I actually just spent an hour doing a trip report and went to submit it and the "form was no longer valid"...Anyway, my husband and I returned for our fourth trip after a three year dry spell. As we first went for our honeymoon back in '97, subsequent trips have been for our anniversay. We sleepily left our home bound for Logan at 3:30 am on our special day. The ride through Boston at that hour was a trip in itself..very surreal-no cars and the only people were the ones working on the roads and up on staging at various buildings. That all changed once we go to the airport - a very long check-in line. The flight to SJU went smoothly and with only 1 hour betwen the SJU to EIS American Eagle flight, we still had time to grab a quick drink and snack. After picking up our rental at the Hertz counter at EIS, we headed to Bobby's for some groceries and were at our little Villa in Apple Bay by 3:00 pm. Played in the water and headed to Sebastian's for dinner. Shared the ginger and jerk chicken which was delicious. Aslo delicious is the after dinner shot of Sebastian's rum. We brought home three bottles (precious cargo in your checked-in luggage.) Most of our days seemed to blend into one another so I'll just blurt out what comes to mind. We snorkeled, at some point or another, almost every day at Sumgglers. In my opinion, the snorkeling there has improved since our last visit in 2003. More color to the coral - we saw a HUGE grouper, lots of blue tang, barracuda, needlefish, parrot fish, and lots of others I don't know the names of off hand. There is a cool guy (forget his name) to the left if you are facing the beach at Smugglers, who has a litle bar set up. He makes the best painkiller and a great burger. You can use his chairs for free if you have a drink. To the right, there'a another little bar and and some clothing and other stuff for sale. The woman there is a hoot - she has the greatest laugh and was a sweetheart. I bought a dress from her and returned it three times for a different size and she was very patient with me. We also visited Long Bay, Brewer's Bay, and Josiah's Bay. The surf was too rough at Brewer's to snorkel. this was the first time we made it Josiah's Bay and I'm so glad we went. The waves were a blast! We both wiped out once really bad and my Maui Jim's went flying off my head into the water. I was bumming but my husband actually recovered them! On the way home from Josiah's that day, we stopped in Cane Garden Bay and had drinks at Myettes. Chatted with the bartender for a long time and ended up going back for dinner that night. Great food and service. We were also entertained by two little girls dancing on the stage that was there (from the Music Festival?) Though lots of places were closed, we still managed to have some great meals. Bananakeet was excellent. Lunch at Soper's Hole was ggod and there's a new grocery store there as well. We cooked in a few nights and somehow the same food we make at home (mostly grilled) tasted way better down there. Rum french toast at Sebatian's - yum. Banana pancakes at the Big Banana also very good. We had thought that Coco Plum's was closed but saw some activity inside on night on the way back to our villa so we walked down and THAT was their last night so we just had a drink at the bar. Hopefully, next trip for dinner. We walked down to Sebastian's their last night open for the season to hear the Lover Boys play - that was a lot of fun. Wandered down to Bomba's a few times - not much happening there. We also ferried over to Virgin Gorda one day. Had lunch at the Top of the Baths which was very good. Disappointed in the snorkeling there this time as there were a LOT of jellyfish. Even a warning was posted. Spent a lot of time hanging out right on our own beach in Little Apple Bay. Met a couple that was staying at Manpot's place. They took us through the Villa - very nice!! They were totally bumming cause it was their last day and only our second day! The noseeums...I have always gotten a lot of bites with lots of itch. My husband never got any - till this trip. On our last trip, I discovered that aloe - directly from the plant- works wonders. Takes the itch away and makes them almost disappear overnight. Defintely stops them from swelling up. I used deet too but I don't think it helped a lot. Aloe is amazing - I swear it works. The waves in Little Apple Bay were amazing because of a tropical depression (forget it's name). We watched a bunch of surfers. Our last night we had dinner at Palms Delight - ginger chicken and ribs - both fantastic. They give you so much food. All in all, our best trip yet. Everyone we met was great - service everywhere was excellent. Our flight home was horrible - I posted about it in the CS post. I'm sure I left a bunch of stuff out but this is long enough. Here's the address where my pics are. I don't know how to make it a link.
http://community.webshots.com/user/cbh155Enjoy - Carol
