Trip to St. Thomas
After not leaving Massachusetts for over a year, we were ready to get on a plane. We were supposed to go to Grand Cayman this past December but due to Covid, they still weren’t allowing travelers into the country. We decided to rebook and go to St Thomas in February instead. We were supposed to go to St. Thomas back in February of 2018 but that trip was cancelled due to the hurricane that devastated the island the previous fall. I’m glad we were finally able to go to this beautiful island. Their current travel policy involves getting a negative covid test within five days of travel. We got tested on a Wednesday, received our results the following day and filled out their travel portal that night. We were approved shortly thereafter. Logan airport was totally dead on Sunday morning. No line to check in. There were only a few people ahead of us going through security. It was the fastest I’ve ever experienced. Wish we realized we should have got our dunks before getting to the gate where nothing was opened. So we hustled back to the dunks that’s after security. The plane ride was smooth, about 3.5 hours in the air. When we arrived at the airport in St. Thomas we had to walk down a staircase and over to the airport entrance. We were asked to provide a copy of our travel portal acceptance as well as our negative covid results. They kept the portal acceptance. The line moved quickly. We got our luggage and went over to the Avis counter for our rental car. I’m glad I made a reservation as they had a sign that said they had no cars available. The woman at the counter looked miserable and was a bit rude. She said only one person could be at the counter (though we’re all wearing masks and there’s plexiglass). I made the reservation under Matt’s name as I had no desire to drive on the left side of the road. So he had to be at the counter and doesn’t hear very well. We were sent outside to find our car. Luckily we found it and were off to the condo we rented. It took about 25 minutes to drive to the condo. We were told we needed to check in with security to park but no one was working. We entered the rental and couldn’t figure out how to lock the door. There’s a key pad with a code rather than a key. When you leave you have to hit “schlage” to lock it. That would’ve been helpful info from the owner. Some of the lights and outlets didn’t work. The outside pool area was a bit run down but it was very nice to have a private pool. We were hungry so we went to dinner right around the corner at Sudi’s. Luckily we were able to sit right away. I got the shrimp tacos. They didn’t come with anything so I got a side of fries. Matt had a burger because they were out of fish. Go figure. The food was fine. The food and three beers was $55 before tip. Then we went grocery shopping at Moe’s. We spent $180 between food and beer/alcohol. We returned to the condo after that and went to bed.
Monday-The roosters woke me up at 4:15am. We stayed in bed until around 7. We hung out at the pool in the morning and then took a walk to the beach to check things out. It’s about a 5 minute walk. We stayed for the afternoon. The lady we rented from has a place on Sapphire beach so she told us to use her condo number for chairs. There wasn’t anyone available so we ended up getting our own chairs. The water was absolutely gorgeous and wasn’t very chilly. They have a beach bar with bathrooms available. We stayed until 4:30 and then returned to the condo. Took a shower and tried to go out to eat. Apparently you need reservations wherever you go so we went back home. That was a waste of $20. Matt didn’t want to drive in the dark on the left. I don’t blame him. A taxi to red hook was $8 there and $10 back. We ended up cooking some tacos for dinner.
Tuesday-This morning we got up and went for a walk to the beach. Then we took a ride to red hook and bought some tumblers and t-shirts. We went back to the condo for lunch and pool time. Then we went to the beach and spent the afternoon sun bathing. We came back to shower around 5. We made a reservation for Agave for 7:45. We got there at 7:30 and were seated right away. We got sangria (that tasted like rum punch) and 2 margaritas, as well as an order of fresh guac. It was good-came with colored tortilla chips. For entrees I got the carne asada tacos. No sides with it. Matt got the beef fajitas which came with rice, beans, pico and sour cream. The food was good. The bill was $69 before tip. Taxi back to the condo.
Wednesay-We went for a drive down to Red Hook this morning. We walked around through the ferry terminal. Then back to the condo to sit by the pool. We made some lunch (BLTs) and then went to the beach. The sun was in and out today and was mostly cloudy in the afternoon. We got rained on as we walked to the beach and a couple more times while we were at the beach. We went back to the condo about 4:30 and made a snack of pico and chips. This evening we had an 8:15 reservation at Pesce. We got there about 8 and were seated. We got wine, calamari, rigatoni bolognese and chicken parm. Dessert was tiramisu and a makers mark. The bill was $110 before tip. There was an obnoxious group of 4 near us. The staff had to tell them to be quiet twice. Other than that the service was good and the food tasty.
Thursday-We walked to the beach this morning and Matt noticed a walking path. We did a couple loops and then went to the pool at Saphire village. It was very quiet there. Then we went back to the condo for lunch. We had salads. Then we went for a drive to Kmart to get some ear plugs and some more water. We took a drive over to the cruise terminal and walked around a bit. Most of the stores were closed. We wanted to check out the brewery there but they were only doing growler fills. We headed back when it started to sprinkle. We went to the beach when we got back until about 5:30. We walked to dinner at Sudi’s around 7:30. Got a pepperoni pizza and buffalo wings. 3 beers. The total before tip was $47. The owner offered to drive us home when we asked a better way to walk back. That was very kind of her but we declined.
Friday-We went for a walk after finally getting a better night’s sleep. Then we returned to the condo for brunch. Matt made us omeletts. Then as I was sitting by the pool there was a knock at the door. I was slow to get up and a man let himself in. Apparently he’s the pool guy who came by to do a quick clean. I got out of his way. A head’s up from the owner would have been appreciated. We went to the beach in the afternoon per usual. Then we went to Pangea https://www.pangeavi.com/ which is the restaurant on property for dinner. We had a reservation for 7pm. The restaurant is beautiful, all open to the outside. Service was a bit slow but we weren’t in a rush. I had a glass of wine. Matt had a beer. We did the falafel plate app. He got the fish of the day (mahi mahi) and I got the beef fajitas. No desserts as the oven was broken. Short walk back to the condo.
Saturday-We had a breakfast omelet at home and then went for a walk. Back to the condo for some guac. Then after some pool time we went to the beach for the afternoon. We made an 8pm reservation for Agave. Got there about 7:40 and they sat us. We each had a corona. We got an app of boneless chicken tenders, sauce on the side. Matt had the fish tacos with a side of rice and beans. I got a chipolte caesar salad with grilled shrimp (only 4). It was all very good. This was our last night in paradise.
Sunday-We got up and packed our things. Cleaned the condo up a bit and sat around waiting until we had to leave at 11. We took a drive to Cost U Less for some booze to take home. Then we went over to the Emerald Beach Resort at the recommendation of a shop owner. Man this is a hidden gem. It’s right next to the airport and absolutely gorgeous. We had a leisurely lunch overlooking the ocean. We could have swam and hung out had we known. The bartender was from NH so that was cool. I had a cheese burger. Matt had a fish sandwich (mahi mahi). The side was either chips or coleslaw so we had one of each. There was literally a dude cooking on a weber type of grill right there on the patio. No kitchen. I would definitely come back to this place if we go to St. Thomas again. We left there, got some gas for the rental and hit the airport. Wow. That place is a cluster. We checked our bags but then had to take them through customs and immigration. Finally got rid of the bags and went through one last security stop. The place was packed. There’s one restaurant type place to get food inside. Again, packed. It’s all one terminal with multiple gates. Flight back was uneventful. Took about 4 hours. Overall it was a very relaxing trip. Would I go back? I don’t know. Maybe when we don’t have to worry so much about covid restrictions. We didn’t get over to St. John’s at all which we could’ve done easily. Maybe next time.