Many people question whether or not it’s necessary to rent a Jeep or another type of four wheel drive vehicle when spending time on St. John. Check out this video we recently shot while heading up to La Jolla Caribe. You be the judge.
Month: August 2013
You’re Invited To: Crash This Wedding
Ever wanted to put on your fanciest dress or suit and crash a perfect stranger’s wedding? Well now’s your chance!
Motu Bar is cordially inviting all of you to its “No One is Getting Married Wedding Reception” this Saturday and they’re urging wedding crashers to show. The event will be Motu’s last of the season, so it’s sure to be a good one.
The wedding party will feature all of the elements of a classic wedding, but with a Motu spin of course. There will be a garter throw, bouquet toss and an unforgettable toast.
There’ll be a cash bar and hors d’oeuvres are included.
So dress to the nines and be there at 9 p.m. this Saturday at Motu.
Just Play! Looking for a T-Shirt Sponsor
Dean Doeling, founder of the annual Just Play! event, has asked us to spread the word about a sponsorship need for this October’s event. And because we believe in this event so much, we were happy to oblige.
Here’s what Dean had to say:
“Hey USFSC’ers!
As you know, we are coming up short for Just Play! cash donations but thanks to some of you wonderful people for stepping up, as the donations are trickling in.
I would like to propose the following to any person or business, on island or not:
We need to still purchase T- shirts for the Just Play event. The next $1,000 donation will allow us to purchase those tees. And as a thank you, we will have your logo printed on the sleeve!
What a great way to promote your business, get a tax write off and help us reach our fundraising goal!
All donations go through the St. John Community Foundation.
Email me here if you would like to participate.”
Looking for more information on the event? Click here to visit its website.
It’s That Time Again: Tax Season
We have some good news and some bad news. Let’s get the bad part over with first:
Property taxes for 2012 are due.
Now how about the good news:
If you pay by August 30, you’ll get a five percent discount – Every little bit helps.
Lt. Governor Gregory R. Francis recently extended the discount period in hopes that more property owners will take advantage of the opportunity to save some cash. He first implemented the early payment discount back in 2008. He did so “in consideration of the economic challenges faced by many throughout the territory,” according to a release.
The Lieutenant Governor’s office also wants us to remind you that you can pay your bill even if you haven’t received it yet. (Island time?) Payments can be made at the Tax Collector’s Office, which is located in the Islandia Building.
The Lieutenant Governor also announced that he is waiving penalty and interest fees for property tax years 2008 through 2011. Payments must be made by November 7 in order to take advantage of this savings.
Save Money at Your Favorite St. John Spots
Residents and visitors will soon be able to save a little cash at their favorite restaurants, shops and more when a new website launches later this year.
MyViDeals is a newly formed social buying website that is very much like Groupon and LivingSocial. The main difference, however, is that it will feature local deals within both the US and British Virgin Islands, as well as Puerto Rico. MyViDeals is the brainchild of Prince and Rose Adams. The Adams have owned Sweet Plantains in Coral Bay for the past nine years.
“As small business owners, we are very familiar with the challenging seasonal fluctuations in the Caribbean,” Prince Adams said. “The economy of the Caribbean, especially on our Islands, is predominantly driven by tourism, namely tourists from North American and Europe respectively. Our islands’ tourist trade corresponds directly to seasonal fluctuations related to the threat of hurricanes and mainland holidays, whereas the majority of our trade is concentrated during the few winter months. Business owners have just a few peak months of strong sales.
“We understand the important impact that tourist-based businesses have on the local economy. MyViDeals’ concept is to provide Virgin Islands residents and visitors alike with the best shopping experience while at the same time maximizing exposure for local businesses.”
MyViDeals will deliver exclusive members-only opportunities spanning from eating out, shopping, beauty, wellness, home, travel and leisure. They will also offer flash deals – exclusive, but limited quantity deals that will only be available for a short period of time.
MyViDeals is slated to launch this November, just in time for high season. Even though the service has yet to formally launch, it’s not too early to sign up. Please click here to send an email to MyViDeals to sign up. You can also “like” them on Facebook here or sign up through their Facebook site here.
New Bag Delivery Service Takes Some Stress Out of Travel
Tired of schlepping your bags home after spending some time on St. John? Or perhaps you don’t want to bother getting them to the island in the first place. If either of those situations sound like you, you’re in luck.
JetBlue just announced that it has teamed up with a bag delivery service which will bring your checked bags from the airport to your final destination. The way it works is simple: Travelers can place an order online up to one hour prior to their scheduled departure from select JetBlue airports in the United States, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Once an order is placed, you’ll receive a confirmation number. You then check your bags at the airport and an airline employee will apply a Bags VIP tag to the luggage.
