Sunday morning we had brunch at the Deep End. We wanted to show Reggie the great snorkeling right off the beach there. The power had gone out that morning and we soon discovered why when we drove to the entrance of Green Cay Marina, where the Deep End is located. Someone must have hit a pole earlier in the morning and really destroyed it. It looked like the WAPA (Water and Power Authority) crews had to replace TWO poles, actually.

Fortunately, the restaurant has a large generator. Unfortunately, it was not large enough to allow the toilets to be flushed and there was all manner of stuff in all of the toilets I tried to use. I informed the surprised bartender of this fact and hoped that Troy (the restaurant manager) was able to correct the problem. Anyway, brunch was good, but there were a few other tables ahead of us and the poor waitress seemed to be in over her head (”in the weeds” is the saying used in the industry), so it took a while. Reggie and I each had a veggie omelet and Michael had the eggs benedict.

When we were done, we walked just a few yards over to the entrance of the water. The beach is not one of those long sandy stretches that you think of when you think “Caribbean” and I have described it as being “nothing to write home about”, but there’s a little sheltered dipping area protected by a breakwater composed of huge boulders, and a narrow entrance to the right, by the jetty which separates the beach from the boat entrance to the marina. There are lovely coconut palms and cabanas and chairs for rent by non-hotel guests.

We got our snorkeling gear on and swam out a short way and took a left. It was cloudy at that point and the water was murky. We hoped it would clear up once we got farther out. It did, a little, and we got to see a lot of fish. We even saw and followed for quite a ways, a little hawksbill turtle. To the west, in front of the Tamarind Reef Hotel, there’s a very cool spot with beautiful swaying sea fans and soft corals. The multicolored fish darting in and out of openings in the reef remind you of a thriving aquarium. But it’s so much nicer to see the fish in their natural habitat. There were so many fish, I couldn’t name them all.

We ventured farther west, beyond the rocky point which separates Tamarind Reef area from Shoys. The sea fans are usually gorgeous there, but it was pretty rough and the current was strong and we didn’t go far enough to see them. It was Reggie’s first time out and we didn’t want to have him overdo so soon. So we turned back and had to work pretty hard to get to calmer waters where we didn’t have to fight so much. I saw a large coral rock which seemed to have a coat of fur. We could see the “hairs” moving with the currents, especially when we dove down for a closer look. Reggie saw a trumpet fish and thought it was some sort of sea snake. We have seen a lot of them in this area in the past.

I started getting cold, so swam back in and the guys followed me as well. I think we had been out there for close to an hour. There’s just so much to see in a small area. Gotta love this place!

We dried off, the guys got drinks, and then we walked around to see if we could find some iguanas. Sure enough, on the other side of the watersports shack, there were three of them. One was older and extremely colorful. He had all sorts of crests and flaps and things decorating his prehistoric-looking body.

After Michael took a few pictures, it was close to time for Reggie’s Panthers to play their first game of the season, so we went our separate ways for a few hours. We would meet later in the afternoon to get the Pickled Greek ready for our “Welcome Reggie” party that evening.

Last evening, after spending all day recovering from our overnight turtle watch, we didn’t feel like cooking, so we went to the Golden Rail. It’s another place that I never quite understood the popularity of, because although there is a view of palm trees and Christiansted harbor, you have to look through the industrial-ness of the boatyard to see it. But I guess the view is still better than that at Cheeseburgers, the Case Place, the Bombay Club, or the Pickled Greek.

It’s still our slow season, so we’re not rakin’ in the bucks and the budget for dining out sometimes requires us to use our little “Tastes and Treats of St. Croix” coupon booklet. There’s a coupon in there for $10 off a one-hour massage from Ambrosia Body Care and there are a few other good ones as well. Gems Direct has one in there for 20% off any non-sale item and a free gift besides! But I think, as far as food deals go (most of them are soooo cheap, like a “free rum punch with the purchase of an entree”…..wow!, or a “free dessert with the purchase of TWO entrees”……big deal!), The Golden Rail is tops! Their coupon is “buy one entree, get one free”, a value up to $25! That REALLY is a deal!

So, their specials were things like Lobster Thermidore, Seafood Pasta, a Surf and Turf which included a half lobster and an 8-oz steak. Mmmmmm. They also had some nice wines on their wine list to go with the yummy food selections. I ordered the Thermidore and Michael the Surf and Turf. We chose a bottle of Rancho Zabaco Zinfandel to go with our meal. This would be great. However, the waitress came back saying that they were out of that wine. Okay, our second choice was one we’d had at wine club last week. It was Gallo Sonoma Pinot Noir, (hard to get, according to our wine gurus, and STX is the only island in the USVI to have any!) Our waitress brought us out a chilled bottle of Louis Jadot Pinot Noir. No no no no no no, we said, but, according to her, that was the only red they had. They had all the whites on the list, but we had our hearts set on a red.

I said to the waitress (she really was very sweet and mostly competent), “Someone could just run over to Schooner Bay Market and get us the Rancho Zabaco, I know they have it there”. She giggled, so I said, “Okay, how much of a corkage fee would you charge if I went to get it myself and brought it in?” She said, “It’s up to you”. So I took off to get us an appropriate bottle of wine for such a lovely dinner.

Oh, I forgot to mention Dr. Roy. He was playing and is usually not my favorite. But he played mostly decent stuff while we were there, and it wasn’t TOO loud. It bugs the crap out of me when you go to a nice restaurant to try to enjoy a nice dinner, but the live entertainment (even if it’s nice flamenco guitar, or piano - like at the Galleon) is too loud (like at the Galleon).

Anyway, I whipped over to Schooner Bay and had a choice of many wines. We had Rancho Zabaco on the brain, but I debated with myself whether or not to get the Gallo Reserve Merlot, which we’d had at wine club as well and enjoyed, but went with the original choice. As I got out of the car at the marina with our bottle of wine, I could see Michael smiling (smirking) in the restaurant as he waited for me.

The waitress (we should have gotten her name) came back and opened our bottle for us and we sipped while we waited for our dinners. We kept sipping as we kept waiting for our dinners. Good thing we were just sipping. Otherwise, the wine might have been gone before they came.
At one point, our waitress was resting at a table next to ours. Our food was not ready. After a while, she looked over at us and decided that maybe she needed to urge the kitchen staff on a bit.

After her goading, our food arrived. There was a LOT of food. Each dinner came with a baked potato and veggies. Since I am still a vegetarian at heart, I ate my cauliflower first, and alternated bites of squash with my lobster and potato. Michael stuck strictly with the lobster and steak. I shared a couple of bites of mine with him and he reciprocated. It didn’t take long before I was full. I had eaten most of my veggies and potato and lobster. But there was still some of each left. Michael kept plugging along and finished his proteins. As he did this, I nibbled on, and finished my potato (sort of like dessert - carbs and fat). Now Michael had no room left for starches or veggies. Well, I’m not his mother, what could I say? I could say, “No dessert for you!”, but I didn’t have to because he was too full anyway.

So we asked our nice waitress to wrap the rest of my lobster along with Michael’s potato and veggies, and we’d take our check as well. She was happy to oblige, had no attitude about the coupon (we told her we’d tip appropriately anyway) and our dining experience was complete.
All in all a pleasant evening. And….it can’t be bad when “tightening your belt” includes Lobster Thermidore…..ahhhh, paradise!

