Local News

Friends of VI National Park Annual Gala will be held on Saturday, February 7, 2015 and tickets are selling fast for the “gala of galas” on St. John. Join Friends for an elegant evening as it recognizes its achievements and celebrate the wonders of the VI National Park.

The gala is being hosted by Steven & Pamela Deckoff at their beautiful home, “Presidio del Mar” in Peter Bay, where a red carpet and white roses will welcome guests to the gala. Cocktails and passed hors d’oeuvres begin at 6 pm and continue all night, including stations for carved meats, seafood and gourmet cheeses. A pastry chef will create fabulous desserts. This year’s wines are top notch and wine enthusiats will not want to miss the fine wines that flow start to finish. The gala will feature an encore performance of our very own local “In the Sand Band”. Aged rums, homemade truffles and fine cigars will be offered at a “Taste of History” bar. A lively Master of Ceremonies will enhance the evening and the St. John Photo Booth will be there for fun photos of gala guests.

The fabulous Friends raffle featuring items from local vendors and several special silent auction items will cap off the event. The top silent auction item is a 7-night stay at a 3-bedroom Ritz-Carlton residence in Vail valued at $15,000. Bids for this item only can be placed without attendance at the gala by calling the Friends office at (340) 779-4940. Please call for more info and property descriptions.

There is also a special limited ticket jewelry raffle of a 14k red gold heart pendant, made by KABANA and donated by R&I PATTON at Mongoose Junction on St John, is inlayed with extra fine quality Bronze Mother of Pearl and set with 0.90ctw Diamonds. The value for this pendant is $3,469. It can be seen at R&I PATTON until the Gala on February 7, 2015. Only 100 tickets will be sold.

Tickets are $250, and may be purchased at Connections and the Friends of the Park Store, or by calling Friends at 779-4940. A champagne shuttle service and parking will be available at the Trunk Bay parking lot starting at 6 pm. St. Thomas guests will be provided shuttle service from the Cruz Bay Ferry dock at 6:20 p.m. and 7:20 p.m. Cruz Bay guests can park at the national park maintenance lot and take a free shuttle to the gala at 6:30 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. Shuttles return to Cruz Bay in time for the 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. ferries.

Can’t make it? Raffle tickets may be purchased in advance! $25 each or 5 for $100 at the same locations. The raffle prizes are significant and the odds are good.

During Tuesday’s blizzard in the Northeast, we asked our readers on our Facebook page to share their favorite snow pictures. The catch – the picture had to include something pertaining to St. John. The person with the best “snowy St. John” picture will receive a $25 gift certificate to Castaway’s, as well as some more fun St. John swag.

We received so many good pictures that we couldn’t choose a winner. So we decided to let all of you vote instead. Voting will begin today. Thursday, January 29th and will continue through 9 p.m. AST on Friday, January 30th. The winner will be announced Saturday morning.

Here are the entries. (Image sizes vary based on the files we received.) To vote, simply choose your favorite in the poll at the bottom of this post. You can vote as many times as you’d like.

1. The Beach Bar & a Not So Sandy Sand Bar

2. Which Way to Centerline Road? 

3. Bring Me Back to St. John!

4. Woody’s Make Shoveling a Bit Better

5. Training for 8 Tuff Miles

6. All of the Ingredients for a Perfect St. John Day … in 19 inches of snow. 

7. Little Ava wishes she was back with her donkey friends. 

8. Well at least my beer is staying cold. 

9. Waterlemon Cay Meets Juno. 

10. Those don’t look like palm trees to me. 

11. Send a Painkiller Now!

12. Just limin’ with some good friends in Maine. 

13. Snorkeler down!

14. Cocktails anyone? 

15. Gotta keep those drinks cold. 

16. This way to St. John. 

17. Mentally on St. John with STB despite 24 inches of snow. 

18. His St. John trip was cancelled, but his spirit wasn’t!

19.  A snowy petroglyph. 

 

20. High Snow and High Tide. 

21. Gotta Keep the Beer Cold Somehow!

22. Snorkeling with the turtles at Maho…

23. Which way to Reef Bay? 

24. All Things St. John. 

25. Digging out & thinking warm thoughts. 

Anyone wish they could be cruising around warm and sunny Cruz Bay right about now? Anyone wish it was summertime? Well if this sounds like you, you’re going to love this. Check out this GoPro video we shot this week. We started out at Frank Bay and cruised up to the Cruz Bay overlook. Then we drove back into town for some people watching. Oh and we brought some Kenny Chesney music along for the ride, so turn up the volume if you can. Enjoy!

