The Thompson's return to St. John - FINALLY - 2021

We had originally planned to make our 3rd trip 

to our beloved St. John back in 2018, 

but postponed it to 2020 after the 2017 hurricanes.  

And then... COVID hit!  

In May, after receiving our vaccines, negative Covid tests, 

and getting a green (good to go) code from the U.S.V.I. portal, 

we were finally on our way (though it still seemed surreal).

That first glimpse of Caribbean Blue, however, 

instantly filled us with joy and anticipation; 

St. John soon come 😎😎

After landing on STT, we picked up our new jeep 

from the Amalie's rep (love Amalies!), 

got some groceries, and managed to make the 2:30 car barge  

just in the nick of time - WHEW!  

Once on STJ, we drove the north shore 

for some much-needed overlook views

Ahhhhh!!!!!

We then headed out Centerline - reacclimating to driving on the

left, the narrow windy road, and the steep hairpin turns.  GULP!  

As we approached Coral Bay, we were greeted by these cuties

 

Our awesome view from villa "Easy Breezes" 

(blissfully, "our home" for the next 3 weeks). 

 Easy Breezes, which sits high atop a hill overlooking Coral Bay,

 is managed by Antares, and Mike and Erica were 

wonderful to work with - SO responsive, and helpful!  

The villa is everything we dreamed it would be, 

and incredibly well provisioned.  

Hal (owner) and his team have literally thought of everything!

Imagine waking up to THIS view - AND the smell of bacon frying!

I'm a VERY lucky girl 😊

This is one of the biggest iguanas we've ever seen - and what a BEAUTY!!!

We spent our first full-island-day reacquainting ourselves 

with STJ, and browsing through shops in Cruz Bay, 

A stop at St. John Spice is always a must.  

So sorry we didn't get to see Ruth and Ron this trip.

Glad to see Woody's is still there

Fresh fruit 😋

On the way "home", we had a late lunch at Skinny Legs.  

Ohhh those burgers - YUM!

For our first snorkel, we decided to venture out to the east end 

and explore Pelican Rock.  We parked at Hansen's and gladly gave 

our "donation" before heading out.

Not a whole lot of fish, but the coral seems to be getting healthy again

Coming back in, we snorkeled over the (aptly named) turtle grass 

and ran across these beauties

Daughter Stacy and son-in-law Jim joined us for several days - which was

such fun. They chose "String of Pearls" for their villa because they 

wanted to be closer to Cruz Bay for the restaurants and night life.

But we spent all our daytime hours together - snorkeling and exploring.

They were anxious to snorkel "those gorgeous turquoise waters" - 

especially since this was their first time on St. John. We had thought 

about snorkeling one of the north shore beaches, but it was a bit breezy 

so, instead, we decided to go back to Hansen's/Pelican Rock.

View of Hansen's Beach (on the right) - across the bay - from our villa

We managed to find turtles again, and the kids were delighted!

And THEN... seemingly out of nowhere, appeared THIS fabulous creature - 

a magnificent EAGLE RAY (the graceful "butterfly of the sea").  

We were only blessed with its presence for a short time (a "fly by" really), 

but it was such an unexpected thrill!!!

We didn't spend ALL our days in the water (though it was tempting to do so).  

The kids enjoyed seeing the ruins as much as we did - and we managed to find 

several of the many that are scattered around the island.

Though fun, and interesting to explore, it is sobering to learn that the 

St. John plantation ruins are remnants from an era that included 

slavery, deprivation, cruelty, and abuse.

One day we had planned to snorkel Waterlemon but, as we drove past 

the Oppenheimer gate, we couldn't believe our eyes: one of the 

highly-coveted parking spots was actually vacant!

Instant plan change!!!  And it was SO beautiful, and SO calm!

Stacy found us some good "stuff" - including this "squadron" of

Caribbean Reef Squid (16, but couldn't get all of them into one photo)

And some stingrays

etc.

LITTLE LAMESHUR BAY

One of our very favorite (and most memorable) snorkels of this trip.

Stylin' 😀

We enjoyed a nice, long leisurely snorkel along the rocks 

on the left side of the bay - out almost to the point.  

(We had wanted to snorkel the point, but it was too choppy out there that day.)

Snorkeling back in, we angled across the middle of the bay - over the turtle grass.  

Hubby was quite a ways in front of us when I heard him HOLLER...

"EAGLE RAY!!!"

And this one didn't just "fly by".  It was unhurriedly gliding about, 

and rooting around in the sand.

We hovered and watched - mesmerized - in awe - for at least a half an hour.

AND - THEN...  a SECOND one appeared!!! 

We were beside ourselves with joy!!!

💖 That day will remain in our hearts forever 💖

CINNAMON BAY LOOP TRAIL

This was such a pleasant, peaceful walk/hike - 

with interesting ruins and lovely trees and foliage

Kapok trees

"Monkey Don't Climb" tree (with big, very sharp, thorns)

Each day of our trip was so VERY special!  But alas, it all

went by way too quickly and, before we knew it, it was

almost over - but... NOT QUITE 😏

FRANCIS BAY  (on left) TO MAHO BAY (on right)

The snorkel along the rocks on the left of Francis Bay was delightful, with schools 

of brightly colored fish hovering around the rocks and coral.

BUT... what we were REALLY longing to see was waiting for us as we

rounded the point into Maho Bay...

TURTLES GALORE!!!!!

SURFACE REFLECTION

We snorkeled with them for hours - literally

 (on two different days) - SUCH FUN!!!

💕 Bye Bye - See ya next time 💕

We are humbly grateful to have, once again, had the opportunity to explore St. John

and her many wonders - our joy multiplied exponentially by being able to share this

experience with Jim and Stacy.

Feeling

SO THANKFUL and SO BLESSED