Our island was once mainly agricultural and is divided into sections called “estates”. They were plantations on which sugarcane and cotton, among other things were grown. The estate names still remain in use today. For example, we live in “Sally’s Fancy”. Other fun ones are “William’s Delight”, “Whim”, “Betsy’s Jewel” and “Rust Op Twist”. Just west of Christiansted town, is one called “Golden Rock”. There is a shopping area which includes a Pueblo Supermarket, a Blockbuster video, Golden Rock Pharmacy, Domino’s Pizza, etc. There has been a large new building across the street from Pueblo for a good while, which once had a sign announcing the opening of the “Golden Dragon Chinese Restaurant”. It was there for a long time, the grass kept growing and no work was being done on the property. Until just a few weeks ago. Signs of life! It’s always exciting!

There was a really fun change, too. Instead of Golden Dragon, the name on the building which appeared in large letters was “Golden Wok”! Right there in Golden Rock! We thought that was very clever and couldn’t wait until they opened so we could eat there. It’s a big building. Maybe we could finally have something like a stateside Chinese Restaurant (can you say “oxymoron”?) But we had great expectations….

They opened last week. The parking lot was finally paved and the neon “Open” sign flashed invitingly. Last night Michael and I worked in town, and thought it might be nice to give them a try. It was either that or the new Cajun place, “Zizzler’s”. I felt like nice Chinese veggies, so we went out to Golden Wok. Hee hee hee.

We arrived around 7 and the lot was jammed! It looked like the whole island was there! We saw some folks we’d hiked with a few weeks ago just getting there as well. They were part of a large group. We walked in and saw Kristin from Rumrunners dining with Anna from GoToStCroix, Anna’s husband Carl and their daughter Savannah. On the other side of the room our friend, Captain Al was seated in the crowd. Laura and John Ballard arrived with Casey Willard and a guy from wine club the other night.

We had to wait a minute for our table to be ready, so ordered drinks at the bar. I asked for an Amstel. They didn’t have it. How about a MaiTai? Nope. Michael wanted his usual FatPapi (rum and coke) which they had. I ended up with an O’Doul’s. Once we got to our table and opened the menu, we saw that the drink prices were more than we should pay for cheap stuff and switched to tea. Michael wanted his iced. I wanted hot. My tea arrived lukewarm. I sent it beck to be heated. It came back the same temperature, but with an extra teabag. I didn’t drink it. I gave up on anything to drink.

Ah, the food…..They had one of my favorites, eggplant in garlic sauce on the menu. Michael wanted to know if any of the dishes had cashews or peanuts since the menu didn’t specify. I guess he was feeling particularly nutty. Our waitress did not know. She went to ask. Oh, yes, the Kung Pao Chicken (they spelled it Kung Bo) had peanuts. So Michael ordered that. I ordered my eggplant. They didn’t have it. Okay, I’d need another minute to decide on something else. Okay, how about the curried tofu, and why don’t we start with tempura vegetables? Our waitress took the order and came back 10 minutes later to tell us they didn’t have the tempura veggies. Fine! Just bring our regular food! I was getting a bit irritated. When our food arrived, my tofu looked kind of lumpy. When she set it down, I said, “This is curried tofu?” She said it was. There was some nice fresh broccoli with it, which I devoured, then took a bite of the “tofu”. It was chewy. I gave some to Michael. It was pork or chicken! We called our waitress back and I said “This is NOT tofu!” She said, “Uh, oh, right, it’s chicken. You ordered the curried tofu?” “Yes, I did….”
She took my plate. Michael had a large dish of chicken and veggies with peanuts and was nice enough to share with me while I waited FOREVER for my tofu to arrive.

Meanwhile, the guy sitting alone at the table behind me was also having trouble getting what he ordered. He kept sending stuff back. It really became comical. Finally, my lukewarm food appeared. It was passable. The hostess/owner came over to refill Michael’s tea. “Is everything okay?” I said, “It’s JUST okay”. She giggled.

Michael kept saying, “Well, they just opened, you’ve gotta cut them some slack”. Maybe. Maybe they should train their staff better. How about a serving spoon to scoop your veggies over your rice? How about soy sauce on the tables? We had to ask for soy sauce.

We were able to get our bill in a timely manner. On the way out, I stopped at the ladies room. I thought, “Okay, new facility, the restroom should at least be nice.” HA! Hahahahahaha! The room was HUGE, but the water pressure was very low, so both toilets still had stuff in them. It stunk in there. There were two stalls. One “handicapped”. The handicapped stall had no rails and just a regular toilet (which was difficult to flush since the water pressure was pathetic). There was a small counter with one sink. With all that space and two stalls, you would think there could be a larger counter so more than one person could wash hands at a time. And, you know how women like to reapply lipstick and check their make-up? Impossible if just one other person was in there! Especially, since the lack of water pressure would cause one to take 50 million years to rinse the soap off their hands!

All in all, it was an annoying culinary experience. It will be a loooooong time before we go back there. We’ll just stick with our sweet little neighborhood Chinese restaurants that we know and love. Or maybe we’ll just eat Cajun.

Michael’s Dolphin Rating:

Golden Wok, Golden Rock, St. Croix

Name -
Location -
Service -
Food -
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Overall Experience -

Sonja’s birthday was a couple of weeks ago. She and her husband, Christian were supposed to be vacationing in the states for her birthday. But that was when “Dean”, the storm was approaching. They quickly canceled the rest of their holiday plans and flew home to batten down for the potential onslaught. In the whirlwind that followed, her birthday was forgotten.

A few days ago I said to Michael, “Shit fire and mango butter, I forgot to call Sonja on her birthday!” and hoped to quickly remedy that situation. But my computer was giving me fits as were other things and I didn’t get around to it. Fortunately, our friends Ray and Diana had a “Waltz with the Stars” party on Saturday evening and Sonja and Christian were the dance instructors. I got to talk with her a bit and wish her a belated happy birthday. We also try to keep a tradition of going out to lunch to celebrate our birthdays, so we made a date for today. I would give a birthday massage and take her to lunch.

She chose Elizabeth’s at the Palms for our midday fiesta. It’s a great spot, right on the water at one of the most picturesque beaches on island, and the food is usually good. We each had a glass of wine and Sonja ordered the penne pasta with vodka tomato cream sauce, and shrimp. I had the “Ragin’ Cajun” sandwich which had jalapenos and a spicy sauce on roast beef. Sonja ate all of hers and I chewed as much as I could get of the meaty part of my sandwich. I should really know better than to order beef. It was gristly and fatty and just okay. The curly fries, however, were wonderful although I wouldn’t let myself eat all of them, so had them boxed up to bring home for a doggy treat.

The Palms Hotel has sold and will soon lose the Elizabeth’s restaurant crew. It’ll be interesting to see what happens. I guess the new owners have big renovation plans. We have heard that Jason and Elizabeth will be moving their operation to the Christiansted waterfront, where the Chart House used to be before Hurricane Marilyn destroyed it. Another superb location. Should be fabulous!

It was a nice afternoon of catching up and enjoying a little slice of our island paradise. One thing I learned though, was that Sonja, who has lived here longer than I, has only been to Buck Island 4 times. Christian, who has been here for 7 years, has only been there once. I thought that was one of the saddest things I’d heard in a long time and I vowed to call her after my surgery and take them out there on “Origami” before the busy season hits.

I’m not sure if we told Reggie yet. We’re not sure if he’s heard the news. Reggie will be interested in this if he was not yet aware of it. Very interested. I wonder what his reaction will be.

