Christine
St John’s, US Virgin Islands
So over Spring Break we took a much needed trip to the US Virgin Islands. While we stayed on St Thomas, we took the car to the ferry in the morning and headed over to St John’s by the port in Redhook.
My advice is to get to the ferry early. Sometimes there are not as many ferries as expected because they are still rebuilding on the islands after the Hurricane, and may need the ferry for supplies. Other times one is just plain ol’ broken down, so you have to wait for the next one. Even if you get on the line, the ferries can fill up quickly so you might find yourself parked and waiting for the next one that could be an hour later. Welcome to island time.
Making the Ferry
If you miss the ferry it’s not the end of the world as you can walk over to the little shops and cafes across the street from the Redhook ferry and get a smoothie and chill out and drool over all the beautiful yachts parked in the Marina. Then you can dream about how you will sell everything and move down here and live on one of them.
It only really stinks if you’ve already gotten a really late start. Remember the last boat back is around 6 pm so its not a bad idea to book a room for a night or two on St John’s, if you are going to head over there and really want to see it. I know people do it without renting cars but I think it’s a much better experience if you get to drive wherever you want.
The Beaches
We drove to the different beaches in St John’s and while parking can be an issue, the beaches are absolutely amazing. And remote. Think Blue Lagoon remote. The beaches on St John’s are very raw and pristine and don’t have a lot of amenities or restaurants nearby, so make sure you bring your own water and snacks. Some of the beaches look like they had amenities but then the Hurricane came along and wiped them out. However, every one of the beaches we went to had bathrooms, so that’s one thing not to worry about.
We drove with my picky, hot and sweaty teen to see the various beaches on St John’s and finally stopped at Turtle Bay. We parked and strolled right in and vegged out on this medium-sized, blue-water gem, and there were only a few other families around.
Across the way from the Turtle Bay parking lot, we went for a hike on the nature trail and my daughter was in her glory looking for Golden Orb spiders. She thinks she saw one in between discovering all the other critters she was enthralled with–deer, hermit crabs, lizards, spiders, dragonflies, and Lord knows what else. This trip was great for getting her out in the woods and breathing in the sea air. She only took out her phone to either take pictures or look up what she’s looking at.
Cell Reception
Be aware that you don’t get a ton of reception on this island and it’s dead in some places. We also got a text while we were on the East side of the island that our AT&T International plan had kicked in because we must’ve been close enough to the UK part of the Virgin Islands. We had to pay $10 for that but I’m sure if I gotten around to to to call AT&T I would’ve likely gotten that reversed. Same thing can happen when you are near the Canadian border by the way.
We then drove through all the twisty, narrow, island roads, got turned around a lot, and then eventually made our way back to town in time to pick up the ferry.
Of course we were the first car in the cut off and had to wait for the next one so we parked the car and headed into town to check out the scenery and get some food. We went into one restaurant and ordered a chicken burger.
Free-Range Chickens
As I was about to bite into my chicken burger, I felt a pair of eyes staring at me. I looked up from my burger and there was a big Red Rooster with his big flowing tail feathers, glaring at me. And his girlfriend was right next to him. Clearly they were horrified. I felt a little guilty but once he strutted off down the aisle and out the door I went back to eating my burger.
So apparently, this is a pretty common thing in St John’s. Free-range chickens alright. They have the life these guys. After we left the restaurant, we strolled around into a few shops and art galleries, a and had a lovely conversation with a woman who had moved down there from Boston and opened her own gallery. It was great to hear her story and chat with the locals. We also bought some nice jewelry out in the plaza.
More Ferry
Morgan and I started heading back to the ferry and there were already cars going around us and getting on the boat. I was freaked out thinking we’d missed our spot but there was still plenty of room. So I turned the car on and headed on. I then found myself having to go through the Herculean task of parking super close to every other car on the boat, and squeeze right up on the side of the boat.
It was no small feat. While I was comfortable driving stick, I had to stay away because the stick was on the right, like any other car in the US, but the roads were opposite. So it’s like driving in England with an American car so you have to stay really aware of your surroundings.
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I got help from the guys working on the boat who were guiding me in from the outside, but I will say after I finally turned the car off, I felt like I’d killed my first buffalo. If you didn’t have to drive the car off the ferry in a half hour I’d otherwise recommend a good stiff drink after that. But either way, you make it. And you’re on an island, in the Caribbean, so you know…just chill.
For more information about Turtle Bay and the rest of St. John’s, go here:
