fbpx

St. John is going to the dogs

2007logo
Women, children, and dogs of all ages will be in the center ring at the Cruz Bay ball field Saturday evening for the 7th annual island-wide dog show, Wagapalooza. 

Pets will compete in 10 categories including Biggest Lap Dog, Best Smoocher, and Best Trick. "My favorite is ‘Best Look-a-Like," said Jennifer Dale, one of the organizers of the event which benefits the Animal Care Center.  "That one’s always a little spooky."  St Croix’s Roger W. Morgan, host of Paradise 93.5 radio’s morning show, will help MC the event. 

Admission is free, beer is reasonably priced, and the laughs will be many.

Free T-shirt offer

The Care Center raises funds at Wagaplooza through entrance fees, sales of raffle tickets and t-shirts.  If you’d like to win a t-shirt, send me an e-mail telling me your favorite thing about St. John.  E-mail [email protected]. There will be one winner, and I’ll post many of the best ‘favorites’.

In this week’s St. John Podcast, Jennifer Dale explains why buying a raffle ticket for Wagapolooza is a smart thing to do.  The odds, like "The Force," are with you. To listen on your computer, click the play button below.

You can also download or hear the file by clicking here.

Subscribe to News of St. John’s weekly podcast at the Apple iTunes Music Store and search for "news of st. john,"
or copy "http://fbarnako.libsyn.com/rss" and paste it into the "Subscribe" field under the iTunes software’s "Advanced" tab.  You can also use
that link to subscribe with other podcatching software.  If you’re having
a problem, e-mail: [email protected].

Read moreSt. John is going to the dogs

Closest thing to a Starbucks

Bringin_the_fun
Alex Nydick, a self described girl from the Bronx, has opened “Bringin’ the Fun,” a spot for coffee, cookies, and Internet access. 

It’s up a flight of stairs, between the Banana Deck and American Paradise Real Estate, near Wharfside.

The cute open air cafe has comfortable chairs, a pretty good view and a tasty menu. "We sell coffee, espresso drinks, New York bagels, Edy’s Ice cream, milk shakes, baked goodies and sweet treats," Nydick said.  Her partner, Rance Pion II, conceived, designed, and built out the space. 

He did the heavy lifting – she does the heavy selling.

"I don’t mind being here 13 hours a day," Nydick said. "Someday soon, I’ll have employees," she added, hopefully.  Hours are Monday-Friday, starting at 6:30 a.m., Saturdays at 7:30 a.m., and Sundays at 8 a.m.

"Bringin’ the Fun" is also in the baggage storage business, if your villa’s not ready or you just want to spend a few more hours in Cruz Bay before you take the ferry to St. Thomas.  She’ll even help you carry your bags.

Buyers selling incomplete condos

Some early buyers of Sirenusa and Grande Bay units are trying to get out – before the first owners have moved in. 

Grande_bay_march2007
A listing of real estate offerings from John McCann and Associates shows six condos at Grande Bay for sale.  None appear to be from the developer.  Prices begin at $629,000 for a 1-bedroom, 1-bath unit and go up to $1 million for a two-bedroom, two bath apartment.

Sirenusa_march2007
Sirenusa’s a different story.  There are 17 units on the market, 13 of which are listed by Enighed Condominiums LLC, the builder. The other four units have different owners.  The least expensive Sirenusa condo is $1.39 million. It’s got two bedrooms.  The high end is a 3-bedroom, 3.5 bath units offered at $1.85 million.

Tax bills due end of the month

Two e-mails during the past week asked whether we’d received our 2005 tax bill.  I replied that we had.  Both writers, one living at Fish Bay, and the other a mainlander, said they hadn’t seen theirs.  Time to call the real estate sales people, was my advice. 

The stateside writer said he’d bought a house in late ’05, and "Cannot get through to the tax office through their phone system nor do they answer their e-mail."  My guess is the Assessor’s office hasn’t caught up with the sales transaction yet, so it’s possible the previous owner got the bill.

The Governor’s office has said tax bills are due and payable at the end of May and will be considered delinquent if they’re not paid by the end of June..

Record number of houses for sale

Forsale
The number of homes for sale on St. John has increased at least 11% since the start of the year.  The morning’s Multiple Listing Service Web site shows a record 140 residences on the market. Asking prices are between from $365,000 for an unfinished apartment with a view of Salt Pond to a $10.4 million beauty at Hansen Bay on East End.  Something for every taste and pocketbook, perhaps.

