Today we woke to a very grey morning. Although the forecast for the entire time we were there showed a 30-50% chance of rain everyday this was the only day of real ugly long rain. We got a few afternoon sprinkles other days but no wash-outs. Even this day, with pretty heavy morning rain, wasn't a total wash. By the afternoon, the sun was back out!
I had cancelled Mr. Flip-Flop's pre-arranged dive with Chris Sawyer the prior day, not because of the rain, but because he was feeling a bit motion sick and like me had been nursing a bit of a head cold. (Other than the rain, he ended up regretting missing a day dive while there after taking the night dive more on that another day).
Regardless, when he saw the grey skies he was glad I had cancelled on his behalf.
Still a cloudy day on St. John beats a sunny day in DC any day!
So we took our time getting rolling this morning. I made a run down to Pine Peace for some bacon, English muffins, and eggs. Enough to make our morning island staple, breakfast sandwiches, for all. Dozen eggs $1.99, bacon $7.49, English muffins $3.49. Breakfast for 6, priceless :shock:
Who says you can swim in the rain? You are going to get wet anyway. Gram took it to the next level, not even getting out of her PJs for the occasion.
After a little morning villa gravity, it was decided that those who wanted to would head to St. Thomas to do some shopping (Mr. Flip-Flop, Jo, Barbo and Jim were game), while those who didn't feel like it would hang back and figure something else out (Flip-Flop, the mini Flip, the baby boy and Gram).
The rain was pretty heavy on and off for most of the morning. I dropped the gang for STT off so they could catch the 11:15 ferry & headed back to the house. I don't know what it was with this trip. I've always "gotten it" but this trip I felt even more grounded. My priorities were definitely different. More about enjoying the moments and not doing the typical things. For example, this is the first time where I had NO desire to go to Charlotte Amalie to shop, not even for jewelry! All I desired was to immerse myself in St. John, really becoming one with the experience. I tried to slow down, have conversations, watch the happening, enjoy every moment and really see the island for all it is.
After I returned to the house I could feel everyone was feeling a little stir crazy so we decided to head to Coral Bay for lunch at Island Blues and a bit of local shopping. I could tell Gram was a bit nervous about the prospect of driving anywhere in the rain, but I assured her I would go slowly and we'd be fine. So we headed up centerline over to Coral Bay.
Our first bovine sighting of this trip. Mini Flip-Flop was SO excited.
I love Island Blues. I had not really discovered it before our last trip, but found out then that it is consistently good, has a slightly better atmosphere than Skinny Legs (I am not dissing Skinny Legs - I still love their burgers), and is just a cool place to have a rainy lunch. For me, it was the blackened mahi sandwich with island potato salad. For Gram, the chicken sandwich with fries. The Mini Flip-Flop just wanted FRIES. Its vacation, so we let that slide.
Here is the boy and I waiting for our food. Do you see how serious he gets when food is involved? Keep him fed and moving and you will NEVER hear a complaint.
And soon as if by magic, the skies started to clear up.
Yay, Sun!
After we finish chowing, we decide to walk a little bit down the road to the Cocoloba shops for a little retail therapy. My favorites are Little Fish and Big Fish. They could not have been nicer to us and especially the kiddos. Everyone wanted to squeeze the baby boy's thighs! Who could resist. I picked up a few surprises for Gromit (she has a December birthday) and a few for me. Note: Since Ruth asked, I thought I would clarify that Gromit is just one of my very best buddies, we are not sisters. We joke that we are the sister the other never wanted. She introduced me to St. John, so I must love her forever.
We made our way back to the car and worked our way further out to Jolly Dog. I was in search of their "Dog is my Copirate" t-shirt for Mr. Flip-Flop. I also picked up a shirt for myself next door with a jeep and "Think Left" on it. I decided that the reason I must love to drive on St. John so much and have NO problem keeping left is because I am a leftie. Maybe it seems fine for everyone, but I really have never gotten freaked out by the driving or roads. Well, unless there is a water truck involved but I think they would scare me no matter what side of the road I was on. Hell, they would scare me if I were pulled off the road parked!
