 26, 2006 7:08 am

B&J--We got the price directly from AA on line. We leave Dulles at 8:00a.m. and have a 45 minute switch in San Juan,arrive in ST at 2:05. Return flight is about the same, with a hour in San Juan, leaving ST at 4:40 getting back to Dulles at 9:35. Not bad! My schedule is pretty flexable, so I just started by looking for deals on the airfare. Two days ago AA had a boatload of days with the $268 price, but yesterday most of them had gone up. Still haven't found a budget 4wd but we'll work it out.No worries!

Jan&MikeVa · Post by **Jan&MikeVa** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 7:44 am

What a nice Birthday present!! So glad you opted for a villa over the tent. These are the special times in life that you'll carry forever, have a wonderful time!

Oh, and Happy Birthday to the Mrs.

Jan (aka Charlie)

papabou · Post by **papabou** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 8:45 am

if i recall dodge spirit is plain front wheel drive. if that will work, you might try renting car on stt and taking barge over. there have been several threads on pros & cons. have done that last 5 trips and plan same for dec trip. budget and avis at airport allow their cars to be taken to stj, hertz doesn't.

good luck

papabou

RJ in Wisconsin · Post by **RJ in Wisconsin** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 1:18 pm

JT:

Casa Nita looks really nice - please take some pics. of the views & post them when you return. Your wife is so lucky!
Have a wonderful time!

RJ

ShelleyZ · Post by **ShelleyZ** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 6:04 pm

Congratulations! We did the same thing in August. Booked the flights and villa a week before we arrived. The spontaneity made it even more special to the whole family, because of the surprise and delight that we had actually made it!

I would suggest calling Thomas at Hospitality Car Rental at 340-693-9160. He's located next to Cap's and has a smoothie stand, too. We found Thomas to live up to the name of his company --a naturally friendly guy who offers older model cars in great shape for a good price. And he makes the best smoothies on the island!

Enjoy every moment.
Shelley

JT · Post by JT » Sat Oct 28, 2006 4:43 pm

Thanks for the suggestion, Shelley. Windspree e-mailed me that they found a 2dr Vitara, just what we were looking for. Things are falling into place quite nicely.

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