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Are you looking for the perfect place to vacation in St. John? Do you want to be close to the conveniences of Cruz Bay, but in a private and peaceful setting? How about one that has great amenities, a pool, incredible views during all day long and especially during sunset, plus that all-important backup power? Well look no further than Serendip Vacation Condos…

Serendip Vacation Condos consists of 10 spacious one-bedroom and studio suites. Each unit is well-equipped with everything you need for your time on island, including a large, private enclosed veranda. Each of its 10 units, however, offers its own unique charm, decor and sleeping configurations to accommodate either couples, families or friends traveling together.

Serendip has a great location. It’s located just above Cruz Bay in the Bethany neighborhood, and getting here is a cinch. Simply drive past The Marketplace and E-C gas station, and then take your first left at the top of Jacob’s Ladder. Serendip just a few properties down from there.

For guests staying at Serendip, you will have access to a full array of onsite amenities, including a pool, grill and laundry. Serendip also provides beach chairs and snorkel gear because we know you will likely spend several days exploring one or all of the island’s beautiful beaches. And for those of you who prefer to rent a Jeep, there is plenty of parking available.

Now let’s talk about the elephant in the room – power. Yes, St. John has power outages from time to time. It’s no fun, but it’s a part of life here in the islands. Serendip recently installed solar backup power, so no more sweaty nights over here or stumbling around in the dark!

Serendip even has an onsite property manager who is available to assist you with any need that may arise during your stay. Want to know which beach has the best coral? He can help you with that. Looking for the island’s best mahi sandwich? He can help with that too!

Now I know that you know that all of this sounds great. But want to make it sound even better? I am excited to tell you that my friends over at Serendip are offering a sizable discount to those of you who read my blog! If you book a minimum of five nights between July 6th and September 30th, you will receive 20 percent off, plus two complimentary Serendip sun shirts. You must use the promo EXPLORESTJ when booking. You can book your stay online at serendipstjohn.com or by calling 340-776-6646. Rates start at $225 a night.

Want to learn more about Serendip Vacation Condos? Please visit serendipstjohn.com for more information and to see a gallery of images.

St. John’s festival celebration kicks off next weekend. The annual festival celebrates freedom here in the United States Virgin Islands. The enslaved people were finally freed on July 3, 1848.

Here is this year’s official schedule:

• Sunday, June 14th: Pan-O-Rama kicks off the celebration at 4 p.m. in Franklin Powell Park, which is located across from the ferry dock in Cruz Bay.
• Saturday, June 20th: Royalty Show begins at 6 p.m.
• Sunday, June 21st: Food Fair starts at 1 p.m. at Franklin Powell Park and the road beside the ferry dock.
• Sunday, June 21st: Boat races begin in Cruz Bay at 3 p.m.
• Saturday, June 27th: Beach Jam starts at 3 p.m. on Cruz Bay beach.
• Sunday, June 28th: Village opens at 6 p.m. The Village – Knight’s Ville – will be located in the Custom’s lot, which is across from the post office. Village will be open every night through July 4th.
• Friday, July 3rd: J’ouvert will begin at sunrise.
• Friday, July 3rd: Emancipation Day Program begins at 11 a.m. in Slim’s parking lot.
• Friday, July 3rd: Torch Light Parade at 7 p.m. at the entrance to the Village
• Saturday, July 4th: Parade starts at 11 a.m. … allegedly. I wouldn’t count in this starting anywhere close to on time based on history. 🙂
• Saturday, July 4th: Fireworks at 9 p.m. over Cruz Bay

*I am not certain when Children’s Village opens this year. I will update when I get that date.

The power is out… again. This can be a common occurrence on the island from time to time, and it is awful when it happens. I am writing this post at 9 a.m. on Monday, June 1st. The power has been out for more than 26 hours over the 48 hours (at the time of this writing). Is this normal? No. Does it happen more than it should. Yes. Will a power outage ruin your vacation? Well that depends on where you are staying.

Many villas and condos have backup power in the form of a generator or solar with batteries. If you are staying in one of these properties, your vacation will pretty much continue as normal. If you are staying at a property that does not have backup power during one of these extended outage, your vacation will be absolutely miserable and there is a high probability that you will never want to visit us again. And I would not blame you one bit.

If you do not have backup power, you also will not have water. We collect our rainwater, and store that water in a cistern. We need a pump to get that water into the house, and pumps need electricity to work. So no power means no water.

Also, lots of areas on island are dead zones in terms of cell service. I live in Fish Bay, and I only have wifi at my house. If I did not have backup power, I would not have any cellular service when the power goes out. So depending on where you are staying, no power also means no cell service.

No power. No water. No cell service. Total misery.

Ok, on to the positive…

Most of our business do have backup power, as long as their generators are working. This means that you can dine at most of your favorite restaurants and shop at your favorite shops during these outages. And you can always go to the beach, of course.

Now how often does this happen? Here is every time my house, which is feeder 9E, lost power since January 1st. St. John has two feeders – 9E and 7E.

• May 31st: Went out around 8 p.m. and still out at the time of this writing. 13+ hours and counting.
• May 31st: Out 351pm-635pm
• May 31st: Out 943am-1258pm
• May 31st: Out 1253am-221am
• May 30th: Out 616pm-1222am
• May 6th: Out 925pm-425am
• April 23rd: Out 140pm-147pm
• April 2nd: Out 918am-1159am
• March 31st: 918am-344pm
• March 29th: 752pm-309pm – 19 hours!
• March 28th: 814pm-1125pm
• March 19th: 725pm-1114pm
• March 19th: 1147am-454pm
• March 16th: 748pm-1208am
• March 16th: 740pm-745pm
• March 16th: 730pm-735pm
• March 15th: 232pm-728pm the following day – 17 hours!
• March 14th: 956pm-1141am – 14 hours!
• Feb. 21st: 11am-106pm
• Feb. 20th: 801pm-1009pm
• Feb. 18th: 1145am-130pm
• Feb. 7th: 619pm-623pm
• Feb. 6th: 519pm-615pm
• Feb. 5th: 916am-1137am
• Feb. 2nd: 957pm-1002pm
• Feb. 1st: 419pm-434pm
• Jan. 31st: 2pm-530pm
• Jan. 29th: 641pm-704pm
• Jan. 29th: 522pm-537pm
• Jan. 28th: 432pm-520pm
• Jan. 20th: 703pm-911pm

Now let’s be honest, not everyone is going to feel badly for you if you are here on vacation and do not have power. I see the comments chastising people on the social media pages all of the time. The sentiment I’m seeing is that it is your vacation while this is our life.

I literally had a conversation with my son Dalton this morning. He is seven years old. I told him that power outages are not normal or that they should not be considered to be normal.

“Yeah they are mom,” he responded.

Herein lies the problem.

We have children growing up on an island where they are used to not having power. They are used to having to stay home from school due to no power. They are used to businesses being closed due to no power. They are used to watching their friends and families struggle due to no power. None of this is right, and none of this is acceptable.

Will it ever change? I have zero faith that it will. I hope it does, but, sadly, I just do not see it happening.

So what can you do? You NEED to rent a place that has backup power. I can’t fix this for those of us who live here, but I can definitely share some advice for those of you who plan to vacation here.

YOU NEED BACKUP POWER.

There is a press conference happening today at 10:30 a.m. Hopefully they will have some promising news. Fingers crossed everyone.