6:00 am – we awake and luckily I am not in too much pain from the rum punches the night prior. Today is the man’s 33rd birthday (explain to him that he should never forget how old he is as long as he can remember how old the mini F-F is and can add 30). In honor of him, I’ve arranged a day sail with the Wayward Sailor to celebrate and to continue our exploration of the VIs (Last trip included a day trip to the Baths & the Willy T).
Tip #16 - As much as you will be tempted to just STAY on STJ (or STT) explore - take a day trip.
Couple #1 (with the 1 year old) has accepted our proposition that if they watch mini Flip-Flop today, we’ll watch their little one later in the week. They jump at the trade so they can get out and explore alone. Mini Flip-Flop loves the water but 8 hours straight on a boat would not be fun! Of course, today, when mom and dad have to be up and out of the house by 7 - she SLEEPS until 8:30!
7 am - We're supposed to meet up outside JJ's in Cruz Bay at 7:15 - since I haven't seen the whites of the Gromit's eyes, I go knock. I took down at least 6 or 7 rum punches but she had outpaced me by at least 3 or 4, so I am wondering if she's still out cold! I'm thinking this could be a fun sail ;)
I knock & Mr. Gromit appears, all is well, they are almost ready. By 7, we are off toward town.
7:20 am – We await Capt. Phil in front of JJ’s Texas Coast. Soon he appears along with another couple and the 6 of us are off to the dinghy. We head to the dinghy & collectively think no way our 7 butts are going to fit in there! But somehow we do, we load up and motor out to the Wayward Sailor. We are set to get out of the harbor.
We get to the boat and after a few more instuctions disembark & meet Tarn, aka the crew. We all settle in to head out on open water.
We hit the Pinnacles for a bit of snorkeling. Hubby and I hang back a little and two huge schools of fish swim right by us. We snorkel around for about 45 minutes or so & then its time to head back to the boat. Everyone seems to be holding up pretty well considering the previous evening. But, wait, I speak too soon. Back on the boat a few minutes and Gromit literally begins to turn green. Then, in true Gromit fashion, asks Captain Phil, "so if I need to hurl I do it over the side right?" He smiles, says "yep" and she contemplates. A few minutes later, after discreetly tossing her cookies, she looks much better.
Tip #17 - If you feel sick (hung over or motion sickness) just go ahead and toss 'em - you will feel much better and be able to enjoy the rest of your trip. And Flip-Flop always has spearmint gum!
We are all back on track and are off Jost Van Dyke & lunch at Foxy’s. Tarn calls in our order ahead of time. Thank goodness because we are all starving by the time we get there. We still have a bit of a wait though the place is not at all busy. You never know if you are going to see Foxy or not and today he’s not singing. There is another guy playing guitar and singing mellow tunes. He’s actually pretty good. After a yummy lunch of a flying fish sandwich & a spinach salad with feta we are off for a short nature walk around the island.
Jost Van Dyke is a tiny island with about 150 or so residents. If you think St. John is quiet, Jost is practically comatose.
Tip #18 - If you think St. John's gotten too busy for you, try Jost, I promise you it's as laid back as I've seen and I've island hopped a bit.
Foxy’s does gets rocking on special events like New Year’s Eve. A co-worker of mine spent NYE there some 15+ years ago and said the harbor was literally wall to wall boats. He walked from one boat to another to get to shore, which is littered with passed out people! Sounds like quite the party.
Back to the nature walk, the Gromits have bailed on us and are chilling in a hammock while Captain Phil takes the rest of us on a little tour behind Foxy’s – we see Foxy’s brewery, the house where Foxy was born and still lives, a bunch of trees one of which produces cotton (ok a cotton like substance) and whatnot. Sorry, but it was HOT & though Captain Phil seemed comfortable the non-natives were melting. Then we walk up a street and I realize this is "town”. Capt. Phil goes in a small grocery & I gratefully follow his lead picking up a much needed bottle of water and doing what the Capt. does - selecting a coconut cookie – which is essentially caramelized sugar and coconut. Huge & only $1. Very tasty! I have to beat Mr. Flip-Flop off the bag before he eats it all!
Tip #19 - If you ever find yourself on Jost, find this market and get the cookie. Trust me on this one.
Back around to Foxy’s and I pick up a T-shirt for myself & a surprise for the little ones back at the house.
We find Gromit exactly where we'd left her - playing poster child for Foxy's - in her tie die shirt laid out in the hammock. I think her recovery is almost complete. While we were on our walk, she apparently was photographed by another tourist. Look for that to turn up on the grateful dead tribute site.
We reconvene & head back to the boat. On the way, we spot Foxy coming down the dock and get to meet him ever so briefly. We leisurely sail & sun our way back to St. John. Tarn offers up a snack of brownies and fresh pineapple. Hits the spot! Along the way we see Trunk, Caneel, and Honeymoon beaches from the water before heading back into Cruz Bay harbor. Caneel is not at all what I expected it to look like from the water. To be honest it looks very rustic and a bit rundown, but I haven’t set foot inside there so I can’t judge!
4:00 pm – Back on the dinghy, to the dock and the day sail is over. We get through customs with no problems & bid farewell to Capt. Phil and Tarn. All in all it was a fun trip but a little slow for our typical pace. We decide we preferred the powerboat trip we took with Pirate’s Penny to the Baths on the last trip, but again we were happy to see something different. We were also happy we did a small boat with only 6 people vs. the party boat route.
Tip #20 - Customs can be awful or a breeze. We lucked out and it was smooth and quick. Personally, I always take off my hat & sunglasses and am polite and professional. It doesn't always go as quickly for those coming off the party boats.
4:30 pm – Return home to rescue Couple #1 from the kids! We find that their day was good. Lazy and easy, just as it should be.
Tip #21 - Don't ever worry about leaving your child with other people. They will always behave 100 times better for them than for you!
Guess what? That's right we head back to the pool and relax a bit. We had originally planned on Lime Inn for the birthday dinner but everyone’s feeling kind of worn out & a little icky (Gromit). We decide we aren’t up for dragging the kids out, so we call and reschedule the Lime Inn to Saturday night, settling on Mr. F-F favorite Uncle Joe’s BBQ.
6ish – Gromit & hubby volunteer to go out and get the food – steak, chicken and ribs and a ton of sides.
Tip #22 - When getting take-out from Uncle Joe's be PATIENT. I promise it is worth the wait. You may luck out and get there just as its ready, but that is usually not the case. We've waited anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. It will be ready when it's ready. Don't rush the master.
The Gromits return to find the rest of us famished. We dive into all the stryofoam containers, piling up the chicken and ribs and sides. We migrate to the deck & Enjoy! Messy but so so so good. We get the kids off to bed and the grown-ups stay up talking until late in the night. Then we remember CAKE!!
While we were gone mini Flip-Flop had assisted in baking dad’s birthday cake. Island baking can be a challenge, but it was very YUMMMY! All in all another great day for all!!
Day 7 - JUMBIE & Tage (I think)
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