Trip Report: August 3 - 16, 2013 (Day 3)

ColumbiaSCTraveler · Post by **ColumbiaSCTraveler** » Sun Sep 08, 2013 2:43 pm

Day 1: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/v ... iy7kBafccg

Day 2: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/v ... iy7qhafccg

We enjoyed breakfast at the hotel - yogurt, oatmeal, oj, banana bread, fruit. Again - having the continental breakfast daily was such a treat!

Headed over to St. John Car Rental to pick up our jeep around 7:40am so we'd be out of their way when they opened at 8am. (Let this be a lesson to you - do NOT wait until 8am to get your jeep if you park there overnight!

)

We headed to Deli Grotto to pick up some eats for the day - water, chex mix, and the paper. Amazingly, there were NO TAMARIND BALLS. D LOVES these things (I do NOT), so he was extremely disappointed.

Off to Hawksnest since it's close to town. This way, if my mask didn't work, we'd be close to town to buy / rent a new one. We were the 3rd car in the lot, but we didn't see anyone, so maybe people just park there...?

Deserted in the early morning....lovely....and loved it!

Lucky for us, we snagged a SWEET spot beneath the sea grapes. Plenty of awesome shade.

Of COURSE my mask / snorkel gear wasn't working properly (leaking), but we went out for a little while anyway, and just kept working with the mask / tube to "make it work." After being frustrated enough by the crappy snorkel gear to not enjoy it anymore, we got out and relaxed and watched people. Some guy in a speedo kept running back and forth, and then swam (breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly, you name it). Maybe he was training for a triathlon? Either way, it made us tired and hungry just watching him, so we ate some chex mix and just relaxed some more. We're lazy bums like that.

THEN...the cruise shippers descended upon Hawksnest. It got crowded, but we felt a wee bit secluded since we were in our seagrape "hut."

We left around 12:15pm, and FINALLY ate at Sun Dog. Somehow we've never eaten here, and boy, have we been missing out! We split the puff pastry of the day (pulled pork, black beans, salsa, cheese), which came with a caesar salad; Mexicali dip app (beans, cheese, etc,). I enjoyed the sangria, and D had a Drunken Monkey.

Afterwards, we went to the beach store at Mongoose. You could rent snorkel gear for $6/day, or pay $40 - $46 for a mask. I wanted to keep looking to make sure we were getting the best deal (I'm semi-cheap like that), so we headed on down the road. We went to the shop at Gallows, where you could rent them for $8/day or $40/week, but they were the same brand as our defective ones, so we left. Off to Low Key. JACK POT!!!!! The sweetest lady helped us. I bought a new turquoise set for about $52 (or $55?), and some sea drops for $6. D will keep his mask (since his is fine), and use my tube (since his leaked). The sea drops really work, and the snorkel set - LOVE IT!!!!

I was too excited to try out my new gear, so off to Francis we went. MAN, it is SCORCHING there in the afternoon in the baking sun. We put our stuff at one of the picnic tables on the left (facing the water), and off we went to the little beach and then on to Little Maho. We saw bar jacks, silver fry, and a huge southern stingray. No pictures, since I was too excited to be using great snorkel gear and got in the water without the camera. After the snorkel, we sat in the sun for a little while, but it got TOO hot.

Back to the hotel we went. Rinsed off, changed clothes, and went to Rhumblines around 5pm. We started with the chicken cool cups and watermelon mojitos. YUM!!!!! D had the lobster (1.5 lbs!), and I had the Ultimate Pad Thai (yummy, as always). We enjoyed mojitos and other drinks during dinner. Then we enjoyed some oreo ice cream pie for dessert.

After this, we moved to the bar for after dinner drinks, and boy, am I glad we did. D enjoyed more Passionfruit and Guava mojitos, and I was introduced to Rum Chata / Kahlua by Amanda, the sweet bartender. I had two of those on the rocks, and took a passionfruit mojito (also a new fave) to go. D had a margarita to go. We seriously had about 5 - 6 (or more....) drinks each. That was reflected in our $300+++ total bill for the evening but MAN - SO WORTH IT!!!!!

We grabbed some water when we were walking back through the convenience store in front of Rhumblines, and then headed back to the hotel. Showered, and fell fast asleep (imagine that).

Forgot to mention that there was NO PARKING at STJ Car Rental this evening, so we had to pay $25 to park at Slimmans overnight. Sigh.

Another great day in paradise!

GotToGetAway · Post by **GotToGetAway** » Sun Sep 08, 2013 3:16 pm

What are sea drops? Are they for preventing fog?

ColumbiaSCTraveler · Post by **ColumbiaSCTraveler** » Sun Sep 08, 2013 3:35 pm

Yes - they are for preventing fog.

I would clean the mask every few days with toothpaste (since it was a new set), and then drop 2 - 3 drops of Sea Drops per lens before hopping in the water. Worked like a charm.

msgcolleen · Post by **msgcolleen** » Sun Sep 08, 2013 4:25 pm

Wow! What a great day!
But I do know how you feel about a leaky snorkel mask... no fun

I plan to rent or buy a new mask at Low Key next month!
Thanks for your always awesome reporting... off to read day 4! Keep 'em coming~~~

MN_Bhoy · Post by **MN_Bhoy** » Mon Sep 09, 2013 2:56 pm

Great report!!

Sea Drops - the best $6 we spent on our last trip. We had a problem with fogging and the Low Key people (always very helpful!) "cleaned" the inside of our masks with toothpaste and then recommended Sea Drops. This totally eliminated the fogging issue!

EagleRayLover · Post by **EagleRayLover** » Mon Sep 09, 2013 10:16 pm

Amanda is the best bar manager EVER!! Love her and her fabulous concoctions to drink up!! As far as masks , with a brand new one the best thing to do is
Put Toothpaste on it to
Get The protective film off . Just let it sit for a minutiae or
Two Then rinse. After that first time ,
You can Use baby shampoo to help with defogger! Much cheaper
That the sea drops ( since you mentioned your wanting a deal) and so very effective!! Sounds like a great day!!
PS if you every get to try SunDog's Wednesday night Music jam
- it is amazing!!

ColumbiaSCTraveler · Post by **ColumbiaSCTraveler** » Tue Sep 10, 2013 7:49 am

ERL, we missed you at the Beach Bar Gathering!

And yes - the sweet lady at Low Key did the toothpaste thing, and then I did that every other day or so in addition to the Sea Drops. I'll definitely do the shampoo thing! I'm all about saving $$$.

(Although the Sea Drops was only $6 for the bottle, and I'm sure we didn't even use 1/4 of it.)

Amanda (@Rhumblines) was GREAT. We went back for drinks one more time before we left because we enjoyed her and her drinks so much! I'm SO GLAD she introduced us to the Kahlua / Rum Chata drink! I'm OBSESSED now!!!!

Somehow we all need to manage to be on island at once....I can only imagine the fun we'd get into....ahem, msgcolleen!

I still have quite a few more days to go. Hope to get them all done soon!

cocosmom · Post by **cocosmom** » Sun Sep 29, 2013 3:36 pm

Hubs is a broker for Rum Chata. There is an app that has tons of recipes, check it out.

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