Jillian invited me to join her and Chris to take the DJ to the Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost Van Dyke for the New Year's Eve celebration. We had an amazing day drinking nilla pain killers and people watching on the beach. It was a beautiful day and a lot of fun. 
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| View from Sunset Vista, overlooking St. Thomas and Great Cruz Bay. |
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| View from the barge, leaving the dock at Red Hook at Sunset. |
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| View from Bellevue on Gifft Hill. |
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| View from Thanksgiving with St. Thomas as the backdrop to some awesome sunset colors. |
I am SO excited that it is football season again! Especially since my teams did so well last year and are looking good again. Some friends joined me for football at Castaways and we watched some really great games and enjoyed some Corona. I looked over and saw the purple sunset at the end of the game. Pretty amazing.
When you get over to the amazing North Shore beaches often times your cell phone roams, so you get this message warning you that it will cost you an arm and a leg if you use it. However, my phone was also complaining about being too hot. I'm sorry did you forget we lived in the tropics you big wimp! Anyway, I thought it was a funny photo.
Parking can certainly be an issue on the island. However, parking tickets are even more interesting, because you didn't get them often but when you do they are pricey. Such as $1,000 for parking in a handicap spot. I had to take a picture of Brittney in here illegal spot, but no fine today.
When you live on a tropical island and work in the Vacation Industry it isn't surprising that you have visitors, however it is still always nice. This weekend my awesome friend Jen mentioned that two college friends of hers were on St. Thomas. Alicia and Hung Nu ended up coming over to St. John and twice and I really enjoyed showing them around. We had a good beach day followed by various stops around the island and a great burger at Skinny Legs.
I am a bit of a compulsive planner typically. I really like to have an outline of what is going to happen next. I have found that is much easier said than done in a place where most things happen at the last minute. Including on this occasion a foam party. I was enjoying happy hour with some friends when we were invited to come to a foam party at Castaways. It seemed to be a little too fun to pass up, and look what I would have missed. What is life without a little spontaneity?
There is a mantra in my family: "If you can see it, you can walk to it." It started in Paris when my Dad used the phrase when talking us into walking to the Eiffel Tower. Well, we made it there eventually (I think someone asked for directions in French!) and today on my hike, I eventually made it to the ocean as well. I tried a trail that I had never been on and thought I would see where it ended. Turns out it did not end, but rather meet up with the Reef Bay Trail which led me to the beach and then back to the road again. Don't be fooled I also caught up on the current season of the Bachelorette before embarking on my 4 hour hike. Not a bad day off!
Alright, so I think it is pretty well known that I am not a wonderful driver and that I have some pretty epic blonde moments. Well this was one for the books. I had a really long day and it ended up getting much longer at the end. The guests that I was greeting had an issue with their rental car company that took them 2 hours to resolve. Therefore, we ended up at the house in the dark and I parked a little too far to the right. When I tried to get out of the spot I ended up with one tire off the cliff and another up in the air. From this picture it doesn't look bad at all and in hindsight there was no damage to anything but my pride. Lewis came to save me AGAIN, he brought his truck and towed me off the mountain and I repaid him with a cocktail at Island Blues. AHH! As Crystal says, I am going to become an awesome driver soon, I am just going about it the hard way.
My family is and always has been pretty amazing. I got amazing birthday packages from all of them. This one really made me laugh though. My sister, Chelsea, had been so overwhelmed with taking her board exams for medical school yet she still made an effort to send me an awesome package of spices and cooking materials. Her schedule and the US postal service made this gift arrive way after my birthday, but the thought is still incredible.
Jodelcia and I have been making the rounds to all of the properties that we represent to make sure that we can accurately describe them to perspective guests. One thing that is a selling point of nearly every villa is the view. Sunset Vista is no exception, this villa overlooks Great Cruz Bay and St. Thomas. It makes the little town of Cruz Bay look pretty impressive. I really love all the boats you can see in the distance as well.
I have never been much of a car person. I have avoided driving as much as possible in the past decade since I got my driver's license. Unfortunately, there is not much of a choice on this island. Everything is quite literally uphill both ways. I watch in envy as other people drive faster and more accurately backwards up a hill than I attempt to drive forwards. It also does not help that my new car needs a repair for the gauges to work correctly. We call that "an island car!" It does however lead to this rather hilarious picture. I ran out of gas when I stopped at the dumpster and Lewis had to come rescue me. Don't worry, I already know I'll never hear the end of this.
