Today is our next to last full day on island and I am starting to feel a little melancoly. I can't believe it is already time for Jo to go home! We are going to miss her.
Mr. Flip-Flop, the baby boy and I are up early per usual. Thanks Baby! Since someone asked ... no he really doesn't stop smiling!
On the agenda, morning massages for me and Barbo and we really didn't care what anyone else did as long as they left us the heck alone! Yay, something to look forward to and take my mind off the end nearing. Those who read the Ram head hike saga know that Nomadic had to cancel due to a split tire earlier in the week. After a little back and forth with Casey (who is on the mainland but still does all the bookings) we settled on 9 am today. This actually worked out nicely as it gave us something to look forward to all week.
Up around 6:30 or so, but lingered in bed until about 7:30. I made another run to Pine Peace, only about a 5 minute drive away, for bagels, bacon, and eggs for more breakfast sandwiches! Yum. These are so simple and so delish. I should have taken a picture for the food porn, but alas, did not. I should have learned by now that the bacon at Pine Peace, though thick cut and top quality, was $7.49 vs Starfish's more normal price of $4 or so. Oh well. Still for around $12 we had breakfast for 6. Not bad.
Soon Aaron and Nicole arrived from Nomadic and got to work setting up for our massages. We decided to have them in the Barbo's master suite.
This was the view.
This massage was 80 minutes of pure bliss, if you don't count the last 5 minutes when the lawn people showed up and went to weed whacking right outside the window! Talk about bad timing. Still, no one could ruin this massage.
Nomadic uses Body Deli products and our pick was thai lemongrass. Fruity, fresh and invigorating. Well I felt as invigorated as someone reduced to a puddle of jelly by a great massage can feel. I love massages. I know they are indulgent, but it is vacation! Mr. Flip-Flop likes to dive, I like to dissolve. The cost is almost the same :)
Aaron was great. He asked me about any trouble spots and the level of pressure I would like and got to it. He spent about 50 of the 80 minutes on my back, which is my chronic trouble spot, but he also did some work on my upper arms. I didn't realize how tight and sore they were until he started working on them, no doubt from lugging the 27 lb boy around! Barbo and I chatted a little but soon I was unable to speak due to the deep state of relaxation/coma I was in. Great great massage, worth every penny and even worth the wait. I felt like a new woman. Barbo was equally satisfied with Nicole.
Post massage, I am pretty sure I couldn't form a coherent sentence here if you paid me. Maybe if you offered me another week on St. John.
During the massages, Mr. Flip-Flop headed to Mongoose to check out a few watches. Did I mention he is also a bit obsessed with watches? Particularly high end automatic (no battery) watches. Not that he owns many, but he very much likes to admire them and where better to do this than St. John and St. Thomas. He was particularly interested in the Breitlings and Patek Philippes and decided to see what Jewels had in their cases. He took the baby boy with him and found, like I had all week long, the people of St. John LOVE chunky babies. He did not buy anything. Research, just research. The nice gentlemen, upon hearing that they didn't have the exact model he wanted to take a look at, said he would happily get it from their vault. But it would take a day. This knowing in all likelihood it was just to satisfy Mr. Flip-Flop's curiosity. Excellent service, super nice people. They played with my kid, so they get bonus points.
Massage completed and consciousness regained, we decided to head off to Cinnamon for the day. Mr. Flip-Flop offered to hang back and deliver Jo to the ferry and hang out with the boy while he napped. Thank you Mr. Flip-Flop! I think his ulterior motive was a date with his PSP. I relax by reading on the beach, he relaxes by playing video games. Weird dude I married, but I am ok with it!
We hopped in with the Barbos and headed to Cinnamon. I had not been to this beach since our very first trip. It is a beautiful beach with good facilities. There is a camp ground and thus there are more amenities. Fresh water showers, a camp convenience store, a restaurant, rental water stuff. It is nice. A great starter beach.
A peek at a campsite.
Not to be negative...but I, personally, would be fine if I never went to Cinnamon again. Sorry if I seem cranky but it was pretty crowded and I kept thinking what are we doing here with all these people. It very well could be that it was the day prior to Thanksgiving and folks were starting to get into St. John for the holiday weekend. I don't know. Maybe it is always more crowded. It is a beautiful beach. Long and wide. It was fairly rough this day. Its not that there is anything wrong with Cinnamon, I just prefer more solitude. The same reason you won't find me on Trunk after about 9:30 am. To each their own!
I swear I thought this picture was straight. Not so much.
This side was fairly empty but the other side was packed with people. Packed by St. John standards not Jersey shore standards, of course.
We enjoyed lunch on the beach from the restaurant. The barbos with their burgers.
