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Lovango Resort + Beach Club is holding its annual Taste of Lovango culinary event next week that will feature delicious dishes curated by world-renowned chefs. While the dinner portion of the event may be sold out, there is still time to purchase a ticket to one of their exclusive beach parties.

Saturday, May 3rd – Island Flavors and Culinary Legends Beach Club Party 

The event will feature culinary talents like St. John’s Speakeasy’s Vinny Alterio, The Wine Shop’s Gary Kim, and St. Thomas Fish Bar’s Kenny Claxton, alongside Hawaiian celebrity chef and James Beard winner Sam Choy. Lovango’s Executive Chef Kyle McKnight and his culinary team will be featuring some delicious bites, and celebrity mixologists Will Elliott and Ariel Rosario will craft signature cocktails. Relax at the beach club and indulge in an incredible day of food, drinks, live music and island vibes.

Sunday, May 4th – A Celebration of Puerto Rico Beach Club Party 

Get ready for a vibrant celebration of Puerto Rican cuisine when the Lovango Beach Club is taken over by Culinary U, a Puerto Rican food group and experiential company at the forefront of our neighboring island’s culinary scene. Puerto Rican celebrity chefs Ariel Rodriguez, Rene Marichal, Juan Jose Cuevas, and Xavier Pacheco will showcase the rich flavors of their homeland, serving up delicious dishes throughout the day. In addition to these mouthwatering creations, Puerto Rican based celebrity mixologist Ariel Rosario of Signature Cocktails, along with Lovango’s own mixologist lead Will Elliott, will craft refreshing, island-inspired drinks. Guests can relax, indulge, and experience the best of Puerto Rican culture with live music while relaxing at the beach club.

Tickets for both beach parties start at $150 per person and include roundtrip ferry transportation.

Click here to learn more about Taste of Lovango and to purchase tickets to one or both of the beach parties. 

Lovango’s Beach Club features a 70-foot infinity pool, plus a new adults-only plunge pool. You can opt to rent a poolside cabana, a beach cabana or a waterfront chaise lounge. All food and a welcome cocktail is included in the price. Both beach parties will feature live music. Take advantage of Lovango’s location and hike one of their trails, or hop in the ocean and snorkel one of their colorful reefs. Snorkel gear and showers are included.

Want to know more about Lovango’s Beach Club? Click here to read a recent article I posted. 

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

Learn more here –> www.explorestj.com/tour

See the island of St. John with a resident. See the nooks and crannies that many visitors miss. Explore the beaches, historical sites, perhaps a tiki bar or two, and much more. Full & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.

Click Here to Book Now. 

I can say with 100 percent certainty that Easter Rock was indeed wet this morning, proving that the legend is true!

It’s that time of year! Time for the annual story about Easter Rock!

For those of you who are not familiar with Easter Rock, it’s a large boulder that’s perched on the side of North Shore Road above Hawksnest Bay. Legend has it that every year on the night before Easter, Easter Rock makes its way down to Hawksnest Bay where it takes a drink of water and then rolls back up to its perch on North Shore Road. This all happens before the sun rises over the hill, according to the legend, so no one is around to actually witness it. So even during the driest of droughts, Easter Rock will still be wet on Easter morning.

Legend aside, here is the geological backstory straight of Easter Rock. The following is courtesy of SeeStJohn.com:

Although geologists have not yet succeeded in explaining Easter Rock’s propensity to go down to the sea on Easter Sunday for a drink of water, they can tell us about the origin of this massive boulder, which is the only one of its kind in the valley.

The outer crust of the Earth consists of large masses of slowly moving rock called tectonic plates. About 100 million years ago, one of these plates, called the North American plate, which was moving towards the west, encountered another tectonic plate called the Caribbean plate, which was moving in the same direction.

Life in the Caribbean has long been classified as slower moving than in the fast-paced world of continental America. This phenomenon apparently has a historical and geological foundation because a significant factor in the creation of many of the Caribbean islands, including St. John, is the fact that the Caribbean plate happened to be moving at a slower pace than its continental counterpart.

