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Park leader reaches out

The new Superintendent of the Virgin Islands National Park is not spending his first days catching up on paperwork.  Instead, Mark Hardgrove has been out and about.  Improving community relations is his number one job, Hardgrove told the St. John Source. As part of his outreach effort, Hardgrove has held "open houses" at the Park’s Visitors Center in Cruz Bay and at the John’s Folly Learning Institute in Cruz Bay.

Hardgrove told the Virgin Islands Daily News that he’s aware the Park has its critics. "I don’t know that there’s tension – I know that there’s history," he said. Some of that controversy has come from Carmen Wesselhoft, the VI’s Senator At Large.  She wants the Park to donate 200 acres to island residents who are unable to buy land to build moderately-priced housing.

Tipping the Villa Greeter

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There are a lot of outstretched hands looking for a tip between the St. Thomas airport and the Cruz Bay ferry dock, including baggage porters, taxicab drivers, and ferry luggage loaders. Is the person who greets you on St. John another one?

Greeters are part of the villa rental package. They meet you at the ferry dock, take you to a car rental pickup, and then lead you to your house. The greeter’s service is worth $50. That’s what one villa management
company charges owners when guests arrive off-hours, like late at night
or on Sundays.  If every thing’s on time (on St. John?), it’s about an hour’s work.  So, that cost has been figured into your rental rate. Greeters are paid by the rental company.

Some island visitors wonder, though, "Should I tip the greeter?" 

What do you think? Make a comment here.

Bordeaux, Lucy’s are top Coral Bay picks

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Chateau Bordeaux
has been voted the top restaurant in Coral Bay by readers of News of St. John.  Perched high over Coral Bay with an astounding view of East End and the BVIs, its dinner offerings include Mahi Mahi, escargot, lobster tail.  Here’s the menu.  There are no prices on this online version of the menu, so beware – it’s not cheap.  The phone is 340-776-6611.

Second place goes to Miss Lucy’s, whose original owner was also a cab driver, whose island tours were the best! The restaurant is located way outta town along the south shore and is best known for its Sunday brunches with live jazz, Lucy’s is a long-time favorite.  There are a handful of tables on the beach – arrive early (very!) to get one. The phone is 340-693-5244.

Read moreBordeaux, Lucy’s are top Coral Bay picks

Yapta: your new best online friend

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About a month ago, I signed up with Yapta.com, a free service which watches airfares and alerts you when they change. 

Its main claim to fame is alerting you when the price of a plane ticket you’ve already bought drops enough that it makes sense for you to rebook the trip and get a refund, even though you’ll have to pay a "change" fee.

So, I was watching Washington/Dulles to St. Thomas for next winter and Yapta e-mailed me when the fare dropped – to a price $100 less than I paid last winter.  I jumped on the deal. 

This weekend, just for grins, I checked Yapta to see where the price is now.  Whoa!  The graphic, at left, tells the story. The price more than doubled in less than a week.

If you haven’t booked for next winter, but perhaps even more importantly, if you already have … it’s a good idea to put Yapta to work for you now.

Everything you wanted to know about the Park

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Darren Smith, an internationally-known travel writer, has posted a comprehensive guide to the Virgin Islands National Park on his About.com Web site. It includes information about camping at Cinnamon Bay, a section about the history and geology of the Park, as well as tips on how to volunteer or work for the Park service. "Here you’ll find everything you need to plan your Virgin Islands national park vacation, including directions, maps, photos, lodging, camping, things to do, weather, and more," he writes.

Smith’s cataloging of the Park and its information is decidedly third-person – there’s no sense in his reporting that he’s ever been to the island.

Read moreEverything you wanted to know about the Park

Webcams of St. John

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We all know the Webcam in Cruz Bay, keeping watch, 24/7, over the ferry dock.  It’s not unheard of for people to write their names on the beach and then call friends by cell phone and say, "Look, Ma. We’re here."  That’s what "mbw1024" "Xislandgirl" did.

Coralbay

Now there are two more Webcams on St. John, apparently being hosted by someone for the Virgin Islands Daily News.  Both are on the east end. One is aimed at Coral Bay.  The other is looking around the corner at Hurricane Hole.

Read moreWebcams of St. John

Airport cooling repairs continue

The air conditioning at the St. Thomas Airport, what little there is and has been, is being worked on. 

The a.c. system has been operating at about half-capacity. Port Authority maintenance people were expected to be installing new parts this week to get the system fully operational, according to the Virgin Islands Daily News.

Meanwhile, the Authority set next month for the opening of the almost $10-million marine terminal at Red Hook, from which ferries to St. John will operate.  A new parking lot, providing 130 spaces, will soon get a final surfacing and merchants who have leased space in the building are expected to move in soon.

St. John, rich man’s resort?

Craig Barshinger, the one-term Senator At Large form St. John,  worries that the recent property revaluation process will spark a wave of real estate sales and an exodus by some of the island’s longtime residents.

He worries that people on fixed incomes will be taxed out of their homes.   "How?  If they had the ‘misfortune’ of having a hotel or mansion built next to them.  Or if they have lived on the beach for donkey years," he said in a letter to the St. John Source. "Any of these (and other) factors will cause the assessed value to be so high, that the owner will receive a tax bill five to 10 times higher."

They may not be able to afford the taxes, "but they can sell out for millions of dollars and move to Boca Raton," Barshinger wrote.  "The culture will be obliterated, but ex-pat St. Johnians will have money in their pocket.  Is this the kind of Virgin Islands we want?"

Restaurant business declining?

The Inquiring Iguana spends too much time surfing various forums where
island visitors are eager to get the inside story on what’s happening on island. Here’s some of what he’s heard recently.

21st Century island visitors are not eating in the island’s restaurants as much as tourists use to.  Comments on TripAdvisor.com suggest there’s some truth to this.  There are lots of questions and answers about bringing your own food.

Read moreRestaurant business declining?

Travel & Leisure list ignores VIs and St. John

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Travel + Leisure Magazine’s
latest "Best Of" lists don’t include St. John.  In fact the best island and hotel lists, based on the magazine’s readers’ votes, don’t include any Virgin Island or resort. They didn’t last year, either.

The best hotel honor goes to India’s Oberoi Udaivilas.  Readers said the best island is Bali.

Two properties on St. Barth’s, about 150 miles east of the VI’s, did make the list: (73) Hôtel Saint-Barth Isle de France and (74) Eden Rock.

Nancy Novogrod, editor-in-chief of the magazine said, “This year’s results underline T+L readers’ ever-increasing embrace of global travel in their search for distinctive and authentic experiences. The extraordinary rise of India among the top hotels and resorts in the world is one sure reflection of this tendency."

Travel + Leisure’s "Best Of" lists are included in the August issue, now on newsstands and online at http://www.travelandleisure.com/worldsbest.