Travel days from US Virgin Islands

All good things come to an end eventually, and such it was with our USVI vacation.

Driving (on the left, as was the style at the time) our rental car to drop it off:

Driving

A couple of cruise ships:

Cruise ships

The buses on the island are open air things like this colorful example:

Bus

Vodka:

Vodka

Passing by the end of the airport runway:

Airport runway

Rental car return:

Rental car return

The tiny one-terminal airport:

Airport

Some lunch:

Food

“Last sip in the Virgin Islands” on the back of a coffee shop:

Last sip

Our plane arriving:

Our plane

Our plane

Our plane

Our plane

Boarding the plane was a bit of a snafu; they announced general boarding, and everyone rushed forward, but they turned people away for not boarding with their group. Then everyone was lined up outside while the plane was still being cleaned:

Our plane

Boarding:

Our plane

Our plane

STT to MIA:

STT to MIA

A plane selfie:

Selfie

A view of the cockpit:

Cockpit

Takeoff:

Takeoff

In the air:

In the air

In the air

We splurged on business class for this leg. and enjoyed the snacks and beverage:

Snacks and beverage

And dinner:

Dinner

Miami:

In the air

Miami airport:

Plane

Skytrain:

Skytrain

We probably should have taken the skytrain, but weren’t sure where it went; we ended up walking the entire length of this terminal; fortunately we had some time to spare:

Terminal map

MIA to DFW:

MIA to DFW

Another plane selfie, this time in premium economoy:

Selfie

In the air:

In the air

In the air

In the air

On arrival in Dallas, we caught a taxi back to the hotel:

Taxi

Hotel room:

Hotel room

The next morning, breakfast at the hotel restaurant:

Hotel restaurant

Hotel breakfast

Then we checked out and picked up Paladin from his hotel:

Pet hotel

Paladin:

Paladin

He was very happy to see us:

Paladin and Jenn

It was a great vacation. We’d love to visit there again in the future (and the third of the main Virgin Islands, Saint Croix).

US Virgin Islands power boat circle of St. John

Our second boating excursion in the USVI was on a power boat, circumnavigating the island of Saint John, including a couple of snorkeling stops, and lunch at Lime Out, a floating taco bar.

Jenn’s Tripadvisor review:

Fantastic day in the USVI

This was a fantastic way to see St John, including snorkeling in the national park (sea turtles & stingrays!) and a unique lunch experience at Lime Out (shrimp tacos!). Our crew of Captain Brandon & Mate Lacey took great care of us and made it a highlight of our trip to the USVI. They were so accommodating and even had ways for non-snorkelers to enjoy the warm water, such as a floating mat attached to the boat, allowing everyone to get in on the fun.

The boat (first on the right) in the marina:

Marina

Lacey made sure our beverages remained full:

Open bar

Captain Brandon:

Captain

The first snorkeling stop:

Snorkeling

Snorkeling

An interesting rock:

Interesting rock

Spray:

Spray

Spray

Rocks

Flag

We stopped for lunch at Lime Out. a floating taco bar. Jenn’s Tripadvisor review:

It’s the experience

This was one of the most unique and memorable dining experiences I’ve ever had. We took a day cruise around St. John specifically because it had a stop here for lunch. It’s expensive, but how many times are you going to be able to eat a taco on a floating pad while fish swim around your feet, eating any scraps you might drop? The drinks are strong and the tacos are pretty good, but it’s all about the experience.

Lime Out

Lime Out

Our boat:

Boat

Swag for purchase:

Lime Out

We sat on a floating circular seating, with a floating table ferried between the restaurant and seating to deliver the menus, drinks, food, and swag:

Floating table

The menu:

Menu

Nobody was allowed on board; our server called out across the water:

Server

Selfie:

Selfie

Tacos:

Tacos

Taco

There were lots of fish swimming below us, waiting for dropped crumbs:

Fish

Fish

Fish

A glimpse of the bar along the edge of the floating restaurant, and more floating seating:

Swag

Lacey in a fish taco costume:

Taco costume

On the way to the next spot:

Spray

An interesting house; something simple and isolated like that would suit us nicely:

Interesting house

The second snorkeling spot:

