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Raffle Time! Win a Stay on St. John & Lovango Cay!

Jenn Manes 0 Comments

For those of you who know me, you know how much I love a good raffle, and today, I want to tell you about an amazing one that’s happening right now!

The St. John Land Conservancy just launched its annual Love for the Land fundraiser. For as little as $59, you can enter to win a stay on not one, but two different islands, plus so much more!

The St. John Land Conservancy is a non-profit 501(c)(3) community organization dedicated to the preservation of the natural and historic resources of St. John. It’s a great organization here on St. John.

There will be one grand prize winner for this raffle. Want to know what you can win? Check it out!

  • A four-night stay in a luxurious Glamping Tent at Lovango Resort & Beach Club in either May or June 2024 at a time that mutually works for all parties. This includes all resort amenities, highlighted by daily breakfast and resort shuttles to/from Cruz Bay.
  • A three-night stay at Joy of Life, a private villa in Coral Bay, St. John. This stay comes complete with a 4WD Jeep rental courtesy of Sunshine Jeep Rentals.
  • A private power boat trip for two courtesy of Ocean Runner by Low Key Watersports
  • A private boat trip for up to six guests courtesy of Salty Daze Charters USVI
  • Dinner in Cruz Bay courtesy of Dave & Jerry’s Island Steakhouse.
  • A top shelf rum tasting for two in Cruz Bay courtesy of Bajo El Sol Gallery, Art Bar & Rum Room

One ticket is $59; two tickets are $109; three tickets are $159; five tickets are $225; and ten tickets are $400. The more you buy, the less the tickets cost individually.

The raffle continues through February 17, 2024. A winner will be chosen live at that time.

Want to enter and support the St. John Land Conservancy? You can purchase tickets securely online by clicking this link.

Want to learn more about the St. John Land Conservancy? Click here to visit www.stjohnlandconservancy.org.

Good luck everyone, and thank you for supporting the St. John Land Conservancy!

Quick Note: This raffle is not being held or sponsored by Explore STJ. Please email the St. John Land Conservancy at info@stjohnlandconservancy.org with any questions. 

So I Guess We’re in a Tropical Storm…

Jenn Manes 0 Comments
Cruz Bay beach – Oct. 4, 2023

Posted Oct. 4, 2023 at 7:45 a.m.

Well folks, this one came as a surprise to me. Apparently Tropical Storm Philippe has decided to pay a visit to the US Virgin Islands. He’s still here, so it looks like we have another soggy day ahead of us.

The first thing I do during this time of year is check the weather for any potential storms. I look at my Living Earth app and the National Hurricane Center. Well I’ve been quite busy with the house remodel the past few days, so can’t remember the last time I checked either, to be honest.

Mike, my other half, asked me yesterday morning if we were supposed to get a storm. “What storm?” I asked. I opened my Living Earth app, and low and behold, there was a large splotch of something on the map. I opened spaghettimodels.com and saw that Tropical Storm Philippe was supposed to hook north and miss us. So I drove out to the new house in Fish Bay with my parents in tow, and we continued to work on the house.

Mama & Papa Explore STJ flew in to help with the house!

We finished up mid-afternoon and decided to pull Dalton out of school a bit early, because it was grandma and grandpa’s last day on island. We picked him up and drove over to The Windmill Bar for lunch. As I sat there, I could see rain rolling in from St. Thomas (not the normal wind direction here), so we ate quickly and head back to Grande Retreat at Grande Bay, the amazing three-bedroom condo that my parents have been staying at this past week. As we walked down the hill to the car, it started raining, and it’s been raining ever since.

And when I say rain, I mean it RAINED last night! We received several inches for sure. The wind wasn’t too bad, but the lightning put on quite the show last night and into the overnight hours.

It’s still raining at the moment, but there is very little wind. Schools have been cancelled for the day, but the ports remain open. The ferries are running, and the airport is open. Mama and Papa Explore STJ are hoping to head back to Connecticut today, so fingers crossed on that one!

Want to see what’s happening here on St. John? You can check out more than 20 live streaming webcams at www.explorestj.com/webcams. Be sure to check out The Beach Bar’s bar cam because I’m sure they’re going to be quite busy today.

This is what we call a St. John Snow Day. Happy watching!

New Happy Hour Starts Today at The Beach Bar!

Jenn Manes 0 Comments
New happy hour specials start today in Cruz Bay!

Hello everyone, and happy Monday! I know many of you aren’t thrilled to be back to work today, so let’s start the week off right! How does a brand new happy hour sound? Amazing, I know!

The Beach Bar is launching brand new happy hour specials today starting at 3 p.m. Starting today, and continuing every day, you can enjoy $5 Corona and Corona Lights, $5 Soca seltzers, $6 Cruzan Painkillers and $6 Tito’s and Cruzan cocktails. What a bargain!

The Beach Bar offers happy hour daily from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. They are located in Cruz Bay, just steps from the ferry dock. No taxi needed here!

Want to see what’s happening live over at The Beach Bar? Then check out Explore STJ’s webcam page at www.explorestj.com/webcams. You can see live images inside of the bar and outside on the beach. You can also see live views from more than 20 webcams located around St. John. Happy watching!

