St. Croix
All three of our planes on the way to St. Croix had problems, but we didn't miss any or lose our luggage. We did have to sprint across O'Hare to make our flight though. We were greeted by the amazing Erica when we arrived in St. Croix. They gave us free rum cocktails while we waited for the bags, which was a great way to start the vacation. When we left Madison it was -9 without wind chill, it was 84 when we arrived. It felt wonderful. We went down to the board walk for dinner and ate right on the water. The food was really good and it was the start of nothing but seafood for a week.
Erica was an amazing hostess, taking our calls anytime/anywhere for directions or to make reservations for meals. She made us breakfast every morning, ranging from stuffed french toast to shrimp quiesh. The villa had a great view of the ocean to the north and down into Christiansted, the largest city on the island. There was a pool and a hot tub and every evening they had cocktails and snacks for all of the guests. Paul and I didn't make many of those, as we were usually out somewhere on the island.
The second day we did a bit of exploring and shopping in Christiansted, drove along the shore of the island and swam at some beaches. That night Erica sent us to her favorite restaurant, Baacaus, for our 8 month anniversary. While not that exciting of a milestone, it represented both of our longest relationships. The restaurant had amazing olive oil for the bread. We had Don Perringion, sea food pasta and steak, finished with banana foster flambea.
Wednesday was our first attempt at golfing. Paul goes often, but I hadn't been in over a decade. I did OK, but the tee times were too tight and we ended up being rushed by the players behind us a lot.
The island is quite large and we needed the car we got with the rental of the room. Especially since the other city on the island is on the West side, as well as the gay resort. We drove across the island Wednesday afternoon for swimming and a sunset dinner. Paul wanted to see the green flash, but it was elusive.
On Thursday we took a Tan-Tan tour, which is a jeep tour on the rougher roads/trails up the mountains. It rained a bit on us but the drivers gave good tour information. The jeep broke down once, the back axle broke, but it was before we were on the trail, so we got a replacement vehicle quickly. The best stop was a secluded set of tide pools that you had to climb over jagged rocks and though the crashing surf to reach. We think we saw a sea cucumber in the pool and got some pictures of it. It looked like a large circus peanut.
Friday was more golf but at a different course. We were paired with another couple this time, and I did much better. Also the course was on the ocean, not up in the mountains like the first place. Some of the holes were on rocky peninsulas jutting out into the ocean. Was a lot of fun. We then drove back to the west side for some snorkeling and another sunset dinner. Still no green flash.
Sturday we took a motorized sail boat out to Buck Island, which is a natural reserve and is one of the top 10 places to snorkel in the world. The snorkeling was amazing. We both loved it and can't wait to do it again. We had an underwater camera and Paul got a lot of great pictures.
Sunday we took a sea plane over to St. John's [Edit:] St. Thomas to visit my cousins. The flight was fun and a bit scary. Driving around in my cousin Dave's jeep was really scary too. It rained most of the day which put a damper on the shopping and swimming. But it was nice to see my cousins and meet my dad's cousins again. I hadn't seen them since I was like nine. Their house was very cool and next time we will spend more time on St. John's. It was a lot more touristy, but better shopping and beaches.
Monday we did some last minute shopping ($200 worth in liquor, it was really cheep and we got as much as we could legally take back) and then flew home. Had a lot of delays in Chicago and didn't get back until 1:30 am.
All in all, great trip. Next time we hope to bring some friends with us.
Pictures here
Erica was an amazing hostess, taking our calls anytime/anywhere for directions or to make reservations for meals. She made us breakfast every morning, ranging from stuffed french toast to shrimp quiesh. The villa had a great view of the ocean to the north and down into Christiansted, the largest city on the island. There was a pool and a hot tub and every evening they had cocktails and snacks for all of the guests. Paul and I didn't make many of those, as we were usually out somewhere on the island.
The second day we did a bit of exploring and shopping in Christiansted, drove along the shore of the island and swam at some beaches. That night Erica sent us to her favorite restaurant, Baacaus, for our 8 month anniversary. While not that exciting of a milestone, it represented both of our longest relationships. The restaurant had amazing olive oil for the bread. We had Don Perringion, sea food pasta and steak, finished with banana foster flambea.
Wednesday was our first attempt at golfing. Paul goes often, but I hadn't been in over a decade. I did OK, but the tee times were too tight and we ended up being rushed by the players behind us a lot.
The island is quite large and we needed the car we got with the rental of the room. Especially since the other city on the island is on the West side, as well as the gay resort. We drove across the island Wednesday afternoon for swimming and a sunset dinner. Paul wanted to see the green flash, but it was elusive.
On Thursday we took a Tan-Tan tour, which is a jeep tour on the rougher roads/trails up the mountains. It rained a bit on us but the drivers gave good tour information. The jeep broke down once, the back axle broke, but it was before we were on the trail, so we got a replacement vehicle quickly. The best stop was a secluded set of tide pools that you had to climb over jagged rocks and though the crashing surf to reach. We think we saw a sea cucumber in the pool and got some pictures of it. It looked like a large circus peanut.
Friday was more golf but at a different course. We were paired with another couple this time, and I did much better. Also the course was on the ocean, not up in the mountains like the first place. Some of the holes were on rocky peninsulas jutting out into the ocean. Was a lot of fun. We then drove back to the west side for some snorkeling and another sunset dinner. Still no green flash.
Sturday we took a motorized sail boat out to Buck Island, which is a natural reserve and is one of the top 10 places to snorkel in the world. The snorkeling was amazing. We both loved it and can't wait to do it again. We had an underwater camera and Paul got a lot of great pictures.
Sunday we took a sea plane over to St. John's [Edit:] St. Thomas to visit my cousins. The flight was fun and a bit scary. Driving around in my cousin Dave's jeep was really scary too. It rained most of the day which put a damper on the shopping and swimming. But it was nice to see my cousins and meet my dad's cousins again. I hadn't seen them since I was like nine. Their house was very cool and next time we will spend more time on St. John's. It was a lot more touristy, but better shopping and beaches.
Monday we did some last minute shopping ($200 worth in liquor, it was really cheep and we got as much as we could legally take back) and then flew home. Had a lot of delays in Chicago and didn't get back until 1:30 am.
All in all, great trip. Next time we hope to bring some friends with us.
Pictures here