Safe return

Safe return, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Well I guess I should have done a post to let you know Mike and Lisa made it back safe (but they never let me know either:-) but we had a great day on St. John, went to Cinnamon for the day, then to Joe's Rumhut then back to STT. My phone died early in the day so I couldn't do live posts. My iPhone battery is not lasting a full day now so that's not good.

Jay is doing a Puerto Rico trip today so I've been hanging out at the house and shopping with Shelba (my landlord)

Waitin' at Woodys

Waitin' at Woodys, originally uploaded by captainjay.

We decided to hit St. John again since we didnt get that much time here the other day. Mike really wants some shark bites from Woodys and they don't open until 11:00 so we're hangin' out waitin'. We plan to hit Cinnamon later and maybe rent a hobie for the afternoon.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Day is done ......

Day is done ......, originally uploaded by captainjay.

So we're sitting and waiting for the car barge again. There is only one ferry running so the schedule today was pretty bad. Even with that it was still a great day!

Made it to Skinnys

Made it to Skinnys, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Finally made it on the ferry and all the way over to Skinnys. Mike
just had to have one if their famous bergers! Yum! We'll hit a beach
next, not sure which one yet. But they're all awesome so it won't
matter.

Rednecks in the carribbean

Rednecks in the carribbean, originally uploaded by captainjay.

We're here at the car ferry barge dock waiting to to over to St. John.
We missed the last ferry so we have to hang out a little while for the
next one. Mike couldnt wait so he set up camp in the parking lot.
Hopefully it won't be too much longer so people will stop looking at
us! :-)

Virgin Islands Online

Ok, you always hear me referencing my "forum" friends. We'll, if you're reading this blog and don't already know about Virgin Islands Online, now is the time to check it out. It's a great resource for information about the Virgin Islands as well as entertaining as you read some of the posts and responses on the forum. Its a great group of people and you instantly feel welcome, no matter what your question might be. Follow this link and click on Register near the top of the page, pick a screen name and pick an avatar (a little pic that represents something about you) and join in the fun!!! Jay's screen name is captainjay and mine is mrscaptainjay so come on over and say Hi.

Deb

Red Skies at morn......

We had a beautiful sunrise this morning, so I thought I'd share. But the wind and surf advisories are keeping us from being about to get out on a boat. We were invited to go out with our friends on Forever Young yesterday, but the wind and surf was too much for what was supposed to be a fun sail, so it was cancelled. We're supposed to rent a boat tomorrow from Nauti Nymph, but again the conditions are not looking like it would be a fun day. So we may just take the car over to St. John and have fun over there. I know, tough decision.

Advisory from the Weather Channel - Sever Weather Alert

A HIGH SURF ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM AST TUESDAY.
THE COMBINATION OF WIND WAVES AND LONG PERIOD NORTH NORTHWEST SWELLS WILL RESULT IN COMBINED SEAS OF AT LEAST 8 TO 10 FEET AND LARGE BREAKING WAVES ALONG THE NORTHWEST THROUGH NORTHEAST EXPOSED COASTLINES OF PUERTO RICO STARTING MONDAY MORNING THEN SPREAD ACROSS THE NORTHERN U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS LATER IN THE DAY AND CONTINUING THROUGH AT LEAST TUESDAY EVENING. INITIALLY...EXPECT WAVES OF 6 TO 8 FEET TO REACH THE LOCAL REEFS...SHOALS AND EXPOSED COASTLINES BY EARLY MONDAY MORNING...INCREASING TO 9 TO 11 FEET BY MONDAY AFTERNOON AND CONTINUING AT LEAST THROUGH TUESDAY EVENING.
MEANWHILE...A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL LOCAL ATLANTIC AND CARIBBEAN WATERS AND ALL OPEN PASSAGES.

St. Thomas Sunshine

St. Thomas Sunshine, originally uploaded by captainjay.

We created a new drink today, well sort of. Its a knock off of the Soggy Dollar Sunshine, but since we're on St. Thomas.....

1 part coconut cream
1 part orange juice
2 part pineapple juice
2 part Bacardi Limon
top with nutmeg

Yummy! Enjoy!!

Greenhouse for lunch

Greenhouse for lunch, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Stopped at Greenhouse for a little lunch and maybe hitting Magens Bay
afterwards. Jay got off early so he was able to join us ... Yea!!!!
This is Mike and Lisa (or Weezey as we call her :-) our friends from
home. Awh......

Honeymoon

Well we went to Honeymoon beach on Water Island yesterday. Jay had to work so it was just me, Mike and Lisa. We were at Tickles walking towards the ferry when we saw it pull away. Darn, guess we have to sit at the bar and have a couple drinks while waiting for the next ferry. :-) But, I ran into a friend who was heading that way, so he offered us a ride and dropped us off right on the beach. Thanks Jimmy.

