By You will have to go down memory lane with me to remember this trip, as it was taken in November 2016. I wanted to write about our trip to the Caribbean because it was one of the best vacations my husband and I have ever been on, and it was special to us because it was our first Thanksgiving away from family, just the two of us. We decided to stay on the most remote of all of the US Virgin Islands, St. John. We are so happy we made this decision! St. John is 75% state park land that will never be developed, and there is no airport on the island and best of all, no cruise ship port! We really loved this about St. John and I would highly recommend staying there if you like to get away from tourists and go off the beaten path to find your own slice of paradise. We stayed for ten days, and it was absolute heaven!
To get to St. John can be a bit tricky since there is no airport, but it is well worth it if you have patience. We flew in to the island of St. Thomas and decided to go ahead and rent a car there, then we would take the ferry over to St. John. This turned out to be a good decision because car rental prices were much higher on St. John. Once we got our 4-wheel drive Jeep, we had to drive across St. Thomas about thirty minutes and catch the ferry boat that allows passenger vehicles. You have to time your flight with the ferry because the ferry only makes four trips per day, and you can’t buy your ticket in advance, so make sure you give yourself plenty of time and prep your patience. Once on the ferry it is about a forty minute ride to St. John (including unloading), then you have arrived in paradise!
The cottage that we stayed in was what our trip over-the-top amazing. We found it on homeaway.com and it was even better than the photos! It was called the Moonglow Cottage, and it had sweeping views overlooking St. John and the British Virgin Islands. It even had a hot tub on the deck with sun bathing chairs and a grill. It was a one bedroom, one bathroom place that was perfect for us, and it had an outdoor shower! It was also in a great location: up on a hill, away from everyone…woo hoo!
We didn’t have a whole lot planned (my favorite way to travel), but we did book a private boat trip for our first full day on the island. We thought this would help us get a feel for the island, and get to those harder to reach beaches. We booked through Lion In Da Sun Charters, and it was SUCH a great decision. Since it was just the two of us, it was a pricey day, but it was the best way to see the island. Our boat captain took us to a couple secluded beaches, snorkeling, and to a beach bar for lunch and drinks. The snorkeling around Buck Island was absolutely amazing. We were surrounded by majestic sea turtles, all who got incredibly close, we saw all kinds of fish, and a shipwreck!
After snorkeling, we went to a laid-back beach bar called Dinghy’s that was on an island called Water Island. We hung out in the water for a while, and had an awesome fish sandwich for lunch- a true Caribbean day! We were back just in time to watch the sunset from the shore of the dock. Cruising around on the water is the BEST way to experience the islands. We had such a great day, that we booked another boat tour with them on our last day.
The next couple of days, we stayed on the island of St. John. We explored all of the beaches we could in the mornings with our jeep, snorkeled at Waterlemon Key, hiked to some old sugar plantation ruins and with rain coming in during the afternoons, we relaxed at the cottage. Some of our favorite beaches include: Francis Bay, Oppenheimer Beach, Cinnamon Bay and Trunk Bay. There are wild donkeys all over St. John, and they stand right in the road! It was hilarious, and quite a site to see on our drives. We found that cooking our own meals was the way to go, as the restaurants were scarce on the East side of the island, and not that great. The cottage had a fully equipped kitchen and a gas grill, so it was perfect for cooking. Every morning we would watch a killer sunrise, cook breakfast and head to the beach, in the evenings we would grill and hot tub…perfection!
By our fourth day there, we were ready to get back on the water again…this time to check out the British Virgin Islands. We randomly booked a tour the night before, and it ended up being absolutely amazing. I did a little research, but did not have to look far to find out that the Bad Kitty boat charter was the way to go. It was a smaller boat tour, only taking about 25 people, and had rave reviews. We did their full day tour of the BVI’s, which took us to: The Baths on Virgin Gorda, lunch on Cooper Island, snorkeling at The Indians, and finally, to the famed Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost Van Dyke. It had it all, not to mention a continental breakfast and open bar were included. It was an awesome way to see all of the major sites in the BVI’s, and we made fun friends on the boat! I highly recommend this tour.
