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Vote for Your Favorite Caribbean Beach & Beach Bar

Jenn Manes November 29, 2022 9 Comments

Hello everyone, and happy Tuesday! Today it’s all about beaches and beach bars…

USA Today is conducting a pool, and they want to know which Caribbean beach & Caribbean beach bar is your favorite. Unfortunately none of our beach bars here on St. John made the cut, but two over in the BVI did!

Soddy Dollar Bar and Hendo’s Hideout in Jost Van Dyke are both vying for the title of Best Caribbean Beach Bar in USA Today’s latest 10 Best poll. They’re up against some other fun spots like Sunshine’s in Nevis and Elvis’ Beach Bar in Anguilla. Both are great places to relax and indulge, but which one should take the top spot? Click this link to vote for your favorite Caribbean beach bar in the poll.

The view at Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost van Dyke

One of our beaches did make the cut, however, when it comes to the best Caribbean beach. Honeymoon is in the running against some other great spots like Grace Bay in the Turks and Caicos and Seven Mile Beach in the Cayman Islands. I’m pretty surprised that Trunk Bay didn’t make the list when it’s clearly one of the most beautiful beaches in the world! Click here to vote for your favorite Caribbean beach in the poll.

Ok, since St. John wasn’t represented as much as we hoped in USA Today’s 10 Best poll, we decided we’re going to conduct our own poll! Vote for your favorites below! We will announce the winner at the end of the week. 🙂

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New Store Opens in Cruz Bay!

Jenn Manes November 28, 2022 0 Comments

Rebecca Reinbold & Lindsey Soper recently opened Golden Hour at Mongoose Junction. Image credit: Sarah B. Swan

A brand new store opened in Cruz Bay last week, and I am super excited to share all of the details with you.
Golden Hour – a wellness, apothecary and feel-good lifestyle store – opened last Friday in the former R&I Patton space over at Mongoose Junction. The store, owned by Rebecca Reinbold and Lindsey Soper, features a carefully curated selection of products to help you live well and thrive. R&I Patton closed its doors earlier this year after being in business for 49 years.

“To live well is to live happy, fulfilled, and healthy,” Rebecca recently told me. “Our goal (in creating Golden Hour) is to help make wellness part of your every day, whatever that looks like.”

(Rebecca and Lindsey also own Lulee, an island-inspired clothing and accessories boutique, with locations at Mongoose Junction and over at the Westin resort.)

Golden Hour offers offer a range of products that feature powerful, time-tested ingredients to support increased energy, better sleep, stronger immune health, and more. Manuka honeys, functional beverages, and polyphenol-rich olive oils line the shelves along with sea mineral eye serums, antioxidant-rich facial oils, hand-poured candles, organic essential oils and more in this re-imagined space. Golden Hour also carries fine jewelry, featuring select designs from the iconic R&I Patton jewelry collection as well as resident Katherine Stuart’s “Honey” line of 14k gold jewelry.

Check out a few images from inside the new store:

I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty excited about this spot.

“We believe that living well means making a conscious shift in our thoughts, intentions, habits and rituals, and making mindful choice to prioritize health and vitality,” Rebecca said.

Golden Hour is open on Sundays and Mondays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.

Golden Hour is located at Mongoose Junction near Just Beach and Portico.

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Island Tidbits would like to welcome our newest advertiser Holiday Homes of St. John. Holiday Homes has been specializing in St. John real estate since 1960. You can visit their storefront at The Marketplace or visit them online at www.HolidayHomesVI.com.

Kick Off the Holiday Season Today at Mongoose Junction!

Jenn Manes November 25, 2022 0 Comments

A great event is happening today at Mongoose Junction.

Hello everyone, and happy Friday! I hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving celebration yesterday! There’s a great event happening at Mongoose Junction today. If you happen to be lucky enough to be on island, you’re not going to want to miss this!

Mongoose Junction will kick off the holiday season at 4 p.m. today with their annual evening in the courtyard holiday event, which will feature live music, delicious food, cold drinks and, of course, some fantastic shopping.

Musical guests will include steel pan from the Love City Pan Dragons from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., From Broheem with Love, and Lauren & Bo from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and there will also be a special guest – Moko Jumbie Yisreal Petersen.

Participating businesses include Arawak Expeditions, Bamboula, Bajo El Sol Gallery & Art Bar, St. John Brewer’s Brewtique, Caravan Gallery, Imperial Dynasty, Island Fancy, Little Switzerland, Lulee, Made on St. John, Just Beach, Portico, Sugar Birds, The St. John Experience Gallery, Virgin Abis, 1864 The Restaurant, Greengo’s Caribbean Cantina, Sun Dog Café, The Tap Room and St. John Scoops.

Mongoose will continue with the holiday spirit next weekend, as well. On Saturday, December 3rd, the Animal Care Center of St. John – an organization you all know I absolutely love – will offer gift wrapping onsite from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. The Sing St. John’s children choir will be performing starting at 3:30 p.m. on December 3rd. Broheem and Pam will be performing as well.

And mark your calendars because the All Island Holiday party, also known as the Prom, will be returning this year. That event is scheduled for December 17th. And we hear Santa is going to make an appearance closer to Christmas. We will keep you all posted on that one!

In the meantime, have a great day, and happy shopping!

