I mean, who wouldn't want to spend a week on a remote island while 29 weeks pregnant?! We are on the best baby moon with the most wonderful friends and this week couldn't be better!! After putting off scheduling a real vacation for over a year while we were trying to get pregnant we finally decided we were doing this no matter what! It didn't take long to convince the Woolards, our partners in crime for the past 10 years to come with us, to stay in a beautiful villa overlooking the carribean. Bryce found this amazing house to rent on vacation homes for rent by owner.com and the planning was done! True we thought we would be pregnant but not 29 weeks along! The first question for our doctor after seeing that little heart flicker was of course....can we still go on our vacation? So here we are in paradise and it couldn't be more perfect! Here is the recap so far...
Day 1....a trip to Kmart in paradise??
Our day started bright and early at 3:45 and at 6 am we were on our first leg towards Atlanta. We were on the flight from ATL to STT with the Woolards which was awesome. So great to see them so soon! The flights all went great and I felt comfortable the whole way down. So far so good! We arrived in St Thomas and got our bags and the last bit of travel anxiety floated right away. We picked up our rental car... ford Fusion, definitely not as cool as El Lancia! That's ok...on our way following our host for the week Linda. So here in the US VI the driver sits on the left side on the car like normal but you drive on the left side of the road! Weird....regardless Bryce is up for the challenge! Crazy trip up the mountain side and we arrived at our villa...we all looked at each other hoping someone would remember how the hell to get back to civilization! Challenge for later.... We were in awe of this property! Literally words can't describe the beauty of this place...only pictures can do it justice.
The owners are an interesting pair. Obviously very well traveled judging by the vast number of travel books and treasures from around the world. Some of the more interesting things... An old newspaper article from Baltimore from 2 days after the Titanic sunk (the article reported everyone was safe and the boat was being towed to shore), lots of rare butterflies and insects on display, so many coffee table books - the history of lingerie and the complete works of Earnest Hemingway oh and dint forget the Kill Bill DVd.
After settling into our rooms it was time for the part of this trip i was dreading..grocery shopping. We made our way into town and had a lovely walk through Kmart and the adjoining mall in search of some shorts for Anne. All I will say is that when our host told us what places to stay away from this was definitely one of them. We simply didn't belong. We we're all terrified enough to skip the grocery store down the strip mall and head to the Cost U Less (Sam's) which felt much more safe but resulted in some ridiculous purchases including the value pack of ketchup, mustard and relish. It would take us months to work through it all. There was a moment I was nearly in tears over peanut butter but we made it out alive and had a relatively painless trip back up the mountain... Way to go team!
After an easy dinner of brats we enjoyed our amazing deck and went to sleep excited about the week ahead of us...seriously amazing!
Day 2....Is this seriously our reality for the week??
We woke up and started on of our traditions for the week... An awesome home cooked breakfast! Way to go boys! This also serves as our planning session for each day. This day would be spent enjoying our deck, view and private pool overlooking the ocean until noon and then off to Magens Bay for the afternoon. One of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. Truly amazing and felt so local and low key. Not commercial in any way. We enjoyed a very nice dinner at the Old Stone Farmhouse. Minus the boy's salty duck and weird ostrich sausage it was a hit! We got to visit the kitchen to look at cuts of meat which were available and the waiter suggested a "reasonably priced" bottle of wine which was only $160....ha! Yeah right....
Overall a phenomenal night and we even got to watch the Cardinals game on ESPN when we got back! An amazing day of course and I couldn't feel better... All of the swimming really takes the pressure off my back and I simply feel fantastic!
