Hiking on St. John

Saturday morning, we decided it was finally time to do the popular hike from Cruz Bay on St. John to Caneel Bay Resort. We took the people ferry to St. John (about a 15 minute trip for $5 each way, they leave hourly) and started the day with a trip to the Deli Grotto. The Deli Grotto is a refuge of comfort in the islands. We've been there about six times in as many weeks. It's a lovely cafe that has air conditioning inside (with internet access even!) but also a quiet shaded sitting area outside. Reasonably priced baked goods, sandwiches, breakfast foods, yummy smoothies and coffee can be found here. We were really hoping they'd have date bars, which we got for the first time there two weeks ago, but apparently there is no set schedule for when certain baked goods or salads are made. Chef's choice. Also missing from the day's choices was the popular coconut-chocolate-oat bar. Instead I narrowed my choice down to a fresh homemade donut or an apple walnut muffin. The donut I ate was enough food for the rest of the day, and probably not the best way to start a hike. I needed a nap. Dave chose a chocolate caramel bar. I could have stayed at the Deli Grotto all day (which had been my plan if Dave hadn't wanted to do the hike).
We ventured off to the National Park building and found the Lind Point trailhead. The trail was mostly dry brush with some night blooming climbing cactus. We found a wilted flower that must have bloomed the night before. One night of bloom - the end. Luckily the trail was in the shade, as summer has certainly arrived. It is not a dry heat and it feels like it's about 100 degrees during the day lately. We saw plenty of butterflies, centipedes, plumeria caterpillars, iguanas, anoles (little lizards), and donkeys. Yes, donkeys. St. John has wild donkeys, as well as wild deer, wild chickens, and roaming cows. On St. Thomas we have a couple random cows too, they mostly hang out near Home Depot.

After strolling along the trail for awhile, we came to Salomon Beach. Then we wished we had brought our bathing suits. It was hot; the water was the usual crystal clear, light blue tint, very inviting, and guaranteed refreshing. We hiked onwards to Honeymoon Beach where we once again regretted that choice. What were we thinking. We meandered onto Caneel Bay Resort's grounds next. It's THE resort to visit. It's where Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie stayed... We didn't wander around too much, sat down near the bar for a few minutes, gazing at the water, wondering why nobody was enjoying it. Then we headed back to town on the same trail. Of course, we went back to the Deli Grotto for lunch. I was still full but managed to make space for a mango smoothie. Dave had the Trunk Bay Chicken sandwich. And we had plenty of water! Have to stay hydrated! We took our time and enjoyed the feeling of a temporary escape from hectic St. Thomas. (I can hear you laughing.)

The Deli Grotto is just one of many restaurants and shops that make up Mongoose Junction. While we were there waiting for the next ferry, we checked out the VI Pale Ale shop that just opened up. They sell VI Pale Ale and their very new Island Summer Ale (very tasty!), and plenty of t-shirts, bottle coozies, pint glasses, etc. We're getting to the end of our stay here, so it's time to stock up on souveniers! After we got back to our car on St. Thomas, we headed straight to Sapphire beach, jumped in with all our clothes on to cool off, and then drove home. The rest of our weekend included watching movies and participating in a 2 mile fun run to raise money for some kids to visit DC. It was the same route as two weeks ago, but with a much smaller field. We both won first place in our age groups. I have to admit, living in a community of 50,000 has been really fabulous for our egos! Reality is but a couple short months away.