16th July 2010 Chicago to Miami to St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.

We got up at 6:45am and our taxi to O'Hare picked us up at 9:45. We started the day out right with a $34 pair of shots and beers at the Skyscraper Bar and boarded our flight to Miami. Oddly enough, the guy sitting next to us used to live in the house across the street from ours. It's a small world. He was headed back home to Boca Raton after a week of work in Chicago. Our flight was a little behind schedule so when we got to Miami we had to run to the gate. We grabbed a hot dog and chicken sandwich at Nathan's and boarded our flight to St. Thomas. After a few hours, we were back "home" in the Virgin Islands...

We had a red Jeep Wrangler ready for us through Discount Car Rental, and after we signed for it, we were off through Charlotte Amalie and on to the Marriott...home for the next week. We actually found a parking spot right at the main entrance to the resort. We dropped off our bags, and headed downstairs to the Captains Cafe and split a burger. After our snack we headed up to the Rum Bar for a few drinks until they closed. Our original room was considered a "resort" view...which I think means you get a nice view of the hotel roof, but after a bit of negotiating, we ended up with a beautiful view of St. Thomas Harbor.

17th July 2010

We got up around 9:30am today...our 6th wedding anniversary! We wouldn't want to be celebrating it anywhere else in the world! It was a bit overcast and stormed off and on today, but we still had a great time. We hopped in the Jeep and drove to Redhook and then on to Sapphire Beach. The weather cooperated for a little while. There was a storm on the horizon that slowly crept its way towards us, until an allout downpour erupted. We were hungry so we ordered a pizza and some Presidente's, and by the time they got there, the rain was done and we were able to eat on the beach.

Eventually it was time to head to the aiport to pick up our friends from Minnesota. It wasn't quite time yet, so we stopped at the Island Beach Comber on Lindbergh Beach to have a few drinks and get some drinks to go for our friends. Finally their flight arrived and they hopped in the Jeep. First stop was the Pueblo grocery store. We saved a lot of money by buying beer, vodka, and snacks at the grocery store. Then, it was on to the Marriott, where amazingly enough, we again got a parking spot in the circle. After dropping off our groceries and getting settled in, we went out to our friends balcony and watched as a cruise ship left St. Thomas Harbor. After that, we got ready and headed to our anniversary dinner at Oceana in Frenchtown. Tiffany had steak again, and I had the pan seared halibut. Then we all topped it off by sharing a chocolate cake with caramel ice cream.

18th July 2010: Jost Van Dyke, B.V.I.

Today we got up at 6am and went to the Redhook Ferry Terminal to catch a ferry to Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands. We first headed over to St. John to pick up a few other passengers. They were running late, seemed to already be drunk, and kept us at the dock much longer than we needed to. Finally we headed out and made our way to Great Harbour on Jost Van Dyke. Upon arrival we hopped off the ferry and went through "customs", which was a small blue building right next to the dock. From there we took a $5 taxi ride to White Bay. We were dropped off at the Sandcastle Hotel, home of the famous Soggy Dollar Bar. We dropped our snorkel gear and bags off at the beach and came back up to the bar for an excellent "Pirates Breakfast". James had the popular Pain Killer drink, which is said to have originated at this place. From there, we walked down the beach to the One Love Bar and Grill, where we had a few drinks and eventually ate lunch. After lunch we signed our names on the ceiling, and went down to the far end of the beach to try out the snorkeling. There was quite a bit to see underwater, and the sun was nice and hot. By then it was getting close to time to leave, so we walked all the way to the other end of the beach to visit Ivan's Stress-Free Bar. There is a short trail that goes up about 20 feet above sea level to help you avoid the rocky area of the beach. Ivan's is a very cool place. The walls are decorated with pictures and shell mosaics. The bar is frequented by Kenny Chesney, and is the bar in the No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem video. Unfortunately, we missed Kenny by one week. The bar tender and a guest said he was sitting at the bar the Saturday before. Bummer. Right when we got to the bar, a heavy storm blew in, and we called to have our taxi pick us up. We still wanted to go to Foxy's in Great Harbour. The rain came down very heavy, and we had to jump out of the van and run for cover when we arrived. We had enough time for a couple drinks, but then we had to get back to the ferry dock by 3pm. The way back was fun. There was a very intoxicated woman keeping everyone entertained. Before we knew it, our trip was over and we were back at the terminal in Redhook on St. Thomas.

We stopped for happy hour at Big Bambooz and got some conch fritters & cheese fries. That is where we met Gus the bartender. It was a fun time. After happy hour was over, grabbed a few more drinks and went down to the hot tub at Morningstar Beach. When we finally ran out of beer and got hungry again, we headed back to our rooms to get ready for dinner. Our place of choice for tonight was Iggie's. We sat out on a picnic table out on the beach. The band Liquid Sunshine was playing again, and we even saw Gus from Big Bambooz. I had the teryaki chicken with rice, beans, & veggies, and Tiff had a chicken wrap. After dinner we hung out for a little bit and then called it a night.

