Today: Honeymoon Greatest Hits – St. John edition

Is it terribly rude to tease you with more photos of the tropics, especially now that it’s winter coat weather in Boston?  After scrolling through approximately nine million and four photos from not one, but three cameras (underwater, over-water, and please-don’t-drop-the-iPhone-in-the-water), I’ve got some honeymoon greatest hits to share.

Greatest meal with a view: Tropical Greek salad with fresh mangoes and watermelon, Caneel Bay

When your food options are already limited, an island is not necessarily the best place to be.  To be honest, I think my stomach wanted to take a flight back to Boston on several occasions.  There were a few bright spots though, including this tropical Greek salad, served with a view of crystal clear waters, at Caneel Bay.  I love the combination of salty feta and cool watermelon, but never thought to pair the two in a salad.  Remind me of this next summer, please?

Greatest live entertainment: The crowd at Driftwood David’s

At the recommendation of the concierge at the Westin, Nick and I took an open air taxi into town early on in our stay to check out Driftwood David’s.  The food was good, and the atmosphere was even better.  Apparently, they have the best ribs “on the planet” and run out almost every night.  I paid no attention to the meat, and sang along to the live entertainment… both on and off the stage.

For most of the meal, Nick and I were the only two diners at David’s, which meant we had front row seats to a pair of long-time island transplants, singin’ songs and tellin’ tales (including the one about the time “Brady got drunk, passed out in the bathroom, and we had to take the door down…. or what about the time you fell out of the Jeep?”).  Our waiter, Mike, was extremely friendly and warm.  We also chatted with a woman named Joyce, who knew we were on our honeymoon thanks to my “giant goofy smile.”  For the record, my giant goofy sparkly rings were out of sight.  It had to have been the perma-smile.

The crowd at Driftwood David’s made us feel right at home.

Greatest non-human encounter: TIE

• For me, it was swimming with sea turtles
• For Nick, it was getting nuzzled by a donkey

I lost count, so I can’t be sure, but I think we saw five sea turtles while honeymooning.  We saw two while on boats, and the other three were swimming right alongside us either on snorkel trips or while floating at the beach.  They are such lovely, graceful creatures.  I dove down to see two close up, one at Christmas Cove (Great St. James Island, USVI) and the other at Scott Beach (Caneel Bay, St. John).  The one at Caneel Bay had a little fish friend swimming behind his shell (it’s that thing that looks like a really long tail).  I thought that was cute.

Nick preferred the land lovers and set out to find Caneel Bay’s wild donkeys.  We were told how friendly and affectionate they were when we checked in, despite the numerous “Do not touch the donkeys” signs posted about the property.

I mostly was afraid to catch some sort of communicable donkey disease.  Or get a hoof to the face.  I did like when they trotted past us at the beach, though.

Greatest day trip: Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Cooper Island and Norman Island (British Virgin Islands)

We took two trips while staying at the Westin, the first for an afternoon snorkel at Christmas Cove, and the second to several of the British Virgin Islands.  I had read about the baths at Virgin Gorda and knew that I wanted to make the trip out there.

As I am sure you can imagine, these photos do not do it justice.  We swam from our boat to Devil’s Bay and spent a little over an hour exploring the batholiths and caves along the shore.

I could have stayed all day.  We also stopped at Cooper Island for a quick lunch, and spent time snorkeling in the caves at Norman Island, which is said to be the inspiration for Treasure Island.  It was quite the day.

Greatest indulgence: Ocean-side cabana massages at Caneel Bay

As a wedding present, Nick’s team gave us a pair of massages in the ocean-side cabanas overlooking Hawksnest Beach.  We enjoyed hour-long Swedish massages as the sun set, with the sound of waves crashing just below us.  As we walked back to our villa I thought, “Welp.  I can die happy.”  And then I wondered, “What can I invent so that I can become impossibly rich and do this every day?”

Greatest sign from the island: Another TIE

One was in a taxi, the other at a shop in Mongoose Junction.

Both represented the island life so well.  Slow down.  Be happy.  Things will get done eventually.

Greatest beach: Scott Beach at Caneel Bay

We spent much of our second week on St. John at Scott Beach.  The water was the most gorgeous shade of blue, the sand a perfect white, the snorkeling was excellent, and there was plenty of shade from the trees along the shore.

Need I say more?

Greatest husband for me: Mine.

The hits, they just keep on coming.

Also On Tap for Today:

• Safe travels to everyone hitting the road for Thanksgiving
• 5 things to do 30 minutes before guests arrive
• Don’t tell anyone, but I am taking Christmas things out of storage today… muhahahohoho

What’s the greatest thing you’ve experienced this week?