There’s no need to head to the baggage claim area once you reach your final destination. Instead you could leave the airport immediately and your bags will join you within four hours as long your final destination is within 40 miles of the airport. Locations between 41 and 100 miles from the airport can take up to six hours to arrive. And if the four to six hour delivery window doesn’t work for you, you can always schedule your delivery time in advance.
According to the Bags VIP website, one bag costs $29.95, two bags cost $39.95 and three to eight bags cost $49.95. (Pricing may vary.) Seems like a worthwhile price to pay to avoid the stress of locating an available spot in an overhead bin or waiting in long baggage claim lines.
JetBlue isn’t the only airline to offer this service, although it is the latest to sign on. American Airlines and United do as well. The good thing about JetBlue, however, is that your first checked bag is free which ultimately lowers the cost for travelers. (Checked bag fees are not included in Bags VIP prices.)
And for those of you who don’t even want to bother bring your bags to the airport at all, there’s a service for you too. LugLess and Luggage Forward will pick up your bags at your home and will deliver them to your final destination. These services take a bit longer, so you may have to ship your bags early.
Click here for more information on Bags VIP from JetBlue’s website.
Click here for more information on Bags VIP from United’s website.
Click here for more information on Bags VIP from American Airline’s website.
Familiar Faces to Open Family-Friendly Restaurant
There’s a new restaurant coming to the island, and we have to admit, we’re pretty excited about this one.
As some of you may know, JJ’s Texas Coast closed last month after more than two decades in business. Well it turns out that JJ herself handpicked two very worthy successors – Todd Beaty and his wife Christy.
And if Todd’s name sounds familiar to you, that’s because it probably is. He and his brother Chad owned the popular Woody’s Seafood Saloon for 13 years before selling the business back in March.
But Todd and Christy’s new venture will be very different than Woody’s and that’s what makes it pretty cool. Rather than going after the bar crowd, they’re looking to create a more family-oriented restaurant.
“We had a lot of fun with Woody’s, but now that we’re older and have a family, we’re trying to cater to a more family-oriented crowd,” Todd said. (Todd and Christy have two sons – a four-year-old and a two-year-old.)
The new restaurant has yet to be named, but the Beatys said it will have a very beachy vibe. They are currently renovating and plan to change things up a bit. For starters, they are moving the location of the indoor bar and will transform it into a coffee bar complete with lattes and cappuccinos, as breakfast will be their specialty. They’re also going to install a second bar outside, so patrons can enjoy the beautiful view of the park and Cruz Bay.
Christy said she wants to bring the park alive at night and will install tiki torches to brighten it up. The Beatys also plan to re-side the building with cedar shingles and will install a stand-up shuffle board table game outside in an effort to carry on the beach theme.
So how did this all come about? According to Todd, Jean Jewel aka JJ, approached him about purchasing her restaurant right after Woody’s sold. “It seemed like an incredible offer,” he said. “And it was perfect timing.” So they went for it.
Todd and Christy’s new restaurant is slated to open sometime in mid-October. It will be open daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
St. John Tops Them All
St. John was recently named to the top spot of not one, but two travel lists.
TripAdvisor named St. John the best island in the Caribbean as part of its 2013 Travelers’ Choice Awards. Here’s what they had to say:
“Ecotourism is alive and kicking on St. John. There’s more than enough to do on land, from watching for wildlife in the national park to hiking miles of trails or strolling sandy white beaches. Hit the water for amazing snorkeling, swimming, even underwater photography—of course. This is the Caribbean, after all.”
The award is based on traveler’s opinions and submitted reviews. TripAdvisor ranked St. John the second best island in the world earlier this year.
St. John was also named the top snorkeling destination in the Caribbean earlier this week.
Islands Magazine referred to St. John as “the belle of the ball” and even mentioned renowned local photographer Steve Simonsen in the article. Here’s a bit of what they had to say:
“When you spend the bulk of your professional life snorkeling the reefs of St. John, USVI, aiming your underwater camera at a succession of bikini-clad babes and creating images for clients such as Kodak, National Geographic and Playboy, a day off seems like a wasted opportunity. But if you’re CT+L contributor Steve Simonsen, you still grab your snorkel and head for the water. At Leinster Bay, you’ll hit belly-scrapingly shallow water just yards away from the path to Waterlemon Cay, where the skinny water is packed with millions of sardine-size silverside. The baitfish ebb and flow around you as you move, so don’t be surprised to find yourself dive-bombed by a pelican looking to fill its bill.
