Villas and Resorts

• There’s a possibility Paul Trujillo, owner/chef at Ten Tables (at the Lumberyard) is moving the operation to a new location.  Stay tuned!
• The 8 Tuff Miles roads race is set for Feb. 24.  Lots of training is going on, including what are being called "Geiger Tuff Tune Ups," training runs in memory of David Geiger, a long time resident and good guy.  http://www.8tuffmiles.com
• Cinnamon Bay Campground’s T’ree Lizards restaurant is pitching for more business.  Half a page, four-color ad in the St. John Sun-Times lists the restaurants breakfast, lunch and dinner menus.  The "Virgin Gorda Blackened Tuna" sounds good.  Open air, roomy – it’s a nice place.
• Marty Beech’s CD, "Summer Wind," is on sale at St. John Spice, Sun Dog Cafe, and Infusions Lounge.  He recorded it last summer, in Atlanta. (Listen to a sample.) The St. John Sun-Times says the Islander real estate broker "channels ol’ blue eyes" with his renditions of Cole Porter tunes.

Adam Gopnik, a writer for the New Yorker, will be at Caneel Bay at the end of the month as part of a series of events called the Hot Type Author Series. 

The author of several books will be there Jan. 27-31, hosting a series of private dinners.  Guests will talk with Gopnik about his work, his experience while living in Paris, and his newest book, "Through the Children’s Gate: A Home in New York." If you book a room at Caneel for the end of the month, they’ll send you a copy of it.

There are now as many as 600 rental villas on St. John, with hundreds more condos and time shares set to hit the market in the next 18 months.  How do you find the right one? Most folks contact one of the island’s dozen-or-so management companies. 

This week’s podcast features Eileen Duffy, the owner of Catered To, offering information and advice.  Hear what people most often forget to bring, why the refrigerator never seems to get cold enough, and why to can leave the party dresses at home. Listen by clicking the "play" button below.

Subscribe by copying and pasting this link to your podcatcher’s or iTunes "Subscribe" entry field: http://fbarnako.libsyn.com/rss  Or go to the iTunes Music Store, search for "st. john" and you’ll find it.

Disclaimer:  Catered To manages rentals for our two-bedroom  villa, BlueTang.

Travel author Joan Tapper’s "Caneel Bay: A Celebration of Fifty Years" is now available.  Illustrated with photos by National Geographic’s Theo Westenberger and St. John’s Steve Simonsen, the coffee table book is a lush and glossy telling of the Resort’s founding, growth, and prosperity.  The first chapter, "Beginnings," goes back to the time when Arawak Indians populated the island, 900 A.D.

The island was packed over Christmas week.  Reservations at
restaurants were a must, and not just at the high-end places.  Sweet
Plantains (777-4653) in Coral Bay – getting great reviews – packed.  Call ahead.
Aqua Bistro (776-5336), also in Coral Bay, slammed by people (lots of customers) and experiencing a
staff shortage simultaneously … not good.

Satyamuna at Marketplace … the new veggie place … is getting
some good comments.  Mushroom lasagna and an eggplant dish got four
stars.  Kudos also for old reliables Cafe Roma (776-6524), Lime Inn (776-6425), and Panini
Beach (693-9119).

Skinny Legs’ shopping arcade is drawing attention.
Lots of island souvenirs and clothing for the beach and limin’.

The ferry from Charlotte Amalie is much less a hassle than from Red
Hook, which requires a length-of-the island cab ride.  Here’s the
schedule.

The general manager at Caneel Bay says his resort is sold out
through the first week of the New Year, while Ocean Runner boat rentals
agreed, "We’re booked just about every day."  In comments to the St.
John Source, the businessmen suggested this season’s shaping up about
the same as last year’s.   "We have lots of longtime guests back. The
property is filled up, and people are making merry," Caneel Bay Resort
manager Rik Blyth told the Source.

Lonnie Willis, owner of the Fish Trap and Stone Terrace restaurants
and St. John Car Rental, sounded cautious in her remarks to the
reporter.  She worries that more hassles at airport over security may
be holding people back from traveling.  She’s also concerned those
visitors to the Westin’s new time share units may be less likely to
travel downtown.    "People tend to eat in," she said.  Listen to an earlier podcast with Lonnie Willis.

In a recent feature about long weekends to the Caribbean for less than $1,000, The New York Times said it can be done on island – including airfare.  "You don’t have to spend $530 a night at Caneel Bay," but … 🙂  Oh, well.

The economical alternative is, you guessed it, Cinnamon Bay Campground. Two-person tents for $86/night.  The Tree Lizards restaurant gets kudos
for "basic fare like burgers and sandwiches at reasonable prices."  The
Times likes Orbitz for bargain hunting plane tickets. Here’s the
story.