Sick and tired of the same old Valentine’s Day routine? Why not mix it up this year and head on over to Motu.
Now we know that ladies over at Motu are great when it comes to throwing a good party, but their latest idea is our most favorite yet. This Valentine’s Day, they’re holding a Red and Black Masquerade and you must don full masquerade attire in order to attend. Here are the details:
The party starts at 8 p.m. on Valentine’s Day and goes until midnight.
Tickets are $80 per person. Limited tickets are available, and you must have a ticket to attend.
St. John Catering is fully catering the event. Tickets also include open bar sponsored by Patron Cafe.
Entertainment will be provided by Ian, DJ Top Notch and a few other secret surprises.
The ambience will be beautiful as always.
Guests must wear a mask. Motu will have some on hand for those who do not bring their own.
Dress is St. John fancy. No jean please.
Parking will be available for guests only.
Tickets are available at Motu or by emailing Dawn at [email protected]
Senator Craig Barshinger (left) and Governor deJongh (right)
Only in the USVI would a new law need to be passed in order to get the government to pay its bills. Seriously?
We came across an article in the Virgin Islands Daily News this weekend that was pretty interesting. In a nutshell, it said how the government is a “deadbeat WAPA customer” and that Senator Craig Barshinger is pressuring the governor to implement a Single Payer Utility Fund in order to get it to pay its bills. But it seems that everyone isn’t on board considering that the governor himself vetoed it last month. But according to the article, his veto was later overridden by the VI Legislature.
“…The fund – administered by the VI Finance commissioner – would ensure that the VI Water and Power Authority would get paid in a timely manner.
The Single Payer Utility Fund would comprise appropriated monies that previously have been released and deposited in the operating accounts of departments and agencies.
WAPA’s executive leadership often has complained of large-scale delinquencies tied to government accounts and the consequent lack of funds for maintenance of grid turbines and other power network infrastructure.
When (Governor) deJongh vetoed the measure, he said that such a payment vehicle would just create another ‘bureaucratic layer’ and so would be contrary to the intent of streamlining and securing government payments to WAPA.”
According to the article, the government currently owes the utility more than $25 million.
“The V.I. Government is a deadbeat WAPA customer,” Barshinger stated. “By using WAPA as a bank of convenience, we doom ourselves to poor electricity reliability. This is not in dispute: When its biggest customer fails to pay on time, WAPA diverts funds that would have been used for maintenance to pay for fuel. Then the equipment breaks down, months or years later, leaving paying customers without service.”
Sounds about right.
Barshinger called on the governor to make public the following information per the article:
The uncontested, past-due balances owed to WAPA by the V.I. government, per department and agency.
The projected debt during the next six months to WAPA by the government, with breakouts for all departments and autonomous and semi-autonomous agencies.
The governor’s plan for bringing the outstanding balances current.
So we’re curious, what do you think about all of this? Comment away.
Tickets are available at Motu or by emailing Dawn at [email protected]
So I’m sitting here with Mr. News of St. John and we were chatting about silly things that only happen on St. John. For years we’ve dubbed these “Living the Dream problems.” For example:
“It’s so hot, my Bushwacker melted before I could drink it.”
-Living the Dream problems.
“The donkeys caused a traffic jam.”
-Living the Dream problems.
So we want to know, what are your favorite “Living the Dream problems”? Leave them in the comments section. Once we collect a bunch, we’ll post our favorites and you all can vote on the top “Living the Dream problem.” The winner gets a fancy News of St. John swag bag.
Want to know what the weather’s like on a certain part of the island? Or perhaps you are simply looking for a little St. John escape. Then this sampling of webcams will do the trick. Check them out:
Views: North Shore – Catherineberg toward Whistling Cay and the BVIs
Island Stones
Views: South Shore – Hart Bay and Rendezvous Bay toward Ditleff Point
Great Expectations
Views: Bordeaux Mountain – Coral Bay toward East End and BVIs
Esprit
Views: East End – Dreekets Bay and Sir Francis Drake Channel toward Tortola
Andara
Views: Sunset – Overlooking Cruz Bay toward St. Thomas
Sunset Ridge
Want to see more? Click here to see all of our island webcams.
Two island artists will debut their latest works tonight at an opening reception at Bajo el Sol – painter Deborah St. Clair and ceramicist Mandy Thody.
Bajo el Sol is a quaint three-room gallery located in Mongoose Junction. It opened in 1993 by local artists who wanted to share their vision of the Virgin Islands’ beauty through paintings, sculptures, ceramics, jewelry and other works of art.
