St. John - 5/27 - 5/31 - Westin Hotel Trip Report

Trip to St. John
May 27 – 31st, 2008

Westin Hotel

Arrived Tuesday mid day. The Westin has a check in place right at the St. Thomas airport and they bus you over to their ferry. I think there is a charge, but since we were part of a group, our fees were included in our trip. We had a nice large room, but in bldg 23 which is very far from everything. Big termite nest in the trees behind our room. You'd think they'd want to do something about that. Only downside to the room was the AC unit which blew right on your head….so you would freeze when it came on and get hot when it was off…and it did that hundred of times a night…so neither of us had very relaxing (or complete) nights sleeping. Since there were no screens in the sliders, you couldn’t just turn it off and open the windows.Tuesday we just walked around checked out the place. Cool iquanas. They feed them every day at 3 and they flock to the feeding area. Some really large (3 - 4 feet) ones. Tuesday night we had the company cocktail party then we grabbed dinner at the hotel beach bar...the food here is just so so..and quite expensive. Good raspberry smoothies ($7)...that's without rum! Early to bed Tue night since we had been up at 3am to start the trip.Wed I walked around the place taking some flower photos. Then breakfast...we got a $25 per day per person credit...and you need it. Did have great waffles with mangos, blueberry, strawberries and pecans...very good.. Ken had granola...and they brought him a box of Kellogg’s! Well what do you expect for $9. After breakfast we went down to the Westin beach. Fairly small...and murky water (NOTHING like Anguilla) Warm and wet, but lots of seaweed and you can't see your feet. Fortunately I brought our two swimway floats and Ken and I floated on the water for hours. The Westin does provide floats but ours are Swimways (http://www.swimways.com/product-detail.asp?cid=&pid=73989F34-3F15-4912-802F-87F44157316C) with a nice little shade covering that rather acted as a sail. Saw a whole school of fish jump out of the water, but not much else. It was very relaxing. Had lunch at the hotel...I had the chicken sandwich special...(not much special) and Ken had a nice Caesar salad with grilled shrimp that looked good...lunch for two with drinks and tip is around $50. At least there's no sales tax! Back to the beach for a little longer than off to the room to shower and nap.Had dinner Wed night at ZoZos (http://www.zozos.net/) . For a list of St. John Restaurants: www.stjohnusvi.com/restaur.html
The taxi's from the Westin will take you into town for $4 each person ($5 with tip) I had the Caribbean lobster which was great, but the lobster fettuccini appetizer was even better. Done in saffron cream with corn and pine nuts...just wonderful. ZoZo's overlooks Cruz Bay...perfect for the sunset that wasn't. The taxi’s cruise the town, so it really isn’t a problem getting one back. The taxi’s aren’t like NYC ones…they are open air and seat from 9 – 20+ people, so sometimes you wait until they fill up. You pay the posted per person rate once you arrive at your destination. I think the rates from the Westin were slightly discounted.

Up early Thursday...walked over to make use of the free internet. Two computers in lobby...sometimes only one. But fast, and free. Breakfast...I had the same thing, Ken had eggs, bacon. They have a problem getting decaf coffee around here, but the juice is good. We decided to tour the island today, but missed the 9:30 tour (also one at 1:30) but were lucky enough to hook up with a nice taxi driver (Carlyle) that took Ken and I and an extended family (4 generations) of 6 around. $25 per person for about 2 1/2 to 3 hrs....ours took longer since we started out then had to go back to get the other family. Saw a lot of the north shore, nice scenery, including the overlook above Trunk Bay, but it looked nothing like the postage stamp…everything was sort of blah since the sky was so gray. We have been told it is because of the sand storm in the Sahara in Africa and the fact that it really hasn't rained...so it just creates a lot of hazy skies. You just don’t get the pretty turquoise water without sun and blue sky. We spent some time walking around the Annenberg Plantation ruins. Did get some nice photos...including one of a tarantula spider leg (he or she was shy) and some cool jack spaniel wasps.
Really interesting PBS Dance in America special filmed partly in St. John. Check out this website and scroll down on the RT side to access the ones filed in St. John. The synchronized swim one is amazing. (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/shows/wolftrap/program.html) The Yosemite “luminescent flight” is also great. Stopped at the Chateau Bordeaux on the top of the mountain to take a few photos and I made a quick stop in the gift shop. So glad we weren't driving. There are lots of very narrow, very windy, very steep roads. Came back, had lunch at the Westin (fruit, nut bread minus nuts and mango sorbet for me and turkey club wrap for Ken...once again around $50). We decided to go back to room to unwind...and took a 3 hr power nap.
We went to dinner Thursday night with friends to the Waterfront Bistro in Cruz Bay. Since we arrived early, Sue and I were able to do a little shopping ...I got two very nice shell based necklaces and some pretty blue earrings using a local blue stone. We had a lovely table overlooking the water. The dinner was great. Sue and I both had the filet minion and it was just so tender ....melted in your mouth. Ken had the lamb and John had the salmon, and everyone thought it was the best food they had so far. Joe is the owner and a very nice enterprising young man...our taxi driver filled us in on him on the ride back. The restaurant overlooks the lights of St.; John and it was cool and not buggy...two things that make me happy when dining essentially outdoors.

Friday: The sun...the sun...finally we see the sun...but it is also around 90 degrees and it is 8 am! This is our 4th ...well really 3 1/2 day here. We decided to go over to Trunk Bay
…too bad it is such a lengthy process, as well as an expensive one....$18 each way for the taxi, $8 to get into the park...$14 more to rent chairs and then you hope there aren't a lot of cruise ships in town. I checked the Cruise Ship Calendar (http://www.cruisecal.com/portal/) and today there aren't supposed to be any in St. Thomas where all the day trippers come from. The waters of Trunk Bay are clear, warm, and oh so blue. Lots of birds flying around and as you float you look over the distant hills. The chairs they rent are the beach sand chairs, and not in the best condition. No umbrellas, but if you get there early enough, there is space in the shade under the trees. There is a shower facility, restroom, restaurant (Ken’s hotdog with sauerkraut was good…my hamburger pretty much not edible). They did sell mixed alcoholic drinks which surprised me for a state park. We spent around 5 hrs just reading and floating, then back to the Westin…quick note…some Taxi’s have Westin on the top…some do not. The one we got on the way back was not a Westin Taxi…and didn’t know the meaning of shock absorbers! Dinner that night was the company dinner at the Westin Beach and even though it was a buffet, it was fabulous. Lots of variety of food all perfectly prepared. One thing about the Westin, all of the staff were extremely friendly and helpful.

Up early the next morning…we did the breakfast buffet (not worth the $24!) but since we had to eat fast to catch the 9am ferry that was pretty much our only option.

Back to St. Thomas….Ferry ride back was MUCH smoother that the trip over. Airlines left pretty much on time and we got back safe and sound.

I will post photos shortly, but nothing really outstanding due to overcast days and the fact that the one sunny day I left my camera in the room since I was going to be in the water. Will add the link to the photos later.