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USVI Named Top Spot in the Caribbean

Daily STJ August 15 2013

Like we had any doubts?!

The US Virgin Islands once again came out on top in a national travel poll. This time US News & World Reports named the USVI the number one place to visit in the Caribbean. According to the article, US News based its decision on the fact that the USVi has plenty of “pristine beaches, accessible tourist sites, predictable weather and comfortable accommodations.”

So if you’re reading this right now, chances are that you’re hooked on St. John. Chances are also that you’re well aware that it’s the top spot in the Caribbean and for many of you, probably the top spot in the world. Well we wanted to know what keeps our News of St. John readers coming back year after year, so we asked our Facebook friends to share their how many times they’ve visited and what prompts them to return.

We were overwhelmed by the response (137 comments as of late Tuesday). Here’s a sampling of what our readers had to say … and please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments section.

Robert Myers: Been 8 times….what keeps me coming back? I’m not done yet……

Alice Nagle Macchi: Too many to count. For me, I feel like a belong. I feel like everyone belongs; old, young and everyone in between, rich, poor and everyone in between, fat, thin, tall, short……and the beauty of the island with so many beautiful beaches and the preserved national park land. Really, it’s just an overall feeling of peace.

Brady Kittredge: Since 1978 and countless times since. My folks would bring my brother and I when we were kids. We now bring our children yearly to experience this special place. I cherish every year that we are able to share this place with them.

Cathy Henrich: first year I went was in 1974! been coming back since, the island has changed over the years but we love the beautiful NP and the people! My sister lived on STJ and worked at Cinnamon Bay and then Caneel Bay in the late 70’s and 80’s. One of her

Linda Goodell: 9 years on St. John after 7 years on Tortola…why the switch??? Well, the beaches and snorkeling were our magnets. It holds a magical spell for us. Plus, we have it wired now! It is amazing how many people say, “you’re going back there again???” We just smile and say, “you have your favorite camping spot and so do we.” St. John is our “rut” and we love it. Just booked airfare for April 2015.

April Long: 4. Good topic. I’d say we like the different snorkeling. Mangroves one day. Turtles at Francis. Starfish at lienster. Iguanas at the Westin … Oh wait, that’s on land . . .

Patrick Farrell: 10 times. STJ has a magic about it like nowhere else in the world.

Debra Stephenson: I think we on our 13th or 14th trip. it just feels like coming home now and I just feel at peace there

Stacie Gussarson Leyland: 15, in the last 11 yrs…because it speaks to my soul like nothing else can. I feel blessed to have been lucky enough to experience it even once. Everyone thinks I’m crazy, but clearly you peeps get it.

Linda Halleman Hollingsworth: 12 times. It makes me feel like I’m 19 again! And it’s magical, laid back life style.

Pamela Hanlon: Five visits in five years starting in February 2010. As long as I live, I will return every February. I can’t explain what keeps me coming back other than it’s my “happy place”.

Dan Wheelan: 13 times because it’s Paradise

Kathie Anderson: We have traveled the world from Africa to Europe to Asia to the South Pacific … never found a more beautiful place… perfect sugar sand beaches… laid back lifestyle …crystal clear waters… great food and awesome people and after 12 years & 25+ visits … it never ever disappoints

Barbara Webster Feirtag: Over 15 Years with my family and friends. Its about the crystal blue waters, white sandy beaches, great island food and music, getting to know the locals, the beauty of the island, the donkeys, playing with the iguanas, and the amazing colors of the fish. Watching my daughter get married here last year was unbelievable. This place in where I find peace.

Jeni Heidecker: We r on our 5th time and staying for 5 weeks this time. We too want to live there some day! I agree with the folks above – once STJ gets into ur heart its got u for good! I love the people and the feel of the island. Its beautiful and it makes me a better person with each stay!!!!!!!

Matt Denholm: 2 times. St. John is my idea of a true paradise. It’s where I honeymooned last year and spent celebrating our 1 year a couple weeks ago. It feels safe and it feels like a home away from home with all the perks of an exotic island. No one should ever miss a chance to see such a beautiful place.

