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What’s your favorite beach?

Beach
St. John’s got dozens of beaches and after a few visits, you begin to have favorites.  Xislandgirl, an active member at Virgin Islands On-Line, decided to ask fellow forumites where they liked to catch some rays and snorkel for Blue Tangs. 

The winners?  Among the choices on the ballot, Hawksnest limped into first place with 18% of the votes, beaten badly by "Other’s" 61%.

In this week’s podcast, Xislandgirl says she was surprised that HER favorite appears to be lots of others’ perfect place, and she didn’t even put it on the ballot: Francis Bay.  Some may fault it for no see-ums, but you have to love it for the lack of crowds and the fantastic patrolling Pelicans.

Hear Islandgirl, a.k.a. DeeDee from Connecticut, talk about the island’s best beaches. Click the play button below.

You can download or hear the file by clicking here.

You can also subscribe to News of St. John’s weekly podcast by going to the Apple iTunes Music Store and searching for "news of st. john," or you can copy the words feeds.feedburner.com.stjohn and paste them into the subscribe field under the iTunes software’s "Advanced" tab.  You can also use that Feedburner link to subscribe in other podcatching software.  If you’re having a problem, e-mail: [email protected].

It’s going to be a mess

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Pic_usairways
Snow and sleet storm all night, from Chicago to DC and then north to Phila. and NY.  No flights going to the land of "82 degrees and scattered clouds" out of Washington, cancellations at Philadelphia, too.  Delays likely at others. 

On the other hand, some flights heading north from St. Thomas are likely to be canceled or, at least, delayed.  Remember, it’s like dominoes.  No plane here, can’t go there.

The airport will be a mess … whichever airport you’re at.  Airport status check.

Just imagine how tough a couple of days it’s going to be for St. John villa rental companies.

St. John martini bar for sale

Infusions
Open less than a year; Infusions Lounge has been listed for sale with an asking price of $175,000.  Serving "Not your average martini," Infusions has become a popular spot for limin’, wine tastings, and listening to live music, including Sinatra-sound-alike Marty Beech. (Click the photos for larger images.)

Oscars
The casual bar is located in what’s known as the old Oscar’s building, so named because Oscar’s convenience store used to be on the first floor.  Then a fire swept through the building a few years ago.  The structure’s been rebuilt and … not … it’s for sale, too!  Infusions is renting one floor, there’s a long term lease on the second floor, and the third floor is, as the Multiple Listing Service description says, "still flexible for office, retail or residential use."  Asking price, $2.55 million.

St. John, then and now

Thedock
If you think St. John is a great place to relax now, you should have seen it 40 years ago, as the Sprauve Family did during their summer vacations while living on St. Thomas. (Click on the photo for a bigger version.)

"There was a large open area where Wharfside Village is today that was used as a cricket field, when it was dry enough," wrote Jan Frey in an article about the Sprauves for the St. John Historical Society. "Where the Post Office is located today, there were goat pens. The goats would spend their nights there and be taken to an area just past where Mongoose Junction is to graze during the days. There was no road past the bottom of the hill, so the goats grazing area was fenced and gated."

Look at this startling comparison of Cruz Bay, in 1956 and in 2006.

The Society has an extensive Web site which includes old photos of the island, historical documents and articles, postcards, maps, and slide shows. 

The St., John Historical Society’s next meeting will be March 13th at Bethany Moravian Church in downtown Cruz Bay at 7 p.m.  Elroy Sprauve will speak on St. John’s distinctive Creole dialect.

Simonsen starts video, photography school

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Steve Simonsen’s New St. John School of Film and Photography is offering an ambitious curriculum of 18 classes in classroom space at the Gifft Hill School. 

While the famous island photographer teaches some of the classes, the school not a one man show.  Classes on Web design, Photoshop, and Printing Techniques are being taught by others on island, indicating that just because you’re in the middle of the ocean, you don’t have to be out of touch.

The classes are from 2 to 4 hours and cost $45.  Most are one session. However, a course on video editing using Final Cut Pro 5 meets weekly.  Other classes cover how to use the advanced features of a digital SLR camera and working with iPhoto to organize, print and mail pictures.

Many of the classes are Mac-oriented.  However, classes such as the one on digital SLR, travel photography, and even GarageBand sound editing would have applicability and useful information for Windows users.  You can learn more about the School’s offerings here .

Development on East End gets OK

Eastend
One of the island’s next big residential developments is going to be from there and gone – at Estate Hansen Bay on East End.  You get there by driving through Coral Bay, past Skinny’s, past Vie’s Snack Shack, and keep on going.