Finally, there’s been some softening in the pricing of the total market.  While the average listing price is steady at $2.2 million, as it has been for more than a year, the median price of a listed home has fallen 6% since January to $1.6 million.  This suggests there are more lower priced properties coming on to the market.

Roughly a third of homes offered are priced between $2-$5 million, while 37% are in the $1-$2 million range. Here’s a link to the residential MLS: http://www.cruzbayrealty.com/homes.html

Traffic to get worse in Cruz Bay

TouristsandtaxisThe new island Administrator, Leona Smith, has announced drivers will not be allowed to line up along the waterfront, between the pay phones to the 30-minute parking area, according to a report by the St. John Source. 

Several villa managers are quoted saying this will mean people will circle through town several times as they try and meet visitors.  And when they do find for whom they are looking, they’ll stop in the middle of traffic to pick them up.

Smith was firm in her decision, though, according to the Source.  "It’s a traffic hazard" to have vehicles lined up along the one way road, she said.

Among the top complaints from visitors is a lack of parking in Cruz
Bay.  Some restaurant operators say business was off as much as 20%
during the winter season; parking might be a reason.  One reader on the
web site said so. "We
avoided going into town most nights choosing to pay for in-villa dinner
services rather than trying to find parking for 3 vehicles."

Interview with the new owner of the Sun Times

Logo_st
The owner of the St. John Sun Times smiles when she says she got her new job through Craigslist, the Internet’s biggest classified ad site.  Eloise Ham and her fiance, Tyler Anderson, were ready to start new lives outside Los Angeles. The island has become their new home, after one visit.   She’s at the newspaper, he’s general manager at Catered To’s villa rental business.

The first issue under Ham’s editor-ship is due out today.  She relied on Bill Stelzer for the layout and art work. Ipod
Bill’s the guy who did the editing on the Friends of the Park’s 50th Anniversary DVD.)

In this week’s St. John Podcast, Ham says she wants to produce a newspaper which is tourist-friendly and will also make locals happy about living on the island. 

To listen on your computer, click the play button below.

You can also download or hear the file by clicking here.

Subscribe to News of St. John’s weekly podcast at the Apple iTunes Music Store and search for "news of st. john,"
or copy "http://fbarnako.libsyn.com/rss" and paste it into the "Subscribe" field under the iTunes software’s "Advanced" tab.  You can also use
that link to subscribe with other podcatching software.  If you’re having
a problem, e-mail: [email protected].

Christmas in April

Cattle
Villa rental rates drop after April 15 and bring a swarm of bargain hunters to the island, according to one management company owner.  The crush of people is similar to that at Christmas time.  While the impact on St. John’s beaches and restaurants is one thing, the effects at the St. Thomas airport are quite another.

Returning Saturday on a 12:25 p.m. US Airways flight, it took 90 minutes to get out of the cab, checked in at the airline counter, to begin winding through an un-guided, hydra-headed, conga line of people – with baggage – into the Customs area, through another line to get to an inspector, drop bags at one of several x-ray machines, then to another ID and boarding pass check, before getting into line to take off our shoes, put carry on bags on the belt, and walk through the metal detectors. 

The process took so long that our plane was 30-40 minutes late departing because ticketed passengers were still not through security at take off time.

Coincidentally, a reader, Carol, posted a relevant comment over the weekend.  She had a similar experience: "We’ve just returned from our 15th visit to STJ and never before have we experience the check in chaos that we encountered at the airport-lines snaking the entire length of the terminal and doubled back causing flight delays, children exhausted, people cranky."

Moral of the story … when the attendant welcomes you to St. Thomas and tells you to be at the airport two hours before your return flight, it may pay to follow that advice.

New island export … pets!

Lucky1The Animal Care Center of St. John suggests that besides hot sauce from St. John Spice or duty free liquor, you take home a dog or a cat.  The ACC says off-island adoption is easy.  The ACC’s kennel is on the south shore road, near the Sprauve museum, just a bit past O’Connor’s gas station.

Island vets can provide rabies shots and a healthy certificate, and an ACC volunteer has put together information about the process.  An one-way airline fee for a pet ticket is $50 on delta, and $80 on American and US Airways.  Pet carrier bags can be bought at Canines, Cats and Critters, the pet store in Palm Plaza, near the Westin.

Also, The ACC just received its first shipment of t-shorts for Wagapalooza – as soon as they can be ordered online, we’ll let you know.  Look for our ad on the shirt.  The Center is one of our favorite organizations.

The Animal Care Center’s Web site: www.stjohnanimalcarecenter.com.