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And the Best of St. John Is…

bestofvi

Curious who has the best happy hour? Or maybe you want to know which bar has the most entertaining staff? Well here it is folks … a sampling of the winners from the Virgin Islands Daily News Best of VI poll.

Beach: Cinnamon
Day Sail: Wayward Sailor
Dive Excursion: Low Key Watersports
Ecotourism: Virgin Islands Ecotours
Local band: Inner Visions
Standup Paddleboarding: Arawak Kayak Tours
Watersports: Cruz Bay Watersports
Bakery: Baked in the Sun
Bar (no live entertainment): Woody’s
Bar (with entertainment): High Tide
Barbeque: Candies BBQ
Bartending Staff: Shipwreck Landing
Frozen Drinks: Margarita Phil’s
Gourmet Dining: La Tapa
Burgers: Shipwreck Landing
Happy Hour: Joe’s Rum Hut
Ice Cream and Frozen Desserts: Pink Corner
Italian Food: Da Livio’s
Lobster Dish: Morgan’s Mango
Lunch: Ocean Grille
Martini Bar: Asolare
Most Entertaining Bar/Restaurant: Woody’s
Most Entertaining Bar/Restaurant Staff: Shipwreck Landing
Pizza: Ronnie’s Pizza
West Indian Cuisine: Sogo’s Pizza
Wine Bar: La Tapa
Wings: Spyglass
Wedding Coordinator: Island Style Weddings
Hotel/Resort: Grande Bay
Villa Event Rental: VIVA! Villas
A/C Refrigeration: Dr. Cool
A/C Specialist: Dr. Cool

Want to see the full list of winners? Click here to visit BestofVI.com


Grande Bay Takes Top Honors

Advertorial
Grande Bay Best Hotel

Once again, Grande Bay has taken top honors as the island’s best resort. The latest honored was bestowed by readers who voted in the Best of VI poll. This is the first year that Grande Bay has taken this specific award.

Grande Bay’s been receiving a lot of good accolades lately. Check out what some recent guests had to say about their stays at the resort:

“We rented directly from an owner on our return visit to St John to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. 10 years ago, we stayed at The Westin for our honeymoon. We LOVED St. John but did not love The Westin. Grande Bay is was perfect for us. We loved St John even more this time than we did on the first visit and it’s because of the awesome location of Grande Bay. We rented a jeep and explored a new beach everyday. It was so nice when we returned in the late afternoon to park the jeep and not worry about transportation for the rest of the day or night We would just walk Cruz Bay every night and stop in the bars for happy hour and then have dinner.

“We stayed in a studio and it was very clean and stocked with everything we needed. We used the pool once briefly and it was great. The workout area is small but will do. I liked that they had coffee and pastries in the morning. We did notice that Grande Bay had cocktail receptions at MOTU next door (don’t miss this for great cocktails ) for their guests. Though we never went, I thought it was a really nice touch.

“We cannot wait to return to St John and will definitely be staying at Grande Bay on our next visit.”
-NYBeachLover, TripAdvisor review

“We stayed in a 1-bedroom condo for a week over spring break. The location is absolutely perfect and I cannot imagine staying anywhere else on the island. You are right in Cruz Bay which is the ideal size beach town. Many choices for restaurants as well as souvenir shops. The condo itself at Grande Bay was just the right size for our family of 4. Perfectly stocked and having a garage downstairs for our Jeep was extremely convenient. I would recommend Grande Bay Resort to anyone coming to the beautiful island of St John! It doesn’t get any better than this!
-cutemomoftwocutekids, TripAdvisor review

Want to know who else was named to the Best of VI list? We’ll have a full list winners later today.


Say it isn’t so…

Work on Centerline Road this morning??!!! Thanks Leslie McKibben for the pics!!

Centerline 2

Sorry for the bluriness. She was driving folks... :)
Sorry for the bluriness. She was driving folks… 🙂

Just for the record, it’s been 109 days since Public Works Commissioner Darryl Smalls said the “emergency,” “fedral” repairs would be completed by March 2014.

For the full story on the Centerline Road debacle, please click here to visit Life on Our Rock’s Centerline Road page.


Extraordinary Video Shot in St. John’s Coral Reefs

There’s a pretty amazing underwater video that’s been making the rounds this week. It’s so extraordinary that we felt compelled to share it with all of you.

Videographer Ziggy Livnat filmed this visually stunning video in the coral reefs just off of St. John. Turn on the sound if you can, but it’s not necessary, making it perfectly fine to watch at work.

Recognize any of the spots?


Popular Cruz Bay Restaurant Sold

spyglass stairs

Well this makes us kinda sad…

We learned early Monday morning that Spyglass restaurant and bar will close its doors for good this weekend. After nearly three years of owning Spyglass, Brent and Mona Wardlaw will serve their last drink this Sunday night before holding a private dinner service for their staff.

“We hate to leave, but it’s for our health and for the best reasons,” Brent said Monday. “We’ve loved it here. We’ve made some great friends here. It’s a very special pace to us.”

Mona Brent
Mona and Brent

Brent and Mona became owners of Spyglass back in 2011. Originally from Texas, the couple left their stateside jobs to oversee the business along with their son Josh. In the years since, they’ve been known for their lovely southern hospitality and fun happy hours.

According to Brent, the two plan to head back to Texas where they will focus on Brent’s health while pursuing other opportunities.

From what we’ve heard, it seems like Joe from Waterfront Bistro will be taking over the place. We’re not sure what his plans are other than a major renovation.