Day 3...Charlotte Amalie exploration
After our amazing breakfast we planned our day to include another relaxing morning enjoying our deck...seriously can't get enough and would follow that up with a trip into town to do some exploring. We decided to visit the local convenience store and got some milkshakes at the Udder Delight just down the road on the way back. I found a small jar of peanut butter and was the happiest pregnant girl in the world. we started our journey into town around 2pm and found the cruise ship dock. We enjoyed some snacks and drinks at the Fat Turtle but shopping was a little light since we are in the slow season..no complaints here! From there we made our way towards Frenchtown in search of dinner. We really only had a basic map and our college educated brains to go off of. After a few questionable places to turn around we found a local pizza place that was recommended to us by our waiter the night before. Awesome pizza and a really impressive beer list made this an excellent choice! Bryce, Anne and I took a short walk in search of some good pictures of the harbor ....another interesting journey in which we were happy there were three of us together (James was enjoying his beer in the safety of the restaurant). Overall Pi Whole was a hit for everyone! A bit more culture was experienced in Charlotte Amalie but all part of our adventure! On the drive back JD took his turn at driving and Bryce navigating. Let's just say we will go back to our previous arrangement of JD navigating and Bryce driving :). But hey....we are still here to enjoy another day!
Day 4......."Bryce Bryce Bryce..... What day is it?? Boat Day!!! Woo woo!!!!"
The hump day commercial has been one of constant entertainment for us...it didn't stop on boat day... Woo woo!! This is what this trip has been planned around for Bryce. We chartered a boat for the 4 of us with Captain Wilson (ie Captain Ron). I set out prepared with snacks, water, tums and an anti nausea medicine prescribed by my doctor. Ready to go! The boat was awesome... Deja Blue. Off we went to our first destination..snorkeling along a small rocky island protected as a bird sanctuary. We get out after a few safety precautions (Capt Wilson is totally freaked out that I'm pregnant but I still feel great!) and off we went! Basically we floated easily in the salt water and let the current float us along the island. We did this for about 45 min and it was such a peaceful experience. Bryce was in heaven. Back on the boat we took off towards a deserted beach on an uninhabited island. Literally... Just us on this beautiful beach. The water here is an incredible color of blue and turquoise. I've never seen anything like it. Bryce and JD took off in search of Pirate Booty. They searched the squatters campground who weren't there at the time and found a bunch of hermit crabs.... Real ones :). Our next stop might be my favorite.... The smallest beach on St John called the Mermaids Chair. You can only reach it by boat or by swimming to it... We enjoyed swimming and more snorkeling nearby. Such an amazing place. We spent an extra two hours on our trip than planned touring the beaches of St John and learning some history which JD thoroughly enjoyed. The history really is incredible... Changing from Danish to French to British and American along with slave trade and revolts... Lots to learn and appreciate! We were also lucky enough to see Kenny Chesney's two houses (one he used to own and own he owns now). We took some stalker pics for all you Kenny fans!! This last part of our trip was great in preparation for our trip tomorrow to St John. After returning to the harbor we enjoyed a few drinks at a local bar in Red Hook (everyone seemed to be local around us) which was a great way to end our evening. FYI....Bryce and JD are now in fine form. The bullshit continues to flow and they can seriously talk for hours on end about absolutely nothing and it's typically very entertaining. Tomorrow will be the longest they've been together since college.... I can only imagine where this will go. We ended our night with a home cooked dinner of steaks and shrimp. Another amazing evening. Oh! We swam with sea turtles!! Super cute!
Some observations.....
References to the hump day commercial andCaptain Ron never get old. Ever.
When the moon is shining across the ocean, the light trails a path towards you and that path will follow you wherever you walk. Always. We are pretty sure There is a scientific explanation for this but we are all business majors....
The moon decides when it comes up every night....it's different every night
Literally Bryce and JD live in their own world of constant random comments and bullshit.
It's a really good thing Mandy andAnne get along so well!
We need a business plan which results in a multimillion dollar home in St John....
Kmart and Plaza Extra should be avoided at all costs...especially if you want a reasonable size jar of peanut butter.
Vacations are always best had with good friends!!!
The proper name for a doughnut is a Doh Doh.....
I'll post pics on FB later... Zonked for the night!!!
