Well folks, I have great news to share with you all! The annual St. Patrick’s Day parade is happening again this year!
The future of Quiet Mon Pub’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade was up in the air following their unexpected closure last December. Well today I am happy to tell you that our friends over at The Beach Bar are going to continue the tradition with the blessing of Quiet Mon, of course!
The parade will be held on Saturday, March 16th at high noon. The route will be a little different this year. The parade will start in Frank Bay near Coconut Coast Studios. It will go up the hill and past Gallows Point Resort, Lavender Hill and Grande Bay. It will pass Cruz Bay beach and will end over at The Beach Bar.
The 2024 parade route
As always, everyone is allowed and encouraged to participate. Please contact Mike Hedy at mikehedy340@gmail.com if you’d like to join the fun.
Looking to take a St. John island tour?
Get to know St. John. Visit beautiful beaches & centuries-old plantations. Perhaps stop at a tiki bar or two. Full & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor. 2023 & 2022 TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Winner. Learn more here –> www.explorestj.com/tour
For those of you who are traveling to St. John soon, there are some changes at the airport to be aware of.
Starting next Tuesday, the regular passenger pickup area will be temporarily relocated across the street and in front of the new parking and transportation center. A new crosswalk will be painted and a ramp will be construction to ensure that travelers can easily cross the street when waiting for taxis or to be picked up.
The new passenger pickup area will be behind the white Jeep.
The existing passenger pickup area will be demolished, so a new lane can be constructed. Soon we will have two lanes exiting the airport, which will allow for smoother travel, according to the Virgin Islands Port Authority (VIPA).
The new parking and transportation center has been under construction for quite some time. According to VIPA, it is expected to open in April. Fingers crossed!
Another nice update at the airport is airline signs. You can now see exactly where your airline counter is when getting dropped off at the airport.
That’s all I have for you today. Have a great one everyone!
Looking to take a St. John island tour?
Get to know St. John. Visit beautiful beaches & centuries-old plantations. Perhaps stop at a tiki bar or two. Full & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor. 2023 & 2022 TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Winner. Learn more here –> www.explorestj.com/tour
The last 8 Tuff Miles race was held in February 2020.
I don’t know about you, but I am super excited for this weekend. For the first time in four years, St. John will welcome more than 1,000 runners to the island for the annual 8 Tuff Miles road race. If you are lucky enough to be on island Saturday, you aren’t going to want to miss this!
8 Tuff Miles is an annual road race that starts in Cruz Bay and ends in Coral Bay. The last race was held in February 2020. It has been cancelled ever since due to Covid and other circumstances. I am thrilled to welcome it back this weekend!
Runners participating in 8 Tuff Miles will start behind the National Park Visitor Center in Cruz Bay at 7:15 a.m. Saturday morning. The race goes through Cruz Bay and up to the roundabout before heading up Centerline Road (Route 10 on the map) and all the way out to the ball field in Coral Bay. The race starts at sea level (technically five feet about sea level), reaches an elevation of 1,000 feet out near the Bordeaux Mountain and Mamey Peak areas and then heads back down to sea level where it ends in Coral Bay. The race is 8.38 miles to be exact.
Centerline Road (Route 10) will close at 7:10 a.m. on Saturday morning and will not reopen fully until 10:15 a.m. when the race is over. The road will reopen from west to east (Cruz Bay to Coral Bay) after the last walker passes that point. If you are staying in Coral Bay, you will not be able to drive down Centerline Road during this time. So if you want to head to the beach before 10 a.m., if you need to fly out, if you need to return your rental car Saturday morning, you need to plan accordingly. There are not any exceptions. The road is completely closed to traffic during this time.
The 8 Tuff Miles race extends along the dark blue path on the map. This road will be closed Saturday morning.
As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 1,265 runners registered for 8 Tuff Miles.
For those of you, like me, who aren’t runners but want to get in on the action, you can head to Centerline Road and cheer on the runners. Bring a Bluetooth speaker and play some music for the runners along the route. Find one of the eight water stations along the way and help hand out water and Gatorade to the runners and walkers.
I have been in charge of the eighth water station for years, and I am excited to do so again this year. Once the runners and walkers get to me, there is only .3 miles of mostly downhill road before the end of the race. We actually hand out more shots than water at my water station, so be sure to stop by and say hello. It becomes a fun little party. 🙂 If you’d like to join my water station Saturday, please email me at jenn@explorestj.com for details.
Life seems normal again! Isn’t it great??!
Looking to take a St. John island tour?
Learn more here –> www.explorestj.com/tourFull & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.
Hello everyone, and happy Tuesday! We are in the midst of super high season, so I thought this would be an opportune time to let you all know what’s currently happening in St. John.
The island is busy! President’s Week is one of the busiest weeks of the year here. Several towns up in New England have school vacation this week (I’m sure other areas around the country do too), so we have a ton of families visiting right now. This means that the beaches are filling up very quickly, and the restaurants are full too.
Parking at the beaches was pretty ridiculous along the North Shore Monday afternoon. It always ceases to amaze me when people park directly next to “No Parking” signs or literally in the street where they are blocking half of the lane. The National Park loves to give tickets, so just a gentle reminder if you are visiting us anytime soon – no parking truly means no parking. Click here to read a recent story that details where it’s safe to park at the beaches and where it is not.
Mind bogglingNot coolThe first three vehicles are literally block half of the lane!
If you don’t want to get up early and arrive at the beach by say 9 a.m. or 9:30 a.m., just plan to take a taxi. They are plentiful and it’s so much easier, not to mention stress-free. The beaches are filling up that fast during this time of year. The key is to get there very early, or go later in the afternoon.