Okay, here goes…..Katherine and Frank Pugliese have sold their restaurant (hope Reggie took his heart medication).

We hear that the new owners are very nice and want to keep the atmosphere friendly and “all about the love”, like it’s always been. They want to retain the same staff (who wouldn’t?), so we will wait and see….

We were fortunate enough, this year to have been invited to the “last supper” with Brian, a colleague of Michael’s. This was the third year in a row that he’d be present for the last hurrah before F & K’s vacation. He made reservations weeks ago and later asked us to join him, and to bring a friend to make a foursome. We chose Maggie. We love Mags, hadn’t really seen her to talk about her recent trip to Anegada, and knew she would appreciate the Bacchanal. Unfortunately, adding more people to an eight o’clock reservation didn’t work. They had to push it up to 9 pm. I’m not usually thrilled to be eating that late, and we weren’t sure how much food they’d have left at that time, so we met earlier at the Deep End for appetizers. That was good and by the time we arrived at Bacchus it was a zoo. People were packed into the entryway/bar area like sardines. The noise was deafening. I was sure there was no food left. Katherine was tanked. Jody was drinking wine and schmoozing (he was off that night). Zack was way on top of his game. I saw Frank for a fleeting instant and asked about his haircut. He said it’s been short for a year and a half (guess I haven’t seen him in a while). Ted Davis the photographer snapped a picture of the four of us. People kept pouring in. We couldn’t even see who was tending bar, never mind getting close enough to get a beverage. A few people made their way out. We saw our friends Carl and Christine with their son, Dylan; Ditty (with her new ‘do) and Sue appeared to be having a fun “girls night out”, and many others.

Our table was finally ready. Zack sat us and brought us menus and water. Roger was our waiter. He was friendly and efficient, just like everyone who works at Bacchus. Brian started with the SOS (same old squid), the fried calamari, Michael and Maggie had the beet salad with candied pecans and blue cheese, and I had the tiny southgate greens salad. For entrees, Brian had the halibut, Maggie the fried oysters appetizer, Michael the lobster bisque and I had the scallop appetizer. Everything looked good. The bisque, however was watery. I loved my scallop. It was one big one “spiced and seared with sauteed onions, tomatoes, garlic, cilantro and key lime butter” in a little bitty tortilla bowl. It was just enough. Three of us shared a bottle of Rosenblum Zinfandel (yum!) while Brian enjoyed a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. But I was craving chocolate after all that and ordered the flourless chocolate torte with vanilla ice cream to share. Brian ordered one without ice cream. Roger went away and quickly returned with the bad news…..they were out of chocolate torte. I switched to chocolate rum cake (with vanilla ice cream) and Brian opted out of dessert except for another Sierra Nevada.

On the way out, we stopped to hug Katherine and thank her for all the wonderful years. She told me that she’d always remember our Wednesday night “Mom and Daughter Dinners”. A few years ago, Nicole and I spend “Winey Wednesdays” together helping the Bacchus staff pare down their wine selection. It became a regular undertaking which we took very seriously ;).

We will miss Katherine and Frank in town, but there is talk of them doing something new on the north shore. Stay tuned……

Chenay Bay Beach Resort is about 3 miles from our house. It’s a quaint little group of guest cottages situated on a sheltered cove, right next to a long sandy beach, with a great view of Green Cay Island and Christiansted town west to Judith’s Fancy.

We have always said “This place has soooo much potential.” That was because it was owned and run by a not so nice guy who had trouble keeping the place up partly because he couldn’t keep help. Ever since I moved here 13 years ago, there have been two resorts on island that were ALWAYS hiring. Chenay Bay and the Buccaneer.
I’ve actually worked at both places in their restaurants. I think I may have worked maybe 3 shifts at each.

Anyway, Chenay Bay is under new ownership and management. We have hope. We wanted to give it a little while to get through the transition period before we tried the restaurant. A few weeks ago we went with Peter and tried to have lunch. We decided that it was going to take too long (we had to get to work), so we left.

But last night, after working around the house all day, we decided to give their Friday evening Fish Fry a shot. $12 for all you can eat fried fish, french fries, cole slaw, and potato salad. Can’t beat that with a stick.

We sat out on the deck overlooking the water. It was a perfect evening. The breeze was just right. It cooled us and kept the bugs away. The sky that had been gray most of the afternoon did not produce as colorful at sunset as we’ve seen, but the differences in the cloud thicknesses made for an interesting light show as the sun approached the horizon.

There was a plethora of pleasant people pampering the diners. They were constantly coming over to our table to ask if everything was okay and if we needed anything else. It was a wonderful change from the usual pathetic service we’ve gotten at resorts here. Our waitress was Kimberley and Armand was the bus boy. They were great!

We filled our bellies without emptying our pockets. Drinks were expensive, but I wasn’t there to drink. Our dinner for two (including 18% gratuity which they add to each bill), came to $43.00. And it was really good. Overall a lovely dining experience!

After dinner, we went to the car to retrieve Goliath and took a walk on the beach. The long stretch of sand to the west of Chenay is where we do our morning turtle walks for the St. Croix Environmental Association (SEA).

Most Thursdays, we meet a few friends in the charming courtyard at Apothecary Hall to have dinner at Luncheria Mexican Restaurant. Luncheria has been there for years, open for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday. Luis, the bartender always takes our order and pours me one of their famous frozen margaritas with a smile. Except for last night. They usually have frozen lime and strawberry margaritas constantly being stirred and swirled in a large, blender-like contraption. Yummm! But last night, it was broken. Waaaah! I like these so much, that they are generally my jump-up favorites and I also get one to go to the salon for a haircut or pedicure. Mmmm…

Luis tried to soothe my sorrow by scooping out some of the sad mixture just sitting in the machine, mixing it with ice and putting it through the regular blender. Ugh! It just wasn’t the same. It was a nice try, but no cigar, senor.

Anyway, the usual cast of characters we meet there changes weekly ;). When the gang’s all there, it will include: Dave and Michelle, Roy and Sue, Jeff and Kim, and Robin and Mitch, and us with Goliath. Rarely does everyone show up, but it’s always fun to see who does and the conversation is always lively and interesting. Folks will often bring visiting family and/or friends to join the fun. When Michael’s parents were on island, they came with us one week. Dave’s parents hoped to come while they were here a few weeks ago, but his Mom could hardly move because her back pain was excruciating. So we didn’t get to meet her or his Dad. Last night we met some of Dave and Michelle’s friends. And Sue joined us, as well.

It was their first visit to the island and they were really enjoying it. They were staying in an awesome house on a hill overlooking green cay and the north shore. The house was so lovely, they didn’t need to go sight seeing. But they went snorkeling with Dave and Michelle at Chenay Bay and got to see a green turtle. Today they would go to Buck Island on Teroro with Captain Heinz or his son, Captain Carl.

At Luncheria, I generally have the same thing every week. Why mess with what works? I love their refried bean tostada. I usually order it with sour cream or guacamole and slather it with the complementary salsa (mild, hot or hotter) that they have out in self-serve containers for all to enjoy. Michael will often be adventurous and try a special as long as it doesn’t look too spicy. There are usually three specials on the board, and they are always BIG. A LOT of food. Last night, he wasn’t too hungry, so he had the regular beef tostada with guacamole. They also had a tostada grande with scads of stuff in a flour tortilla bowl and their “diet plate” called “notta lotta fat”. Well, I had it once. It WAS delicious, and probably low in fat, but it was too much food. I like to eat light at night, so that might be a great lunchy thing for me, but not usually something just before bedtime. It’s a whole wheat tortilla STUFFED to bursting with spinach, rice and beans and either beef or chicken. It even comes with a big salad. Yummm but too much for me! Last night I stuck with my usual :), minus the margarita . Good, but just not the same without that frosty concoction.

