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Trip Report May 11-25 - St. John Forum

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Trip Report May 11-25

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We (myself & Jackie), my son JJ & his family, and Jackie’s sister Alma (the “nanny”) flew in from EWR on May 11. United got us in ahead of schedule. Meeting us at baggage claim was our daughter Megan & her family, who had arrived separately from San Diego. Altogether that’s 13 of us ….the oldest grandchild was 8.

After collecting our belongings, Yogi herded us into his transit van and drove us to Crown Bay for the 215pm ferry. With painkillers from Tickles in hand, we were off to STJ.

I’ll pause here to mention that it was unseasonably warm for us. Chalk it up to a westerly wind, hazy sky, and that it was in the mid-40s when we left New Jersey. We’ve visited several times in May-June where it was in the mid-80s … not this time. The ferry ride provided some cooling relief, but that ended when we arrived in The Creek.

Destination St. John greeted us there and took myself, Alma, and Meg to St. John Car Rental . After getting our Jeeps, we circled back to The Creek to collect our tribe & luggage. Our greeter then led us to our villa .

JJ had told everyone but Jackie & me where we were staying. Since he had arranged the vacation & wanted to surprise us, we couldn't complain. Over the 30 years visiting STJ, we’ve stayed at some “OK” places, and some nice ones. Villa Rapture in the Virgin Grand Estates is the nicest. Facing west, it has a spectacular view of STJ, STT and, on clearer days, out to Vieques. Some nits, but they didn't mar the vacation or our opinion of the villa.

Over the two weeks, we did get out to Hawksnest, Trunk, Cinnamon, or Maho most days. But the little ones needed their afternoon naps, so we usually returned by 1pm. Dined-in mostly; the exception was taking everyone to the Beach Bar a couple of times. Meg and & Co. flew back to San Diego on the 17th, so the rest of us had a nice dinner at the Saturday Lobster Night at MM. JJ’s sister-in-law and her kiddo’s arrived during Week Two to replace Meg.

We all more-or-less departed for New Jersey on the Saturday the 25th.

1. Crowded! Difficult parking! In mid-May? Especially Hawksnest & Trunk. After 10, we had better luck at Cinnamon or Maho. Maybe families with children just out of college? We always managed to find a spot with enough shade, plus Alma brought along a packable 10’x10’ tent that helped. Can’t imagine what the crowds will be like once schools are out.

2. Food? Especially with this large a group, not surprisingly it was really REALLY expensive.

3. Adventures? Ha! We were either villa or beach-bound. Just getting everyone to the beach was an accomplishment! Meg & JJ learned that Rt 206 isn’t the quickest way to get to Maho (don’t trust Waze!). Alma found a dead tarantula in her bedroom. And we did capture a live bat that was flying in the great room during the day. Probably rabid.

4. Electricity. Big problem on the islands just before we arrived. But everything seemed OK at first. Then starting on the 17th there were occasional issues, becoming more frequent around the 21st. V Rapture has a large solar panel array, so we were mostly unaffected, but you could hear the almost-constant drone of the Westin and St John Markets’ generators running below us. On the night of the 22nd, when most of STJ was dark, our batteries finally died … until power was restored to STJ about 20 min later. (To the best of our knowledge, Rapture does not have a functional generator. It didn’t activate when our power went out.) Things stabilized after that. but it is a concern for me.

5. Best painkillers we found were at the food trunk at Cinnamon. $16 each, which were cheaper than $21 at Maho. But little shade at Cinnamon. Size-wise, Beach Bar’s painkillers are a shadow of their former self. So we just drank more of them.

6. Plenty of shoreline sealife at Maho for the kiddos to see. Juvie turtles and barracuda that came close in. An impressive stingray. Many palometa.

7. We spent most of our last day at the Emerald Beach Resort close to the airport. About $190 for a daypass room. But JJ could give his little guy a nap before the flight home at 630pm. When we arrived at the airport at 4pm, it was amazingly quiet. On a Saturday?? Check-in and customs were a breeze. GE and TSA-pre unnecessary. Once inside the airport, it was not bad. The actual flight home was a mess, but I'll spare you the details.

Overall. it was another wonderful visit for us. And with this large a group, it was certainly different. But to be with our family again on STJ, it was a blessing.

(PS: Next time, it’ll be just Jackie & me!

4 replies to this topic

Wow, quite the fear with a big group. Sou ds like a great time for all minus the power issues. Thank,God I don’t drink. I am so cheap, I would have a heart attack when Ingot the bill. Just a beer for DH is $$ enough haha. I cannot wait for July to get here, crowds or not…hopefully not.

Thanks for sharing.

fun times. thanks for your trip report.

It’s fun to be with a large group but tough getting everyone going and then everyone back when they need to be. A lot of compromising to be had. The drink prices are insane! Over $40 for two drinks at a Maho ? No wonder we don’t go there. The said part is you can buy an entire bottle of rum for not much more than $10. My hubby makes his own painkillers at home and had it down to a science. Including the fresh nutmeg! Thanks for taking the time to write a trip report.

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London UK to Saint John - New Brunswick Forum

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From the research I've done so far, it seems that the domestic flight schedules are extremely limited (2 flights per day from Toronto Pearson) and so I am wracking my brain trying to find the best times to fly out from London as well. Also, I don't have a driving licence as it is simply too expensive to own a car these days, and driving lessons are way too expensive anyway, and I'm sure the public travel from the airport to the city are limited too...

So many obstacles in the way but I want to see my friend so badly, so I'd appreciate some advice to navigate this rather multi-faceted trip. Thank you ^_^

2 replies to this topic

I'm going to assume that your friend you're visiting will be taking care of most of the arrangements once you arrive, as coming to Saint John in the winter with no ability to drive seems a bit crazy. But, flying there is the easier part. There's nothing unusual about flying somewhere that requires a stop in a connecting city along the way.

Any particular reason you've chosen winter for this?

Agree with the above.

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