I attend sunset yoga at Maho Campgrounds when I have time. Which has not been very often in the past few months. I really need to make an effort to go more often though, because it is incredible. After yoga today, we stood at the pavilion and waited for a glimpse of the "green flash." This is a phenomenon when the sun sets over water and you see a green flash right before it descends. It is a sailor thing, and something we spend some time trying to spot. There is even an energy drink the St. John Brewers make with the same name. I think you may have to be on a boat to really see it, as I once again did not see it today. It still was a beautiful sunset however.
St. John has stayed relatively unspoiled by over development. The reason for this is that one of the Rockefellers decided that St. John was the most beautiful place he had ever been and he helped make around 2/3 of the island into National Park. At the end of the North Shore beaches you find Francis Bay, which is one of my favorite beaches. It has a walking trail that surrounds it. I went on that walk for the first time this day and found it to be really easy and a fairly interesting walk. At the end of the trail, there are some ruins that reminded me that everywhere has a history, even paradise.
When you no longer have drastically different temperatures to distinguish one day from another, holidays (especially fake ones) warrant a little more celebration. I made a decision that we were celebrating Cinco de Mayo, because it is a wonderful holiday. My new friend Jen wanted to find sombreros. Unfortunately, there is nowhere on the island to get something like that! We did however, finally get one from a tourist when we got into town, at least for a picture. Sauld!
While I was living in New York, I found that everyone who lives there has a reason that they stayed. One of my friends told me that her reason was that in New York, you can always get what you want; when you want it. Her example was that one day she was with a group of people who wanted to do a sake bomb. They walked around the corner and found a Japanese restaurant with outdoor picnic tables. Well in St. John there is rarely instant gratification for anything. Even this blog post with take twice as long to post. Imagine my surprise however, when I was able to accommodate my friend Jean's request for karaoke. We were getting drinks at La Plancha del Mar and she said karaoke would be awesome. Turns out on Mondays at Castaways that is actually possible. No one is going to bring me amazing Thai takeout as I write this, but I have found a new set of little things to appreciate. The picture I took of Jean and Stephanie turns out to be a video, so this one will have to do. Yes, that is a bride you are seeing, Wedding Season!
My cousin, Josh, and his wife, Nancy, were on island to do some work for the company's new website. Which is awesome by the way http://cimmaronstjohn.com you should check it out! Jeet and I went along to watch the photo shot in progress. I think this photo is hilarious, and could you ask for a more incredible backdrop!
I have been told that I live on the best island in the Caribbean, by many sources. I do not know it personally yet though, as there are many islands I still need to explore. I had a chance to do so while my friend Jeet was visiting. We went on a trip to the BVI with Limnos Charters.
Today we went on a boat trip with Captain Bob and his dog Matey on the boat Spree II. I am still far from a boat person, so I cannot tell you anything in nautical terms. I can tell you that we did a lot of snorkeling which was a blast. I really loved Christmas Cove which was very clear and allowed you to see a lot of different things! I think I am a long way from wanting to live on a boat, but I can certainly see the appeal of the water.
I love hiking down to Solomon and Honeymoon beaches and I talk visitors into loving them as well with some frequency. I think Jen, Michi and Ryan made about 3 trips down to this particular beach. The first time they found some guys doing push ups on the beach, Ryan captured them on Jen's camera and then told her why it took so long to get her picture. The next day they reenacted it on their own. I tried making fun of the beach push up guys that night to the bartender when they showed me the picture. His response, "Oh yeah running down to Solomon is a great work out." I guess you have to keep the beach bod some how. Maybe when I work my way up to being able to do 10 push ups, I'll do them on the beach as well!
I have often thought that I am so fortunate to have such a cool day as my birthday. Those feelings were confirmed once again this St. Patrick's Day, as three of my amazing friends were on St. John to celebrate. After a great day touring the island and chilling at the beach, we had a great night as well. Starting with tap beers at Tap Room continuing with fried food at Woody's. Obviously, some Jameson at Castaways and then moving onto beach beers at Beach Bar. It was a wonderful birthday.
I am used to living in the middle of the country where you never get to the end of anything. On the other hand, I certainly walked to the edges of Manhattan all the time. However, you could never do it without passing a million other people. It is much different on an island with a population of 4,500. With my friends Jen, Michi and Ryan visiting, we went ALL the way to the other side of the island and ended up at the end of 10. It did not look much different than the entire road to get there. It still felt like an accomplishment though!
I spent my first month in paradise on my aunt and uncle's couch. I spent the second month in a converted office space. However, with a nice camera and an incredible sunset, this apartment would not be a hard sell at all!
Does anyone look good in a snorkel mask? Well if anyone can pull it off it would be Kumi and Jen. At this time, I was so unsettled with work, my new apartment and all my visitors that I did not take any good pictures of me and Kumi during her visit. So this picture of them right before snorkeling at Maho will have to do.