In the meantime, stop by Spyglass this week and give this wonderful couple a proper sendoff. They’ll be open Tuesday through Sunday. Lunch is served from noon to 3 p.m.; happy hour is from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.; and dinner is from 6 p.m. until… Well until it ends. 🙂

Best wishes folks.

From the NOSJ archives .. a great sunset from Spyglass
From the NOSJ archives .. a great sunset from Spyglass


Would You Like Fries With That?

mcdonaldsSay it isn’t so … McDonald’s is coming to Cruz Bay? I’m not buying it, but here’s what’s going on…

Early Friday morning, an ad popped up on Craigslist for “New McDonalds Seeking Help” and by 9 a.m., I had a ton of emails from you guys asking about it. Here’s a portion of what the ad said:

“McDonalds is opening a new franchise right in the heart of Cruz Bay. Construction is to begin within the month. We are very excited to provide St John with a dearly missed convenience.”

I haven’t heard anything about this, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true. So I did what any good little blogger would do. I emailed them for more info. Here’s their response:

“Thank you so much for expressing interest in our new franchise. My business partners and I are very excited to become a part of the St John community! Our goal is to bring fast, convenient, and high quality food to a market severely lacking. We cannot wait to open the doors and start a new chapter for St John.

“As far as the location is concerned, we are not allowed to disclose it at this time. The building is currently leased, and the landlord is honoring the lease through the month. What I can say, however, is that it will be right in the heart of Cruz Bay. We will begin construction on the property July 1st and expect to be open mid-August.”

Ok, so let’s just say this is true, where could it possibly go? The only place that I could see being feasible is at Joe’s Diner, which is located under Cafe Roma. Its been for sale for quite some time, so you just never know.

joes diner st john

And if this does happen, it wouldn’t be the first time St. John had a fast food franchise. There was a Wendy’s over at Wharfside back in the early 90s, but it was destroyed by a fire in 1992 and never reopened. And more recently, there was a Subway over where Across the Street bar now stands.

So what do you all think? Sounds a bit like Palm Tree Charters Express to me. Well that’s because it is. Here’s the real deal…

mcDonalds Craigslist

Actually, I find this amusing. Nice work “Not Stephen Orwell,” nice work.


Ceremonies of St. John: Thanking the Fathers on Father’s Day

Father toast

Happy Father’s Day to all of the wonderful dads out there!

The ladies over at Ceremonies of St. John would like to recognize all of the fathers who are crucial in making so many weddings perfect here on the island.

Think about it, fathers…

  • Keep the bride calm before she walks down the aisle and into the hands of her new husband
  • Usually make their daughters cry tears of happiness during the father/daughter dance … Some women wait their whole lives for that moment.
  • Give memorable toasts as their daughters begin a new journey in life
  • Have poignant moments as they give away their daughters and shake hands with their future son-in-law

They don’t call us daddy’s little girls for nothing. 🙂

Please check out this quick slideshow celebrating some of the latest fathers of the brides here on island…

Ceremonies of St. John’s staff lives and works directly on St. John, so they know all of the ins and outs of the island and can address any need that may arise. Interested in learning more? Call its toll free number at 1-888-282-3933 or email at [email protected]


On the Market: Inexpensive Parcel in Coral Bay

map 340 listing

For those of you looking to build on island, this may be the parcel for you. Listed at just $82,500, this half acre parcel is located in Estate Carolina in Coral Bay. 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.

340 1

340 2

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


Who’s On Island Next Friday?

Image taken during Barefoot Cruz at Sundown sunset snorkel sail
Image taken during Barefoot Cruz at Sundown sunset snorkel sail

How many of you are lucky enough to be on island next Friday? If you are, come join me for the Barefoot Cruz at Sundown!

I’ll be hopping aboard the Sadie Sea next Friday night and you should all come too. For a mere $40, you can come out on a two-stop snorkel trip and watch the sun fall below the horizon. Afterward, we’ll head up to the Barefoot Cowboy Lounge for a quick bite to eat … all for only $40!

Now you all know how much I love to chat about how fabulous this little island is, but I also love to chat about all of the ridiculous things that happen too like the new ferries (or lack thereof), Centerline Road, the fact that Darryl Smalls still has a job, etc. So if you want to gossip, knock back a few cold ones, snorkel and watch the sunset all while cruising around on the Sadie Sea, please join us! We’ll even clue you in on some of our StJohnopoly secrets … And no worries, if you’re not into snorkeling, you can simply chill on the boat with me and Captain Tom.

Tickets are for sale at Barefoot Cowboy Lounge, which is located on the second floor of the Lumberyard complex, and must be purchased in advance. The cruise leaves at 5 p.m. at the National Park dock and last about two hours or so. The more fun we have, the longer we stay on the water. 🙂

Hope to see you all next Friday night!


And the Best Bartender Is…

Iron Bartender 2014

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – the ladies over at Motu sure know how to throw one heck of a party … And the latest one they’re planning certainly won’t disappoint.

On Sunday, June 22, the island’s best bartenders will converge on Motu to test their bartending skills. They’ll be tasked with creating an assortment of cocktails while a few lucky locals will have the opportunity to judge and ultimately choose the winners. It’s essentially an on-the-fly mixology contest fashioned after the popular television program, Iron Chef. So fun!

There is a $20 entry fee and the contest will be capped at 24 participants. You can register by emailing [email protected] or by calling 407-758-6924.

The event isn’t just for the bartenders. Spectators are welcome and certainly encouraged to attend. Café Livin is setting up a food tent, so there will be plenty of food available to soak up all that alcohol.

Doors open at noon, and the contest starts at 1 p.m. I hope to see you all there!

PS: Click here to see pics from last year’s event!