Snorkeling

I wasn’t into snorkeling, so Lacey kindly put out a tethered float for me:

Float

Float

An underwater video I recorded of the fish under me:

Jenn:

Jenn

She took my phone and captured some great shots, including this stingray:

Stingray

Stingray

Fish:

Fish

Cool looking thing

Fish

Fish

Fish

Fish

Fish

Fish

Fish

Fish

Fish

Fish

Fish

A turtle:

Turtle

Turtle

Turtle

Turtle

Fish

Fish

Fish

Fish

Fish

Continuing on, past the Annaberg sugar plantation (where we visited the previous day):

Annaberg sugar plantation

A nice catamaran:

Catamaran

Customs office ruins:

Customs office ruins

Yacht:

Yacht

Nice houses:

Nice houses

Nice houses

National park mooring pay station:

Mooring pay station

A very enjoyable excursion.

US Virgin Islands National Park

As previously mentioned, the US Virgin Islands consists of three main islands, and a bunch of minor ones. We were staying on Saint Thomas, but another highlight of this trip was to cross off another national park, in our goal to visit all of them. The nearby island of Saint John mostly consists of the Virgin Islands National Park.

It is possible to take a passenger ferry over to the island, and walk to the park visitor center, and explore the town of Cruz Bay (where the ferry docks), but we wanted to explore more of the park, which is best done by car. So we headed to the car ferry dock.

Here’s a car ferry loading; the cars all back on, to make it easier to drive off at the other side:

Car ferry

Car ferry

Car ferry

The departing ferry, and another arriving:

Car ferries

Car ferry

Car ferry

We made it onto this ferry, the Big Red Barge:

Car ferry

Car ferry

The cars are packed rather tightly:

Car ferry

Car ferry

Car ferry

Arriving at Saint John:

Car ferry

Driving off:

Car ferry

Why did the chicken cross the road? They’re all over the place:

Chickens

Jenn got her National Park passport stamps:

National Park passport stamp

Info in the visitor center:

Info

Visitor center gift store:

Visitor center

Selfie:

Jenn and David

The visitor center was undergoing some renovations:

Visitor center

Virgin Islands National Park sign:

Virgin Islands National Park sign

Trunk Bay is one of the most popular parts of the park; we hoped to be able to stop here, but they have very limited parking, so we skipped it:

Trunk Bay

Maho Bay is another (too) popular beach:

Maho Bay

But we were able to find parking at Francis Bay, a less popular but still very nice beach:

Francis Bay

We had a picnic lunch on the beach:

Picnic lunch

Parts of the beach were a little rocky, but the sand was very soft:

A little rocky

Underwater photos:

Underwater

Jenn swimming:

Jenn swimming

Video of fish:

Fish

Jenn

Looking like a merman:

David looking like a merman

Fish

Fish

Fish

Fish

Fish

Fish

Fish

Fish

Fish

Fish

Fish

Continuing on, we visited the historic windmill of the Annaberg sugar plantation:

Annaberg Sugar Mill

Annaberg Sugar Mill

Annaberg Sugar Mill

Annaberg Sugar Mill

Annaberg Sugar Mill

Annaberg Sugar Mill

Annaberg Sugar Mill

Annaberg Sugar Mill

A turtle:

Turtle

Nice view

Annaberg Sugar Mill

Annaberg Sugar Mill

Annaberg Sugar Mill

Annaberg Sugar Mill

Annaberg Sugar Mill

Annaberg Sugar Mill

Annaberg Sugar Mill

Goat:

Goat

Donkeys:

Donkeys

Nice view

Lots of steep roads:

Steep road

Back to the car ferry:

Car ferry

Car ferry

Car ferry

A nice swim, fascinating history, and great to visit one of the more difficult to reach national parks.

US Virgin Islands: Magens Bay Beach

We visited Magens Bay Beach, one of the most popular beaches on Saint Thomas.

Magens Bay Beach

Magens Bay Beach

There were lots of Pelicans at this beach, diving for fish:

Pelican

Beach

A video of a pelican diving into the water:

Pelicans taking a break:

Pelicans

Jenn:

Jenn

Jenn

Pelican

Pelicans

Pelicans

Pelican

Pelicans

More videos of pelicans:

Pelicans

Pelicans

Pelicans

Swimming selfie (with a thick sheen of the reef-safe sunscreen):

Jenn and David

A pelican having some lunch:

Pelican

Pelican

A very nice beach and swim.

