Virgin Islands Vacation - Day 10 - Saturday 05/28/11

The jeep is due back today, so we hiked to Neltjeburg. Spent the whole day there too! We made camp in one of the abandoned camp sites from who knows when and played on the beach all day long. With Curt's goggles, I saw a family of blue fish that looked kind of like Dory! There was a giant school swimming through the area all afternoon of little white fish. By giant, I mean there were hundred of thousands, maybe into the millions of them. The seagulls spent all day fishing them. 

Virgin Islands Vacation - Day 9 - Friday 05/27/11

Another beautiful, sunny day. Out for an another early morning adventure. We attempted to reach Santa Maria Bay first, but found it was blocked by a large gate with a no trespassing sign and barbed wire all the way around the top. Since we were already on that side of the island, and our faith in our own hiking skills was boosted after hiking to Neltjeberg and several other areas, we decided to hike down to Botany and Sandy Bay. It seems we just don't have the right password to get past this gatekeeper. We saw no other hikers and at least six vehicles pass us during our "no cars allowed" 30-minute hike. The hike was not bad at all since it was along one of the nicest roads on the island, complete with wide sidewalks.

First we visited Sandy Bay. What a hidden gem! This bay was of course, sandy, with rocky cliffs on either side, views of small uninhabited islands just off the coast, and the biggest waves on the island. It didn't look safe to swim in since it appeared that currents going in all different directions were meeting in this area. I couldn't stop photographing the entire time, while Curt just relaxed to the sound of the waves hitting the rocks. The greatest thing was, not only was this one of the most beautiful beaches, it was one of the most isolated also. The only other person we saw was at villa on the cliffs. 

Then we took the short walk up and around the corner to Botany Bay. We were surprised to find more ruins from an original plantation! This area was well kept. The jungle has been cleared out, not only from the ruins, but from the grounds area from the ruins all the way to the beach also. There's also a really nice looking rental place here. The bay itself was very rocky and not as pretty as Sandy Bay.

We had bought sandwich stuff for lunch everyday, but since the bread we bought went bad after only two days in the fridge, we had an excuse to eat out. No cruise ships were in so we headed downtown to have lunch at Gladys' Cafe, which I had read about in our travel book. We couldn't find Gladys,' so we ate at the Green Room Cafe instead. Then we finished up what little shopping we had to do, and along the way, found Gladys'. Go figure. :)  Anyways, we enjoyed the rest of the day playing cards at Hull Bay and having pizza at Thirteen.

Virgin Islands Vacation - Day 8 - Thursday 05/26/11

Sun!!! First, though, another attempt at getting to Sunsi Bay, this time from the southwest side. Again, no luck. It's beautiful from above but inaccessible except to serious hikers and climbers. Then off to the closest good beach at Smith Bay again for a full day! And enjoyed a full day of rays. Seems that the angle at which the Earth tilts and being in May combine to make the sun go directly overhead. I've never had such direct sun in my life. 15 minutes in this sun is about equivalent to 90 minutes in "direct" sun in Texas in summer. Thank goodness for sunscreen!!! And we're still a little red. After we couldn't handle any more sun, we took a nice drive up the mountain and checked out another condo area for possible future stays. Loved it. :) We finished the day with a really delicious dinner at a nice restaurant called Thirteen, just up the hill. It was one of the best meals I've had in my entire life. 

Virgin Islands Vacation - Day 7 - Wednesday 05/25/11

A misty morning gave us cool temperatures to ride around exploring in. We tried to access Sunsi Bay from the northern side. No luck. We did get down to Tutu Bay, another pretty, isolated one. Mostly rocky, with a few sandy areas. It appeared some people were living in tents down there. Exploring gave us a craving for what else but Hooter's. It's becoming a rule that we must go to Hooter's on our trips at least once. As we ate, we watched the cruise ship people walk around. The sun soon came out, so we went back to Smith Bay, paid the $4 entry fee, and enjoyed the beautiful beach and sun for a few hours before coming back to the condo and grilling out at the beach. 

Virgin Islands Vacation - Day 6 - Tuesday 05/24/11

Day trip to St. John's! We drove our rental onto the 7:00am barge for a 30-minute ride, and spent the day driving around, seeing as much as possible. St. John's is another one of the three major US Virgin Islands (the other is St. Croix). About 2/3 of St. John's is a national park. So there are few places to stay and where you can stay is quite expensive. So most people do like us, staying on St. Thomas, and taking day trips over.

