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st. john

New Store Showcases Locally Made Products

Made Here Cruz Bay Sign

The name says it all. Everything for sale at Made Here is actually made right on the island.

Chances are you’ve passed this relatively new shop while wandering the streets of Cruz Bay over the past couple of months. It’s located at the top of a small hill between the area of Morgan’s Mango and Mongoose Junction. Owner Abi Kirby joked that she’d like to ask the government to install an escalator from the road up to her shop to make it a bit more accessible to customers, but we think the small climb is definitely worth making.

Made Here is a wonderful little shop that sells unique works of art from more than 25 local artists. Each artist gets his or her own box within the store to showcase their goods. The store has a plethora of items for sale from handmade jewelry and sarongs to handcrafted instruments, artwork and more.

Made Here Products 1

Made Here Sarongs

Originally from London, Abi’s been living on St. John since 1988. Prior to opening Made Here, she created fine jewelry and wholesaled from her home. Abi now sells her jewelry and her unique Virgin Islands license plates (seen above) at Made Here alongside her 14-year-old daughter Lexi, who also helps out at the shop. She too makes her own jewelry, which is also sold at the store.

Lexi Kirby
Lexi Kirby

Made Here is open Monday through Saturday. Be sure to check it out the next time you’re in town.


New Boutique Opens in Cruz Bay

Image credit: Leslie McKibben
Brenda Baxter Simpson, owner of Brenda’s Closet – Image credit: Leslie McKibben

Looking for a more affordable place to shop for clothes while on island? Well look no further than Brenda’s Closet.

Brenda’s Closet is a quaint little boutique located on the second floor in the Lumberyard. It sells a variety of womens shoes, clothing and accessories. Brenda Baxter Simpson opened the boutique back in January.

“Basically I just looked around and saw that there was a void in ladies clothing for all of the locals who work here that don’t want to pay tourist prices. And they want to be able to shop when they want something,,” Brenda said. “So I wanted to give them something cute and at the right price. I wanted to give them the opportunity to go somewhere where they could try on things and buy things.”

A resident of Maryland, Brenda commutes back and forth to St. John about every two weeks; therefore she is able to shop for the latest trends in the States and bring them, back to the island.

(You may be wondering how Brenda is able to commute to St. John every two weeks. She is a retired flight attendant and one of her retirement perks is being able to fly for free, she said.)

Brenda’s Closet isn’t just for locals, Brenda stressed. It’s also available for tourists who may have forgotten to pack something for their Caribbean vacation.

All clothing and accessories are reasonably priced and range from $4 and up. Shorts, for example, are about $15 to $20 while tops range in price from $17 to $20. Brenda also offers a small selection of gently used items at discounted price.

Brenda’s Closet is open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from noon until 6 p.m. It’s open extra hours when Brenda is on island, and can also be opened any any time by appointment.

“Text me and I’ll be more than happy to open up at any time,” Brenda said, “day or night.”

Brenda, who happens to be dating Wayne Campbell, owner of Barefoot Cowboy Lounge, also said that women visiting the bar can also ask to visit the shop when it’s closed, and she’d be happy to walk upstairs and open it up.

Eat, drink and shop – does it get any better than that?

Want to know more about Brenda’s Closet or get alerts about the latest styles? You can follow Brenda’s Closet on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BrendasCloset. You can also text Brenda at (410) 310-7771.


The St. Patrick’s Day Parade in 90 Seconds

Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!

As you know, the folks over at StJohnNow.com broadcasted a live feed of Saturday’s St. Patrick’s Day parade. We decided to take that feed, speed it up and add some fun Irish music to it.

So here it is – the St. Patrick’s Day parade in 90 seconds:

(Turn on your sound)


World’s Shortest (and Greenest) Parade

parade route

At just a few hundred feet long, St. John’s St. Patrick’s Day parade just may be the shortest in the world. But what it lacks in length, it makes up for in fun.

The festivities start at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 15 and according to the Quiet Mon Pub, the parade itself will start at noon. The parade starts at the firehouse and then takes a quick left before moseying on down to the Quiet Mon Pub. Yup, it’s that short.

Not on the island? The boys over at StJohnNow.com are planning on streaming it live beginning at 11 a.m. Click here to watch it live.

Looking to do a little pre-parade partying? Head on over to Cruz Bay Landing tonight, March 14, for their full moon party. The party starts at 8 p.m. and will feature music by The Ish. And from what we’re seeing on Facebook, it looks like they are planning on some fun.

Image credit: Cruz Bay Landing
Image credit: Cruz Bay Landing


Friends of National Park Receives $15k Grant to Restore Beaches

Maho Bay Plantings
Restoration plantings at Maho Bay

The Friends of the National Park just received a $15,000 grant thanks to the island’s largest eco-friendly villa and spa.