They serve burgers, grilled chicken sandwiches, hot dogs etc. A fairly limited selection, but it was a nice change from the sandwiches we had been eating most of the week. I had a tasty chicken sandwich and a mango smoothie that was delicious.
Mini Flip-Flop set to digging her way to china
While Mama Flip-Flop's toes relaxed in the sand
Look what the mini Flip-Flop made! Just kidding some guy was building this sculpture while we were there.
Soon the men Flip-Flops join us
This is how I would like to go to the beach!
They had safely put Jo on the ferry to Charlotte Amalie after a lunch at Uncle Joe's. Ulterior Motive 2! While my chicken sandwich was yummy, it was no uncle joe's. I am bitter, but I forgive.
I also discovered that the baby boy is not so fond of sand. I put his feet in it and he pulled them up so high they could almost touch his ears. He got some on his hands and he just kind of looked at them and looked at me like I was inflicting some form of ancient baby torture on him. Ok, maybe he doesn't smile ALL the time. Sand removal was in immediate order. To get all the sand off of him I took him for a little float in the water. Then wrapped him up tight and warm for snuggling. Loves the water, hates the sand. I am sure that will change by our next trip!
We spend a bit of time snuggling
And he hangs out in the chair to avoid the dreaded weird stuff...
Here is a shot of Peter Bay homes up above Cinnamon
After wasting a large part of the afternoon away, we decide to pack it in and head back to the house. I think it is somebody's nap time.
On the way home we hit the gas station for our first fill up of the trip. All in all we filled up once and topped off once spending I think about $60 on gas.
Back at the house, Gram takes a nap and Mini Flip-Flop and I get to work on Gram's surprise birthday cake!
After a bit of afternoon relaxation, Gram & the Mini Flip-Flop settle in to watch another gorgeous sunset
A shot of the Lanai from the pool deck
I had arranged a night dive for Mr. Flip-Flop with Chris Sawyer. He had to head out about 30 minutes before sunset to meet everyone at the Caneel dock. While he was off we decided on Ronnie's pizza for dinner (a three cheese and a meat lovers) for those who remained. We were tired, hungry and lazy so this fit the bill perfectly. In hindsight we probably should have eaten some of the tons of food we were going to have to leave behind, but Ronnie's was calling our name.
If anyone read my report from 2005 you might remember we ordered from Ronnie's the night I was too um relaxed to get out of the pool. It was delicious in that state and it was delicious in my completely sober state as well! A great choice for an easy and cheap dinner. $50 fed 5 adults and a kid if you count the 3 crusts that the Mini Flip-Flop ate. Dough only thank you very much, none of that cheese or red stuff!
Depending on where your house is they will deliver. When we placed our order they said they would call when the order was on its way. Barely 45 minutes later our hot pizza was at the house. I felt like an idiot because I had told everyone we better order before we are hungry because it will take a while. I was surprised by the efficiency! And not to worry we were all hungry by the time it arrived. Our group can always eat!
After our fill of pizza we decided to dig into Gram's birthday cake a day early so we'd have plenty of time to eat it all!
Dinner and cake out of the way, Jim draws a cool donkey for Mini Flip-Flop
And we just hang out having a relaxing evening. Our next to last night on St. John.
Around 8:30 or so Mr. Flip-Flop returns from his night dive with a huge smile on his face. His night dive went very well. According to him, Chris Sawyer's operation is top notch and he has found the outfit he'll dive with from now on. I like 6 paq, he didn't so much (faulty equipment will turn you off) and neither of us was really thrilled with Low Key. They were fine, just not great.
Since it was almost a full moon they were able to spend a significant portion of their night dive without lights, enjoying the bioluminescence. This was the coolest part of the dive to him. Night dives are totally different than day dives, the feeling in the water, what you see, it is all completely different. He saw a huge 3 lb lobster (I asked why he didn't bring it home for me to grill and eat!), a large eel that attacked a fish right in front of them, and a big daddy sea turtle. I will have to take his word for it. He would definitely do more night dives and definitely would go with Chris Sawyer in a heartbeat. He says he felt they were very professional and he felt very safe. He is lucky to get me in the water when it is crystal clear and I can see all the way to the bottom. A night dive will not be happening for the Flip-Flop anytime in this lifetime!
He was also pretty proud of himself (and he's not an arrogant dude) that he had impressed his dive partner, a local former navy seal who goes out frequently with Chris Sawyer. The guy went so far as to invite Mr. Flip-Flop along on a locals-only dive that was taking place two nights later. Sadly, we were leaving that day and he wouldn't be able to partake. This would have been the perfect opportunity to talk him into staying through the weekend!
All in all another great day on St. John!
Tomorrow: Gram's Birthday, Morning at Jumbie, Flip-Flop and her mama go to St Thomas, a Drive to the East End, & Thanksgiving Dinner at the Banana Deck!
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