An ice show on St. Croix! We’d heard about it for weeks and I really wanted to go. Michael wasn’t thrilled with the prospect, but he humored me. I thought it would be a lot more fun if we had a few friends with us (sort of like going bowling~the more the merrier). So I called a couple of people to see if they were interested. Peter was, but he had to work. Lorine sort of was. Partly because the concept of an ice show in the tropics is bizarre. We’d never seen anything like this down here before. But she was game. So the three of us went to St. Croix Central High School’s Gymnasium building to witness “Cirque on Ice”.

One of the things I love about living on a small island is that you get to know almost everyone. We have a bunch of friends who feel more like family members. They have diverse backgrounds, jobs and careers. We have friends who are attorneys, doctors, federal agents, boat captains and crew members, authors, business owners, chefs, maintenance workers, artists, jewelers, housekeepers, millionaires, etc. Lorine is a realtor. In the states, I don’t think I would have hung out with a realtor. We wouldn’t have anything in common. But those of us who are on St. Croix (and as we often say, “We’re all here because we’re not all there”) have our love for this island in common. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be here. People who have a strict agenda when they come here rarely make it as islanders.

Anyway, I had called Lorine earlier in the day to confirm a meeting time and discuss feeding ourselves before the show. I said I thought we’d get pizza (I had been craving pizza for days). Well, we didn’t have time to get pizza before the show, so we hoped they’d have popcorn or Cruzan food at the event to snack on. As luck would have it, they had food. Our hero, Michael stood in line FOREVER to get chicken, popcorn, a hot dog and a couple of bottles of water. The show started right when he sat down after his long wait. Timing! It wasn’t pizza, but we were hungry and it tasted good.

It was amazing! A temporary ice skating rink had been constructed right there on the gym floor! The performers alternated between “Ice Capades” type acts, a juggling clown, and contortionist/acrobatic routines like “Cirque de Soleil”. It was great! I’ve always loved watching figure skaters and got my fix of axels, Lutzes and flying camels. The skaters were very talented, the costumes were fabulous and the acts extremely entertaining. Sitting on the bleachers was good because we had a perfect view of the ice, but it was hard on the bodies, especially after our kayak trip yeaterday. It also became stressful watching some of the “death-defying” feats that the acrobats and skaters performed. They were truly breath-taking, edge-of-your-seat skits and routines.

After the show, Lorine, who was kind enough to drive, asked if we needed to stop at the grocery store on the way home. I asked if she needed to, and she said that she did not since she had gone on the way home from a concert at Whim the night before. I had been hoping to stop and replied that, yes, I needed a few items. On the way out of the store, they have a food concession adverising soft serve ice cream. I asked Lorine if she wanted some and she said, “Sure”. Well, they didn’t have any ice cream. Oh well, we’d live.

She drove out of the parking lot and down the street a short way, passing by the new Napoleon’s Pizza operation, at which point she asked “Do you want to get pizza?” Gosh! My craving would finally be satisfied. So we finally had our pizza fix, got back home and lived happily ever after….

August 1 was our 20th “monthiversary”. And they said it wouldn’t last… We’re pretty corny and celebrate things like that. Hell, we celebrate anything. Why not? Anyway, we decided to go to Kendrick’s for dinner. We hadn’t been since before we got married.

It’s such a gorgeous spot. The old buildings surrounding the lovely outdoor dining area. We were seated undercover on a low balcony overlooking the Christmas palms and bamboo palms and various potted herbs scattered about the romantic courtyard.

Voz was our server. We know her from the Yacht Club and Duggan’s. She’s always pleasant and efficient, bringing us water and telling us about the day’s specials shortly after we’re seated. Michael peruses the wine list while I check out the regular menu.

We both decide on fish entrees, Michael choosing the pan-seared yellowfin tuna with wasabi aioli and garlic spinach and I the pan roasted wahoo with grilled cherry tomatoes, pesto and crispy garlic. We picked the Francis Coppola Diamond Merlot to accompany our meal. I have been on a soup kick and loved their chipolte pepper soup last time we were there, so I had that as a starter. Michael opted for the champagne gazpacho with dill sour cream.

A basket of fresh warm bread arrived with a bowl of dipping oil to get us started. The soups were fabulous, and we shared and compared. The gazpacho was pleasantly spiced, not overwhelming, with generous chunks of cool refreshing veggies. The pepper soup was velvety smooth and savory with a “just right” slight bite.

We sipped our soups and wine while we discussed activities for Reggie and Gigi’s upcoming visit in September. Hiking, snorkeling, boating, dining. We made a list and discovered (surprise!) that they will not be here long enough….again. As Michael has said, there’s “too much to do on St. Croix”.

Our entrees arrived and we dove right in. Michael’s tuna was incredible. Perfectly rare and as tender as it gets. My wahoo was also fabulous with the flavors of tomato, pesto and garlic teasing my palate. Each dish came with rice and fresh broccoli. But again, for me, there was too much food. I had to have much of mine wrapped so I could enjoy a little bit of dessert. We had decaf coffee and shared a vanilla flan. Yum!

Michael’s going to show me how to do the “dolphin rating” soon. Or he’ll just do it, to add his special blog touch to this entry. Soon come……Michael’s dolphin rating……

Kendrick’s

Entrees -

Service -

Dessert - (+ for the coffee)

Three years ago, when Michael and I first got together, we were asked to help out at a clambake to benefit the St. Croix Animal Welfare Center. Our friend, Cindy was organizing the event and needed us to help with kids activites. I was supposed to do face painting and Michael would make giant bubbles with the kids who wanted to. Many of our friends were there in various capacities. Jody juggles and makes balloon animals. Steve brings his donkey, Eeyore to events and the kids get to ride him. Other friends, Lorine and Val participated in pie-eating contests and watermelon spitting contest. It should have been the “watermelon seed spitting contest”, but the store that donated the watermelon gave us seedless ones, so contestants had to bite off chunks of melon and spit those into the air trying to get them to go farthest. It was too funny!

Anyway, this year, we were asked once again to help out, and being suckers for a good cause, said, “okay”. We were to get there early and help with setting things up. Another friend who made a couple of dozen cupcakes for the event needed us to pick them up on the way, so we did. It was being held at The Palms Hotel, formerly The Cormorant. There was already plenty of help when we arrived so we were just put at our station which was the first table people would come to as they entered the hotel. Our job was to sell entry tickets and place wrist bands on everyone who came in. It was fun and we saw a bunch of folks before we had to get going to work. Our pay for the “work” that we did was a free lunch. The food was plentiful and good. I think it was a successful fundraiser and everybody had a nice time.

Michael’s Editorial:

31st Annual Clambake -

            Clams -

           Desserts -

The phone rang at 7:30 am on Saturday. We were still sleeping after our fantastic friday which ended with “plenty wine” at Sunset Jazz. I thought it might be Peter, since he’s usually up at 4:30 and after a while gets bored and needs someone to play with. While we were on vacation in Anegada, he got us up at 6:30 one day. Thank goodness Heike came shortly thereafter so we didn’t have to babysit him anymore!