St. John's must be one of our country's most beautiful national parks, hands down. The beaches are pristine. They're large, with fine sand, soft waves, and views of the surrounding mountainous islands and yachts passing through. A few of them have made the Top 10 Beaches in the World lists. We found a place to rent snorkeling gear for $5 and went out to one of the furthest bays, where we knew there was coral, and figured there would be fewer people. It was my first time snorkeling. What a view of a whole different world right beneath us! We saw lots of colorful fish. Curt went out further and saw a sting ray 20 feet away! I heard others saying they saw sea turtles. While the couple who's camp was next to ours was out snorkeling, a mongoose came and stole their lunch out of their bag. Mongooses (or is it mongeese?) are not so good at cleaning up after themselves... he left little plastic baggies were left everywhere. :) The couple laughed though. 

We took a scenic drive out to the east end of the island and back, stopping for some local pineapple tart. Just made it onto the 4:00 return barge, found pizza, and recluded to the condo for the evening. 

Virgin Islands Vacation - Day 5 - Monday 05/23/11

After a nice morning drive, we set up beach camp at Hull Bay, the closest nice beach to our place. We enjoyed the sun for about 15 minutes before a dark cloud came over us and poured. We grabbed a deck of cards and ran into the Hull Bay Hideaway beach bar and grill. And it poured. And poured. Curt had a delicious burger and I had a delicious fish sandwich for lunch. Meanwhile, it continued to pour. After several hours, we headed back to the condo in the rain, and rested a little. The sun finally came out, yay! So we went out to explore some more beaches on the east end.

The first stop was a Smith Bay, where we happened upon the beginnings of a little beach wedding. The wedding consisted of a bride and groom about our ages, a preacher, a small arch, a photographer and his assistant, a couple swimming nearby, and Curt and I, watching from a short distance. We took a walk to give them a little space and by the time we returned, the ceremony was just finishing up. We gave them a little honk and a congratulations, then continued on to see a few more beaches before sunset. Had a dinner at a "Bistro and Brewery" which turned out to be much more of a bistro than a brewery. But our salads and creme brule were delicious. 

Virgin Islands Vacation - Day 4 - Sunday 05/22/11

We began Sunday morning by exploring downtown Charlotte Amalie, the main town and the location of the original fortresses on the island. We went on Sunday morning to avoid crowds, pushy salesmen, and most importantly, to avoid cruise ship dockings. We did some light shopping at the one small market just as it was opening up, and then walked around downtown to explore and admire the Dutch influenced architecture. We saw the original fort, built in 1671, Hotel 1829, and the famous 99 steps, which Curt ran up. I stayed at the bottom...so I could take his picture. After buying a coffee and pineapple juice at the local cafe so that we could use their restrooms, we ventured on to explore the west side of the island.

And explore we did. We took a scenic route along the southwest coast and mountainside from which there were several picturesque stopping points. We did make it to Brewers Bay, but left before we inhaled too much of the secondary smoke. Accessing the other west end bays was more difficult. We didn't even attempt to reach the appropriately named "Perserverance Bay." On the far end, a nice gated entrance to nothing blocks off access to the two beaches we wanted to reach. We were told we could park and hike the 30 minute trail to the beach. I think we could've made it down, but we're out of shape and Curt didn't want to carry me back up the hill/mountain. So we moved on. We found the turnoff to Bordeaux Bay, but the neighborhood was sketchy and the dirt road looked too bad for our two-wheel drive Suzuki. So, we attempted to reach Stumpy Bay.

Although the access road to Stumpy Bay was marked in brown on the map, which usually means a dirt road, it was short, and the first two-thirds of it was an easy drive. We should have stopped at the cement slab at that point, parked, and walked the remainder of the way. But sometimes you can't tell how bad a road is until it's too late. We made it almost all the way down the steep hill before we saw a rocky, foot tall, uneven, drop off ahead with boards left from where others tried to pry their way out. Turning around was not an option without either getting stuck in the giant gutter or falling off a cliff, so we decided to drive backwards up the hill. Curt did an excellent job and made it as far as the rear-wheel drive Suzuki could have possibly made it going backwards on a steep dirt road that hadn't been up-kept in who-knows-how-long. At the point where the steep incline turned to ridiculously steep incline, we ran into trouble. We made it a few feet more, going up and down repeatedly, before getting stuck behind a very large rock. We were exhausted and needed a break, so we grabbed our sandwiches, gatorades, and towels, and walked down to the beach for lunch. After a few quick photos, we tried again for at least a half hour. This time, I stayed out of the car to help direct Curt around the ruts. Curt got it out from behind rock, and we went up a few feet at a time. But we clearly we not going to make it up this dirt road backwards in a rear wheel drive without causing damage to the car. So we loaded up the essentials and hiked up to the first "villa." The owner of the villa, which might be called an old cottage-on-a-hill in the mainland US was a 93 year old Creole woman on berets who had landscaped and cared for the land for 65 years. Her caretaker, an old woman from Minnesota who relocated to St. Thomas in 1985, let us use the phone to call a towing company. $150 later, we parked on that cement slab where we should have stopped in the first place and walked down to enjoy the beautiful, isolated, difficult-to-reach, Stumpy Bay. The daughter of the owner of the villa, a half-Creole, half-Dutch woman here visiting from the Netherlands, later joined us at the beach. She told us about the birthday parties they had at Stumpy Bay when she was a kid, were they used the leaves of the grape trees as plates, and the giant rocks as both tables and grills. In return for their help, and at the woman's request, we collected as many beautiful rocks as Curt could carry for them. They invited us in and treated us to fresh, home-grown pineapple -- the best I've ever tasted. 