The Coastal Zone Management Committee gave its approval Thursday for about 75 acres to be subdivided into 13 residential lots by Robert Carney’s Flamboyant Realty Services.  CZM backed Flamboyant’s proposal to build mostly 12-foot roads through the area, according to the Virgin Islands Daily News.  Carney says the owners of the property are in no hurry to sell the lots, although he expects the roadwork will be finished by the end of the year.

An ecologist who surveyed the area in advance of CZM’s approval, Gary Ray, said he found three rare plant species on the site.  He also praised Carney for planning to cut roads more narrow and usual because it keeps more vegetation intact, the newspaper reported.

Consultants suggest palm trees, music at airport

What could make a visit to St. John more pleasant?  Greeters in uniform at the St. Thomas airport and courteous taxi drivers who say a few words and don’t cram 11 people in their vans would go a long way to improving tourism, according to two experts.

Judy Randall and Berkeley Young, US-based travel consultants, recently spent some leisure time on island and have been telling local business groups their impressions, according to the Virgin Islands Daily News.  "You are so rich in potential here with what you have in natural beauty and heritage and craft," Randall told the newspaper in an interview.  "Just listen to what the customers are saying."

Her recommendations:

  • More greeters on hand at the airport to answer questions.
  • Taxis should be clear about where they are going.
  • A few words of greeting would make taxi rides more pleasant and increase drivers’ tips.
  • Street corner barkers in St. Thomas should wear uniforms and guide visitors to all shops on a street, not just the ones paying them.

Improvements like these, she said, would make visitors happier and likely to spend more money.

Club Med calls on St. John

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Who knew Club Med does cruises?  Turns out they sure do, and one of its ships, Club Med 2, is in port on St. John today.  (The photo is not from Cruz Bay – it’s off the Cruise Critic Web site.)

The crew is French/English, and the ship can accommodate almost 400 people.  Its a new breed of ship that combines computer-assisted sailing with traditional engines.  Because she’s relatively small, as cruise ships go, 610 feet long, she can call on smaller islands, like St. John. 

CruiseCritic.com describes the experience: "Much like the resorts, Club Med 2 emphasizes fitness and physical activities. At the stern of the vessel is the sports platform, which enables passengers to water-ski, windsurf and SCUBA dive right off the back of the boat. The ship also offers a fitness room with aerobics. Other activities include a piano bar, karaoke, sauna and massage."

Is it good or bad that small cruise ships are calling on St. John?
 
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Elaine Estern adds music to art

Logo_coconut_cozastIsland art and music are now a double feature at Coconut Coast Studio’s weekly gallery reception.

Elaine Estern opens her home-and-gallery Wednesday afternoons, 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. A few dozen visitors and locals generally show up to enjoy the art, the beauty of the sunset on Frank Bay, and Rich Greengold’s classical playing. 

Also in this week’s St. John podcast, Estern talked about the receptions as well as how she manages to be productive despite the lure of island time. One of her secrets – she has three easels around her home so, whatever the time of day or light conditions, she’s ready to be inspired.  She also explains the inspiration for a new series of 50 paintings of her year-old Chocolate Labrador, Truffle.

Listen to a conversation with Elaine Estern by clicking the play button below.

You can download or hear the file by clicking here.

You can also subscribe to News of St. John’s weekly podcast by going to the Apple iTunes Music Store and searching for "news of st. john," or you can copy the words feeds.feedburner.com.stjohn and paste them into the subscribe field under the iTunes software’s "Advanced" tab.  You can also use that Feedburner link to subscribe in other podcatching software.  If you’re having a problem, e-mail: [email protected].

Senator raises St. John issues with Governor

The territory’s new Virgin Islands Senator At Large, Carmen Wesselhoft, issued a news release saying she had a working lunch with Governor John deJongh Jr. during which she highlighted her concerns about real estate development on St. John "related to leases that have not yet been granted."  She said she asked that the Department of Natural Resources look into the matter.

The matter of leases is a new one, but it may just be a misunderstanding, the Inquiring Iguana believes.  She may really be talking about zoning. DPNR is considering at least one development issue involving the Sirenusa condo project, but there has been no public discussion about leases.  Iguana thinks the Senator is confused, and what she really means is real estate development on island, not retail or commercial leasing issues.

Wesselhoft also said she is eager for a new Police Commissioner to be named, and for a teacher
shortage at the Guy Benjamin School in Coral Bay to be addressed, according to the Senator’s release which was published by the St. John Source.