Paradise, magical, nothing like it … that’s our St. John.


OMG … the Road is Kinda, Sorta Open!!

See for yourself folks… the portion of Centerline Road near Coral Bay that was nearly washed out years ago has been fixed and looks like it will reopen fully soon. Thanks Pia for the sending us these pics!

road 1 road 2


Be a Part of Festival … From Your Own Home!

lcr festival

So I’m sure that the majority of you would love to be at festival this week, but for one reason or another you’re not able to get here this year. Well we have great news for you … you can watch and listen to all of the fun from the comfort of your own home! Here’s how…

Focus VI has been live streaming the festivities over in the Village for the past few nights. I’m not sure what time they start streaming but my guess is around 7 p.m. or so. You can check that out every night this week by clicking here. There’s a lot of wild and wacky stuff happening in the village, so I’m sure the live stream will provide endless entertainment.

Love City Radio will also broadcasting live from St. John Festival Village tomorrow night and Thursday. Coverage begins at 7pm-ish (on island time folks) Eastern Standard Time. Plan to tune in via lovecityradio.com and even plan to host your own Carnival party at home! It’s sure you would be the talk of the neighborhood.

Love City Radio plans to have live interviews, live music, and live play-by-play of all the goings on in festival village. They’re even going to take Skype calls on the air! Find them on Skype (lovecityradio) and add them to our contacts prior to the event. Then, plan to call in while we they on the air! You can also tweet them comments and questions via their Twitter feed @LoveCityRadio.

We’re also happy to tell you that our friends over at StJohnNow.com plan to once again stream the parade live. So tune in to St. John Now Friday at 11 a.m. and watch all of the crazy festivities!

We also plan to take lots of pictures and video this week for all of you, so stay tuned…


Join Me & Support Wounded Veterans

trr logo 2014

So I’m not sure if you all know this, but each November a group of wounded veterans come down to St. John with their families for a week of rest and relaxation as part of Team River Runner’s Wounded Veterans program. Team River Runner is a nonprofit organization that gives active duty service members and veterans an opportunity to find health, healing and new challenges through whitewater boating and other paddling sports.

Each year, Team River Runner holds a pretty cool event to raise money for the service members’ travel and on island accommodations. The event’s called Chaotic Kayak and we’re pretty excited to be involved.

Now I’ve never kayaked a day in my life, Heck, I’ve never even touched a kayak, but I agreed to participate because who doesn’t want to support our military. (Mr. News of St. John retired from the US Army after 20 years of service … kudos to you darlin’.) Now here’s where I need all of your help…

For every $100 I raise, I will get a five second head start in the race. I need all the help I can get, so please if you could spare a few dollars (even a dollar would be awesome), I would greatly appreciate it. My goal is $1,000. I will publicly thank all of you who donate (unless you prefer to donate anonymously). I will also post a picture of you alongside the donation mention as long as that works for you. (Please send all images to [email protected])

For those of you interested in donating (a huge thanks in advance!!), here is the link: News of St. John’s Chaotic Kayak Sponsor Page

And for those of you who have read about our St. Johnopoly game (again a big thanks to all of you who have preordered), a portion of the sales of each game will be donated to Team River Runner at this event. Just another way for us to say thanks…

Also, I’m looking for the absolute best kayakers on island (or visitors to the island) to join my team. 🙂 So if you have what it takes to win, please email me at [email protected]

Chaotic Kayak is being held on Sunday, July 27 at Oppenheimer Beach. The event starts at noon and all are welcome to attend. There will be music, beer tents, raffles and standup paddleboard races in addition to the kayak race. Click here for more information on the event. 


My New Favorite Spot…

castaways shirtHi everyone, Happy Monday! So we’d like to start the week off by telling all of you about one of our new favorite spots on island. Not only does this spot have inexpensive drinks, but it also has some pretty delicious food – food so delicious that I ate it three days in a row last week. Curious??? Well read on…

Ok, so my new favorite place hands down is Castaways. For those of you unfamiliar with Castaways, it’s kind of a hidden little bar tucked away in downtown Cruz Bay. It’s located just one block from the ferry dock beside Connections and across from Cafe Roma and Cruz Bay Realty. Dan Boudreau took over the place a few years back, and we have to admit, he’s done a pretty good job cleaning it up and making it more appealing to the masses. We really like his staff too.