Version 1: Sped up and includes music by Kenny Chesney

Version 2: Real time; no music.

(No need to worry, we don’t drive that fast. We sped the video up a bit.)

Want to see more GoPro videos shot on St. John? Click here to visit News of St. John’s Island Videos page. 

We’ve received a bunch of emails about the future of 8 Tuff Miles in light of Friday’s fire at Mongoose Junction. We’d like you all to know that the race is still on and so are the great events both before and after the race.

The 19th annual 8 Tuff Miles will take place on Saturday, February 28th at 7:15 a.m. The race will begin behind the National Park Visitor’s Center in Cruz Bay and will continue up Centerline Road and over to the ball field in Coral Bay. The after party and awards ceremony is still on too, and will take place in the parking lot at Mongoose Junction like always.

For those of you who registered online or are in the top 100, you can pick up your bibs tonight and every Tuesday night prior to the race between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Peter Alter will be on hand to distribute the bibs in the courtyard outside of Ocean Grill and St. John Brewers’ Brewtique. We’ll post info on where to pick up bibs during the week leading up to the event as soon as those details are hammered out.

If you haven’t registered already, it’s not too late to do so. You can register online by visiting www.8TuffMiles.com. You can also register in person at the St. John Brewers’ Brewtique at Mngoose Junction.

Happy Monday everyone! We’ve got some great news today… The majority of Mongoose Junction is back in business! How exciting is that??!!

We are so happy to tell you all that the majority of businesses closed due to Friday’s fire will open today, Monday, January 26 at 10 a.m. That includes Caravan Gallery, St. John Brewer’s Brewtique, Scoops and more. Ocean Grill opened on Sunday night , so naturally I had to stop in and dinner was delicious as always!

The Beauty Lounge has been destroyed and will remain closed. The good news is that it also operates out of Caneel Bay, so its employees are able to continue working. North Shore Deli remains closed, but will reopen soon. The Fabric Mill will reopen as of Wednesday.

It appears that The Tap Room will be closed for some time. Here is what they wrote on their Facebook page Sunday:

“St. John Brewers’ Family is safe and well! The Tap Room Brew Pub was damaged beyond repair from the fire and will be completely torn down. We will rebuild an amazing spot from scratch and be ready to open the doors for next season. In the meantime, we have a few ideas for a temporary location for the Tap Room which we will share once we are certain. We are taking the proper steps to make sure our staff is taking care of moving forward as we plan our next steps. The people of St. John, the rest of the Virgin Islands, and our visitors are the reason SJB is as strong as it is today. We would truly like to thank everyone for their huge outpouring of support during this tragedy. The best way to continue that support is through the beers you choose to drink. Make it a St. John Brewers Beer! Cheers!! ‪#‎USVI‬ ‪#‎stjohn‬“

Many of you have asked how you can help. Well it’s simple really. Keep drinking your favorite St. John Brewers beers and sodas. Keep shopping at The Brewtique. Keep supporting St. John and its business. Keep sending love from near and far. Every little bit helps. Every little gesture brings happiness to this amazing island of ours.

We will keep you all posted on the future of the businesses that remain closed. In the meantime, cheers!

We just received this comment from Michael Barry, owner of Sun Dog Cafe and Virgin Fire at Mongoose Junction. We’d like to share it with all of you:

“So great to be a part of this community— thanks for all of the love sent our way. Quick status report: Ocean Grill is very close to reopening tonight, Fabric Mill and the Brewtique are looking good, and we’re picking up the pieces. Tap Room will likely do an amazing reinvention, soon come, just to get by while Glen does what Glen does so well: create beauty, which does take time. It’s less clear about the Northshore Deli– there is concern about water damage there. The rest of Mongoose Junction is open, including Sun Dog Cafe and Virgin Fire,and all the shops on the other side of the ghut were untouched, TG.

