Local News

For those of you looking to build on island, this may be the parcel for you. This half-acre parcel, located in Estate Carolina in Coral Bay, was just reduced $20,000 and is priced to sell at $62,500. It’s a gentle sloping, downhill parcel just minutes from the shops and restaurants of Coral Bay. A driveway was excavated for the parcel back in 1998 and has remained perfectly intact since.

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

There are so many interesting people on St. John who create amazing products right here on island. Today we’d like to tell you about a husband and wife team that creates some of the island’s most delicious flavors – Kitchen Creole.

Jim McManus arrived on island by way of Alaska with only a backpack and knife kit back in 2001. He started out as a sculptor with fine art degrees from School of the Art Institute of Chicago and The University of Chicago before a lifelong passion for food took him on a working tour of some of the finest kitchens in Chicago.

Inspired by ‘New American cooking,’ he traveled extensively throughout South America, the Yucatan Peninsula, as well as Nepal and Thailand before meeting and marrying his wife Christy on St. John. Together they worked to create Kitchen Creole, a natural culmination of Jim’s decade-long study of the region’s flavors.

Kitchen Creole handcrafts gourmet spices using only fresh, all-natural ingredients. It currently offers seven spices which can be used as rubs or marinades, or as seasoning agents in recipes. A few of their flavors are:

• Bordeaux Mountain: Porcini mushrooms, fennel, Hickory smoked salt, rosemary and touch of Aleppo Pepper flake (From the Syrian Highlands) are carefully crafted together creating smoky flavors of earth and pine wood.
• Condado Adobo: Based on the classic adobos of the Spanish Caribbean it is a unique blend of roasted garlic, cumin and coriander as well as Mediterranean and New World oreganos.
• Jamaican Ire: This is a balance mild blend of Pimiento (Jamaican Allspice berries) smoked Adlerwood Salt and black peppercorns, granulated molasses and orange zest.

(Click here to see all of Kitchen Creole’s flavors.)

Chances are you’ve sampled some of these delicious flavors before, as Jim serves as the chef at Shipwreck Landing in Coral Bay.
Ready to try some of these spices at home? You can taste and/or purchase them at Shipwreck Landing, Full Moon Café, Keep Me Posted and Pickles in Paradise in Coral Bay. You can also find them at Pink Papaya and Sugarbirds Gift Shop in Cruz Bay.

Not visiting the island anytime soon? You can purchase Kitchen Creole’s spices online at www.KitchenCreole.com

Enjoy!

When I took over News of St. John back in April 2013, I made the decision to not discuss certain topics. For example, politics. Well today I am making a very quick, one-time exception.

Last night was the much talked about Coastal Zone Management meeting about the proposed Coral Bay marina. As you may have read here on this website, Rick Barksdale and his wife Chaliese Summers have proposed a 145-slip marina in Coral Bay. The pair, who was in attendance last night with their team, believe the marina is much needed and will provide an economic boost for Coral Bay. Others, however, have very publicly stated that while a marina is needed in Coral Bay, the scope of the proposed “St. John Marina,” as its been dubbed, is simply too large and will lead to the destruction of Coral Bay.

Here is my take on the situation…

• I find it odd that the Summer’s End Group does not not have a website in this day and age.
• I find it odd that someone in Massachusetts purchased the website StJohnMarina.com, the official name of the new marina, this past Monday.
• I find it odd that the Summer’s End Group’s Facebook page was only recently created and is being used as a push site, rather than a forum to discuss the proposed project.
• I find it odd that despite the fact that Rick Barksdale has stated that he has been involved with $100 million construction projects, there does not seem to be any verifiable proof of this listed anywhere on the internet.
• I find it odd that when questioned about the proposal, Rick Barksdale has repeatedly stated to me and others that the 1,000-page document is available to be read at the library, rather than answering the question.
• I found it to be very unprofessional to see Rick Barksdale raising his voice in an aggressive manner when questioned by a local resident before last night’s meeting. I also found it to be very unprofessional for him to point his fingers in the face of this woman.

That’s all I am willing to say for now.

If you’re like me, you soak up anything and everything related to the Virgin Islands, whether it be the US or British. Well today we’d like to tell you about a new TV show that features several familiar spots – Below Deck.

Below Deck is an hour-long show on the Bravo channel that follows the lives of a group of people working on a megayacht in the Caribbean. It’s pretty interesting in that it really allows you to take a peek into what it’s like to work on these megayachts, as well as the lives of those who have the means to charter these extraordinary boats. (Yes, it’s a reality show so it’s probably partially scripted, but it still gives you an idea…) In all honesty, I’m completely hooked.

Season One was filmed in St. Maarten and aired last summer. Season Two premiered last Tuesday and was filmed entirely in the British Virgin Islands. How exciting is that?!

Ok, you may be asking why this is so exciting to me … Well, as I mentioned, I love anything and everything having to do with the Virgin Islands. What I find particularly cool about this show is that they filmed in a ton of locations that we all know and love. Episode one, for example, showed clips from the Soggy Dollar Bar over on Jost van Dyke. I kept looking for one of our favorite boat captains (who might as well call the Soggy his second home – sorry Island Sue!) to show up but no such luck.

I did, however, see Southern Hospitality in the background during the first episode which was pretty cool. Southern Hospitality is a gorgeous 46-foot charter boat based out of St. John. (It also happens to be owned by the same man I recently bought my Jeep from – thanks Bruce!)

The trailer for this season shows more familiar spots like the Baths on Virgin Gorda and more. Below Deck airs every Tuesday at 9 p.m. EST on the Bravo channel. Check it out and let us know if you spot anyone you know.

So back in July, we told you all about our new favorite off-island bar – the B Line over in Little Jost van Dyke. In that story (which you can read by clicking here), we mentioned how each time you get a beer, you get the opportunity to toss the cap into a jar. If you get the cap in, that drink is free.

Well yours truly happened to be the only person that day to score a free drink. Steve Brown was there (he was wrapping up a week-long charter of the BVIs with his wife of 32 years) and he happened to catch it all on video. He sent it over to me yesterday and it totally made me laugh. So I thought I’d share it with all of you…

(And yes, I get ridiculously excited over this small feat!)

Ahh, it’s the little things in life. 🙂 Cheers!