(Full disclosure: Yes, in the past, Castaways has attracted some “characters” if you will, especially those who liked to congregate on the street outside of its entrance. But the staff at Castaways is actively working to fix that, most notably by adding a hostess station out front during evening hours.)

castaways 1

So back in May, we mentioned how Castaways debuted a new menu. Well we just got around to trying it last week and it was absolutely incredible. And the best part is that everything was super fresh. And not only was the food delicious, but it was some of the most reasonably priced food on island. Check out a few of their dishes…

castaways food 3
Quesadilla
castaways food
Chimi with house salsa
castaways peg legs
Peg legs – Lollipop wings – Six different flavors

In addition to the new food menu, Castaways recently remodeled its upstairs area now dubbed “Clastaways.” The upper area is a bit more upscale and geared more toward young professionals and families. It has a beautiful handcrafted bar, a comfortable lounge area and ample seating.

New upper bar
New upper bar
castaways lounge area
Upper lounge area

Another cool thing about Castaways is that they deliver in Cruz Bay (from Wharfside to Mongoose) seven days a week from 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. They also have free, fast and reliable wifi on site, which is pretty hard to come by in town.

They’re even launching a new happy hour this week, which promises to be pretty sweet. Beginning this Thursday, July 3, Castaways will begin offering a new happy hour daily from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. All Bud, Bud Lights and well drinks will only be $1. Looking for a Corona? That’s only $2 during Happy Hour. And to make it even more exciting, all Smirnoff drinks are only $3 each. Add some food specials to the mix and I think Castaways may soon have the best happy hour on island.

And for all of your sports fans out there, Castaways has a variety of sports packages and a ton of TVs, so it’s the place to be to watch any and every sporting event.

I don’t know about you all, but I’ll definitely be at Castaways’ new Happy Hour this Thursday … I hope to see you all there!


Odds & Ends…

Happy Sunday everyone! We have some odds and ends that we promised we’d get out there, so here you go…

caravan alignment

Caravan Auto now has a computerized alignment rack that will accommodate passenger vehicles as well as Safari taxis – a first on St John. According to the folks over at Caravan Auto, “a professional alignment on island will save us all in tire and front end replacements and repairs by eliminating accelerated wear on these parts. At Caravan, we refer to island miles in a similar fashion to dog years – seven to one. (We’re) excited to bring this professional service to our island.”

So head on over to Caravan Auto and schedule your appointment today.

And in other news… It’s here!

stjohnopoly fb

Did you get yours yet? They’re selling quickly, so please reserve yours today. Trust us, this is going to be so cool!

Visit www.StJohnopoly.com to purchase yours today. (Estimated shipping date is August 2014)


On Sale Now…

stjohnopoly fb
Ok everyone, the time has come. After working tirelessly for more than two months to create a super cool board game for all of you to enjoy, we’re finally able to reveal details on St. Johnopoly. We’re also able to start accepting preorder sales. How exciting is that??!!

Drum roll please… 🙂

St. Johnopoly is just like that other famous “-opoly” game you’ve all heard of (and probably played) except it is 100 percent customized for St. John. Rather than an iron and a dog for tokens, we have a palm tree and a flip flop (and others too of course). Rather than taking a ride on the Reading Railroad, you’re going to take a ride on Sadie Sea Charters. Everything from the game board spaces to the tokens to the cards and the money is completely customized for St. John. We’ve got bars, restaurants, resorts, villas and more! Oh and instead of going to jail, you’re going to be sent to… Well I guess you’ll have to buy the board game to find out!

Trust me, this is going to be amazing!

And because we love our community so very much, we plan to give a portion of every single game sold to the following on island organizations:

  • Animal Care Center
  • St. John Cancer Fund
  • Team River Runner
  • Friends Helping Friends

Once we have the games in hand, we plan to have a pretty sweet launch party. Stay tuned for details on that!