Cheers everyone!

Want to learn more about St. John? Take an island tour with us!

Learn more here –> www.explorestj.com/tour Full & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.

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Caneel Bay Will Not Become Part of the National Park Today

Jenn Manes 5 Comments
Caneel Bay – Image taken on Sept. 28, 2023

If Laurance Rockefeller got his wish, the land that Caneel Bay Resort sits on would have been turned over to the Virgin Islands National Park today. That, however, is not happening.

A federal judge in St. Thomas ruled late last week that the United States cannot take over the Caneel Bay property while the federal court case is pending. Specifically, the judge stated, “that the United States shall not take any action to manage or dispossess Plaintiff of the property at issue until further order of the Court.”

The judge also postponed the scheduled bench trial date, which was set for October 16th.

“…due to the Court’s calendar and criminal trials taking precedence, the trial in this matter cannot go forward as scheduled,” the order read.

A new trial date has not been set.

I reached out to Mark Snyder, owner of the Caneel Bay Beach Club which is located at Honeymoon Beach, and he confirmed that they are continuing to operate as normal. Mark added that he has been in touch with the National Park and they, too, have said he can continue operating as normal.

I also chatted with John Ferrigno, owner of ZoZo’s restaurant, and he confirmed that the restaurant will reopen on December 13th as planned. ZoZo’s is located on Caneel Bay beach at the base of the dock.

As I mentioned previously, it’s a messy legal situation. I’ll let you all know more when I know more.

Want to know more about the pending federal court case? Click here to read Caneel Bay: The Messy Legal Battle for Ownership.

Want to learn more about St. John? Take an island tour with us!

Learn more here –> www.explorestj.com/tour Full & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.

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How the Looming Government Shutdown will Affect St. John

Jenn Manes 0 Comments
More than two-thirds of St. John is National Park.

Well folks, it looks like a government shutdown is imminent. I’ve received several emails questioning how this will affect St. John considering that more than two-thirds of the island is National Park. I have reached out to the Virgin Islands National Park twice this week, but have yet to receive a response. Here is what I assume will happen based on the past two government shutdowns.

Let’s start with 2013. This one was somewhat comical here. During this shutdown, they actually did shut down the National Park here, which meant that the majority of our beaches were closed and all of our hiking trails were closed. The playground was closed. Annaberg was closed. It was a mess.

Hawksnest was among the beaches closed during the 2013 government shutdown.

The National Park admitted at the time that it was not happy with being told to shut down so much of the island, but it had to follow federal orders. Residents and visitors, however, refused to follow orders. Many ripped down the yellow tape that cordoned off the beaches and parking lots and continued to enjoy our beautiful beaches despite the threat of being fined. Luckily the government allowed the Virgin Islands National Park to officially reopen a few days later, despite the continued shutdown.

There was another shutdown in 2018. During that time, all beaches, trails, and roads remained open. (Roads remained open during the 2013 shutdown too.) During this shutdown, all National Park visitor services ceased. That meant that they had to close the restrooms, there was no trash pickup at the beaches, road, and facilities and maintenance ceased, and the Visitor Center was closed.

Fortunately, Friends of the National Park stepped in and helped open the restrooms and showers at Trunk Bay while the shutdown continued. Volunteers removed trash from all of the beaches too. Residents pitched in because that’s what we do here. 🙂

So if I were a betting woman, this is exactly what I would think will happen when the government shuts down this weekend. The Virgin Islands National Park will remain open, but some of its services will be limited. And volunteers will, once again, step up and work to keep the National Park clean and its facilities available. There’s a reason we’re called Love City, folks.

I will let you know more when I know more. In the meantime, have a fantastic Friday everyone!

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The Windmill Bar Expands!

Jenn Manes 0 Comments

I have great news for those of you who enjoy spending time at The Windmill Bar! They recently expanded and added even more shade! Great news all around!

The Windmill Bar is located about two miles outside of Cruz Bay on Centerline Road, which is known as Route 10 on the map. It opened about three years ago and quickly became a popular spot due to its breathtaking views of Hawksnest Bay, Lovango, Congo, Mingo and Grass cays, St. Thomas, and more. It’s especially popular at sunset, which is currently happening at 6:11 p.m. It has great drinks and food too. I eat the buffalo chicken dip up there more than I should!

A brand new deck was recently completed, adding a ton of new seating. They’re in the process of adding a new roof over it, so there will be extra shade too. They’re replacing the white tent (which could be a tad noisy in the wind) with a new permanent roof too. Check out a few pics…

A roof is being built over the new deck.

This tent is being replaced with a permanent roof.

And here are a few pics from the rest of the place…

This seat’s open… any takers?

Looks pretty great, doesn’t it?

I bring my island tour guests up to The Windmill Bar regularly. If you are looking to take a St. John island tour or you would like to check out The Windmill Bar with me, please feel free to email me at jenn@explorestj.com. You can learn more about my St. John island tours at www.explorestj.com/tour.

That’s all for today. Have a great one, everyone!

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