Anyhoo, it was Peter. I was still groggy when I answered the phone on the bedside table. He hit me with the news that our friend Jay had had another heart attack. “Oh noooo!” was my reply. (Poor Michael is left there half asleep wondering what the bleep is going on….) Jay just had a “near heart attack” two weeks previously. But they hadn’t put a stint in his artery. Jay’s wife, our friend, Beth, had a heart attack last week. They did put one in her artery. So now he has “the real thing”. Is this family having some sort of bizarre one-upmanship thing?

I wondered if there was something he or they needed from us which would warrant a call at 7:30 am. Peter quickly answered my question. “We were all supposed to go to Buck Island with Llewellyn. I’d love it if you guys could fill in for them.” The trip aboard the custom-made trimaran, “Charis +” is always a treat, but it would be a struggle to get up, get breakfast and get ready in time for the 9:00 departure. “Let me wake up and talk to Michael. We’ll call you back in a few minutes.” We decided (of course), to do it. I fixed breakfast while Michael got our snorkeling stuff, cooler with snacks and beverages and towels together. We were a couple of minutes late, but fortunately they hadn’t left without us.

Passengers were: Terry and Michael, Peter, Vinnie and Goliath

Goliath!. Crew was: Captain Llewellyn Westerman and First Mate, David Letson. Me and all those men. Oh joy. They’d be talking about “guy stuff” the whole time. That was pretty much the way it was, although we did see lots of turtles on the way to Buck and the wind and the sun felt great.

Rather than going to the trail, they decided to take us to the north side of Turtle Beach, where David would lead us on a snorkeling trip to places we hadn’t gone to on that side of the park. There were usually juvenile black tip sharks there, so we might get to see one or two while in the water. Exciting! And, as soon as we got in a huge school of sprat (fish) started zooming around us in some strange frenzy. I thought, “Oh crap, there’s a shark chasing them”. And I was right. It was 3-4 feet long and it was just flying through that water. I grabbed Michael’s hand and held tight trying to convince myself that this shark was probably not hungry enough to come after me since there were all these fish for him/her to eat. We swam away toward the reef and were not followed by the shark. The water was a bit murky, but the coral formations were nice and, as the current took us west, the sea fan gardens became spectacular. After about 30-45 minutes I decided to go back to the boat. Our friend, Vinnie had been babysitting Goliath, so wanted to relieve him and let Michael take him out to show him what we had just seen. This was Vinnie’s first trip to Buck Island since moving to St. Croix 4 years ago. He said he did not want to snorkel. He just jumped off the boat for a minute and came back aboard.
Okay.

Peter and David returned a short time later and we compared stories of what we’d seen. We saw one small lobster in addition to all the usual fish, but David and Peter saw quite a few crustaceans and one huge one under a ledge that we missed when we went back to the boat. While we were gone, Llewellyn worked on patching up one of the sails. After we were back on board, he took off for a swim to cool off.
We snacked on cheese and crackers and drank mango champagne that we had purchased a few weeks before at “Mango Melee“. It was hot in the sun on the lee side of the island and Vinnie was starting to fry. I told him to put more sunscreen on, but he didn’t listen. Michael did, though and WE got back NOT looking like stupid tourists or lobsters. The sail back to St. Croix was lovely, as usual. A lot less “guy talk”, since David was up at the bow and Vinnie was sleeping. Llewellyn is an amazing yachtsman. He wins races throughout the Caribbean, and his boat does not have even the thought of an engine on it. He just makes sailing look so easy, but he’s been doing it longer than I’ve been on planet earth in this incarnation. (A looooong time).

Okay, back home at around 2 pm after stopping for petrol. Now we had to feed the dogs and cats and have ourselves a bite to eat before heading out to Frederiksted (again!!) for a “Geocaching Hike” sponsored by SEA. Hadn’t ever heard of it and certainly hadn’t tried it, so, something new involving hiking with gadgets. Michael would love it! I would enjoy the hike to the Hamm’s Bluff Lighthouse.

We ran out the door after putting on appropriate hiking clothes and shoes (ugh! shoes!) and got to the meeting place just in time. A small group (about a dozen) of us were equipped with GPS units and told to find the “buried treasure”. Michael and I took off to the south. Our GPS told us to head south. Everyone else stayed on the beach milling about. But we were heading south. It was hot at 4:30 pm as the sun was blazing at a very intense angle. We cursed ourselves for wearing long pants and tried to stay behind trees and bushes in the shade while heading south. We got to a spot close to the place our GPS unit said the treasure was. But it said the treasure was in the water. It would have been nice to cool off, but we weren’t dressed for it. Finally we went back and consulted with Don and Freddie. It was determined that our unit was messed up. The treasure we were supposed to find was a couple of yards to the north of where we started. Okay.

Fortunately mostly everyone else’s units worked, so we could just follow them to the prize by the lighthouse. We got in our cars and drove to the National Guard property where the trail up the hill began. The trail was nice and wide. It was cool and shady, and small vines hung down like curtains creating an effect reminiscent of scenes from “Harry Potter”. The hike was great. A little strenuous for someone (like me!) who hadn’t hiked in months. And it felt wonderful to get to the top. The views were breathtaking and the breeze was just what the doctor ordered. We didn’t immediately find the prize. The bush was very thick and we didn’t know if there were thorny things or critters underneath it. One brave member of our group, Bob, who just moved to St. Croix with his wife, Debbie, decided he was “going in”. He found the prize a couple of yards into the bush where none of the rest of us were brave enough to go. (Michael probably would have, but he was busy exploring the lighthouse.) Anyway, it was a little plastic box with postcards and trinkets and a camera and notepad and pencil. You record your presence with the camera and notepad and the person monitoring the site logs the info on the official geocaching website. The hike back down the hill put the burn on the quads this time. The knees objected a bit, but they had no say in the matter. We made it down and met back at the Sunset Grill to enjoy a cocktail after our successful trip.

We decided to stay and have a little dinner in F’sted. Peter’s friend, Lin was coming in from Arkansas later, and this way we could stop at the airport on the way back home to welcome him to our island. We ate at Napoleon’s Pizza. The slices are enormous!
We had a veggie (mine!), a supreme-type thing (Michael’s!) and a seafood slice that we thought we’d share. There was too much food. After I was done my veggie, I only had room for a bite of the seafood one. It was good, and the meal, including two beers, cost under $20. What a deal!

We finished and headed toward the airport. Lin’s flight was scheduled (according to Peter) to arrive at 8:55 pm. We’d be a little early, but we had reading material, so no biggie. We hadn’t heard from Peter who we thought he might still be napping after the sailing trip. Finally, at 9:05, we heard a plane landing. Peter arrived at the same time and surprise (!) Lin was on the plane. Everything worked out great. We got to greet Lin and then head home, exhausted. We didn’t even stop to help when the Great Dane dog Peter had borrowed vomited all over the sidewalk. We did, however, stop at the supermarket to stock up on bagels, breads, english muffins and corn chips (no low carb diet for us!)

Gosh! Just reading that seemed to take a couple of days, didn’t it? Another interesting “islandy” day. Lots of sun and fun. Sunday would now have to be a work day. The grass needed mowing, laundry needed doing, there was also a trip to the dumpster on the itinerary which meant gathering up junk to throw out, loading up the Land Rover…….

We go to Buck Island National Park and Monument as often as we can. We have a small (12 ft) dinghy-type boat which actually folds down to the size of a surf board for transport. We keep it at the St. Croix Yacht Club, tied, on land, next to a few other dinghies. It has a small outboard motor and we can get there in about 25 minutes. We also have a 2 person pedal Hobie kayak which we have taken out to Buck on calm days. That generally also takes about 25 minutes, but we get lots of excercise and we leave from a point on St. Croix closer to Buck than the Yacht Club.