Gram seemed to have stopped worrying about the driving and curiosity was taking over so I took her out to see Miss Lucy's.
And the goats....
Soon it was time to head back to the house to drop off the family and head to the dock to pick up the shoppers, as they were coming back on the 3 pm ferry. They were there waiting at 3:45, with liquor and other purchases in hand.
I retrieved everyone and since the sun was out, it was time for some poolin'. The baby boy loved the pool. Especially when he discovered splashing!
The closest we got to a family portrait the entire time we were there!
Before I knew it we had wasted the day away. Not that this is in any way a bad thing.
Tonight Jo was watching the kids so that the rest of us could head to Zozos for dinner. As you can probably tell, I adore my munchkins. But I will not lie and say I was not completely excited to be having a real grown-up dinner without them! They were happily tucked into bed & mama was getting her food and drink on. A win-win.
We had never managed to get to Zozos during any of our previous visits. I am not sure how it was totally off our radar, but it was. In all my research leading up to this trip, I never come across a bad, or even less than glowing, review of Zozos. So I decided it would be one of our two kid-free, higher end dinners (the other being the Flavors of St. John event at the Westin earlier in the week). Their entry at Flavors had reinforced my desire to go there and try the entire dining experience.
Zozo's
Not my picture, I swiped it off their website
I was a little worried about the parking situation but found they had a valet on duty to take care of your car. Very nice!
We are HUNGRY!
Decisions, Decisions
We ordered drinks and soon were enjoying fresh hot bread (soft on the inside with a crust, just the way I love it) with olive oil and fresh pepper. We decided to start with a couple of appetizers for the table, the calamari and the bruschetta di giorno, which changes every day as the name implies. Ours had pancetta, artichokes and other stuff I can't recall. These two dishes were wonderful. We cleaned the plates!
Hands down, this was the best meal I have had on the island. EVER. In all trips. The entire dining experience was wonderful. Casual, but attentive service. Wonderful atmosphere. The restaurant is located on the 2nd floor of the main building at Gallows Point, with views over the tops of a few units all the way over to St. Thomas. Our reservations were for 8 pm so we missed the sunset, but did enjoy the twinkling lights of St. Thomas and the cruise ships sailing out.
My entree - a grilled ribeye with grilled asparagus and a potato parmesan fried thing. Unbelievably good! I literally could have liked this plate clean.
Gram and Mr. Flip-Flop decided on the same dish, the Caribbean lobster with lump crab, risotto, peas and rice. Buttery, tender and wonderful. Sometimes Caribbean lobster can be a little tough, this was not. Absolutely perfect.
Jim enjoyed a pork chop that was astoundingly huge and perfectly cooked. We could not figure out how they got it cooked through when it was this huge! Yes, he ate it all!
Barbo got the tenderloin with grilled asparagus and risotto.
Deciding to live completely large, we also split a couple desserts.
The Tirimisu
I usually avoid Tirimisu, because though I love a good one, it seems a good one is hard to come by. They can get soggy and grainy and go horribly wrong. This one was nothing but right! Perfect.
And, of course, we had to have something Chocolate.
The Chocolate Torte with ice cream, served warm, it just melts in your mouth! The only problem with this one was that it wasn't 4 time bigger!
With our tummies full (do you sense a theme?) we passed John on the way out and I told him, truthfully, that we had one of the best meals of my life (top 5) and hands down the best meal I had ever had on St. John. He seemed genuinely thrilled to hear the compliment. Tage was a close 2nd, but the atmosphere and service at Zozos bumped it over the top.
Tomorrow: Morning Sail with Bread on the Water, Hawksnest & Dinner followed by Putt-Putt at Pastory Gardens
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