We went, we saw, we conquered, and if I had known the whole world was going to turn into a shit show overnight due to coronavirus concerns, I probably would not have….. But since we did go… I will say we had an extraordinary time in an absolutely beautiful, stunning, magnificent place. Peter Bay, St. John, USVI.
Travel report– There were no reported cases of the illness two weeks ago on the islands, but that has changed since. Sanitizing wipes handed out in airplanes, most people brought their own and were wiping down all surfaces in their seating area, many masks, gloves, some hazmat suits, no joke. On the islands the airport did the same. JFK looked like a chemical war zone but that’s ok, people were being responsible. I have never appreciated my elbows and feet so much when using a public bathroom, didn’t even want to breath in there but you gotta do what you gotta do.
The islands of St. Thomas ( where we fly in) and St. John are definitely still suffering from the 2 hurricanes a few years back. The effects are still very obvious, some businesses still shuttered, there are still some gutted homes, some ruined cars and boats on the sides of some roads. Just google Caneel Bay 2019 and you’ll see a once beautiful resort in ruins. It sits there exactly like that today due to litigation and an uncertainty of what precisely can be done there.
That being said, what a naturally beautiful place, St. John. A particular member of the Rockefeller family deserves much credit for that. Laurence S. Rockefeller, a wealthy philanthropist and conservationist who died in 2004 , with a small group of his friends is credited with preserving St. John’s natural resources by sowing the seeds for V.I. National Park.
St. John Administrator Julien Harley said that without Rockefeller’s foresight, St. John would look vastly different than it does today.
“If the land was private, we wouldn’t be able to walk on the trails.
Thanks to the national park’s presence, St. John has a healthy economy that lures more than a million visitors a year.”
We rented a beautiful Villa for the week, something we don’t do often and it was such a beautiful location, an experience of a life time. I am so grateful that I got to do this with my children and their significant others. The villa was located on Peter Bay in a private community just 10 minutes from Cruz bay, the main hub and only tourist town on St. John. We were right around the bend from the world famous Trunk Bay, one of the most photographed beaches in the world. We swam with turtles in Maho bay, snorkeled among beautiful tropical fish like tangs, wrasses, angels, puffer fish in Trunk Bay and a sand shark cruised by my legs while standing around oblivious until he was about five feet away. It’s one moment I was grateful to freeze in near panic. We rode horses on the beach, we ate fabulous food and drank fancy fruity drinks. We slathered a gallon of SPF 50 Reef Friendly lotion on our limbs and still came home tan because the sun is that strong, the water that reflective. There are actually free lotion stations at the beaches, I kid you not, like the hand sanitizer pumps at hospitals mounted on the walls.
The icing on the cake was.. my son’s best friend came with his GF for a few days and they got engaged at the beach!
I took a zillion pictures, hard to choose what to share here ….. maybe half a zillion would do?
Chef Lori came for two dinners and two breakfasts and she was the loveliest person! Delicious healthy food too –
My son on the right and his best bud since kindergarten days…
We had two iguana couples living among us – a pair by the pool and a pair in the trees next to the roofed patio… the males always kept a watchful eye on us. Those holes in the rocks are their cave.
Peter Bay beach is private, for use by Villa owners and renters only – such a gift to have a beach this pristine and not crowded with people. Often we were the only ones on the beach.
Donkeys live freely on the island – motorists are advised to drive slowly on the steep winding roads to avoid hitting them… and are asked not to feed them also.
Dana of Carolina Corral is one hardworking woman who takes in all the rescues on St. John, including the horses she uses to provide trail rides for tourists. Her farm has been hard hit by the hurricanes and she relies on tourism and donations to take care of the animals in her care and make the repairs still needed. If you’d like to make a donation in any amount, and I can guarantee you it would be for an excellent cause and a very decent, caring, hard working woman… hit the donate button on her website… it will be put to great use and is very much needed. The horses in the picture below wouldn’t be here on this earth without her intervening. Water is scarce and she often has to buy it to give the animals. There are donkeys, goats, pigs, chickens, sheep, dogs and cats in her care as well – many dumped or injured with her as the only island rescue. And she’s doing it all by herself.
horsesstjohn.com
The LOTION STATION… I wasn’t kidding!
… one of these guys is not like the others…
The newly engaged couple💕
Did I share with you in an earlier post my dear husband’s comments when I was trying on bathing suits to ask his opinion before our vacation? “That one’s good. It breaks it all up”…..
Believe you me, I wrung the hell out of that one with photos sent home…
“Breaking it all up here on Peter Bay”…..
So we’re back home, re-entered Coronazone… where the husband has had a cough for a week and I have allergy symptoms and it’s scaring the hell out of all of us… all of it, everywhere. I’ve been to the grocery store and dropped off groceries to mom, Dad is on lock down at the nursing home, and we are practicing hand washing to the Nth- degree and safe social distancing and hoping the allergy symptoms and cough aren’t the dreaded other dreaded C word. Seems a lot of people have a lot of symptoms they are monitoring, which is all we can do, besides being responsible and staying home when possible.