19th July 2010

We got up around 9:30 today and had our cinnamon butter loaf and a few diet cokes out on the balcony. After we got ready, we met our friends in the lobby and headed out to tour the island. We first went up to the Mafolie Hotel to show them the view of St. Thomas Harbor. From there we got lost a few times trying to get to Drake's Seat to see Magens Bay Beach. It was extremely busy...taxis coming and going constantly, a local man peddling pictures with his pet goat, a bus with a tire that was ready to explode. From Drake's Seat, we went down to Magens Bay. It was very crowded but the water was calm and it was very beautiful. We got pizza and cheeseburgers for lunch. The weather was overcast and rainy, so we hopped back in the Jeep and headed off to Coki Beach, our favorite beach on St. Thomas. We were a little hesitant, given that a 14 year old tourist was killed there just one week before. The sun actually came out for a while so we all went snorkeling. There were a ton of fish and it was very nice. Eventually, following the pattern of this trip, the skies darkened and the opened up on us again. James and I ran out to the Jeep to put the side covers back on, and we got soaked. After the rain died down a bit, we headed off for yet another beach...Secret Harbor. We snorkeled a bit, but it was overcast and the water was a bit too murky. We got kicked out of the beach chairs and just decided to head back to the Marriott, just in time to see the Carnival Victory heading out of the harbor. For dinner, we headed down to Yacht Haven Grande and ate at Wikked. It was still storming like crazy, but it ended up being one of our favorite meals of the trip. We had conch fritters for an appetizer, Tiff had pasta, and I had tacos. We went through a few rounds of Red Bull and Vodkas, and decided it was time to head to Fat Turtle for the remainder of the night. Bryan the bar tender was working again, and he actually remembered us from our Memorial Day weekend trip. It ended up being a very fun night. Of course James and Autumn got the "special"...a drink the size of a pitcher. We ended our long evening of partying back at the Marriott.

20th July 2010

We awoke today to the future Tropical Storm Bonnie dumping its rain on us, and ended up spending most of the day hanging out at the hotel room. We ordered pizza from Dominoes for lunch. After watching the cruise ships leave, we went out in the rain to Havana Blue for dinner. James got the "special" - surf & turf, I had the Relleno Snapper, and Tiff had the Filet. We had a few more Red Bull & Vodkas, and eventually headed back to the hotel for the night.

21st July 2010: St. John, U.S.V.I.

This morning we awoke to sunshine and heat, which was great becuase today we were taking the Jeep to St. John on the car ferry in Redhook. The ferry was rocking pretty good, but we met a nice girl who helped to calm everything down. When we got to St. John, we went straight to Trunk Bay. Unfortunately we were unable to find a parking spot, so we went down the road to Cinnamon Bay, where after about 20 minutes of waiting, a spot opened up. Cinnamon was a bit of a disappointment this time. The water was dark brown due to the runoff from the heavy rains. On top of that, the sun seemed to disappear. So, after a few minutes, we made the choice to head back to Trunk Bay and try to find a spot again. On our way out we stopped at the Cinnamon Bay Loop Trail and checked out the old sugar factory. Back at Trunk Bay, we succeeded in finding a parking spot, and we were glad we did. The sun magically came back out, and the water was as blue and clear as ever. The beach was crowded, but we had a wonderful time and really soaked up the rays. We knew it wouldn't last, and we could eventually see the rain soaking St. Thomas and slowly creeping towards us. Finally it arrived, and we were still in the water when it downpoured...and didn't stop. We tried to wait it out up at the shower facility, but it just seemed to keep raining and raining. We made a mad dash back to the Jeep, and we were all soaked. The rain was running down the mountain in torrents and was flash flooding everywhere. We knew it was time to go, but we could see that the road was flooded pretty bad, so we just hung out until we saw another Jeep go through the water and followed it through. There were several spots on the road that were flooded, but we made it through them all fine. Then we came to a spot where traffic was stopped. A park ranger closed the road ahead of us. We had to wait about 10 minutes until he started letting everyone through, one by one. It was by far the deepest water we drove through, and i kept thinking "turn around, don't drown" as I drove deeper and deeper into the stream. It only took a few seconds and we were safely on the other side. Back in Cruz Bay, we hung out at High Tide and had a few drinks and some snacks. Tiffany found a bracelet she really liked at the store next door, so she bought it. Then we headed back to the ferry dock, got lost, and finally made it just before it left for the day. After we got cleaned up back at the Marriott, we headed up to the Mafolie for dinner. It was great as usual, and our friend from our last visit was bartending again, so we chatted with him after dinner. By then, we were all wore out so we went back to the Marriott and sat in the lobby until bed time.

22nd July 2010

Of course it was beautiful today, since we were leaving. We got up and went down to the breakfast bar and got a $21 breakfast buffett to-go. Then we hung out at our friends room until it was time to check out and leave. We dropped the Jeep off at Discount Car Rentals, and our driver took us to the airport where we sat until time to board our flight. The end of another great caribbean trip. Until next time...Jeremy.