The restaurants are full too. We ate at Extra Virgin Bistro Sunday night (which was delicious by the way), and I was surprised to see so many families there with children. It was packed, as are most places these days.
A little reminder of the restaurants that you will need a reservation for this time of year: Morgan’s Mango, The Terrace, Extra Virgin Bistro, La Tapa, Ocean 362, and ZoZo’s. If your heart is set on 1864 and Banana Deck, I would recommend making a reservation there too.
The weather has been great over the past week, although it feels like it’s a little warmer than usual for February. I think this may be a sign of the times, so head to the beach early to ensure a shady spot. We had a lot of rain two weeks ago, so there are a fair amount of mosquitos milling about. Be sure to have some bug spray with you.
In case you missed it yesterday, the cute little wine shop and bar at Wharfside Village reopened last week. It’s a great spot to enjoy a glass of wine and some light bites in the AC. You can also buy a bottle off the wall and take it to-go. Click here to read that post in case you missed it.
I love the wine shop.
Looking to buy a business in St. John? Well if there are any dentists out there, St. John’s only dental office just listed for sale. Click here to learn more.
I think that’s it for today. I took today off and am looking forward to spending the day over in Jost Van Dyke. If you’re watching the Soggy Dollar Bar’s webcam today, you just may catch a glimpse of us! Check out that webcam and nearly two dozen more at www.explorestj.com/webcams.
Screenshot from Soggy Dollar’s webcam Monday morning
Have a great day everyone!
Looking to take a St. John island tour?
Learn more here –> www.explorestj.com/tourFull & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.
Hello everyone, and happy Monday! I have great news to share with you all today. The wine bar in Cruz Bay has finally reopened! There goes my bank account! 🙂
Wine Shop VI is one of my favorite spots to grab a nice glass of wine and a quick little bite to eat. It is located in Wharfside Village, which is just steps from the ferry dock. It is on the street side, close to Slim’s parking lot. The wine bar, which also sells bottles of wine and liquor to go, closed last August for off-season. It was forced to stay closed several months longer than expected due to ongoing construction of a hotel above it.
The wine shop received a little makeover during those months, including new paint, lighting, etc. I stopped in for a glass of wine yesterday (for research purposes for all of you, of course!), and it really looks beautiful. Check out a few pics:
Wine Shop VI is currently open from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.-ish. They plan to open starting at 11 a.m. next week if all goes as planned.
Want to know where VI Wine Shop is located? Check out Explore STJ’s searchable restaurant map at www.explorestj.com/restaurantmap.
Looking to take a St. John island tour?
Learn more here –> www.explorestj.com/tourFull & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.
It’s a question that’s asked time and time again – is it better to rent a vehicle on St. John or over on St. Thomas? I understand that many of you prefer to start your vacation immediately upon landing. You’d like to hop in a Jeep at the airport and head to Red Hook, perhaps stopping for groceries along the way. Or maybe on the flip side, you’d like to hang out in St. Thomas for a few hours on departure day before flying out. One thing that you really need to consider when doing this is delayed flights. It’s happening a lot lately, which is why I strongly encourage everyone to reconsider renting a vehicle on St. Thomas.
Tomorrow’s island tour guests were scheduled to land today at 3:19 p.m. They were flying from Orlando to St. Thomas and were delayed. They finally landed at 7:49 p.m., four-and-a-half hours late. Luckily they rented a Jeep on St. John, but if they opted to rent it on St. Thomas, they would have had no way of getting it over to St. John.
The people ferry runs from Red Hook to Cruz Bay until 11 p.m. The car barge, on the other hand, runs until 7 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. depending on the season. This means that you really can’t land later than 6 p.m. in order to make that last barge, and that’s cutting it close in my opinion. It takes time to get off the plane and into the terminal. Some of you have to check bags, which can take 10 minutes or an hour. You just never know. Then you have to get and actually pick up your rental. And from there, it’s a good 35-40 minute drive from the airport to the car barge area.
I went to a wedding in Connecticut last weekend and was supposed to fly home Tuesday. Well a foot of snow delayed that plan, and it also delayed my original flight from JFK to STT. Rather than landing at 1:38 p.m., that flight landed at 5:43 p.m. For the folks who checked bags, they were really cutting it close if they opted to rent on St. Thomas and wanted to make that last barge.
Other island tour guests of mine flew on the Miami flight to St. Thomas last Sunday. When they arrived in the area, they were told the runway was closed, so they had to circle a bit. They circled so much that they were starting to run out of fuel, so they were diverted to San Juan to refuel. They finally landed at STT at 6:55 p.m., more than two hours late.
These are three situations over the past week that I am personally aware of. I am sure there have been more this year.
When I used to vacation here way back when, I always wanted to rent a Jeep on St. Thomas. I wanted to start my vacation immediately, so I completely get it. But it is simply not worth it. Parking is at a premium in St. Thomas. If you miss that last barge, you have to find a place where you can park overnight. (The parking garage at the dock was full this morning when my island tour guests tried to find a spot, so that’s not a guarantee.) Say you find a spot. Now you have to pay to park your car overnight and take the people ferry to St. John. Then once you arrive here, you have to take a taxi to wherever you’re staying unless it’s within walking distance of the dock. If you happen to be staying in a further location like Fish Bay, Coral Bay or beyond, it could be rather tough to even get a taxi to agree to drop you off. And then you will have to do the reverse the next day – Take a taxi to town, take the ferry to St. Thomas, get your vehicle, and then take the barge back to St. John. I don’t know about you, but that sounds completely miserable to me.
Just something to think about when you are planning your next vacation to St. John. 🙂
Looking to take a St. John island tour?
Learn more here –> www.explorestj.com/tourFull & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.
Well folks, I have great news to share with you all! The annual St. Patrick’s Day parade is happening again this year!