Stay healthy and sane, all – and WASH YOUR HANDS
Karen 
Awesome pictures! You all appear to have had a wonderful time!Thanks for sharing!
I was actually worried about you people…I thought maybe you got stuck there, which really wouldn’t be a bad place to get stuck! But like Dorothy said, “there’s no place like home!”.
Gurllll…you rocked that bathing suit…eat your heart out husband! lol!
Welcome home!
Hahaha.. well, I’m not rocking it, but at least I have the guts to wear it 🙂 And he got the message loud and clear. and yes, we are so happy to be home.
Watch out for anosmia- the sudden loss of taste and /or smell. A little known symptom of Covid just coming to light out of Europe. My friend Sue and Hannah both suffered from it for days after returning from overseas but both thought it was allergies. They had some nausea also. Both were out in public for two weeks after returning home and may very well have infected others. Hannah feels terrible that she didn’t know.
I was worried about you also , and will be for the next couple weeks. I recommend grocery delivery. Better for everyone.
I was just speaking with my veterinarian who said he believes the virus is far more widespread than the numbers suggest, that many people who believed they had allergies (like me right now) or a sore throat and headachethat eventually went away, actually had the C virus. He said we are all wise to take the precautions and social distance ourselves because that’s the only way to kick it.
So glad that you were able to get away and enjoy your family in such a beautiful setting. That’s sounds like the trip of a lifetime! Welcome home to chaos and more Trump dysfunction (and I’d advise you not to look at the Stock Market tomorrow.)
Stay well.
I saw him speak last night… OMG, dysfunction to say the very very least. He was actually talking about how his wife said “I never see you get booed”… and other nonsense like that. Such a bizarre man.
I’m thrilled you guys were able to make that trip, and shared with us the beautiful photo’s, Karen! Those memories will last a lifetime.
I love your family.
Hoping none of y’all have the dreaded ‘c’ –
xoxo
We hope we don’t either! LOL… Stay well Sally and family –
Hello,
Looks like a wonderful trip! Beautiful place and wonderful photos. Take care and be well. Wishing you a happy new week!
You too, Eileen!
It looks like such a lovely place to vacation. Glad you made it home safe. Stay well!
Thank you! you too –
I’m glad you were able to get this in before you went into Corona-mode and hope the cough is just a cold or allergies. I have a hard time telling, too, with my lung stuff. It’s scarier because of that. Stay in and safe. Please have your food and groceries delivered if you can. Michigan is going into official Stay at Home policy today — only essential businesses open.
Meanwhile, the photos are gorgeous. This spot looks like a little bit of heaven on earth and I know the relaxing will serve you well. Just meditate back to that beach or a favorite spot when it seems too much.
Stay well, friend. and It was truly a magnificent place –
Dana certainly does do good work on STJ. The Animal Care Center also does wonders with scarce resources.
While cute, the donkeys are becoming a problem. People feed them and they become aggressive. It seems like there are more in the island now than before the hurricane.
Peter Bay and the North Shore in general is the best location on STJ.
How wonderful to be able to travel with your adult children and partnerships. I look forward to this type of trip as my son grows up.
Your opinion on Maho Crossroads?
The kids loved Maho Crossroads. I just walked in to glance around but they hung out and listened to the music and rented snorkel gear there. What I hope is that being there does not make it so touristy that the turltes, etc. are disturbed too much. I did think of that when there.
I know you are right about the donkeys, sad to think they are becoming a nuisance as I think they are a wonderful addition, but it’s true tourists don’t respect the boundaries and I don’t know if there are enough natural resources to sustain many of them. Dana does her part to help them. Water, as you know, is scarce.
Even before the Crossroads opened, Maho was seeing a surge in visitors. When we were there in February 2018, it was packed every time we drove by.
Since then, the BVIs upped their entry fee and the STT and STJ day boats are looking for other beach bar alternatives in US waters. The websites I follow talk a lot about how badly the boat day trippers behave there.
Yes, it was definitely packed by 11 a.m., and hard to find a parking spot. I didn’t see abuse of the area as far as things like litter but I’m sure it was there and the crowds have increased in recent years as opposed to 10 years ago. There were more boats in the bay for sure. I think St. John has been discovered by the masses and I worry the rural beauty will be abused. Actually it already is.
I also worry. Yet STJ still has so much to offer. If our summer trip gets derailed, I am hoping we can head to a STJ for our 25th anniversary.
What a fabulous vacation! I know you’ll be glad you went and made all those special memories! And I don’t want to hear you say you weigh more than you want to weigh….when you look that great! WOW! We all wish we had your figure! Take care, stay healthy, you and all your family. Hugs, Diane
Thanks for stopping by, Diane! HOpe all is well with you and yours –
Wow what a great time you had! Hate you had to go from this to the scary world. We plan to go to the beach this weekend. Lucky for us, we have our own camper down there to distance ourselves in. They just ruled that we can not have more than 3 together in a group down there. We will be ok.
Hang in there.
Lisa
… your camper sounds like the ideal escape. And what if you’re a family of four or five?