More than a dozen Members of Congress were unable to find a placve to sleep on St. Thomas this week.  Rep. Donna Christensen hoped to find 30 rooms for Congressional colleagues and staffers, as a stop over on their "fact finding trip" to national parks in Argentina and Brazil. (Nice timing, right? February!)  But there were no rooms on the island to accommodate the last-minute would-be visitors, who had hoped to attend the annual St. Croix Agricultural Fair this week.

You say tomato, I say tomatoe.  Some say Hawknest, some say Hawksnest.  Jeff Clabaugh points out the VI National Park’s Web site calls it Hawknest. 

The Friends of the Park call it Hawksnest.,  Google finds more than 10,000 references for Hawksnest but only about 700 for Hawknest.

One of our readers said he’d solve the mispelling of the sign (10,000 to 700) by bringing along a magic marker-thing and adding an "S".  Another guy said, let’s simplify – and change the bay’s name to Hawknest.  Bottom line: watch for the sign to change.

But I’ll tell you THIS … there is is only one S in "St John."

A picture is worth a thousand words.
(Click on it to see a bigger version.)

• How long does it take to get a sign right? The National Park knew about this screwup months ago.
• Did any Park Service employees review the design?
• Did any Park Service employees notice the misspelling before the sign was installed?

Drove down the road beside Enighed Pond Sunday afternoon … and saw the Water and Power Authority has moved the utility pole that had been paved around by the Port Authority. Although WAPA said it planned to get the job done before the Auithority surfaced the new road, by the time St. Croix paving was ready to go it was in the middle of the road. Here’s the earlier story.

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The $300,000 federally-funded project to upgrade facilities at Hawksnest Beach is complete. "I now invite all beach goers to freely utilize the new facilities and enjoy the pristine, clear waters and beautiful coral reefs that Hawksnest has to offer," Park Superintendent Art Frederick said in a written statement.

The improvements include a changing room, bathrooms, an information kiosk, and a covered pavilion for picnics and protection from the rain.

(Click on the photos for bigger versions)

However, Frederick told the annual meeting of the Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park he had been "very disappointed" because the job took twice as long as expected.  He conceded he had little control over the project, faulting the Park’s regional office for not penalizing the contractor when the work was not done within the specified 180-day period. "If that would have occurred, we would have a complete project," Frederick said, according to the St. John Source.

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Parking in Cruz Bay could get a lot easier, and logical, if plans described by the island administrator go into effect and are enforced. 

Speaking at a meeting of the Coral Bay Community Council, Julien Harley said next week the lot across from the Post Office will be limited to 45-minute parking, according to a report of the meeting in the St. John Source.  All-day parking, as is the rule now, will be prohibited.  Harley said, "It’s important the (new parking) rules are enforced.  We will be leaning on (Deputy Police Chief Angelo) Hill to be diligent."

No word on whether Patrick’s immobile mobile food service will ever move.

The island administrator also said cab drivers will get access to fewer of the parking spaces next to the ferry dock.  He said a limited number of taxis will be allowed on the waterfront and that a government employee will act as a dispatcher, calling up additional taxis as needed. (Wonder where the cabs-in-waiting might stand by.  Not the lot across from the Post Office, we hope?)