US Virgin Islands sailing & snorkeling

During our US Virgin Islands vacation we did two boating excursions. The first of which was on Jenn’s birthday: St John & Surrounding Cays Full-Day Sail and Snorkel Experience — a six-hour trip on a sailboat, with only six guests (including us), an open bar, lunch, and two snorkel sessions included.

Jenn’s Tripadvisor review:

Great day in the USVI

We had a great time sailing with Captain Denby and Mate Rusty. The wind was a bit blustery the day we set out, but they knew all the best places to go to beat the weather and still enjoy our snorkeling. Lunch was delicious and we really loved being with a laidback smaller group.

Here’s the sailboat in the marina:

Sailboat in marina

Leaving the slip:

Leaving slip

Sails unfurled; so peacefully quiet when sailing without the engine:

Sailing

Preparing to anchor in a bay for some snorkeling:

Preparing to anchor

Jenn snorkeling:

Jenn snorkeling

The Big Red Barge car ferry (we were on that another day) and some fancy houses:

Big Red Barge

Underway again:

Underway again

Buildings

Nice boat:

Ship

Anchoring again:

Anchoring again

The Pizza Pi boat, a floating pizza restaurant:

Pizza Pi boat

Boats can come up alongside the Pizza Pi boat to order pizza:

Pizza Pi boat

Jenn snorkeling:

Jenn snorkeling

Selfie:

Jenn and David

Lunch was pasta salad and BBQ chicken:

Lunch

Buildings

Little Saint James island, aka Jeffrey Epstein’s “Island of Sin”:

Island

Sailing:

Sailing

Sailing

Sailing

Back to the marina:

Back to the marina

A very enjoyable excursion. Highly recommended.

US Virgin Islands food

I thought I’d do a post about some of the food we enjoyed during our USVI vacation. (More exciting activities coming in subsequent posts.)

One nice thing about our Airbnb condo was that it was a short walk from some restaurants, including Sun & Sea Bar & Grill, which was below the swimming pool, right on the water. Here are the one side of the drinks and food menus as a sampling of the offerings:

Menus

Jenn enjoying the view:

Jenn

Beverages:

Beverages

The restaurant:

Restaurant

Restaurant

A fun thing was there were a bunch of fish that hung out next to the restaurant, as staff and patrons would occasionally throw leftovers to them:

Fish

Our food:

Food

A pelican on the dock:

Pelican

For breakfast the next day we went to Picaso’s Coffee Bar, a few minutes drive from the Airbnb:

Picaso's Coffee Bar

Picaso's Coffee Bar

We brought the coffee and food back to eat on our lanai:

Messages on coffee

We got ham, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwiches on traditional “dumb bread” (kinda like a US-style biscuit or scone):

Dumb bread breakfast sandwiches

Dumb bread breakfast sandwich

We went to a grocery store to get more food, including freshly ground coffee beans:

Coffee beans

A lunch at Señor Pizza in Red Hook:

Señor Pizza

Señor Pizza

Señor Pizza

Heading to Margaritaville, one of the other restaurants an easy walk from the Airbnb:

Margaritaville

Margaritaville

Margaritaville

Margaritaville

Menu:

Menu

Menu

A cat wandered through, looking hopefully at diners:

Cat

Cat

Beachside beverages:

Beverages

A rainbow; you can also see the Sun & Sea Bar & Grill restaurant (and its floating dock), and above that the Airbnb:

Rainbow

David

Food:

Food

A cannon:

Cannon

Back to the Sun & Sea Bar & Grill again another evening:

Sun & Sea Bar & Grill

Sun & Sea Bar & Grill

Sun & Sea Bar & Grill

Someone arrived at the restaurant by boat, and a pelican enjoyed perching on it:

Pelican on a boat

Back to Margaritaville again:

Margaritaville

Margaritaville

Jenn

Margaritaville

Margaritaville

One thing I wasn’t impressed by with Margaritaville; they had an easy-to-miss notice that they automatically added an 18% tip to the bill, but also included a tip line; if one weren’t paying attention, it’d be easy to significantly overtip (as I did the first time we were there). I usually tip 20-25%, but this just seemed sneaky (I did still add a small tip to bring it above 18%, though):

Margaritaville

(As a Kiwi, I still find tipping kinda gross, even after 22 years in the US. But it’s the system.)

