An Online Blog About the Daily Happenings of St. John, USVI
Virgin Voice, which features occasional coverage of St. John, will be the exclusive magazine in the seat backs of all Seaborne flights flying between the U.S and British Virgin Islands and Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.
“The addition of business and politics to Virgin Voice’s seven-year publishing mix of people, places, arts and culture, food, and dining will create a compelling read for both locals and our island visitors,” adds Virgin Voice publisher Maura Curley.
Skinny Legs in Coral Bay is known for several things: Great bartenders, good hamburgers in paradise, and rabid New England Patriot fans. If you’ve never watched a Pats’ regular season game at Skinny’s, you haven’t seen extreme sports bar fervor.
Now that New England is in the Super Bowl – watch out. If you’re on island and want to watch it there Sunday, I’d suggest you grab a table for lunch – and don’t move.
Keep calling for Greenies and by kickoff, you’ll be in the middle of a noisy mob.
Other places to catch the game on island …well, there’s the sports bar on the second floor of Wharfside Shoppinh Center. The Banana Deck has a couple of TVs. The Quiet Mon bar will be anything but quiet by game time. Pastory Gardens also has a big screen TV. Heck, the game will be everywhere – even Cap’s Place.
This year’s St. John Arts Festival will run from February 9th to February 14th. The theme will be "St. John Through the Ages". Frank Langley, president of the Festival origanization, said the six days of events and activities will "trace back to the original formation of the island some 100 million years ago under the sea until the present day using the media of arts, crafts, music and drama to portray the natural and anthropological history of the island."
Each day there will be a concert in Cruz Bay Park. Musicians to be featured include Inner Visions, the Love City Pan Dragons Youth Steel Orchestra, Koko and the Sunshine Band, and St. John Church Choirs. And of course West Indian crafts and food will be offered each day from Noon to 5 p.m. (Great hot sauces!!!)
The Artists Association of St. John and individual art galleries
and studios will be exhibiting many works by St. John artists,
including those of children, with special “Meet the Artists” nights
complemented with live music and refreshments. The St. John School of the Arts will host short plays depicting island life as it used to be.
Festival Web site: http://stjohnartsfestival.org
The Superintendent of the Virgin Islands National Park must be a real optimist.
Mark Hardgrove told the annual Friends of the Park meeting on Sunday he’s asking the National Park Service to increase his operating budget from $5 million to $8 million.
In addition, he told about 100 people at the meeting at Cinnamon Bay’s Tree Lizards restaurant, there’s a $22 million backlog in maintenance projects. They include care for roads and trails, signage, boat docks, and the Visitors Center.
(A full report of the meeting was published by the Virgin islands Daily News.)
Joe Kessler, President of the Friends group, said that while he hopes the NPS will allot more money to the VINP, he intends to urge his group to do more, rtoo. While the Friends raised a record $750,000 in 2007, through fund raisers, memberships, workshops and other afctivities, he hopes to boost that number this year to $900,000.
Ted Robinson’s odyssey continues.
The founder and genius of the now-closed Tage restaurant has signed on for what sounds like a full-time job with Starfish Market.
"Chef Ted Robinson last week accepted the position of Director of Deli Operations/Executive Chef," according to a news release form the company. He will oversee an expansion of prepared foods at the supermarket, located in the Marketplace.
"Popular hot deli meals and Chef Ted’s new Creations To Go, make Starfish the best place to go for fast, fresh packaged meals on the go," said a spokesperson for Starfish. The Chef will also continue his own catering business Ted’s Supper Club, which prepares gourmet meals in private villas and for parties.
If you’re looking to unwind this winter, Travel + Leisure magazine says you should put St. John at the top of your list.
In an article in the December issue, "Top 10 Caribbean Islands to Unwind in 2008", St. John was awarded the top spot. The magazine praised the island as "Best for Unspoiled Nature: "The least populated and least developed of the U.S. Virgin Islands … protected from development as part of the Virgin Islands National Park.
Others on the T+L list: Virgin Gorda, "Best for Peace and Quiet"; Anguilla, "Best for Beaches"; and St. Bart’s, "Best for the Scene.
The Friends of Virgin Islands National Park celebrated the opening of its new retail venture with a grand opening party late in November. The store is located at Mongoose Junction, in the former space of the Canvas Factory.
Items for sale include home decor, educational gifts, local crafts, t-shirts, and souvenir items. The store also offers information about Friends and Park events. You can also join the Friends group (which gets you a discount on seminars and activities).
The Friends of
Virgin Islands National Park will have its annual meeting next Sunday, the 27th, at the T’ree Lizards Restaurant at
Cinnamon
Bay.
The
keynote speaker will be Virgin Islands Governor John P. deJongh. Other speakers will include
VINP superintendent Mark Hardgrove, who will give the State of the Park address, and
Friends’ president Joe Kessler who will present the Friends’ annual report.
During the meeting, the Friends recognize outstanding volunteers who will receive “Volunteer of the Year” awards. The Friends will also recognize a VINP
staff member, who best embodies the partnership between VI National Park and the
Friends.
St. John got two more hours of fame this past weekend as the focus of a radio talk show, "Traveling Feet" with Stephanie Abrams. She broadcast the from a restaurant at the Westin Resort.
"Palm trees are barely swaying, but just enough to kind of caress you as you sit outdoors,", Abrams said at the start of the first hour of her Saturday show. Then, she asked her engineer back on the mainland, "Can you hear the steel drums in the background? These lovely gentlemen in their pretty tropical shirts …"
Abrams talked enthusiastically about St. John and interviewed about half a dozen people. They includedthe general manager of the Westin, Kim Chappel, as well as Rafe Boulon of the USVI National Park, Patty Johnston, manager of Cruz Bay Watersports, and James Penn, owner of Penn’s Taxi.
The shows are archived online. Right-click on the links below to save the programs to your computer and then listen to them with iTunes or Windows Media Player.
The SeeStJohn.com Web site has more than the usual information for tourists.
Sure, you can find links to rental homes, restaurants, real estate firms, wedding planners, and so on. But besides all that kind of boiler plate data, the site has links to eight videos, including some you can download to an iPod.
Two of the videos were co-produced by the Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park. The first is a video tour of the Park, while the second is the story of an effort in 1999 to protect the coral reefs.
There are half a dozen other videos. They include a video tour of the Annaberg Sugar Mill, a nature lover’s view at Trunk Bay in the morning, and deer at Cinnamon Bay. No Oscar winning material here, but pretty pictures at least.
