Since I didn't take journal notes this trip like I usually do, I better do this while its all still fresh. I won't go into detail about personal conversations about where and when we decided to eat etc but will cover the "basics" here.

1)Yes, bring Kleenex so when you get on the ferry from Red Hook and see STJ (4th time for us), when you get to Maho and talk with the staff, when you rent a car, when you do anything the first few minutes and start to feel the tears of joy come out, you'll be prepared! Polarized sunglasses help too.

2) Concordia Ecotents- Incredible views beyond words,convenient to the Coral Bay activities, great, great staff, comfortable beds, fairly roomy, a big step up from the Maho Bay tent side. It was also always sticky hot, hot, hot as there's no AC or big fans (which actually Maho did have), no electricity, poor lighting at night (really poor) and the tents were built for tall people so shorties like me had to stand on chairs to reach the kitchen shelves and to reach the couple of glorified overhead lights. We're glad we went but next time we'll look for a small villa with either big fans or at least AC in the bedroom so we can get a decent sleep. I don't mean to trash this place at all, but it IS camping. The views from our cabin made it worthwhile all in all.

3) the crime?- we have been before and could sense a slighter tension (just by walking by groups of men around Cruz Bay who were discussing racial tensions constantly) and we did know of a robbery of Island Blues in Coral Bay while we were there and heard of one villa robbery but our trip was crime/tension free and the few locals we met were very friendly or at least tolerant of us. There is a new substation for the police now on the Coral Bay side but the day/night of the Island Blues robbery, no one showed up to work so the police response was nonexistant!!! This is a small island with a small town atmosphere so all events get talked over alot and probably, at times, get blown out of proportion.

4) FOOD- for the most part, the food is just plain ordinary, fried food everywhere, nothing too special but we did have one of the top five meals of my 53 year old lifetime at Sweet Plantains on Rt 107 in Coral Bay, near the Coccolaba shopping area. Insanely great cuisine, even Chris our resident Message Board chef would approve of. We tried to make it to Asolares and couldn't for logisitics reasons hence the trip to Sweet PLantains. ITs pricey like Asolares, but if you can't make the trip over to Cruz Bay, I highly recommend this place. Shipwreck Landing is pretty decent too. Woody's- cheap drinks from 3-6, its a small, hot, noisy, happy kitchen size bar/cheap food place full of mainland babyboomers. Skinny Legs- an outdoor sports bar with huge hamburgers but the painkillers were the best I drank on the island. Store prices- yes, food is expensive but if you appreciate the logistics in getting it here from there, you can understand the huge mark-up. LIquor seemed to be the exception

5) Charters to the Baths at Virgin Gorda- we took an all day Baths charter via Limnos Charters who were great, great people. The boat held about 40 comfortably but there were only about 25 of us so it was roomy. The staff took great care of us and we went to Spanishtown in Virgin Gorda, taxied to the Baths, got the walking tour of it, a full hour plus at the baths, lunch on the boat with big deli sandwiches, and a fabulous top 10 snorkle in the caves at Normans Island- NOT to be missed. Not to trash their competitors but I'm very glad I wasn't on a boat that just stopped in the waters around the Baths as we would have missed the walk through the rocks, the trip to Spanishtown, etc. The competitor we did see had the people literally cheek to cheek on the boat. The Baths were absolutely overun with tourists and the snorkling is useless so don't bother. Hint: wear your surfshoes or water friendly sandles as you walk around the rocks as they are sandy and slippery. It wasn't quite what I had pictured and unless you're a geologist, you really won't need too much time there- too crowded!!
ONE cute anticdotal comment- as we approached Virgin Gorda we could see a small rain/squall line in the distance. One young passenger started to softly complain about her fear of rain while we were at the Baths so the Captain (Clement?) said "hold on", picked up his cell phone, and said "hello, yes, we only want good weather at the Baths okay? (I'm paraphrasing)" then closed his phone and said "we're all set, no rain"- very funny!!!

6) Shopping- sorry, we don't but I did buy a Jhook RING at Coral Bay Jewelers next to the Park in Cruz Bay and the man sized it for me right there. I love it. They also hand make Bay- specifically inspired bracelets based on the Cruzian hook concept which are worth buynig if you love jewelry and have a specific STJ bay you love.

7) Inconveniences- the bugs were horrible, far worse than our 3 previous trips so bring TONS of DEET and spray repeatedly, everywhere, not just on the beach. The humidity was pretty ferocious, maybe due to the recent rains, who knows.

8) Weather- just great, the usual small rain once or twice a day max, followed by glorious rainbows, better weather than we had 5 years earlier in May.

9)Reef Bay Trail Hike- very friendly and informative interpreter (Gilda), but it wasn't as exciting as I expected. Its a slow, slow hike of about 3 miles to the beach, slow because of Gilda's information on tons of vegetation and herbal remedies and history and an obvious respect for the varying levels of fitness of the tourists. There's no outhouse along the way but the one at the bottom at the beach is filthy beyond belief. The boat ride back was fun though and the petroglyphs you see at the small waterfall were awesome. The people we saw who were hiking in both directions looked exhausted due to the heat but the slope of the hike isn't steep. If you go, bring lots of water and don't do it in flip flops.

10) Get-togethers- if one is planned via the Message Board- go!!! We met several wonderful people at ours and now have 5 new terrific friends we hope to stay in contact with- Irene, Max, Carl, Dianne and Les. Max and Irene took us sailing for the day (great day) and showed us their home on STT so it was a great way to see things we otherwise wouldn't.

I think that should cover it. Any questions, particularly from Newbies, are welcome. Now I gotta get back to the laundry!! Karen