Welcome to the Chronicles of
~ the St John Adventures ~
Tuesday 6/8/2010
Hi there! I know, this is the lastest I have started the post for a day, but I was impressed that I even got the blog uploaded this morning! Then we decided to get an early start out to the beaches! But let me start, as we try to start all days, with the morning view!
Now, let me tell you about last night. We went over to Caneel Bay Resort for our 6:30 reservation, and were a little early. Now, we had heard that you needed reservations to go to this buffet - it is only staged every Monday evening (I guess it is a regular restaurant the rest of the time). Well, there was only one other couple there when we got there. I guess some would say that was good, since we got great seats. Oh, I should mention that this is a covered, but open air facility. Read: its hot! One thing you do get used to being at Villa Caribe is a constant breeze coming off the bay. It is the reason that my shirts and shoes have not gotten much use here - get back from the beach, strip off the shirt and shoes, and plunge into the pool to get the salt off - yes you have a little chlorine on you, but they use very chlorine in the pool, and you don't feel like you have been encrusted in salt. Get out, drip dry while cooking on the grill, and then why bother putting on the shirt and shoes once you have eaten - its just too nice! Anyone considering jumping on a plane? I have the number of a good taxi driver! Anyway, so we are at the buffet. They have a salad section, a seafood section, a fruit section, main courses area, and of course, the dessert bar (featuring bananas foster). We decide this is a meal we want to experience completely, besides, the sun is still high in the sky, and part of the reason we came out was the sunset! We started with some conch chowder, which was excellent! Then we did some salad stuff, then some seafood stuff. Of course, stupid me doesn't think to shoot any of the food, or even the stations, which were quite nice. I am here for the sunsets! The main courses featured a grilled lobster. Now, one thing to note is that the lobsters served in the Caribbean are not Maine lobsters, like we are used to. No, they have Caribbean lobsters, who really bear passing semblence of their nothern cousins. And I cannot say I have ever thought about taking a lobster, cutting in half lengthwise, and throwing on a charcoal grill. But thinigs are done differently here. I had heard they were fabulous lobsters. Actually, the lobsters were impressive. By Caribbean standards, these guys were huge! Back home they would have been 2+ pounders, easy. Naturally, these guys had no claws (Caribbean lobsters don't have claws at all). I thought the lobster was good, but that the char and smokiness that the grilling gave them really overpowered the sweetness of the lobster (I feel like Jeffrey on the Food Network!). It was good, but didn't rise up to the level of greatness. New England still has it when it comes to lobsters (unless you count the Norwegians, which would be a different story - and for another time). The dessert bar was fabulous, and I had probably about as much of that sort of stuff as I am likely to have for the remainder of the trip. But it was good. Bottom line, if you get the chance, it really is a nice experience, but if you don't ever get to it, no great shakes. As Carol mentioned, it was a little too cruiseshippy, if that makes sense. We are really enjoying the whole living the experience, instead of having it set up for you. Not that I am giving up cruises anytime soon! At this point, I can hear you out there saying "Yeah, but what about the sunset? Did it rain or something?" Alright, the sunset was nice - not spectacular, but nice. Here are some of the shots:
Obviously, I didn't take this one. This was taken by our waiter Marlon, who was quite nice!
And now, you have seen the majority of sunset shots that will happen this trip. One big problem with sunsets in the Caribbean is the humidity. Generally, there are clouds on the horizon. Contrary to popular belief, what typically makes for spectacular sunsets is after the sun has set, and the sun shines up, thru the atmosphere, and lights up the undersides of the nearby clouds. Clouds on the horizon means the sun "sets" well above the horizon, and the light for beneath the clouds gets blocked. Tough to get a really good sunset shot here (actually way easier at the Log Cabin, back home) - but that does not mean I am not willing to try! That was yesterday. What about today, I can hear you asking - damn you people are demanding! Well, you saw the morning view. I fired up the old computer, and found a reasonable stable internet signal (shock!), and uploaded - only took about 4 tries. The the US Coast Guard decided to run some exercises with one of their helicopters, right up the bay. Of course, this shot is from when they came back, a bit further out, but you get the idea. One of their French Dolphins, I think.
It was kind of neat. We decided to try to get to Jumbie Bay (I think I told you that story yesterday). So off we go. Now, I think I told you that the parking lot for this place was tiny, and that you had to walk in, right? Well, we found the place (it was 9:00am or so - considered an ungodly hour to go to the beach, and a way to avoid people, if that is your goal. I know it is one of mine!) Scarily enough, we weren't early enough - someone had beaten us there (the bastards!)!
Here is the path down to the beach!
In case you cannot read the sign, it says Jumbie Bay, beach 320 feet. The question, from up on the road, is 320 feet that-a-way? Or 320 feet down? So we decide to leave the beach chairs in the car (if it really is 30+ stories down - and yeah that is how tall a building it would be - I'll be lucky to get my own butt back to the car, forget the chairs!), and go down the path.
You gotta love it when you need to cross a footbridge like this to get to a beach. All I can say is that it looked relatively speaking new.
