I had a nice day today. We drove up the north shore and looked at the various beaches there, out to Warerlemon. Ended up snorkeling at Trunk Bay. Will visit the other ones we liked tomorrow. The beaches are beautiful, and we also enjoyed the views.
Some random musings:
Yesterday we got some basic provision at the St. John Market, which is a short walk from the resort entrance. You take a left walking out of the resort and the market is just ahead. You can see it from the resort. It was convenient, and had all the basic things we wanted when we arrived.
Today we stopped by Starfish Market on the way back to the resort. It is much bigger than the other market. It is not much farther, distance-wise, but there's a steep hill you have to go over, so it would not be practical to carry many groceries on foot. Cruz Bay is just a little bit further away. My GPS showed 0.7 miles from the resort to pretty much past Cruz Bay (Mongoose Junction), but that initial hill puts a damper on just walking over and back. A cab is about $5/person each way. I think it was about $11/person all the way to Trunk Bay.
We spent some time in Cruz Bay this morning. Had lunch at Margarita Phil's. food was OK, but just like all the menu's we've seen, way overpriced. $19 for basic fish tacos, $10 for 7 small conch fritters. Most of the restaurant prices here are on the order of the higher end Maui restaurants, but at half the ambiance and food quality.
My experience with O'Connor Car Rental has been very good so far. I had low expectations, based on comments here, but haven't really had any issues. The lady that greeted us this morning was cordial and friendly. We got a 4WD Jeep Wrangler that is in good shape, has decent tires, and has been fun to drive. I also decided to reduce the number of days I'll keep the car, and there was no problem doing that, as long as I honor their 3 day minimum.
Given that there are only two of us, I would rent on St. John if I was doing this again. The cars I saw at O'Connor are all recent models, and seem to be in good shape. I don't need a car the afternoon I arrive, so that's about a $90 saving vs. having to pick something up in St. Thomas straight from the airport. You also save the $60 round trip fare for the ferry. The airport pickup is convenient and you don't have to drive around St. Thomas for a long time.
I'm planning some all day trips at the end, so won't need the car then either. All in all, I prefer the flexibility of deciding what to do with the car as I go along, and it would be harder to do with a car from St. Thomas. If my party were larger, then there would have been some savings if I didn't have to use the Westin ferry. Daily rates seem to be similar whether I rent in St. John or in St. Thomas.
Most places I've been to don't really require a 4WD. There were only a couple of really steep turn on HWY 20 that could possibly be hairy if it was raining a lot. Maybe that is why everyone recommends 4WD. I haven't driven all the way up Centerline Rd., so there may be other places 4WD is necessary. So far all the roads I've traveled are paved and in decent shape. It is some short but very steep slopes around some curves that could be a problem.
When we got back to the hotel in the evening, we had two bottles of Cruzan Raspberry Rum waiting as a welcome gift, with a letter for the general manager. Anybody have some good suggestions for mixed drinks with this rum? I haven't tried it before. Come on down to party, David and Robin! We have room to spare...
Actually, one of the bottles seems to have been delivered by mistake. I had two welcome letters, both with my room number written on the envelope. O e had my name, and the other haws welcoming Mr. And Mrs. Gilbert. I'll straighten that out tomorrow, if the bottle lasts that long
Regarding the villa location, I changed my mind. I think I would like the Hillside setting better. I don't think we'll be using the resort amenities that much, and I like the view from higher up the hill better. Parking the car near the villa seems more convenient too. I haven't looked for the BBQ at BV, but the ones at Hillside seem pretty convenient. At BV, parking is much further away. I have not seen the Hillside villas inside, so I have no idea how they compare to BV. Both locations are good, though. I might favor one, but would not be upset to be placed at either location.
I prefer an actual lockp-off to a straight two-bedroom unit. It doesn't matter for this trip, but if I were coming with my grown kids or with friends, I'd rather they have their own refrigerator and small kitchen. We'd probably eat dinner together and have lunch on the road, but it is nice to have breakfast on our own at whatever time we decide to wake up, either earlier or later than the rest of the crew. I've only stayed in lock-offs before and we're pretty used to them now.
WiFi seems to be working acceptably for web browsing and basic e-mail. Not good for trying to stream video or anything that requires high speed. Speedtest measures about 0.37 Mbps up and down on my iPad. My AT&T hotspot is faster, but sometimes seems to get hung up for a while before getting going again. It measures 2.19 Mbps down, .63 up.
As I said before, these are just some musings. This is a great resort, and the thoughts above are not complaints, just thoughts going through my mind about things I might want to consider when coming to a place like this for the first time. Hopefully they can help others.
Henry