Sundays are really busy days out there as a lot of local folks sail or motor out to enjoy the beautiful beach and to “make the scene”. They generally just stay at the beach drinking beer or wine or foo-foo drinks and having a picnic on the sand or on their watercraft. Sometimes we do this, but we usually go to the snorkeling trail on the east side of the island.

This Sunday was a little different. The waters were pretty rough with small-craft advisories. So we took a half day trip to Buck on Big Beard’s Renegade, a 42 foot sailing catamaran built by Gold Coast Yachts right here on St. Croix. We had a gift certificate that we had won in the “Centipede Roundup”. This occurs every October at Big Beard’s retail store called “Centipede, the Outdoor Store”. Island folks are invited to bring in the “biggest, ugliest, meanest looking” centipede they can find. It must be in one piece and you get extra points for good presentation. Earlier last year, we found a couple of dead centipedes in our swimming pool. Michael tied each of them into a hot sauce bottle, put clever labels on them, and submitted one into the contest. I wasn’t sure why he only submitted one, so I submitted the other one. He ended up winning second place and I won third. Hence the gift certificate. We also have one for a sunset sail, which we will review in the future.

Back to our Sunday trip. The seas were rough and there weren’t many people on board, so we were able to sit up front where we had a better view (and could get wet, too). We were hoping to see dolphins or turtles and we did spy a pair of mating green turtles. It was quite a common sight that day, as a client of mine called at 6 am to tell me that she was watching a pair right on the water line at her beach. She was concerned that they might have a problem when the water receded. I told her that I didn’t have official phone numbers handy, but if she was still worried in a couple of hours, to give me a call and I’d put her in touch with a turtle expert.
I guess things turned out okay because I didn’t hear back from her. Peter also saw some turtles that day on his way to Buck on another boat. But alas, no dolphins.

The sail was fun and Captain Gordon decided, that since most of the guests were experienced snorkelers (and the beach was already packed with other boats and people), we’d go to the trail first and maybe hit the beach later if there was time.The water was incredibly clear from the boat and, as always the color reminded me of a giant swimming pool. We could even see the reefs and some of the colorful fish. Getting in the water did not diminish its clarity. It was spectacular and we immediately came upon a huge school of blue tang gracefully winding their way around the coral heads. There were also about a half dozen squid, just hanging in the water looking at us and another couple. The trail was beautiful and we saw a bunch more fish including groupers, french grunts, wrasse and parrot fish. We swam to the outer edge of the reef into a grotto where the water gets to be 30-50 feet deep, and there we saw sargeant majors and blue chromis along with some of the previously mentioned species. I always get a little freaked out in this area, especially when it’s rough, and I also started getting cold, so I told Michael I had to move. He swam with me down the inside of the reef a ways and we admired more fish and healthy coral formations and got some cardiovascular excercise in. He wanted to go outside the reef again and I wanted to return to the boat, so he swam back with me a bit before taking off to do his thing.

Back on board, First Mate, Erin was telling folks that she had seen a nurse shark along the trail while guiding some of the others. It was only the second time she had seen a shark there. I have yet to see one.

Our time at the trail wound down, Michael and the others returned to the boat, and we sailed around to the beach where the crew set out one anchor in the sand far away from other boats. Gordon invited everyone to jump in off the side if they liked and swim up to the beach for a bit. People jumped in, but I didn’t see many of them visiting the beach. They just loved being in the crystal clear sea.

Our sail back was calm and lovely and we returned to Christiansted around 4 pm.
All in all, it was a wonderful trip with a great crew and some fun new friends. And different from our usual in that we didn’t have to put a bunch of boat stuff away.

Saturday night, 7/7/07, there were two concerts on St. Croix (that we knew about, anyway). One was the first in a summertime series at the StX Landmarks Society’s Whim Museum. This one was entitled “A Night in Mexico”. The other was a (lots of explosive adjectives) Reggae show at Island Center. We are pretty big reggae fans and have gone to many a dreadlock-spangled performance both on island and off. We probably could have attended this one after the other one, since the headliners rarely go on at a reggae show before midnight, but I was dragging, so we stuck with going out to Whim.

The weather forecast was for gusty winds and rain, so we brought an umbrella and hoped for the best. It turned out to be a great evening. Folks had the option of pre-ordering picnic suppers and wine/cheese baskets from a local deli or bringing in their own. We are still drowning in mangoes, so we brought our own fruit and cheese and a bottle of red wine. The music was heavenly - a pianist, Vera Parkin, and Manuel Ramos playing the violin. The compositions were fun and interesting and it felt wonderful to be there among our friends with the breeze under the nighttime sky.

It started to rain for just a second, and since the musicians and their instruments were not covered, they stopped to cover up. But as soon as they did, it cleared.

I felt very close to Michael and that everything would be alright, but I cried a little when I watched a mother playing with her beautiful little girl on a blanket nearby.The loss of our unborn baby not quite two weeks ago has rendered me less than stable on a few occasions and I become emotional at times. I thought I was getting better. Oh well, a little setback. It happens.

Landmarks’ next concert, “Traditions of Bluegrass” will be on August 4th, so we’ll check that out and have more fun stuff to report, I’m sure.

If there’s one thing that irritates me (OK, there are a few things that irk me, but this is near the top of the list), its when I hear “There’s nothing to do on St. Croix”. Whether its Cruise Industry excuses, St. Thomians dissin’ the Big Island, or travel writing whiners repeating schlock without ever having visited, it drives me nuts.

For the naysayers, here’s our social report for the last two weeks. In my renewed blogging zeal I’ve already posted about a few of these tings and intended to write up all of them (and still might), but I just keep getting farther behind - too busy doing to write! So here’s the abridged version:

Monday, April 30 Dinner at [tag]Tuttu Bene[/tag] with Peter and Heike before Heike left for Germany visit.

Wednesday, May 2 Coastal Zone Management public meeting regarding [tag]St. Croix Environmental Association[/tag]’s proposed development of the [tag]Southgate Coastal Reserve[/tag] at Southgate beach and wetland area. Check back here for my letter to CZM regarding questions raised at this meeting.

Thursday, May 3 Sushi at the [tag]Deck Bar[/tag] - outdoors, overlooking [tag]Christiansted[/tag] harbor, Maggie serves up great sashimi and rolls. You can’t find fresher fish anywhere, the boats are docked right in front of you. Art Thursday - Christiansted Gallery Walk.

Friday, May 4 Triathlon [tag]Jump-Up[/tag], Christiansted. A downtown block party covering about six square blocks (nearly all of C’sted). Music, dancing, [tag]Mocko Jumbies[/tag], steel pan, lobster kabobs, and limin’ in the streets. Meet new friends or catch up with ones you haven’t seen in months - young, old, residents, visitors - everybody is out at Jump Up. Served four times a year: February Valentines (or Terry’s Birthday, May Triathlon, July 4th, and December (sometimes late November) Pre-Christmas.

Lately, island favorite [tag]Kurt Schindler[/tag] has been performing his music magic in the Caravelle Arcade courtyard outside Caravelle Cafe (formerly Cafe Society, formerly de Bean Mon). He was there rockin’ away to a large and appreciative crowd Friday night.