Eco Serendib Villa and Spa awarded the grant for the continuation of the Eco Serendib Beach Restoration Project. This highly impactful conservation effort protects St. John’s coastline from the damaging impact of erosion while reducing the carbon footprint. It does so by re-introducing indigenous trees and shrubs, such as sea grape, at beaches throughout the island. The project is funded solely by Eco Serendib.

For those of you who are not familiar with Eco Serendib, it’s actually a pretty neat villa and spa that gives guests the opportunity to become involved with the green project. They have the opportunity to get involved through tours, demonstrations and even hands-on planting, cultivating and irrigation. Funds are raised through dollars specifically set aside from reservations for this purpose. The program was created as a way to give back and expand conservation efforts throughout the island.

“Our beaches are a national treasure and critical to the sustainable economy of the USVI,” Harith Wickrema, Eco Serendib’s chief visionary officer, said in a release. “It is our hope that others in the hospitality community will be inspired to set aside funds too – even just a dollar for each reservation night would make a meaningful contribution toward conservation efforts.”

Maho Bay Beach was the first beach to receive funding from this project back in 2012. This year, Hawksnest, Trunk Bay, Cinnamon Bay and Francis Bay will all benefit from the funds.

Restoration plantings include sea grape, nothing nut, orange manjack, black torch and barbasco – plants that are native to the Virgin Islands and better able to control erosion, while discouraging invasive exotics. The project will also create shaded areas and new walkways to make certain that foot traffic doesn’t damage dunes. Plantings of seedlings have begun and the project will continue throughout the year.

For more information on the Beach Restoration Project, please click here.

Price Reduced for Popular Coral Bay Eatery

Donkey Diner

Someone’s dream of buying a restaurant in St. John just got a little cheaper.

The popular Donkey Diner in Coral Bay listed for sale last month when the owners had to abruptly leave the island due to a family medical emergency. The eatery initially listed for $299,000 but after being on the market for less than a month, the owners dropped the price by $60,000. It is currently listed for $239,000 and is described as a “turnkey” operation.

Check out the full listing here.

This is the third time the Donkey Diner has been listed for sale in the past five years.

Digging Up the Old Domino

Something’s happening at the site of Coral Bay’s old Domino gas station. Workers were recently seen removing the old tanks from the site, as well as truck loads of soil. We do know that the soil was being transported over to St. Thomas, but its future remains unknown. One worker said he heard a new gas station and store was being built, while a local businessman simply stated the tanks needed to be removed due to abandonment.

What would you like to see happen here?

Gas Station Before

Gas Station After


Proper packing for Paradise

Snoopy7982 raises this interesting question at the Virgin-Islands-On-Line forum for St. John.

"What clothes do I need other than bathing suits, cover-ups and sundresses? Can my husband wear shorts in all restaurants or should he bring some slacks?"

Photo

Seems like a lot of people have the same answer.  "Each time we go, we vow to bring less and less," is the way FourStreams put it.  "From 3 golf shirts to 1 … from 3 pairs of nice shorts to 1 … 4 tee shirts to 2." And, since many villas have a washer and dryer (ask your management company), that helps reduce what you need to bring."

Read moreProper packing for Paradise

Two guys walk into a St. John bar …

 Brewers
Kevin Chipman and Chirag Vyas, the founders of St. John Brewers at Mongoose Junction, didn't exactly just walk in to a bar.  They got there the old fashioned way.  They earned it.

Their story began soon after they graduated from the University of Vermont and decided to move to St. John.  The first year, they lived on a sailboat with no electricity while they figured out what they would do with the rest of their lives.  "You don't worry about what might go wrong in life when you're snorkeling, hiking or sailing," they told Islands magazine.  "Very quickly, we fell in love with the lifestyle here on St. John," and decided to stay.

But doing what? Well, they loved craft beers, and Paradise had no craft beer.  So they made some.

The key to their 'overnight' success, which has taken several years: hard work that began with their idea, and then their explaining – and selling – it to restaurants and bar owners.  "When our first 40-foot container arrived (with 1,300 cases of Virgin Islands Tropical Mango Ale), we warehoused it ourselves.  Half on St. Thomas, half in our apartment."

For all those people who think they'd like to c move to the island, the Brewers story is pure gold.  They found the harder they worked and the more they cared about the comm,unity, the greater their success and acceptance and support.  "Part of knowing everyone is supporting everyone," they said.

It also helps that St. John's a happy place. "If St. John  has a reason to party, it definitely will," they told Islands.