On our last night, we made a dinner at our Airbnb:

Airbnb dinner

US Virgin Islands accommodations

While in the US Virgin Islands, we stayed at an Airbnb in the Point Pleasant Resort on Saint Thomas.

Here’s a map, with a marker for the resort where we stayed:

Jenn’s review of the Airbnb:

This was a fantastic place to stay during our trip to St. Thomas and Alan was a very gracious and responsive host. We wouldn’t hesitate to stay here again. We particularly enjoyed the gorgeous views right on the water and the easy walk to restaurants, which was just perfect after a day of sightseeing. Watching the pelicans dive for fish in the bay and the iguanas sunning themselves was wonderfully entertaining.

The Airbnb condo had a great view, above the water, and a short walk to restaurants, a swimming pool, and beaches:

Airbnb

Airbnb

Airbnb

A small but functional kitchen:

Kitchen

The bathroom:

Bathroom

A wraparound lanai:

Lanai

Lanai

Such a great view:

View

View

View

View

View

Rainbow:

Rainbow

Two or three iguanas sunned themselves in the tree below the lanai:

Iguana

Iguana

Iguanas

And it was fun to watch the pelicans diving for fish:

Pelican

They sometimes visited the tree to dry off, too:

Pelican

Pelican\

Pelican

Catamarans in the bay:

Catamarans

Catamaran

The nearby swimming pool:

Swimming pool

Swimming pool

The resort is gated, with a guard chicken:

Guard chicken

A rather steep driveway:

Steep driveway

Steep driveway

Steep driveway

Steep driveway

A nice place to stay; we’d definitely stay there again.

Travel days to US Virgin Islands

To celebrate Jenn’s big milestone birthday in February, we had a six-night vacation on the United States Virgin Islands of Saint Thomas and Saint John.

The USVI consists of three main islands (and a bunch of minor ones) in the Caribbean, east of Puerto Rico.

This post is about our travel from Dallas, Texas to Saint Thomas, USVI.

But first, after dropping off our coach at NIRVC (as in a recent blog post), we dropped off Paladin at a cat boarding place:

Cat boarding

His room:

Cat boarding

Checking out the play area:

Cat boarding

Even a fish tank to watch:

Cat boarding

Then we headed to a hotel near the airport for the night, since our flight was very early in the morning:

Hotel

Hotel

We left our truck at the hotel. The next morning, at 3 AM, we took a taxi to the Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) airport.

Here’s our plane:

Our plane

A map of our flight from DFW to CLT:

DFW to CLT

A plane selfie; we wore masks for the flights out, just in case:

David and Jenn

The plane needed to be de-iced before we could take off:

De-icing the plane

Dallas from the air:

Dallas

Dallas

Dallas

Sunrise above the clouds:

Sunrise

Charlotte, North Carolina:

Charlotte, North Carolina

Charlotte, North Carolina

Charlotte, North Carolina

A one hour connection, so we rushed to our next gate:

Charlotte, North Carolina

Rocking chairs in the terminal:

Charlotte, North Carolina

A map of our second flight, from CLT to STT:

CLT to STT

Boarding the plane:

Boarding plane

Takeoff:

Take off

Several other passengers were masked, but many were not; it’s no longer required:

Passengers

USVI:

USVI

USVI

Arrival:

Arrival

We were picked up by our rental car, and taken to their office; we booked a Jeep to handle the hilly terrain on the islands:

Rental car

Driving through downtown Saint Thomas; notice that they drive on the left side of the road on the islands, though the cars are US ones, with the steering wheel on the left; that took a bit of getting used to:

Downtown Saint Thomas

Downtown Saint Thomas

Downtown Saint Thomas

Downtown Saint Thomas

We stopped for some groceries on the way to our accommodations — and notice the chickens; there were free-range chickens all over the islands:

Groceries and chickens

Next time, a post about our accommodations.