(Check out all of these exclamation marks I’m using … can you tell I’m super excited about this?!)

In the meantime, we’re now able to accept preorders. We only have a limited quantity available, so please don’t wait to order. Trust me, you don’t want to miss out on this. It’s awesome!!

Our estimated shipping date is August 2014 and all games will be shipped with love courtesy of Papa News of St. John. 🙂 (Thanks Dad!) They will also be available on island at several retailers beginning in late August.

Ready to buy yours? Click here to place your order… 

Sending Our Love

Sloop and Barbara, we hope you see this…

barbara and sloop

Captain John Stewart … Image courtesy of Marcia Stewart
Captain John Stewart … Image courtesy of Marcia Stewart
Marica Stewart
Marica Stewart
George Hollander
George Hollander
Sending love from Maine … Image courtesy of Marcia Stewart
Sending love from Maine … Image courtesy of Marcia Stewart
Marcy Rice
Marcy Rice
Sandra J. Klose
Sandra J. Klose
Image courtesy of Dana Crawley
Image courtesy of Dana Crawley
Laurie Gynan Lind
Laurie Gynan Lind
Image courtesy of Tim Fulcher
Image courtesy of Tim Fulcher
Linda Walker
Linda Walker
Dana Crawley
Dana Crawley
Image courtesy of Steve Hughes
Image courtesy of Steve Hughes
Laurie McKinney
Laurie McKinney
Cindy Henley
Cindy Henley

Name this Peacock & Win a Free Stay on St. John

baby peacock 2

Hey everyone, happy Friday! So by now, you probably all know how I absolutely adore animals. It doesn’t matter how many times I see a donkey or turtle, I can help but stop and scream “donkey!” or “turtle!” So you could only imagine how ecstatic I was to hear that the island’s got a new baby animal on its hands … a baby peacock. So cute!

Julie Hoy and David Thomeczek manage Coconut Coast Villas, which is over on Turner Bay. They’re the lucky ones who first spotted the baby peacock the other day. Here’s what Julie had to say about it:

“We have numerous peacocks that come and hang out on our property here at Coconut Coast Villas at least several times a week,” Julie said. “They are mostly female, but there is at least one male peacock that also comes down and hangs out from time to time. He was just here last week and he is so beautiful to see. The peacocks live up on Moorehead point and come down the hill and wander around the neighborhood. Sometimes we have five or six of them in one of our parking lots and it looks like they are having peacock meetings or something!

“(Wednesday) morning, Dave saw the baby peacock on the property with her (we don’t know if it is a boy or girl, so I am just guessing) mom and it was so adorable. We immediately took photos and Dave also took some video of them. While he was making the video, he discovered a second baby peacock! So, there are at least two around … We are looking forward to watching her grow and see how she changes. I don’ t think she can get any cuter than she is now though.”

peacock and mom

baby peacock 3

Love it! Ok, now this is where all of you can get involved…

Julie and David are running a Facebook contest from now through 12 a.m. on July 1. They’d like you to name this adorable baby peacock. Julie and David will pick the name next Tuesday, and the winner will receive a free five-night stay in a waterfront studio. The stay is good between now and December 20, 2014. No minimum stay is required.

To participate, you must “like” Coconut Coast Villas’ Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/CoconutCoastStJohn. Then post the name on their page. In addition, you must share their post about the contest which is pinned at the top of their page. It’s that easy.

Want to know more about the peacocks that live on island? Click here to read more about a white peacock we encountered last year on Bordeaux Mountain Road. We have some video there too. Or you can click here to see some great reader submitted peacock photos.


Join Us in Supporting Sloop Jones and Barbara…

Barbara and Sloop Jones
Barbara and Sloop Jones – Image credit: Paul Sauers

Island favorite Sloop Jones is loved and known by just about everyone. His wife, Barbara – the woman behind the scenes- is critically ill. To show our love and support, we are asking folks to take a photo in their favorite Sloop attire and post it on our Facebook page with a shout out to Barbara.

If you are not on Facebook, please email it to me at [email protected] and I will post it on your behalf.

Thank you for your support.