When we booked this trip, there was only one thing we wanted to do – Jost Van Dyke and the Soggy Dollar Bar. Previously, we’ve done a couple of different versions of this trip – once on a motor yacht and once sailing on a catamaran. We liked both trips, both crews were great, but we really enjoy sailing more than motoring. An afternoon sailing in the Caribbean is the most blissful, relaxing day for me on any vacation. The last time we were here we sailed on Kekoa. If I had to pick a favorite trip so far, that would be my #1, followed closely by our sail on Sugar Rush to Anguilla when we were in St. Maarten. Unfortunately, Kekoa wasn’t doing the Jost trip on any of the days that were had planned to be here. They offered up Sunday, 4/24 – if we could fill the boat with a minimum of 8 passengers. There were only 2 of us, so I didn’t see that happening. Instead, I booked our trip on Calypso, through Bad Kitty Charters. We arranged for an early taxi from our resort over to the Marina in Red Hook, where we would be taken on Bad Kitty over to St. John, and dropped off to meet the crew of Calypso…everyone else they picked up was staying on Bad Kitty. Our short trip across to St. John was enough to confirm what I had always suspected – Bad Kitty was not a trip I ever wanted to take. The Bad Kitty boats are enclosed, with only limited seating on the top, that everyone cycles through. I get motion sick pretty easily on the water – especially in an enclosed space. We were fortunate enough to sit outside, and I took Dramamine two hours before boarding, so I was good. Thank goodness! We arrived in St. John, disembarked the Bad Kitty, completed paperwork for customs, signed our “if we die we won’t sue you forms” and boarded Calypso.
The boat is by far the smallest and oldest cat we’ve been on, but it got us safely and mostly comfortably from St. John over to Jost. The captain and his first mate were on it, and really made up for any disappointment with the size or shape of the boat. We made a quick stop at Henley Cay for some snorkeling. Heley Cay is a small island, just off of St. John.
This was only my second attempt at snorkeling since the broken foot/tendon tear this fall, and I was nervous, given my kick wasn’t as strong with my right foot, so we didn’t stay out for long, nor did we get too far from the boat. There were plenty of fish to see, but not much in the way of coral. We went through customs at Great Harbour, so we were able to dingy to shore and check out Foxy’s Tamarind Bar. Foxy’s has been on “the list” for us for a while, as Foxy is a BVI legend.
We walked through the gift shop, checked out the bar, caught sight of Foxy himself and just generally walked around and visited with other guests. Once we were cleared through Customs, we were taken by dinghy back out to Calypso, and headed over to White Bay. We arrived in White Bay around 11am, and we didn’t have to leave until 2p, so we had plenty of time to eat, drink and lounge. Food at Soggy Dollar always takes FOREVER, so we’ve not actually eaten anything from SDB – we usually settle for the legendary Painkillers to drink and just visit and lounge on the beach. Through all of my St. John forums that I follow, I had heard of a new restaurant/bar on White Bay – Hendo’s Hideout.
There was only 2 other people there, and it had a really cool vibe – so, we settled in there for lunch/drinks. Marcus ordered a beer and I pulled my usual “I’ll drink whatever you feel like making” stunt at the bar – and as usual, wasn’t disappointed with the bartender’s selection. He made me the “Purple Rain” drink, their tribute to Prince. Pretty yummy and way strong for an 11am drink. I ordered a Quesadilla for lunch and Marcus ordered Buttermilk Chicken Fingers and fries. The food was excellent, and not terribly expensive. On the beach, directly in front of the restaurant, they had two hammocks.
Any guesses where we spent the afternoon? We napped in a hammock. It was perfect. When we woke from our nap, we had about an hour before we had to board the boat, so we walked over to Soggy Dollar. Had the obligatory Painkiller and did some shopping. Marcus replaced his SDB mug that he broke a few weeks ago and I bought a fabulous baseball hat. We spent the remaining time floating in the ocean, before boarding the boat back to St. John.
We learned that the owners of Bad Kitty Charters are from Ohio, yet another notch for all of the Buckeye Expats on the island. We managed to pick up three extra passengers before leaving White Bay. One of the people lives on St. John, and had two guests visiting her. They spent the previous night on Jost and needed a ride back to St. John. Turns out, the guy in the group grew up in Lima, OH – though he did relocate to San Diego a few years ago. Unfortunately, the entire day of our trip on Calypso, there was absolutely zero wind. None. Not even a gentle breeze. So, no sailing. We motored back to St. John, but not before a small detour around a little tiny island (or big giant rock) for a little history lesson.
Supposedly, the rock is shaped like this, because back in the day, you weren’t allowed to bring your ship into port with a loaded cannon – the only way to empty said cannon is by firing it. So, this rock was where all of those rounds were unloaded – thus it’s unique shape. We went back through US Customs (easiest trip through customs than any other tip – maybe the 3 stamps for the BVI, over 7 years signaled we were harmless).
Marcus and I had decided we were going to make another attempt at Happy Hour in Cruz Bay and just take the ferry back over when we were done. I had seen a T-shirt I HAD to have, so I was on a mission to buy this shirt. In the meantime, Marcus decided he needed one as well, and given he was still walking around in his rash guard, I really couldn’t argue with that. He needed a change of clothes. We found our T-shirt at Beach Bum, Marcus changed his shirt on the street and we were headed off to our first Happy Hour stop – Woody’s Seafood Saloon. Had to stop in for their Conch Fritters!! A few drinks a piece, an order on Conch Fritters and we were headed off to our second stop (my usual favorite) – Joe’s Rum Hut. During happy hour at Joe’s they have $3 name your drink special. Anything you want is $3 – the perfect time to order high end booze. They also have pretty decent pizza, and they’re on the water. It’s always been a fun time. When we walked in, this woman grabs Marcus by the arm to ask him about his T-shirt. Apparently, she now had to have one as well – though, I’m not super sure she will even remember it, she was way further into happy hour than we were at that time. We ended up sitting behind her and her husband – shared a few pleasantries, talked briefly about where we were all from how many times we’d been on the rock, and moved on. After a couple of drinks (and no pizza because Marcus wasn’t in the mood) we headed down the water a little further to The Beach Bar. We love The Beach Bar – good food, generally great service and a really fun vibe! Marcus ordered another beer, and I once again busted out my infamous line – and for the first time ever, it backfired. The clever bartender caught on to my game and threatened to pour straight liquor into a beer glass. We settled on a Painkiller and an order of chicken fingers. Not long after, I get a text from Kristin – guess who else was on St. John for happy hour!!
Though they were ready to head back to STT for a shower, we were able to persuade them to join as at The Beach Bar. We ordered a round of drinks – our first chance to toast them and kick off the celebrations for their wedding day (tomorrow!!). After a quick bathroom break, we closed out our tab and headed for the ferry. Nice easy ride back to St. Thomas, my first people ferry ride at night. We shared a cab ride back to our resorts with a few other people, confirmed plans for Wedding Day Tuesday and called it a night.
Flip Flops & Time Off - Adventures in Travel & Every Day Life 