Day 5.....St John and one perfect beach after another
Once again we started our day with an amazing breakfast on our deck...another beautiful day to explore the islands was ahead of us! Today we would be exploring St John which is only a 20 min ferry ride away. After our boat tour with Capt Wilson we decided to take the car ferry so we would have some freedom to explore the island. The ferry ride was beautiful and we got a bunch of great pictures. 20 min later we were driving off the ferry into St John. What a really great little town! Very clean with great shopping and restaurants. We loved it. We started with lunch on the bay at Joe's Rum Hut and then moved through a few shops where we bought a beautiful necklace which was my 30th birthday present. It's a sterling silver charm with a Larimar stone and a blue topaz stone. Larimar is the gem of the Carribean and stands for Change and Transition... Quite fitting for our baby moon! Off we went in search of Cinamon Bay. This is the beach Kenny Chesney's first house here overlooked and he mentions it in his song Old Blue Chair. The beach did not disappoint!! Very few people, pristine blue and turquoise waters and water so clear you could see your feet under the water against the smooth sand. The only downfall.... We had forgotten Bryce's snorkel mask and the rental shop wasn't opened. Note....don't forget Bryce's snorkel mask. Luckily JD was up for an adventure and they took off swimming towards little cinnamon beach which you can't walk towards. That excursion took about 30 min and when they returned it was time to pack up and see the rest of the island (all 9 miles of it). Along our drive we saw an old wind mill which was used long ago on the sugar plantations. I sucked it up and walked up a long rocky path just to see it. I'm still 100% on activities! We drove around the rest of the island to see where the locals Live. We even saw a cow on the side of the road! Made it back to the ferry called "Tug Life" and had a nice trip back to Red Hook on St Thomas. We all loved St John....might be a future vacation destination. Our evening ended with dinner at Fish Tails in Red Hook looking over the bay. I had a Carribean lobster which was great! We all enjoyed fresh fish and had a really nice meal. The night cap was a relaxing evening on our deck....only one more full day but we couldnt make any plans since plans for the day can't be discussed until morning at breakfast....vacation rule number 1!
Day 6....our last full day of paradise
On our last full day we decided to take it easy in the morning. Book Day! Lots of reading and relaxing on our deck was just what we needed after a busy couple days. Around noon we headed out in search of the St Thomas Mountaintop for beautiful views atop St Thomas, souvenir shopping and world famous banana daiquiris! The views and daiquiris did not disappoint! From there we needed to give Bryce one more chance at snorkeling so off we went in search of lunch and a beach for snorkeling. After a bust at Coki Beach (far too crowded/shady atmosphere) we found Sapphire beach. Here we found far less people and a snorkel rent station for the rest of us! After an awesome lunch of jerk chicken at a food stand on the beach we were ready to snorkel! This beach was unlike anything we had seen! The coral came up so close to the beach and we saw so many beautiful fish and coral formations! We even saw a stingray! A little scary but very cool. Thank god Bryce was right next to me or I may have flipped out! Overall an awesome beach! From there we went back to the villa for naps and more relaxing on the deck. We decided to do dinner at home and truly enjoy our little slice of paradise for one more night!
In true Woolard/Burke fashion we spent our last night reminiscing the good ole days at WIU and planning for future vacations/excursions.
We had to check out by 11 the next morning and with flights around 2pm it gave us even more time to have a leisurely breakfast and casual morning. We took our time enjoying our amazing home but finally had to bid farewell to the Villa Papillon. If anyone is ever considering a vacation in St Thomas I would highly recommend this home for rent by owner along with Island Wilson Excursions (boat rental). Every part of this vacation was picture perfect and exactly what we needed.
For the Burkes we are headed into a busy month of baby preparation... We are 30 weeks along and in the next 4 weeks alone we will have 3 baby showers,a dr appointment, maternity photo session and labor/delivery class at the hospital. Add in a Cardinal World Series victory and that would be quite the month! Here's to a great 10 final weeks of pregnancy!!!
All our love,
Mandy and Bryce
