Writing this on March 13 – Vacation is about leaving all of your responsibilities, work and obligations behind- doing what you love or just chilling out without a care in the world. There is a saying- “no good vacation goes un punished” and the late entry of this last installment of our STJ vacation is a testament to our hectic lives full of work, family and craziness. But, our last three days were truly about the Three R’S of STJ and oh how I wish I could still be there!
After discovering the location of the Bordeaux Mountain trailhead on Day 8 – hubby and big brother decided to take that hike from up above 1100 ft elevation, down to sea level. The hike ends at Little Lameshure, so the rest of us were going to pack up the jeep and head down to meet them and spend the day at the beach. Dropped the guys off at the trailhead and got to have my first experience driving on the left- not sure if it counts since there were no other cars on the road. Got back to the villa and the three of us gathered up the snorkel gear, towels, beach chairs, made lunch and jumped in the jeep in record time! Little brother drove and it took us just about the same amount of time to get down to the road to where we said we would meet as it did for the guys to descend the mountain- morning traffic and a couple of herds of goats and we were there!
The guys had made the hike in about 45 minutes so they had been wandering around for a bit. They had seen an islander in the bay singing “In the Jungle” when they finished the hike. There were not many people around, and this guy was singing loudly and enjoying the water and island breezes.
We set up under some shady trees and spent most of the rest of the day snorkeling, brothers did a little more hiking and just watching the world pass by. There was one couple that showed up and they were happy to be away from what turned out to be the first of many snow storms Boston was experiencing. They were friendly, but the guy turned out to be kind of a tool- saw him snorkel and pull a lobster out of its home in the rocks and then pull an anemone out and wave it around to show his wife, after he came out of the water he decided it would be a good idea to fly fish from shore into a bay full of snorkelers. One local guy that was getting ready to paddle board asked him to stop or move to a safer location and Boston Boy just looked at him and his wife told the local guy to have a nice day. One of the best features of St. John is the really kind and kicked back vibe – but occasionally it takes some people a few trips before they figure it out and become aware. No fights, we just kind of shook our heads and headed out for some lunch.
We had planned to head to Cruz Bay to souvenir shop, but learned about a fire that had happened at Mongoose Junction that day. The island had all of its fire departments report, so we decided that we did not need to add to the crowd and decided to head home. After a stop at Miss Lucy’s where we split 2 grouper rueben sandwiches between the 5 of us and wishing we had each ordered one, we headed to the grocery store. We heard more about the fire there and it had taken out several businesses. The reaction of the islanders reminded me of how a small town comes together I these situations.
We headed home for some filets and roasted sweet potatoes on the grill, a night of packing and relaxing and headed out on the car ferry the next morning. We stayed at the Best Western Carib next to the airport and finished our trip up with dinner at Oceana in Frenchtown. St John is about Relaxation in a pool- jacuzzi- or on the beach. Recreation like people watching, – hiking, snorkeling ,diving, swimming and boating. Reconnection with human beings is the best reason to visit. the kindness on this island is like no place else. People are welcoming, helpful and accepting. Go there to reconnect with nature- family – your partner or spouse but most of all with yourself.
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