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exotic

New blends from St. John Brewers

Coming-Soon Chirag Vyas and Kevin Chipman are doing anything but taking it easy in the Virgin Islands. 

This past Friday they threw their second Porch Party. “Keg of Summer Ale on the back porch, and everyone drinking out of red cups – feels like college all over again!," they wrote on their newly-launched blog.

Their two beers, Virgin Islands Summer Ale and  Tropical Mango Pale Ale continue to do business on island as well as in six states.

But, wait! There’s more!

The brew boys are preparing to introduce a root beer and a Belgian-style ale.  The ale will be called Liquid Sunshine, which is also what locals call rain.  They describe it as an “unfiltered wheat ale spiced with coriander and Curacao orange peel." No date for introduction but, well … on St. John … it ‘soon come.’

Pine Peace does it again

For the second month in a row, the VI Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs has tagged Pine Peace Market as the cheapest grocery store on island. 

The DCLA’s latest food basket of 32 items cost $83.12 at the store, located at the bottom of Jacob’s Ladder.  The Virgin Islands Daily News said the government agency report found Dolphin Market in Cruz Bay was the most expensive, at $86.53, while Starfish Market’s tab was $86.24.

Dolphin being the high-price operator continues to be worrisome.  With the Roundabout construction, it's very difficult for people to park anywhere near the store.  Which has to mean lower sales volume, which clearly has meant higher prices.  How long can this go on?

Read the Daily News story: http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/index.pl/article_home?id=17636004

New gate house for Caneel

Gerald Singer reports the a grand new guardhouse at Caneel
is completed, after several months of hammering, stone chipping, and
construction.  But he’s perplexed as to why it was built, replacing a
more modest stone-faced kiosk at the entrance to the Virgin Islands resort.

When
we saw it being built in February, the project appeared to have three
different buildings. One of them looked big enough to be a guest room,
maybe.

Anyway, Singer says the structure is done but wonders what was the need?  When we showed some photos of the project in progress, one commenter may have hit the nail on the head when he suggested it was related to Homeland Security,
like the silly black gates at the ferry.  They certainly will protect
you from terrorists coming to the island via the dock, but do nothing
at all if you come by dinghy, on either side.

Singer's blog is St. John Life.  Read it here.

Beach book banned?

Park_service_bldg

The author of half a dozen books about St. John is having a problem. 

Gerald Singer says the National Park Service is stiffing him and won't sell the latest version of his St John Beach Guide.  A resident of the island since 1969, he first published the book in 1994. 

The self proclaimed “world;’s foremost authority on St. John’s beaches” immediately ran into a roadblock getting the Park to sell the book.  The problem: it had photos a pen-and-ink-drawing of a young lady sunbathing, apparently topless (the picture was from the back), and there was an image of two donkeys in a field.

At the time, the Park Service was trying to discourage nude sunbathing at Salomon Beach.  And the Service was trying to cull the free-range donkeys who can eat a lot of vegetation. Those issues were resolved and the books went on sale. 

But his latest revision, updated last year, is still not on the shelves at the Park building.  He submitted the book for approval to be sold.  “In January, it will be three years since I made that first request and the book still has not been approved,” Singer complained on his blog.  He’s been told the process has not been completed.  Previously it took about a month.