After showering and cleaning up back at the condo, we tried to eat out for dinner, but not much is open on Sunday nights. So we ate in, then slept for a very long time. 

Virgin Islands Vacation - Day 3 - Saturday, 05/21/11

There was a light rain throughout the morning. First, we decided to find the trail from Dorothea Bay to Neltjeberg Bay (pronounced Nel-tee-burg) with help of "Nut," the fat little the neighborhood dog. After discovering the hidden entrance just off the beach, we packed up, and headed out on a little hike. Neltjeberg Bay is only one bay over from where we're at. By boat, it's just next door. But by land... The trail through the jungle followed the beach at first. But to get around the nice home on the cliffs, the trail took us inland a ways, up and down, past the giant termite nests, over the creek, through the hermit crab crawl-way, and past the incredibly old ruins of the original Neltjeberg plantation buildings, before bringing us to the huge, sandy, completely empty bay. It's no wonder. The roadway to get there is not on any map and would only be accessible by a four-wheel jeep. There were though, several dilapidated campsites, chairs, tables, grills, and fallen tire swings from over the years. After the rain lightened up, we took out the camera and took quite some number of sunless, yet good, beach pictures. We used our miniature tripod with bendable legs, which, with the camera's self-timer, allows to take plenty of pictures of the two of us together. We composed and took several such shots. We then explored the ruins of the original plantation, built around 1690, which were completely overgrown by jungle, before heading back for lunch.

We then took off to explore the beaches of the east side of the island. A missed turn at the beginning of the tour took us over the top of one of the mountains. It was significantly cooler and breezier up top. There were some pretty neat views, and pretty neat cliff-side villas, too. After finally getting back on track, it was time to take a break at the infamous "Udder Delight" ice cream and shake stop. Very good, but like all food on the island, twice as expensive as in the States. The sun started to make its way out, so we stopped at the only beach that has an entrance fee on the island. And worth the cost. Very nice. The birds were a little tame. They fished right where us, and few other people were swimming. They fly around up above, and then do a dive straight down 10 feet away. Two seconds later, they pop up, sometimes, with a little fishy in their beaks. After soaking up our first rays of sun, we took off to finish exploring the east end beaches before dark. The east end was built up with condos and beach houses, and not so many easily accessible beaches. But it was neat to see. We stopped for dinner at Duffy's Love Shack on Red Hook Bay, the American Yacht stopping bay, and had quite a good Polynesian pu-pu platter. After dinner, we went to see the party at Hull Bay, just down the road from the condo, where we enjoyed some nice live music. After letting Curt beat me at a ping-pong game at the bar, we attempted to make our way home in the dark. The lack of signs and roads that look like driveways caused us to miss the shortcut. But we made it back. Bedtime.

Virgin Islands Vacation - Day 2 - Friday, 05/20/11

It's been raining since we arrived. So we've used our rainy day appropriately by grocery shopping, a full days experience in itself. The culture here is just very laid back. Things move quite a bit slower. Hopefully we'll get some sunny days to lay out at the beach soon.

Virgin Islands Vacation - Day 1 - Thursday, 05/19/11

We arrived in St. Thomas with no problems. Our host picked us up at the airport and brought us to the condo. It's a really cute little place, really close to the beach. Looks like she's watched a few episodes of Trading Spaces. Nearly all the other people who live in the condo's work at the same company, called Caribbean Oil or something like that. They're all American, and very friendly. Our place feels like a safe little isolated area.

The island is very beautiful. It's very green with lots of colorful flowers, neat rocks, and amazing views. I have several pretty cool pictures already. The island is really a big mountain. The neighbors warned us not to even attempt to walk up the hill to the convenience store at the top unless we're athletes. We're at sea level and the top of the hill is at 900 ft elevation. The roads make me a bit nervous, but all the drivers seem acclimated to the narrow, winding, hilly, drive-on-the-left roads. Thank goodness Curt knows how to drive like this well.