The beach was pretty crowded, but not too bad, then we realized that there were two daytrip boats anchored in the bay. All the tourists were walking around with their pirate fake tatoos, so they were a dead giveaway. But a couple hours later, the horns blew and all the toursists boarded their boats and then the beach was all ours. Nice.

We finally thought that is was time to head back but we had no idea where to catch the ferry, so we stopped by Heidi's Honeymoon Grill, ordered a couple drinks and asked for directions. She told us it was a pretty good walk over the big hill and then downhill to the ferry. So we were ready to start hiking when we met Eian. He offered to give us a ride, yea! We had plenty of time since we didn't have to walk, so we hung out for a few minutes talking to him and his friend. He's from Australia but he's been down here for a very long time, so his accent was unique. We finally decided it was time to go, we we climbed in his island car, when he had to climb through from the passenger side because the driver door would fall off if he tried to open it! We all got situated, Eian turned the key......and nothing. Turned again, nothing. Tried a third time, nothing. Not even a click or anything. Totally dead. We were all cracking up and thanking Eian for the wonderful ride. He was very apologetic. But then we had to high tail it over the mountain to catch the next ferry. We barley made it, but we were all breathing a little heavy!!

It was a great day, lots of sun, beer and catching up on all the stories from home.

Paradise Jam

Paradise Jam (Island Paradise Basketball Tournament) kicks off today. This is a pretty big event and it's being held at the University of the Virgin Islands Sports and Fitness center. The 2008 field includes Connecticut, Iona, La Salle, Miami, San Diego, Southern Miss, Valparaiso and Wisconsin. Tickets are $35 for a day pass or $95 for the full tournament. You can find out more about it here.

Friday Beach Picture

It's Friday!! We have a busy week ahead. We have friends from home that at arriving tonight and the home owner of our rental arrives on Sunday. We have a few things planned, boat rental, Jost, St. John, the usual stuff we love to do when people visit (and it give us a chance to act like tourists!).

This is another one of California Girl's pictures of Salomon Beach on St John.

Have a great weekend!

Cruz Bay Web Cam

Well St. John Spice installed a new web cam overlooking the ferry dock on St. John this week. The resolution is awesome, much better than the previous camera. Ron and Ben have been tweaking it all week and they are having some kind of live kick off party today at 4 PM Eastern Time. You can link to it directly at St. John Spice Cam. They are still tweaking it so if you don't see a pic or can't get to the page just be patient, it's worth the wait. :-)

Sunrise

Well I am off today and running errands to get ready for company this week. I have to do some work around the house and make a Cost-U-Less trip. The sky was just to pretty this morning not to take a quick picture and post it.

Jay

More DMV bs

Poor Silvia. So she finally got all her paperwork in order, downloaded the driver's manual (link on the Daily News website under Special Supplements) and studied and studied. A girl in her office brought in the printed book that you have to buy at DMV for $12 (I think that's the right amount) to compare to the online version, and of course it was different. So she started studying the printed version. We found out from someone who recently took the test that although DMV has computers that are supposed to be used in the administration of the tests, are not used. It is a paper test that is manually graded by a DMV staff member. She also told us that she had to take the test three times before she passed and they would never tell her what she missed so that she could study better. She also said the format of the test got easier with each attempt. First it is a multiple choice with five essay questions. If you don't pass, then the next time it is a true or false test, she didn't say what the third was. Crazy. Some of the questions were pretty ridiculous. For example, what do you do if a cow or goat is in the middle of the road and won't move? Well, under no circumstance are you to blow your horn. You must pull over to the side of the road and patiently wait for the animal to decided when it's time to move along. What? Anyway, so Silvia decided she was ready for the test so we dropped her off at the DMV this morning and told her to let me know as soon as she took the test. Before I even got to the University I had a text from her saying they are not giving tests this week until after the 20th. No reason was given, I suspect the person that grades the test is probably off work. Absolutely Crazy!

New Sunday dinner menu

New Sunday dinner menu, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Hook, Line & Sinker is trying a new Sunday night dinner menu. Belinda came up with the idea to cook a traditional southern cookin' meal. For $15 you get to pick one main item, three sides and a biscuit or corn muffin. Jay got the fried chicken, sweet potato crunch, dirty mashed potatoes, peas with snaps and a biscuit. I got the roast beef with potatoes and carrots, sweet potato crunch, deviled eggs, and a biscuit with sweet tea. Yummy!!!

Innovative

You gotta love Innovative (the cable company). Two hours into a movie and ..........

Friday Beach Picture

It's Friday!!! Yea!!! It was a short week with the holiday but it still feels good to be Friday. This was a pretty exciting week.... planning a trip home, planning a work trip to Philly for some training, got a really good compliment at work and we're going to a cookout at a friends house tonight. Fun times!