Here are the details on tonight’s event courtesy of Jaime Elliott for Bajo el Sol:
This month’s opening will feature new works by painter Deborah St. Clair and ceramicist Mandy Thody, combining whimsical hand sculpted pieces and striking modern canvases.
For this show, Thody has been focusing on the many and varied animals of the Caribbean, the artist explained.
“From human to goat to iguana; most of the pieces are glazed matte with oxides and very simple glazes in natural colors,” said Thody. “I have wanted to do more domestic or farm animals for a long time and it finally happened.”
In addition to Thody’s charming and varied animal collection, her show will also feature a series of masks which nod to African and tribal traditions, Thody explained.
“The masks are also a new style, in heavily embossed and carved surrounds with elements of African and other cultural motifs,” she said.
While working in a very different medium, long-time St. John painter St. Clair has been using her considerable talent to investigate instinct, she explained.
“These current paintings are a progression in the work I am doing using instinct and chance,” said St. Clair. “The technical knowledge is there to call upon, but the painting is to have free reign.”
It is through taking chances and opening herself to the possibility of failure which has allowed St. Clair a new freedom in her paintings, the artist explained.
“I use a process of creating a painting by taking the chance of destroying it,” she said. “I paint over it, into it, or scrape away from it. As a result of this process, there are many layers of under paintings.”
This process also allows the paintings to literally lead the way for the artist, St. Clair added.
“Often the painting will diverge from my original idea which affords me the opportunity to explore the new and unexpected direction,” she said.
St. Clair’s work is often striking, always vibrant and has the ability to engage viewers while they reflect on color, composition and emotion.
Tonight’s event begins at 5 p.m. and goes until 8 p.m. For more information on the opening or Bajo el Sol, please visit www.BajoelSolGallery.com
The folks over at House Hunters really seem to fancy St. John. But really, why wouldn’t they…
In case you missed it, Eco Serendib was featured last night on a new episode of House Hunters: Where Are They Now? (We have Papa News of St. John to thank for this. He alerted us about the show being on just 30 minutes prior to airtime.)
For those of you unfamiliar with Eco Serendib, it’s a spectacular eight bedroom, eco friendly villa overlooking the waters of Fish Bay. The home was first featured on House Hunters about four years ago when Harith Wickrema was looking for a property on St. John.
Last night’s episode returned to the property, giving viewers a glimpse on the incredible updates Harith has made over the years. (Last night’s episode was filmed back in September.)
“Eco Serendib Villa and Spa agreed to be on the show with the hope of spreading the fact that while reducing the carbon footprint, one can also enjoy luxury,” Harith told us late Thursday night.
Since the show’s original airing, Harith has added 69 solar panels, as well as an organic garden designed by Josephine Roller (of Coral Bay Organic Gardens) which offers guests a seed to table experience. The villa supports the island’s Resource Depot to repurpose construction materials, and has a paperless conference room, a dining table made out of repurposed construction boards that look and feel like marble, and a repurposed Styrofoam barbecue stand.
Eco Serendib’s solar panels, Photo Credit: Steve SimonsenEco Serendib’s organic garden, Photo Credit: Steve SimonsenEco Serendib’s dining table made from repurposed construction materials, Photo Credit: Steve SimonsenEco Serendib’s barbecue grill made from Styrofoam, Photo Credit: Steve Simonsen
But what makes this villa even more special to us is how it works to restore the island’s beaches.
“For every day the villa is rented, Eco Serendib donates funds to Friends of the National Park to plant native trees as part of the Eco Serendib Beach Restoration Project,” Harith said. “We have donated almost $20,000 since the program was launched last year.”
Last year, Wayne Campbell of the Barefoot Cowboy Lounge paid a visit to Larry Grenier over at The Tourist Trap. For those of you unfamiliar with Larry or The Tourist Trap, it’s a funky little eating spot on the side of the road past Coral Bay but before Salt Pond. Larry is known for his incredible lobster rolls and my personal favorite, his soft tacos.
In this video, Larry prepares a grouper taco with southwestern seasonings, his famed lobster roll and his own personal favorite, The T3 – Tourist Trap Taco. Wayne knocks em’ back as always and enjoys all three.
It’s an oldie but goodie. Not to mention, it’s pretty entertaining. Check it out:
Image credit: Amy Laughinghouse, For The Philadelphia Inquirer
This article just appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer. We liked it so much, we thought we would share it with all of you. We’re sure you’ll enjoy reading it just as much as we did.
St. John, the Virgin Island’ Wild Child
By Amy Laughinghouse, For The Philadelphia Inquirer
ST. JOHN, U.S. Virgin Islands – I’m lying face down in a spa cabana at Caneel Bay resort, gazing absently into a bowl of fragrant blossoms. The door is open just enough to admit the serenade of the surf and the softly filtered sunlight of the sultry Caribbean morning.