Island Eats: Mexican Night at the Tamarind

Jenn Manes November 22, 2022 0 Comments

Today we’re talking food, folks. I’d like to let you all in on a lesser-known spot that serves some pretty darn good food – the Inn at Tamarind Court.

For those of you who are not familiar with the Inn at Tamarind Court, it’s located in Cruz Bay on the one-way stretch of Southside Road, or Route 104 on the map. The Tamarind is a simple and affordable place to stay on St. John with rates that start under $200 a night. Rates are less than $100 for those of you who don’t mind sharing a bathroom.

In addition to affordable rooms, the Tamarind has a quaint little restaurant and bar that serves breakfast seven days a week. But today, it’s all about Mexican night.

The Tamarind serves Mexican food Monday through Friday from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. You can eat in-house in the courtyard or at the bar, or you can call ahead and order it to go. I finally was able to try it last week, and I have to say, it was very good. The flavors were great, the portions were huge, and the price was affordable. It was a win-win on all fronts!

As you can see below, the majority of the entrees are priced under $20. It’s honestly a great value for the money. Check out the menu:

The kitchen is headed up by longtime resident Paulie Humble. And I have to say, he’s doing a great job. Check out a few pics from last week’s dinner…

Queso, guacamole & margaritas… yes, please!

I had the steak fajitas, and they were very good.

My friend had the burrito and really enjoyed it.

We finished it off with an order a Mexican doughnuts, which were covered in cinnamon and sugar, and drizzled in chocolate. We ate them so quickly that I forgot to take a picture. Sorry!

If you’re looking for some good Mexican food with a casual atmosphere that’s affordable, please do yourself a favor and swing by the Inn at Tamarind Court for Mexican night. I promise you’ll enjoy it.

New Interactive Map: Groceries, Gas Stations, Parking & More

Jenn Manes November 21, 2022 3 Comments

Hello everyone, and happy Monday! One of my goals when creating IslandTidbits.com was to make it easier for you to plan your St John vacation. I understand that St. John can be tough to navigate at times, so I created another handy map for all of you.

The interactive map below includes more than a dozen markets located around the island. It shows you where our three gas stations are located, and where St. John’s only pharmacy is. It also shows you where our dumpsters can be found. (We bring our trash to the dumpster on St. John. We do not have garbage pickup on island.) It even shows you where you can park in Cruz Bay, something that definitely gets trickier the busier the island gets.

You can view this map one of two ways:

Click the box with the arrow in the top left corner of the map. That will open a drop down menu with the following seven categories : Grocery Stores & Markets – Gas Stations – Pharmacy – Free Parking – Paid Parking – Ferry & Barge Locations – Dumpsters. Simply click on the name of the business/location within a category, and its location will be highlighted on our Logistics Map.
Simply zoom in and click on the markers around the map to see where a specific business/location can be found.

This map is a work in progress. I will continue to update it and add categories.

Want to access this map directly? You can find it at www.explorestj.com/LogisticsMap

Want to know where all of our restaurants are located? Check out Island Tidbits Restaurant Map at www.explorestj.com/RestaurantMap

Both of these maps, plus a lot of other helpful information, can be found under our Info tab in the menu bar.

Thanks for reading!

Sneak Peek: The New Ronnie’s Pizza

Jenn Manes November 20, 2022 8 Comments

Update: Ronnie’s Pizza reopened in its new location on December 1st.

For those of you who’ve been on island the past few months, you may be wondering what happened to Ronnie’s Pizza. Well I’m happy to tell you that he didn’t hang up his rolling pin for good. He simply moved his popular pizza shop down the street. 🙂

Did you know that Ronnie Klingsberg has made more than one million pizzas on St. John over the past 32 years? That’s a lot of pepperoni! In fact, he and his buddy Joe Morris, owner of Dr. Cool, calculated that Ronnie has served so many pepperoni pizzas over the years, that the amount of pepperoni used could actually make a complete ring around the world. Now that’s impressive!

Ronnie served up his last pie at the Boulon Center in Cruz Bay back in July and has been preparing to reopen in a new location ever since. Ronnie’s Pizza an mo’ is now located in Palm Plaza, which is across the street from the Racetrack gas station, and next door to the Westin Resort.

I stopped by to check out his new digs recently, and I have to say, the place looks great. His new spot is located in the former VI Body Spa space, which is the last storefront on Palm Plaza’s lower level. Ronnie’s new location has indoor seating for 12, and he hopes to have some outdoor seating down the road. The new location boasts a decent amount of parking too, making it easier for all of us to grab a pie. Staying over at the Westin Resort? You’re all super lucky, because you can literally walk next door to pick up a to-go order.

Looking for delivery? That’s continuing too! For a flat fee of $10, Ronnie will deliver from Cruz Bay to Fish Bay, and everywhere in between, including the Westin Resort. He said he’d delivery beyond that too “if it’s a big enough order.” Can’t blame him for that! Oh, and his delicious brownies are coming back too.

“We’ll have brownies and cookies and other surprise desserts,” Ronnie told me. “We’re working on some cool sh!t.”

The VI government just gave Ronnie the final sign-off on his new space last Friday, and he plans to officially open after Thanksgiving. We will let you know the exact date when that happens. And when it does, Ronnie will be open Monday through Saturday from 3 p.m. to 8:30-ish.