Consequently, when the North American plate overtook the slower moving Caribbean plate, the American plate, being denser and heavier, slid under the Caribbean plate and pushed it up. The friction from the two giant masses of solid rock grinding against one another produced a heat so intense that it melted some of the rock between the two plates. The fiery, liquefied rock, called magma, built up in enclosed pockets, called magma chambers, and exerted an ever-increasing pressure on the surrounding rock. When that pressure became so great that it could not be contained any longer, the magma broke through its rocky chamber and spewed forth violently into the ocean. This event is called a volcano.

Normally, when super-hot magma comes in contact with cold ocean water, the magma explodes and is dispersed over a great area. In this case, however, the eruption occurred at a depth of 15,000 feet, or nearly three miles, below the surface of the ocean. At this great depth the water pressure is nearly 7,000 pounds per square inch, a pressure that was sufficient to keep the magma from exploding on contact with water and instead causing it to be deposited on the ocean floor in giant solid sheets.

Coinciding with this volcanic activity and the laying down of rock, the action of the American plate sliding under the Caribbean plate caused the latter to bulge at the edges. The combination of these events resulted in the beginnings of a mountain range that was to become the islands of the Greater Antilles. This process of volcanic activity and uplifting continued for millions of years and caused the newly formed mountains to move closer to the surface.

It was during the next period of St. John’s development that Easter Rock was born. A series of volcanoes erupted in the area of what is today called Pillsbury Sound. This time the water was relatively shallow and the volcanoes erupted explosively. The shower of rocks, solidified volcanic ash, and molten lava added substance and height to the older solid sheets of rock and, in conjunction with the continued uplifting of the area, eventually brought parts of the rocky underwater mass above sea level to form islands.

The awesome power of these violent eruptions also served to break off huge chunks of the older rock, heaving them into the air. One of these massive fragments ended up just above what was to become Hawksnest Bay. That majestic boulder, now known as Easter Rock, not only goes down to the sea every Easter for a drink of water, but also serves as an enduring reminder of the fiery beginnings of the island of St. John.

Love it!

Have a wonderful holiday everyone!

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

Learn more here –> www.explorestj.com/tour

See the island of St. John with a resident. See the nooks and crannies that many visitors miss. Explore the beaches, historical sites, perhaps a tiki bar or two, and much more. Full & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.

Click Here to Book Now. 

Hello everyone, and happy Tuesday! It’s been a bit since I posted a quick island update, so here we go!

Let’s start with the crowds… The island is so busy! Like unbelievably busy! It’s Spring Break in many towns up in New England on the East Coast, and those families are currently visiting us in droves! It’s great seeing so many children enjoying our beaches and everything the island has to offer. Thank you for coming!

But with the crowds comes crazy parking problems, and the past few days have been no exception. The biggest piece of advice I can give you when visiting the island is that no parking truly means no parking. If you parking in front of a no parking sign, you will likely return to a $150 ticket from the National Park. If you park in front of a tow away sign like we have at Trunk Bay, you will likely get towed. And if a tow truck isn’t available to tow you, the park rangers will simply take your license plates off of your vehicle. I am absolutely serious about this. I saw what appeared to be a St. Thomas rental vehicle parked in the tow away zone at Trunk Bay last week, and the ranger removed the plates and dropped them off at the motor vehicle department. Now that will easily ruin a vacation. During weeks like this, it’s always best to take a taxi.

For those of you on island this week, certain types of alcohol are prohibited from being sold until 4 p.m. on Good Friday. Beer and wine can be sold, but no spirits. That means no Painkillers until 4 p.m., so please plan accordingly. The British Virgin Islands has a similar law on the books, so there won’t be any Painkillers at the Soggy Dollar Bar on Friday until 6 p.m.

Speaking of holidays, all government offices will be closed on Thursday, Friday and Sunday. This likely will not affect you if you are here on vacation, but it does affect those of us who live here. Ferries, barges and businesses will be operating as normal.

Most retail shops will stay open on Easter, however some restaurants will close. Check your favorite to be certain.

And while we are talking about restaurants, we have our first seasonal closing in. ZoZo’s will close even earlier this year. They will close for season at the end of May this year, so make those reservations now.

That’s it for now. Have a fantastic day everyone!

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

Learn more here –> www.explorestj.com/tour

See the island of St. John with a resident. See the nooks and crannies that many visitors miss. Explore the beaches, historical sites, perhaps a tiki bar or two, and much more. Full & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.

Click Here to Book Now.