Luckily, it really is 320 feet dat-a-way (actually, that is a joke because it is 500 feet or more easy - but the slope on the path is not bad at all). So we get there and there really is only one other couple there (Carol didn't even see them initially).
So, we find a good spot, and I go back to the Jeep for the beach chairs (not worried about needing to aboandon them now!). We grab the gear, and start heading to the water, saying good morning to our fellow beachgoers, and apologizing to crashing their private beach. Then it is in we go. The reef in this bay is huge on both sides. You figure you are going to swim to the rocks and find the reef, but you find it long before you ever get to the rocky shore. The reef is long and shallow, with a little drop off. It is also somewhat beat up from some storms and surges. But there is still a ton of fish. Lots of our little friends!
As well as another first for me - cuttlefish! There were a pair of them.
Now the thing that stands out in my mind about cuttlefish is that there is a version that they have off the coast of Mexico (Pacific side) that gets to about 3 feet long, and will attack a grown man by attacking their facemask, and ripping it from their head before - well, you get the idea (yes, too much Discovery Channel). Not that I was really worried, but these thoughts do go thru your mind (you notice I took multiple pictures of them, right). These guys were about a foot long, and definitely watching us. And they weren't flashing or shifting colors rapidly, either (if they had done that, I would have left, just to be safe). Then we came on a school of midnite blue fish, feeding and swimming along. They were about 9" long each, and there were hundreds, if not pushing over a thousand fish.
Its pretty cool when they swim a few feet beneath you going someplace else.
Of course, there are the usual collection of colorful guys, like this blenny (I think that is what it is called - like Carol said, time to get a fish chart!) - and they are tough to shoot!
And these blue guys I love to shoot. I love the color of them!
We were in the water for a couple of hours, and decided to head back to the beach and relax, dry off, and take in the sights. This was the view looking up
And looking out...
As my father has mentioned, this was the sort of beach that you really got a chance to enjoy almost totally alone (better when you are alone), and when 6 other people show up, it is time to go. Well, 10 other people showed up (literally - the parking lot maxes out at 7 cars, unless someone is braver than I, and parks on the road). So it was time to go. So easy to get spoiled in a place like this! We decided to try to get a parking spot in Cruz Bay, and poke around a little. Carol was hoping to find a set of sandals like mine, where you can get them wet, sand covered, and it is not big deal. The shoes she got to fill the role haven't worked out quite as well as she had hoped, and while sneakers are good for getting to the beach, they suck once you are sand covered for getting back to the car (especially if you have to walk down a path definitely not designed to go barefoot - kind of like this morning!). Well, parking in the public lot was out (there were *tons* of cars there!), so we headed to the place we rented the Jeep, Paris Car Rental. When you rent a Jeep from the local places, one of the perks is that you get to park your ride at their lot, since parking is so tight. Paris is located a little out of the center of town, but close enough. You do get to walk up a hill to get back to the car - think of it as a healthy thing to do. You gotta tell yourself something, right? We poked around a bunch of shops, but came across a dive shop right on the beach. They had the sort of sandals we were looking for. And Carol says the prices here are the same as back home for these particular shoes (they must control it somehow), so we bought them. The only problem was that I had left my wallet in the car (I put it under the trunk pan, since I don't want it on the beach, and I can't have it on me while snorkeling. It was still there when we parked the car. I thought about it after we parked, but we had left the keys with the rental people in case they needed to move it, so it was to late). Luckily, I had enough cash! So off we went - Carol wearing her new kicks! The other day Carol mentioned that what this island needed was a soft serve shop (like the Summer House back home). Well, we found one! And I still had enough cash to indulge! The prices weren't bad. And whoever set it up had a sense of humor - its called the I Scream. Anyway, back to the car, off to the gas station, and back to the villa. Lunch (after the desalinating plunge) was grilled chicken sandwiches, with the island spice rub we bought the other day (yesterday, I think. I am starting to lose track. And you wonder why I do the blog?). They rub is really good. And smells so good, as you use it and cook with it. I am definitely going to have to get some more of that stuff to take home. Since before we got to the island, there has been a phenomenon known as the Sahara Winds blowing. Basically, it is winds that start in the Sahara, pick up dust there, and carry it west into the Caribbean. It is a hot dry wind that apparently helps minimize hurricanes (a real issue at this time of year), but it also makes things very hazy. I had heard that it would be tapering off after the weekend, and today I can say that it looks much clearer out, when you look out towards the horizon. Just a note, more than anything else. I thought it was interesting. Some boat just went cruising thru our bay. I wonder if they are going to go diving. I haven't seen that here yet, and I would think it would be a good place to do so. Obviously, you are up to date. We are thinking about going to a mexican restauarant that the guy down the road recommended, and then going to the market for supplies (need more water and hamburger rolls). I will leave you with this picture of my "office" as I type out the blog to you!
Let me know if you want to visit.....! Keep Smiling!!!
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All Images and Accounts of this Adventure are strictly the doings of the Author, and have Nothing to do with the Official Positions or Opinions of Timethief Photography, its affiliated divisions, or anyone associated with the company. If you have any issues with the accounts, how people or places are portrayed, or with any statements of fact, take it up with him! Of course, he'll probably be off on another adventure!
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