Our 5th or 6th trip to STJ over the last 10 years, this time with my husband's family for a total of 8 of us ranging from early 70's to mid/late teens. My husband and I stayed at Villa Belvedere on Maria's Bluff, the rest of the family were in Argonauta (sp?) on Contant Point. Both are nice houses, great views of the sunsets. Flights down were on time, our flights back ended up being delayed out of Atlanta, so we didn't arrive home until after midnight.

Highlights - Sunday brunch at Miss Lucy's, a full day sailing on a 55 foot sailing yacht, Outlaw, a couple of days on Solomon beach, very good weather for most days, really nice sunsets almost every evening. The reefs at Little Lameshure, Haulover South, and Solomon continue to deteriorate, even we noticed how much warmer the water seemed to be based on our past trips to the USVIs and BVIs. We ate most of our meals at the house, with the exceptions of Miss Lucy's brunch, lunch at Skinny Legs (still the only burger I'll eat on STJ, good as always!), an early dinner at Shipwreck Landing, and a nice dinner at Asolare on our last night.

We really didn't have any true "bummer" moments, except for a dead iguana on the road one house down (we moved him off the road and he/she was gone the next day). The island is very dry, they need rain. It was hazy/dusty when we arrived, cleared in the middle of the week (Wednesday was gorgeous!<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />), then the haze/dust moved back in Friday and Saturday (last 2 days). Some big houses are under construction in the neighborhood of Great Cruz Bay, but the noise didn't bother us much. Also received some local info on the other big developments going on, which are not necessarily viewed as welcome developments by a lot of people.

We were told the island was slow by quite a few people, but frankly, it seemed relatively busy to us. We normally vacation in the islands in early December and early June, and the beaches (especially on the North Shore) seemed busier than we've seen them in the past. Parking in Cruz Bay remains tough, which is one reason why we ate almost all of our dinners at the house, whereas before we ate almost all of our dinners in restaurants. STJ holds a special place in our hearts since we were married there in 2000. We sincerely hope it is able to retain the characteristics that made us fall in love with it 10 years ago, we'll cross our fingers and hope!

I'll see if I can figure out how to post some photos online and try to post the link later. We had a nice time, and it was great to relax and not think about work for a week! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Groovin.gif" alt="" />

ClearBlueH2O