St John, USVI -- This Time By Air

January 2 - 9, 2016

Our good friends, Didi and Peter, rented a house for two weeks on St John a US Virgin Island.  The first week their son and his family were there.  The second week we were invited to join them!!!  You may have read other posts about St John being one of my favorite islands.  Well, it still is!  Didi sent an email the end of January 2015 inviting us and it took about 3 seconds for me to respond "YES, we will be there!"

We flew to St Thomas from Miami, took a taxi to Red Hook and a ferry to St John where we were picked up by our hosts and whisked away to Lime In De Coconut Resort Villa. I loved the name because I torture Brian and my grandkids by singing Lime in de Coconut over and over again.  

The house was huge and beautiful on a hillside
overlooking Chocolate Hole.  My favorite part was 
the infinity pool.  We all found a place we loved: 
three in the shade and one in the sun!

A slowly healing toe forced me to keep my
foot out of the pool and ocean.  Of course,
I found a way to enjoy the water!

The bay view.

A private beach.

Our visit overlapped with the family's visit by two
days.  We loved being with Geoff, Jaimee and
 especially Andrew!  

The "kids" spent their second week on
their catamaran.  That's it in the
background as the crew came to shore
for a little beach time.   

Taking a quick stroll on the beach.

Dinner at Caneel Bay Resort.

Wild donkeys roam the island, but they seem to
prefer the landscaping at the plush Caneel Bay
Resort.
 

Driving the perimeter of St John is a challenge!
The narrow roads constantly twist and turn
while traversing up and down the steep hills.
60% of the island is a National Park.
 No freeways.  No airports.  No marinas.
Lots of gorgeous views, beautiful beaches and
clear blue water.  

We couldn't drive by one of our favorite restaurants.
A stop at Skinny Legs is mandatory in our minds.
A little shopping and a cool beverage. 

Lets have a picnic on the beach at Hanson Bay!  

Look at that BEAUTIFUL beach!  We anchored off
shore for several weeks. Pristine-----  

Our last night was highlighted by dinner on the deck
followed by a wild game of Farkel!
We are such party animals!

On the ferry back to St Thomas.  Hoping that I'll
be back again.  Some things are just too beautiful
to say good-bye to forever!

Standing on the back of our lot.

News flash ---
We are preparing to sell Gotta Smile and move back on land!  The decision was actually made several months ago, but we are quickly acting on it now.  We arrived back in Florida on the 26th of December from Minnesota.  On the 28th and 29th we looked at houses with an agent and on the 30th we wrote a contract to build a home in the Venice area.  At the same time we began putting out feelers to sell Gotta Smile.
Of course, we are sad to end this segment of our life, but very excited about what is ahead of us!  If Gotta Smile doesn't sell by the beginning of March, we'll have one last adventure as we travel to Eleuthera for three months.  

Gotta smile -- we're lovin the ride!