St. John & Charlotte Amelie
Day 7 - Thursday, June 3 - St. John, Maho Bay
We packed up and checked out of Margaritaville after one last swim in the main pool.
Then we hopped on the ferry to Cruz Bay on St. John.
And had lunch at High Tide before checking into our Airbnb apartment.
We stayed right in Cruz Bay at a one bedroom apartment called the Amore Center. It was a cute apartment in an interesting building. Worked perfectly for us. Well, except we discovered there was a mouse in the kitchen and we found a giant cockroach on the floor (luckily on the day we were leaving).
Here is a picture of that "friend"
This church was across the street. It was closed for renovation but I loved the outside.
We put our bags in the condo, got the keys to our jeep and off we went to Maho Bay.
James went out to snorkel and found several sea turtles. So we all hurried and went out together. We were all able to see the turtles. It was a great thing to experience as a family.
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| Anikka & Mom |
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| James & Elin |
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| Elin |
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| Anikka |
As we were coming back in a huge rain storm came in and soaked everything in 5 minutes.
We loved Maho Bay. It was so beautiful and calm. We stayed until it was almost dark.
For dinner then we walked across the street to the grocery store and brought stuff to make quick pasta dinner in our condo before bed.
Day 8 - Friday, June 4 - Beach day
We only had two full days on St. John so we were up early and out the door to get to the first of several beaches. We started at Honeymoon beach. We were there before the crowds showed up.
The pictures do not do it justice. It is jaw dropping gorgeous. Honestly one of the prettiest beaches I have ever been to. The water is a color that you can't even describe.
We played on the beach, relaxed in the water, and everyone snorkeled.
Pretty much a perfect morning at the beach.
We headed further up the road and stopped at Hawksnest beach for a picnic lunch.
After lunch we stopped at Trunk Bay which is the most famous (and busy) beach on St. John. It was spectacular.
We spent the afternoon in the water and playing in the sand. James and I snorkeled (not many good fish here...too many people)
Trunk bay is a National Park and Anikka was able to get her 4th grade yearly pass and get us in for free!
It really was an amazing day at the best 2 beaches I have ever been to.
We had dinner in Cruz Bay at a Mexican restaurant and the most amazing sunset ever (the last two pictures are not mine) then did some shopping in Cruz Bay.
Day 9 - Saturday, June 5 - More St. John sites
We were not up and out the door quite as early. We stopped for smoothies on our way to Coral Bay.
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| Coral Bay |
We were planning to go to Lime Out for drinks and tacos (its a floating restaurant). But, we didn't know that we had to charter our own little boat to get us out to Lime Out so we couldn't go. We found some local folks though...
We ended up going to Annaburg which is a sugar mill from the 1800s. It was pretty interesting to see (it is part of the USVI National Park).
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| I loved how the building were made out of coral |
We had packed a lunch for the kids so we stopped by Francis Bay and they ate their lunch there.
Then we ended up back at Maho Bay for our last afternoon of beach time and snorkeling. Fun fact: James actually swam/snorkeled from Francis Bay to Maho Bay because they are next to each other just around some rocks. So, I drove the jeep (on the wrong side of the road) to Maho.
We saw this sting Ray while snorkeling,
James and I ended up having a late lunch at Maho Bay and while we were eating...another huge rainstorm. The kids loved it.
Ani had to put back all the shells she collected (can't bring them home) so we took a picture of her collection before releasing them back to the sea.
I had to take a picture at the sign for the National Parks.
After beach time we headed to the Windmill Bar for sunset. It wasn't as spectacular as the one the night before but the view from the bar was amazing and we had Liquid Death (water in a can).
Day 10 - Sunday, June 6 - Charlotte Amelie, St. Thomas
We were all sad to leave St. John. It is such a spectacular place. We took a mid morning private ferry from Cruz Bay directly into Charlotte Amelie (instead of the gov ferry to Red Hook and a taxi to Charlotte Amelie).
We dropped our bags off at our hotel (The Windward Passage) and went into town for lunch and shopping. Because it was Sunday, not much was open so we mostly walked around.
After checking in, the kids went swimming in the hotel pool
Then we walked back into town for dinner.
Day 11 - Monday, June 7 - Charlotte Amelie/Travel Day
The next morning we went back into town and were able to buy a few souvenirs. There were so many shops closed due to the pandemic. It was kind of sad. Charlotte Amelie was as charming as I remembered with streets that look like New Orleans or Europe.
We had a 4 pm flight so we headed to the airport around noon
got through the LONG lines for immigration and security, then we were on our way home.
We connected again through Atlanta and were delayed a little. So we didn't get home to our house until midnight which was 2 am AST. So so tired.
BUT....
What an amazing trip! We had so much fun, relaxing family time and so many new memories. I can't wait for our next trip.
Maija