The next day was Thanksgiving. We knew we wanted to make our own meal at the cottage, complete with surf and turf. We bought everything we needed in the morning, then decided to relax all day at the beach until we were ready to cook. It was the most beautiful day, and we spent it at our favorite beach we found on St. John: Oppenheimer Beach. It is SO incredible, unspoiled, hard to find, pristine and downright gorgeous! We were the only ones on the beach for about three hours before anyone else came. We FaceTimed our families, showing them the incredible views and wishing they were with us. We enjoyed quiet time listening to the waves and palm trees, enjoyed the water and most of all just enjoyed each other’s company. We weren’t having to rush to meet everyone, stuff our faces so full of food, it was SO nice to do nothing but relax on a holiday that is typically crazy for us. We enjoyed every minute of it!
After a full day at the beach, it was time to cook! We had invited the friends we made on the Bad Kitty boat tour the day before to come over and join us for dinner, and they brought the lobster. Luke grilled up steaks, and I cooked the sides. We had quite the spread: steaks, lobster, twice baked potatoes, veggie casserole, green bean bundles, corn on the cob and rolls. WOW! We were so satisfied, and SO full. We had so many things to be thankful for, and it was special to share that with new friends. A memory that we will never forget, especially because right after we finished up eating the power went out! We had to bust out the flashlights, and had no running water, but man, could we see the stars! We could see them so incredibly well, it was breathtaking. It also forced us to meet the neighbors, which ended in us having drinks together in the dark, laughing and getting to know one another…all on Thanksgiving. You never know what will happen in the Caribbean! But you do know it will be good times and good vibes- just our style!
All of a sudden, it was our last day on St. John. Like I mentioned previously, we booked another private boat tour with Lion In Da Sun charters and got to choose the destinations we visited that day. We invited our new friends along, which was awesome, because not only did we have great company, but it split the boat cost in half. We all decided we wanted to go back to the BVI’s, and do more snorkeling and beaches. It was the BEST day! Our first stop was snorkeling at a site by Norman Island called The Aquarium. I have never seen such beautiful coral and fish in all my life. It was magical! They even have a natural underwater tunnel you can swim through.
After a couple hours of boating and snorkeling, it was time for lunch. Our captain took us to a gorgeous little spot on Norman Island called Pirates Bight, with a stunning beach, fruity cocktails and delicious fish and chips…what more does one need in life?! We enjoyed a couple hours there eating and soaking up some sun.
After lunch, we docked up next to the famous Willy T’s floating bar, well known for topless women jumping off the top deck for a free t-shirt. We just had to check it out this legendary Caribbean spot, and jump off the top…with our tops ON! They actually told us that they don’t honor the deal anymore because they were losing money in shirts- too many women were jumping off topless! We enjoyed a nice fruity shooter, and a jump off the top deck, then it was back on our boat, destination: Sandy Spit.
Sandy Spit is as our captain calls it, “a tiny little cartoon island with a palm tree in the middle of it”, and is where they used to film those well-known Corona beer commercials. We had to swim up to the small little island, and once on it, it only takes about 4 minutes to walk around it. We wanted our own Corona commercial picture on it, and of course, to enjoy a Corona. After about thirty minutes, we were ready to head out to our final stop…
We went back to White Bay, home of the Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost Van Dyke, and that was our final stop of the day. We only had about an hour here on our tour with Bad Kitty, but we loved it so much, we thought we would go back. We spent about three hours bar hopping, people watching and floating in the perfect water. It was a great way to end the day, and our trip. We made incredible memories and incredible friends on our trip to the Caribbean. One of my favorite parts of traveling is the people you encounter. I love thinking about how your paths most likely would have never crossed if it weren’t for you all being at that one place, at that one particular time. It is so special! We had such a great experience in St. John, that I can’t wait to go back one day and explore even more of the island and the surrounding islands. I also hope this inspires those of you who have always wanted to travel during a holiday, if even by yourself, to do so. Of course, you will miss family and traditions, but sometimes breaking with tradition is a good thing, if not a GREAT thing!
Happy Travels,
Courtney
OFF THE BEATEN 'EX-PAT'H 