Cheryl, a masseuse with startling blue eyes accentuated by a deep tan, is gently working out the knots I’ve accumulated through work and travel. In less than an hour, she transforms me from a bag of aching bones to a blissed-out beach bunny ready to relax and take on – well, as little as possible during my 10-day stay on St. John.
This is arguably the wildest and most pristine of the U.S. Virgin Islands, and that legacy of feral beauty began right here, at Caneel Bay, where philanthropist and conservationist Laurance Rockefeller originally built a house as a private retreat. He grew so fond of St. John’s tangled jungle of hills and white crescent beaches that he bought up huge swaths of land, which later formed the basis of the Virgin Islands National Park.
At the resort itself, which features just 166 rooms on 170 acres, you’re more likely to encounter herds of deer and donkeys than another human. Throw in a few mongooses and leaf-munching iguanas, and it’s practically a free-range zoo.
While it’s tempting to simply remain at Caneel Bay and play castaway, this is an island that’s made for exploration, as I’ve discovered over more than a half-dozen visits these last 12 years.
Cruz Bay, the main port, hardly qualifies as the big city, with free-range hens shepherding their chicks along a zigzag maze of roads. But it offers enough shops and bars and restaurants to put a dent in your wallet and add an inch to your waistline.
Pick a perch at the Beach Bar, where you can gaze out over the sailboats that fill the harbor while sipping a Painkiller – a potent combination of rum, fruit juice, and nutmeg that will certainly leave you feeling no pain, until the inevitable hangover the next morning. Woody’s is another well-known watering hole, with a couple of plastic tables on the sidewalk (to call it a “terrace” would be overstating it) that provide front-row seats for first-rate tourist-watching. For a splurge, head to the hilltop Asolare and try an aptly named Honey Badger martini, which packs a bite worthy of its name.
Of course, St. John’s best attraction is its 30-plus beaches. These range from the “Mermaid’s Chair,” a beach barely big enough for two that my friends and I visit on a catamaran trip one afternoon, to the sugary expanse of Cinnamon Bay. The quirkiest is Drunk Bay, a remote rocky beach where visitors – perhaps fueled by fruity umbrella drinks, lending the place its name – create whimsical sculptures of mermaids, pirates, and cowboys from coral and coconuts.
As stunning as St. John’s coastline is above water, more surreal scenery lurks beneath the waves. Trunk Bay – which CNN.com recently ranked No. 48 on its list of the world’s 100 best beaches – features an underwater snorkel trail, where I spot eels, reef squid, and a stingray hovering like a spacecraft above the sandy bottom.
At Waterlemon Cay, while swimming in a spectral cloud of shiny silversides, I notice a 4-foot-long, missile-shaped fish just yards away. From my panicked reaction, anyone would have assumed I was an ill-fated extra from Jaws.
Fortunately, my friends, both experienced divers, assure me it’s only a harmless tarpon. (Well, harmless to humans, at least. The silversides it swallowed would probably beg to differ.)
Undeterred by echoes of “You’re gonna need a bigger boat,” we sign up for a kayak tour (very small boats indeed) with Hidden Reef Eco-Tours. Our guide, Jennifer Russ, not only knows some of the best snorkeling spots around the island, but she’s also a bit of an expert on St. John’s flora and fauna as well.
“Oooh, that’s a Pseudosphinx caterpillar,” she coos, eyeing a plump yellow, black, and red critter suctioned to a piece of coral at Haulover Bay, where we meet. “He’s poisonous,” she notes cheerfully, pushing sunglasses atop a mass of long black curls.
Of course, this creepy-crawly sounds positively cuddly compared to the manchineel tree, which Russ points out next to her stand of kayaks. Eating the fruit can be fatal, earning it the nickname “Death Apple,” and its sap triggers terrible blisters.
Leaving caustic caterpillars and flesh-melting manchineels behind, we paddle for perhaps half an hour, slicing through blue waters before Russ directs us to beach the kayaks. As we slip into the water in masks, fins, and snorkels, a pair of butterfly fish engage in a courtly dance just below, and rainbow-colored parrot fish crunch loudly on the reef.
But the climax of our afternoon is the sea turtle that emerges like a shadow from the deep-blue fathoms. Gliding through the sea, he’s the Dalai Lama of the depths, the very essence of serenity.
I reckon he’s just had a massage.
Amy Laughinghouse is a London-based freelance travel writer. You can read more of her work at www.AmyLaughinghouse.com