All in all, the largest burden is on Glen and Radha, Kevn, Cheech and their staff and we’re hoping the Deli isn’t going to need a serious remodel. Keep them in your thoughts and let’s support them as they find the way forward.”

We received this comment from Beverly Lockett, who works at Caravan Gallery:

“We hope to have electricity restored to Mongoose I on Sunday the 25th. Some stores will reopen then and others on Monday. Much depends on the store location in relation to the Tap Room and the Beauty Lounge. Mongoose Junction has two separate owners and 2 different electrical systems so Mongoose II has been able to remain open.

Glen Speer, who built Mongoose Junction, and personally fought the fire, spoke of his plans for rebuilding the same day the fire occurred. Mongoose Junction is such a special place …with the beautiful stone work and landscaping and the spirit of St. John. Yes, Alan, some of the plants and trees need to be trimmed of their damage. All the cats are safe.

We are so grateful for all the support, from on island and afar.”

Like many of you, I watched in shock yesterday as a fire tore through a section of Mongoose Junction. I had just traveled up to the States and felt completely helpless watching businesses that we all know and love get destroyed from afar. I hopped on the first flight I could and arrived back on island this morning. I just left Mongoose Junction, and this is what I saw…

The Tap Room and The Beauty Lounge have substantial damage.

Ocean Grill received little damage, which was confirmed by its owner.

North Shore Deli and The Brewtique appear to have sustained heavy water damage.

As of this morning, all of the businesses in and around the area of The Tap Room and Ocean Grill are closed including Caravan Gallery, Sugarbirds, The Fabric Mill, Portico, North Shore Deli, The Brewtique, R&I Patton, Friends of the Park Store, Just Beach and Scoops. Businesses on the other side of Mongoose Junction including Big Planet and Sun Dog Cafe remain open.

In addition to the businesses lost, there are a number of residents who are now unable to work. If you would like to donate to the employees of Mongoose Junction, you can do so through the St. John Revolving Fund.  The Fund 501c3 so donations are tax deductible. Please make checks payable to St. John Revolving Fund and please note which business you intend to donate to. Checks can be dropped off at Connections or mailed to: Connections, PO Box 37, St. John, VI 00831.

This truly breaks our heart to write – Mongoose Junction is currently on fire.

The fire began more than an hour ago in the area near The Beauty Lounge. We heard it may have started as a dryer fire, however that has not been confirmed. Mongoose Junction has been evacuated and people are asked to stay away from the area. We’ve heard that at least two business have been destroyed, but again, no official confirmation. No injuries have been reported.

Here is a video sent to us by Mat Vacharat, owner of St. John Catering:

Here is another video:

Pics:

If you’re reading this site, chances are you’ve dreamt about moving to the island once or twice. Well today we’d like to tell you about a great home in Coral Bay that’s been on the market for a bit. And the best part – it’s sellers are very motivated as they recently reduced their asking price … again. Check it out:

Love View in an all masonry home located in Estate Concordia that features panoramic views of the east end of St John, the BVIs, as well as sunrise and moonrises. It faces the east so it gets great easterly breezes, all while being situated within the pristine quiet of the National Park.

Love View features stone outside showers, granite countertops and ample covered and uncovered outside deck areas. This pod style villa can be continued as a successful short term rental home or enjoyed solely for personal living. It also features a newly surfaced pool. This villa is only a short drive away from Salt Pond and Lameshur bays.

The list price for Love View is now $650,000.

Looking for more information? Contact Tammy at 340 Real Estate Co. at [email protected]

We know how much you all love reading about the amazing boats that sail through our waters, and this one is no exception.

Blue Guitar is currently anchored just off of Lindt Point. Anyone know who the owner is? Well the last we heard it is none other than Eric Clapton – pretty cool if you ask us. Blue Guitar typically cruises through our water around this time of year. In fact, she was seen here last January too.

Blue Guitar is a 103-foot motor yacht. It can carry up to seven guests and five crew. In the world of luxury yachts, it’s pretty modest but we think it’s pretty sweet, especially its teak deck.

For those of you who like to track vessels around St. John, Blue Guitar does not appear to have its AIS transponder on; therefore it cannot be tracked.