Cinco de Mayo, Saturday, May 5 Finfolk [tag]Ocean Swim[/tag]. I think the scheduled swim was from one west end beach to another, but a small group of renegade non-triathlon participants met for a Cane Bay to Carambola beach route. The conditions were too perfect, so we opted to swim west from Carambola to [tag]Annaly Bay[/tag] and back. Visibility was great, I’ve never seen such calm waters at the western Davis Bay entry. Not too many spectacularly exotic species this trip, but we did see one small hawksbill turtle and a huge school of good sized bait fish of some type and the coral is this area is some of the healthiest around the island.

Dinner at [tag]Cafe Kaleidoscope[/tag] (at the former Southshore cafe location) before cross-island trek to see [tag]From Page to Stage[/tag] production of Hate Mail at the Good Hope School’s Savage Theater.

There were various Cinco de Mayo events around the island, but we didn’t get to any, just too much to do!

Sunday, May 6 [tag]St. Croix Ironman 70.3[/tag] (formerly St. Croix Half Ironman formerly St. Croix International Triathlon). Beginning in 1988 as an alternative off-season tourist attraction, the “little triathlon that could” has grown into a major international sporting event. Pros and challengers come from all over the world in an attempt to conquer “[tag]Beauty and the Beast[/tag]“. The triathlon is now a qualifying event for the Ironman World Championship (Kona, Hawaii), the Ironman USA (Lake Placid, NY) and Ironman Canada. We didn’t go this year, it came to us! Nearly every year, for the past six or more, Terry, myself, or both of us, have volunteered our massage skills to suffering triathletes down in the massage tent in the transition area. This year we took a break, took our dogs for walks and watched the competitors bike past once… twice… three times - the 56 mile bike loop(s) covers nearly the entire island and passes our little road 3 times, twice one way, once the other.

Monday and Tuesday, May 7-8 We caught our breathe and caught up on domestic things (riiiiiggggghhhht… well we tried, a little)

Wednesday, May 9 Dinner at the Deep End - Farewell to Peter, he’s headed for Germany and Paris vacation early next morning.

Thursday, May 10 Up at the crack of dawn, or a little before, to get Peter out to the airport for a 6:45 am flight - Incredibly, there are actually American Eagle employees behind the counter and a long line of travelers already checking in at 5:30 am, I didn’t figure they’d even open the airport before 6:00! I mean, nobody comes here right?

Thursday [tag]Luncheria[/tag] Night! We’ve become Thursday night regulars meeting our Land Rover Guru, Dave, his wife Michele, and their assorted (or is that sordid) friends.

Friday, May 11 After giving a couples massage on the beach in front of Sand Castle on the Beach in Frederiksted, we’ve got a few hours before next appointment. We enjoyed a snorkel/swim from Sand Castle south past Cottages by the Sea and the condo complex toward the public pool. A big barracuda passed us at a good clip, which can be a little worrisome. Usually they drift lazily along near schools of lunch. What was he after, or what was behind him?? Nothing scary turned up. Terry saw a small sea snake or eel, but I missed it.

Having worked up an appetite, we lunched at the [tag]Beachside Cafe[/tag] at Sand Castle. Terry started with french onion soup and followed up with a hummus platter. I had a cuban sandwich. The soup broth was thicker than usual and a little sweet. The hummus was “boring”, according to Terry. The cuban was alright, but pickle was on the side, not in it (carmelized onions in it instead) and though warm, it wasn’t press grilled the way I’m used to. I popped the pickle inside, and it was pretty good. All in all, not much to “blog about”. However, service was decent and the view is to die for.

Finished the day at [tag]Caribbean Community Theater[/tag]’s opening night performance of Niel Simon’s The Odd Couple. This is the final show of the regular season. All the cast were great, but Michael Armendariz and Lionel Downer were terrific as Felix and Oscar. And we enjoyed opening night champagne and cake with the cast after the show.

Saturday, May 12 Now that the waters have warmed up and our season is slowing down we were able to join the finfolk for a second week in a row. The scheduled swim, from Robin Bay (Lobsta’ Shack) beach across Great Pond Bay to Howard Wall Boyscout Camp, was aborted again, this time due to Portuguese Man-o-War jellyfish sightings on the south shore during the previous week. Getting stung by jellyfish half-way through a 2 mile swim - Not Fun. We relocated to [tag]Tamarind Reef Beach[/tag] for a ’round Green Cay swim on the north east shore instead. Like last weeks swim at Davis Bay, this was the calmest water most of these veteran swimmers had seen for this swim. Ray Lutz spotted a couple [tag]Spotted Eagle Ray[/tag]s on the way over and again on the way back - it was a see Ray see sea rays kinda swim. No turtles this time.

Since we were right there, we stayed for breakfast at the [tag]Deep End Bar and Grille[/tag]. Its hard to screw up simple breakfasts, but special orders can be a different thing. Our dining companion eschews all foods yellow (or at least yellow dairy items) and ordered an egg-white only veggie omelette with white cheese. The Deep End kitchen came through with flying colors (or would that be flying colorless) and served up the omlette as ordered. We were also able to pick up a cube (4-5 gallons) of used veggie fryer oil for our Veggie Rover Biofuel Project. For the record, we’ve collected Waste Vegetable Oil from several area restaurants and the oil from The Deep End is consistently the cleanest oil we’ve collected. That can really tell you something about how a place keeps its kitchen.

We’re making a good attempt to get back on our massage-a-week (or every other week) program. I got a massage from Terry last week, so she got one today.

Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 13 We had a lazy morning, then joined Terry’s daughter, Nicole, her boyfriend, Ian, and our friend Meredith for Brunch at [tag]Duggan’s Reef[/tag] out at Teague Bay. Our server started off a little scattered and nervous, but made a strong finish offering Meredith extra chocolate muffins to go. BTW, Meredith treated us all to brunch, so she deserved them. Thanks Meredith!

I got another massage from Terry - only a week apart, we’re on a roll. Though she readily admits it was only to speed up the queue to her next massage
Finished up Mother’s Day at [tag]The Terrace Restaurant[/tag] at The Buccaneer. I haven’t dined here since I used to manage their spa and was hosting a spa journalist. The view from the Terrace toward Christiansted and the harbor is unbelievable, hands down the best evening dining panorama on island. The sunset tonight wasn’t impressive, but the view still rocked. The food was fantastic, the service less consistent.

So there’s our two week round up. Keep in mind, this is after Easter, almost half-way through May, season is well into the downhill slide, but there is still too much to do. When season is in full swing every week-end (Wednesday through Sunday) is so chock full of events you have to really pick your favorites and abandon 2 or 3 per night. There’s no way to keep up with everything that’s going on.

I’ve been in the islands for eight years, five on St. Croix. With all there is to do here, there’s still a list of things I haven’t gotten to. I haven’t dived “The Wall” off the north shore (I’ve snorkeled over it, but not dived. Come to think of it, I haven’t scuba dived yet - neither wall nor wreck, nothing. I haven’t learned to wind-surf ( I did take a lesson one day when camping at Maho Bay in St. John before moving here). I haven’t learned to kite surf ( again, took one lesson on St. Thomas one day, but there are folks here that can teach you to do it right from the beach, rather than take you out to the middle of a bay in a dinghy and try to drown you for an hour). I haven’t hiked even a fraction of the ruins on island with the St. Croix Landmarks Society Ruins Rambles. I haven’t gone horseback riding.