“In deeper water, vast schools of French grunts and goatfish move amid fields of Venus sea fans. On a recent four-hour masked marathon in Leinster Bay, Simonsen tailed a sea turtle as it grazed on grass and then tried to crack open a small conch, and he spied healthy young stands of endangered elkhorn corals five to eight feet in diameter.”
Now you know you’ve got a good thing going when you get two pretty cool awards in one week. Keep up the good work St. John.
NPS’s Response to What’s Happening in Denis Bay
In a nutshell, the National Park Service here on St. John is not happy but in a way, their hands are tied.
News of St. John recently spoke with Bryon FitzGerald. He’s the Superintendent of the National Park Service (NPS) here on St. John. FitzGerald started this position in March of this year. That’s when one of his staff members notified him about what was going on over at Denis Bay.
“What we found out back in March was that a bunch of trees had been cut down on what I would call the upper curve,” FitzGerald said. “At that point in time, we didn’t know with any level of certainty if they were on our property or not. We then went to identify if they were on our property or not. We believe that it is on our property but we do not have any definitive proof yet.”
Because the exact National park boundaries are in question, FitzGerald said NPS is having the property surveyed. He said that the property owner, Tony Ingrao, is also entitled to have the property surveyed. FitzGerald said that the NPS is also planning to have an ecologist survey the area. Once NPS determines the exact boundaries and the extent of the damage, they plan to work with Ingrao to mitigate the damage.
News of St. John has reached out to Ingrao on several occasions. He has yet to respond to telephone and email messages left with his office. Ingrao did, however, tell FitzGerald that he planned to work with NPS to mitigate the damage.
“He has told me that he will do whatever we ask him to do to mitigate whatever damages he needs to do to fix the damage to park property,” FitzGerald said.
Once the surveys are completed, NPS will ask Ingrao to replant trees, add soil to stabilize the ground and the banks, and plant ground cover to prevent further erosion from damaging the parkland.
As of right now, FitzGerald said, “there is no question that the dirt is coming down into the park.”
So how exactly did the bulk of the damage occur?
Ingrao installed two gabion baskets, which are steel structures filled with several tons of rocks and soil. They’re typically used in road building and for erosion control. Well there was one week back in May that had two days of pretty heavy rain. During that second rainfall, one of the gabion baskets gave away. FitzGerald said the basket, which contained soil and large rocks, slid down and took out National Park trees. At that time, FitzGerald met with Ingrao’s on-site representatives.
“At that time, a chunk of road was undercut so there was a huge amount of dirt that was still in danger of falling into the park,” FitzGerald said. He then met with a director of the Department of Planning and Natural Resources. “Between the two of us, we said you’re done. We said you’re finished here unless you can get in here safely and remove this dirt safety from the overhang, so it doesn’t get into the park”
“At that point, they knew they needed a retaining wall. I said as long as the wall is on the road and not park property, I have no complaints. They needed to dig down to get stability to make road. I again said fine, but said when you are done, I need you to cover dirt so it doesn’t wash down into park. They dug down and they covered dirt with the cloth. That’s still there today. They did plant the upper curve area to stabilize the upper portion until they get pavement. They have stopped work.”
(News of St. John witnessed numerous workers at the job site earlier this week, however, all appeared to be working on the home only.)
Now there is the question of permits. FitzGerald said he has requested to see a copy of the permits but as of yet, he has not been able to obtain one. One main issue he has in terms of what happening is that the NPS is not the permitting authority. The Department of Public Works and the Department of Planning and Natural Resources are. The three organizations are currently working together, FitzGerald said.
“The Park Service is not the permitting authority and we are working with DPW and DPNR,” FitzGerald said. “Now going forward, what should happen is when a permit is issued on property that goes through National Park Service property, we would certainly like to be notified.”
Again, FitzGerald said NPS has stopped any further damage from occurring within the park and that the damage assessment will take some time to complete. What he does know is that the damage is extensive. He estimated it to be roughly three football fields wide and deep.
Click here to see images and a video of the damage.
Click here to read about the fines Ingrao received.
Recently Fined Denis Bay Property: See for Yourself
News of St. John took a stroll over to the Denis Bay property, which was recently fined by DPNR for cutting into and building on National Park land. This is what we found:
A handwritten sign warning drivers that the road is closed:
Evidence of the cut:
The mechanical room that is said to have been built on National Park land. This was built across the roadway from the home:
The retaining wall built alongside the road:
Evidence of the landslide:
National Park Boundary Sign:
The damage was pretty extensive in our opinion here at News of St. John. Check out this video to see for yourself.
You can read our original story on this here.
Please check out News of St. John tomorrow to hear what the National Park Service has to say about all of this.