I spent a week in St. Thomas with my husband and two boys…7 and 3. Arrived without a hitch, rented a car from Dependable Car Rental based on TTOL recommendations. Everything went well with the car rental, but price seemed a little high – I could be wrong though. Anyway….

We stayed at the Marriott Frenchmen’s Reef & Morningstar Resort (had some reward points to use up)…chose the Morningstar based on many online reviews…turned out to be a great choice and I would recommend it to others if they were choosing to stay at this resort. The Morningstar is much newer and right on the beach. Loved the hotel…although the food/drink prices were outrageous – we spent a lot of time outside of the hotel for meals. $70 for sausage and eggs breakfast????? That was enough for me to not eat there ever again! My only other complaint is the iguanas. At first it was interesting and my boys loved it, but by the end of the week – they were a huge nuisance to me. I couldn’t relax at the pool once I saw that they will actually jump up onto your lounge chair if they suspect you have food. I’m talking a huge 3 foot long iguana! On our last day one actually jumped onto a girl’s lap! I have a picture to prove it. At that point, I had had quite enough of the iguanas and wished they would just go away. I would stay at the resort again for sure, maybe even go back next year, but we spent a lot of time at various beaches and not a ton of time at the pool…I couldn’t sit at that pool all day with those iguanas…they drove me crazy.

On the bright side…the staff was friendly…the hotel was beautiful, views gorgeous, nice beach.

We loved the island. I especially liked Red Hook, maybe because it reminded me of St. Maarten a bit. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" /> If we weren’t using Marriott points, I think I would choose to stay at Sapphire Beach…it looked like a nice resort and the close proximity to Red Hook is a plus in my view. We spent one day on Coki Beach…this was interesting. A beautiful beach in itself, GREAT SNORKELING and beautiful scenery when you are sitting on the beach looking outward, but the area it sits in is questionable. Lots of litter surrounding the beach…and let’s just say there was an “island aroma” in the air if you know what I mean. Not cool to constantly hear my 7 yr old asking me what is that bad smell? All in all we had a nice day on the beach though – no real complaints. Feeding the fish was awesome! We bought fish food (which is just doggie vitabones, literally) and the fish swarmed us! We also spent a day at Coral World, which is next door and the kids really enjoyed that. We took the gondola ride to Paradise Point. I guess this is something you just feel like you have to try, but it felt like a total tourist trap to me…one step above South of the Border. Great views, but you could probably go elsewhere and get that for free. Food is awful there too…if you go…just get a drink at the top and skip the meal. Checked out Magen’s Bay one evening at sunset…seemed like a nice beach, but after having spent time at Trunk Bay in St. John…I think I was a little spoiled.

That brings me to Trunk Bay! This was my second visit here and it’s by far my favorite beach. It’s a short ferry, then taxi ride and soooo worth it. The kids LOVED it, we had a great day there. I overheard someone call it “manufactured” and I’m still trying to figure out what they are talking about. It’s simply gorgeous and the amenities can’t be beat. I think because it’s “popular” – people need to find something wrong with it. I happen to believe that things are popular for a reason and I can see why Trunk Bay is rated one of the best beaches in the world. If I go again, I would try to arrange it on a day the STT cruise ships aren’t in town to get more privacy. It looks to me that St. John has a lot of beautiful beaches, but I have not yet had a chance to explore them…maybe one day.

Food….you have to remember we were traveling with a 7 yr old and a 3 yr old, so our food choices had to revolve around them. We ate at the Island Time Pub (Red Hook), Hook Line and Sinker (Frenchtown), Coconuts (downtown), The Fat Turtle (Yacht Haven Grand), Pizza Amore (near Havensight Mall), and Iggie’s (Bolongo Bay)…all were fabulous!!!!! We couldn’t believe how good the pizza was at Pizza Amore! We hardly ever agree on pizza in my family, but we all voted it #1! I also loved the atmosphere (and food) at Iggie’s…that is our kind of place and I can’t wait to visit there again one day.

The whole trip was a wonderful experience for our family and our kids did not want to leave! Now we are deciding if we should go back again or try something new next time, but either way…this trip was a success! Thank you to everyone who helped us in the planning. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

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