Hope everyone has a great weekend! BTW - this is a pic of Gibney beach on St. Johh.

Walking

Walking, originally uploaded by captainjay.

I've been walking again after work. I have Jay drop me off at the University in the morning and then walk to Frenchtown after work. It's a really nice walk. This is the back road from the University overlooking the golf course and the airport. That is Saba rock and Flay Cay in the background.

Trip Home

Well we're finally making a trip home to visit! Yea! But, booking tickets from St. Thomas round trip to the states was no easy task. We had a voucher from United that we tried to use and had our travel agent check into it. After several hours on the phone with United, they finally told her that it would have to be used for a one way ticket from the original destination; it could not be used to towards a round trip. But, since United no longer flies into St. Thomas, we're pretty much out that money. Oh well. We were on hold for most of the afternoon and evening with her while she checked everything out and with our lovely cell service here, it kept dropping the call. We would try to call back but since she was on hold with United she couldn't take our call. It was pretty crazy.

One thing we didn't think of when we packed to move here was having some winter clothes to wear when we go back for a visit! All our winter stuff is packed away in the attic of our house. So I guess we'll find something to wear back on the flight but our first stop will have to be the house to get a coat! brrrrr

We have lots of things planned for our visit (pre-Christmas with the family, my birthday get together, visit with friends, shopping,...), it will be hard to fit them all in on just a one week visit, but we'll have fun trying! I'm sure we'll be exhausted when we get back so it's a good thing the University is closed for two weeks for the Christmas holiday!

Bananas soon come

Bananas soon come, originally uploaded by captainjay.

The banana tree that was planted on the property earlier this year finally has some fruit. Looks like they have a little while to go but it will be cool being able to go down and pick fresh bananas!

Not Much Going On

Well we had a quiet weekend. Sorry we haven't posted more but pictures of Deb doing laundry and moping the floors aren't all that glamorous. I worked both days this weekend and Deb did chores around the house. I guess we can't carry on like tourists all the time. We do have company coming in for Thanksgiving so Deb has been doing some cleaning around the house. We are getting ready, at work for the busy period from Thanksgiving to New Years. I have to make another trip to Puerto Rico this week to pick up more boats. The weather still hasn't cooled down much. It is starting to get a little cooler at night which is a good thing. The picture is one we shot a couple of days ago from the deck of the house around 6:00 in the morning.
Jay

Friday Beach Pic

Friday Beach Pic, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Its Friday!! Sorry about the lack of posts this week. We're still recuperating from last weekend. :-) This pic was taken on Jost Van Dyke last Saturday. Just beautiful, isnt it??

Have a great weekend!!

Change

Well I don't want to be political. But this truly is a big story regardless of your back ground. So congratulations to Barack Obama and good luck with the next four years. We all have a lot riding on the outcome.
Jay

Shipwreck is open!!

Shipwreck is open!!, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Shipwreck is back open and I can't wait to chow on some fish and chips and a Lime in da coconut! Yummy!!

Francis Bay

Francis Bay, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Taking it easy today on Francis Bay. We've never been here by land, but several times by boat to snorkle. Its a beautful beach. We plan to hit Shipwreck for lunch, yummy!!

Lamesure Bay

Lamesure Bay, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Finally got to see Lamesure Bay. Awesome beach, a little rocky but still absolutely beautiful. We're now getting ready for the big forum meeting. More to come.

Beautiful day on St. John

Beautiful day on St. John, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Well we had a great day on Jost Van Dyke yesterday and now we're on St. John. We met up with some forum friends at the Beach Bar for some dinner and live music.

Today should be a blast. We plan to meet some more forum friends at the beach and then back to the Beach Bar for a huge forum gathering. The estimate is around 40 to 50 forum members and their friends/family. Wow!! I hope the Beach Bar is ready for us!! :-)

Jost Van Dyke ..... Ahhh

Jost Van Dyke ..... Ahhh, originally uploaded by captainjay.

We made it to Jost!!! Its 9:20am and having our "breakfast" drink. We've been up since 5:30 am so its like noon, right?

Car ferry

Car ferry, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Well we have a great weekend planned. First, We're taking the car over to St. John and parking it and then getting on the Jost Van Dyke ferry. We plan to spend the day at the Soggy Dollar Bar with a forum friend and then back to St. John until Monday!! WooHoo!! Stay tuned for more !!!

Arrrggg Matie

Arrrggg Matie, originally uploaded by captainjay.

Here are the pirates from the halloween party last night at Tickles. They have a contest for the best pirate and there were some really awesome costumes. There was one group that does this
professionally!! Check them out at : Www.brethrenpiratesofredhook.com