An Online Blog About the Daily Happenings of St. John, USVI
The Source reports:
Despite numerous concerns raised over the past few months by large groups of St. John residents, senators on Tuesday approved a bill allowing the developers of the Sirenusa condominium project to add seven new units to the building site in Cruz Bay.
The owner of Skinny Legs in Coral Bay ran in, and completed, the 111th
Boston Marathon Monday.
Moe Chabuz, 57, finished 13,191st in a field of about 20,000. His time on the course was 3-hours 41-minutes 19-seconds,
five minutes better than his time in the 2006 Marathon. His pace this
year was 8.27 miles an hour. Chabuz also ran in this year’s 8 Tuff Miles on St. John, finishing 41st.
Organizers reported one other Virgin Islander in the race, about
a minute ahead of Chabuz. Jessica U. Chung finished 12,311th with an
elapsed time of 3-hours 40-minutes 35-seconds.
Race organizers said 99% of runners who began the race completed the 26-mile course. The start was moved up a few hours because of a windy/rainy/snowy nor’easter
which was pushing up the east coast. There were fears some runners
might encounter hypothermia, and about 30 did, according to the
Associated Press.
Members of the House of Representatives opted to get out of the capital’s cloudy weather and make a Congressional delegation trip to the Virgin Islands, Honduras, and Mexico. Washington, DC’s Examiner said nine Democrats and two Republicans stayed at Caneel Bay while on island.
The office of Rep. Bennie Thompson said he wanted to tour toured the Caribbean to "examine border security and port security". He is chairman of the Homeland Security Committee. An aide to Thompson told the newspaper he and his wife paid the "government rate". But the reservations department at Caneel told the Examiner the resort "doesn’t offer government rates." Three other Members also brought their spouses, the newspaper said.
Their timing was good. The average temperature on Easter Sunday in the DC area was 51 degrees. On St. John, it was 81.
Islandia Real Estate’s Karye Carney spent a sunny Saturday morning pouring over results of the first quarter’s residential business.
In her newly-launched blog, "View from Office Window," Carney reported the dollar volume of homes sold was 55% higher in the first three months of this year than last: $30.2 million compared to $19.5 million.
Carney said the median price of homes sold was $1.275 million, the same as the median price of residences on the Multiple Listing Service. As for the overall market, she said "The high (over $3.5 mil) and low end (under $2 mil) of the market are moving well, with the middle just starting to show some action."
The St. John Source reports the Cruz Bay to C.A. ferry isn’t running.
Folks were worried that might put an extra load on the ferry to Red Hook, resulting in overcrowding. At least one Virgin-Islands-On-Line.com forum report says it’s not been a problem. And remember, the island is gearing down now that winter’s over. (Er, the folks in New England – getting snow today – might not agree.)
The New York Times says fractional home ownership is "a warm spot in a cooling (real estate) market." Using the Ritz-Carlton company as an example of companies shifting their business plans, The Times points out that "if they cannot make it one year, they may exchange their time for stays at one of Ritz’s three other fractional properties in places like Jupiter, Fla., or the Virgin Islands."
Neither of the St. John’s two big developments, Grande Bay and Sirenusa, are being offered as timeshares or fractionals. There are dozens of timeshares available at the Westin.
Book four nights and get a fifth free is the deal being offered by the St. John Westin, as well as hotels on both St. Thomas and St Croix, according to the VI Hotel and Tourism Association. The offer is tied to the 90oth anniversary of "Transfer Day," when the islands moved from being owned by the Danes to becoming a United States territory. Book your stay by July 15th and you also get tickets to various activities on St. Thomas including admission to Coral World, the Atlantis Submarine, a ride on the Paradise Point Tramway, and discounts at several jewelry stores.
Some people think there’s not enough information for visitors; that it’s too hard to find.
Well, Crabby’s Watersports in Coral Bay is willing to offer help, to a point.
But then, a bit past Crabby’s and down a long dirt road, a sign on a tree suggests there are limits.
Humor is all around you on St. John. Look at the street signs – official and amateur, and the notices people post at their businesses or homes. Here are two of my favorites.
This one is at Boulon Center.
Does it mean, don’t loiter because the police are watching?
Or does it mean the police shouldn’t loiter?
Lew Henley’s business slogan makes me smile.
More tomorrow.
(On-stjohn.com has a some good signs, too.)
A plantation discovered in 1981, and then forgotten, has been found again by archaeologist Ken Wild and Amber Davis of the VI Cultural Resources Management Team. The location was not revealed.
Writing on the team’s blog, Davis said, "The plantation consists of three structures – the main residence, the enslaved quarters and the warehouse." (The picture is from their blog.) Davis and Wild found ceramic fragments near the site of a type known to be in use 375 years ago.
The plantation was included on a St. John map prepared by Peter Lotharius Oxholm in 1780. In 1981, Barbara Johnson found the site, but then it was forgotten, Davis reported. Understandably, she and Wild were pleased with their find – especially since they’d spent an entire day chopping catch and keep and cutting cacti in their search. The celebrated with a burger at Skinny’s.
Here’s an Oxholm map on the St. John Historical Society’s Web site. Very interesting.