I haven’t been to the Lawaetz Family Museum at Little La Grange. I haven’t toured Fort Christiansvaern in the [tag]Christiansted National Historic Site[/tag], (I’ve been in Fort Frederik, in Frederiksted, volunteering for an art charity function, and had a chance to look around). I hadn’t even heard of the Estate Mt. Washington self-guided tour until just now (I chanced upon the listing in St. Croix This Week while looking up how to spell Lawaetz), so I’m sure there is plenty more to do that I’m not even aware of.

I invite those who claim there is nothing to do on St. Croix to come see for themselves and tell me that again… just as soon as they’ve finished doing all there is to do. See you next century!

St. Croix -

Naysayers -

We hadn’t been to Tuttu in some time, so when Peter invited us, we couldn’t say no. For those who’ve not been on the island in a few years, downtown [tag]Christiansted[/tag]’s perennial favorite [tag]Tuttu Bene[/tag] has moved to new digs. They built a new place just east of town (about 3 blocks), its upstairs, but there’s a handicap accessible elevator. Same great food, still great service, but a larger custom designed kitchen and larger dining room. Yes, they’ve left the small kitchen and small dining space behind, so you can usually get a table when you want (though the new place filled quickly) and the kitchen staff can get the food out in reasonable time, even when crowded.

Unfortunately, despite obvious efforts with sound baffling on the ceiling, they couldn’t get away from the over-whelming acoustics. The noise can add to the lively atmosphere, but some patrons may find it hard to bear.

Our gracious hostess Jessica seated us in the corner just inside the door to the right, our own private little nook, for a while. It was pleasant and not too noisy there. We would have preferred the tables out on the veranda, but some unseasonably strong showers had left everything outdoors, even under cover, dripping, so we were encouraged to stay inside.

We started with a Taste of Tuttu Platter to share. Its practically a meal for four. There are a couple of Tuttu’s famous whole roasted garlic bulbs and crostinis, assorted olives, goat cheese, pepperchini, prosciutto, sausage, salami, some kind of confit, and I’m probably forgetting more goodies than I remember. Then Terry and I shared Tuttu’s signature Misto Salad and a fish special, fresh pan-seared rare wahoo with pineapple salsa over rice and baby veggies. I’d never had wahoo rare, but boy was it good - melted in your mouth like buttah. Peter and Heike had a shrimpy night, sharing a salad special, grilled shrimp over organic baby greens from our local [tag]Southgate Farms[/tag] and shrimp and roasted red peppers in a Gorgonzola cream sauce over pasta. Everything was delicious. After decimating the Taste of Tuttu, we couldn’t finish our meals, but somehow found room to share a Tiramisu and complimentary [tag]Sambuca con mosca[/tag], literally “Sambuca with flies” (three espresso beans representing health, wealth and happiness), an enduring Tuttu tradition.

Pros: Great food, lively atmosphere, friendly staff

Cons: a little loud, no longer right downtown on Company Street

Overall:

[tags]restaurant[/tags]

If you want to get a massage while staying at the Divi Carina Bay Resort in St. Croix, you MUST patronize their new spa, or hide in your room.

My wife, Terry, and I have been providing quality professional therapeutic massage and spa services to Virgin Islands visitors and residents for over eight years. Terry has been enhancing the experience of guests at the Divi since the hotel opened its doors. Back in the early days, she set up a tent by the pool, at their request. She would sit out there, hour after hour, at no cost to the hotel, giving massages to guests, upon request, and paying a commission to Divi for every massage. As her business grew, she no longer had the time to sit out there for free, but would go to the resort to provide massages by appointment.

Now the hotel has built a spa and no longer wants us to provide massage to guests. They don’t call us, we don’t leave brochures, but business goes on. We advertise, as other businesses do, and we have many satisfied customers that call on us year after year. We do not seek out guests at the Divi hotel, but we do have guests who know us by personal experience or reputation that seek us out. We do not take any business from the hotel’s spa. We do not leave brochures or cards on property. We do not solicit patrons directly, in their rooms, on the beach, or in the hotel’s public areas. When a guest, familiar with our quality work, calls on us, we provide professional therapeutic massage, or other out-call spa services, per their request, in their room, on the beach, or in one of the hotels open public spaces, outside, where it does not negatively impact any other patrons or hotel operations.

In fact, the hotel still benefits from the value added service as well as collateral promotion for the spa. We post no signs, logos or other business identification. Guests who see us on property are left to assume the service is provided by the hotel. If they inquire about spa services at the front desk, concierge, beach activities desk, or check the table tents in their rooms, they will be referred to Divi’s spa, not to our business.

The management has decided to arbitrarily restrict guests from utilizing the resort facilities for which they have paid. They can receive services from us if they hide in their room, but they are prohibited from using any other hotel property for this purpose, unless they use the spa’s therapists.

Apparently this decision applies only to massage (or maybe only to massage by us). As far as I know, guests may choose where they dine, in fact, the conceirge will book reservations for them at restaurants that are not on property! There is a dive shop facility at the resort, but guests are not obligated to buy, rent, or receive instruction from them. The hotel boasts two bars, but get this, guests are allowed to drink what and where they choose. They can mix a cocktail in their room and walk with it out on the hotel’s dock to enjoy the view, the sounds of the surf and the refreshing tropical breeze, as long as they don’t get a massage while they’re out there.

Last night Reggie and Gigi treated Terry and I to dinner at Restaurant Bacchus’ Wine up your Week Wednesday. Every Wednesday Bacchus offers two for one bottles of select wine. We really enjoy our wines, so we had four for two. Drank three and Reg sent the fourth home with us. (edit: It was shared with friends on Friday at the Frederiksted Economic Development Association’s Sunset Jazz.)

Dinner was excellent, as usual. We started with the Crispidy, Crunchidy, so Tasty & Yummy Calamari and some of the Shrimp appetizer special shared around the table. Terry had a Southgate local greens salad and I had Bacchus’ famous beet salad. I was so engrossed in my salad, I don’t know if or what Reggie and Gigi had for salad. I do know they enjoyed their Caribbean Spiny Lobster tails. Reggie ordered a medium tail he’d been dreaming about since February, Gigi ordered a small. When they arrived, both were quite generous.

I had a fresh Wahoo special and Terry had Halibut. Both were scrumptious, as was the lobster ( I helped Gigi finish hers, you can always take wahoo home, but lobster just isn’t the same the next day). We were all too stuffed for dessert, we didn’t even have any of Bacchus’ lovely melt in your mouth (and usually in your hands too) after-dinner dark chocolates.

Before we left, Reggie made reservations for his next visit, in February 2007. Which is not as odd as it sounds, Bacchus fills fast, so make your reservations early.

Restaurant Bacchus

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[tags]restaurant, Bacchus, wine, Christiansted[/tags]

I finally met Reggie Hunnicutt and his wife Gigi. We met at Carambola Beach Resort, where they are staying. My wife Terry gave them each a massage on the beach there, while I massaged our friend Sam, and a young lady named Tammy who was staying with a friend near Cane Bay and just happened upon us on the beach.

Afterward, they treated us to lunch at Lobster Reef (thanks Reg and Gigi!). We had the place to ourselves. Chef/owner Frankie made us all welcome and brought us cocktails or beer, then served us up a great lobster lunch. Terry, Gigi, and Reggie all had the lobster quesadilla, the traditional Tex-Mex concoction but with luscious chunks of fresh lobster. I had one of Frankie’s famous lobster salads, a green salad with even larger lumps of fresh lobster. Yummm.

Lobster Reef -

Tags: St. Croix
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