vicki-h.travellerspoint.comTurning 50 in Love City: A Birthday Bash in St John

A Travellerspoint blog Start a travel blog Login The New F” Word: Turning 50 in Love City A birthday bash in St John 15042024 Did I tell you I turned 50 while I was on my blog hiatus? Yes…2020 was certainly a fun year We rebuilt from Hurricane Dorian with no electricity or running water We came home in the middle of a pandemic And then I turned 50 I’m not sure which part was the most fun Long before hurricanes and pandemics, I had planned my 50th birthday to be on Guana Cay We had rented a much larger house than ours and had invited the usual suspects Then…a category 23 hurricane hit our island dead center Apparently, that wasn’t sufficient devastation enough, so the hurricane decided to sit on top of the island and pummel it with 185 mph winds for 48 HOURS I had to scrap that plan We would not be vacationing in the Abacos by July Heck, we would not be flushing toilets without a generator in the Abacos by July Plan B I decided to spend my 50th in the BVI, so I rented a lovely place on Mahoe Bay on Virgin Gorda Then…Covid The BVI closed I had to scrap that plan I had taken this as a sign from God that I was not supposed to travel for my birthday and had no intention of a Plan C lest I conjure up Armageddon I decided Matt and I would spend my 50th birthday quarantined at home, sharing one roll of toilet paper, binge watching Tiger King, and drinking canned to go” margaritas from our favorite Mexican restaurant Then …the USVI announced it would open up to visitors on June 1 Before we discovered Abaco, St John was our place We went at least once a year, sometimes twice, for over 10 years However, we hadn’t been back since 2014 Dare we try? Or was the birthday trip simply doomed? If I tried again, would I cause the Caribbean to be consumed by a plague of locusts, shut down the world power grid, cause the sun to go dark? I stood in the kitchen making breakfast on the 2,387th day of quarantine and I absolutely could not remember what day it was Was it Tuesday or Friday? Was it just yesterday that I cut my own hair or was that last week? I realized we had been stuck living a ground hog day existence, with each day merging into the next and with little to look forward to All of us were immobilized at home, day after day, rationing toilet paper in a Zoom hell We called the crew and booked a trip to St John At the risk of summoning a zombie apocalypse…we were doing the damn thing Day 1: Mask Up! Our group of 14 became a group of 12…became a group of 10…became a group of 8…as everyone got their pre-travel Covid tests and some didn’t make it For the rest of us, it was masks up and time to fly We arrived on time, grabbed 2 Jeeps at the airport, and headed for Red Hook To ensure we didn’t break from tradition, we all got lei’d at Duffy’s before boarding the ferry to St John We picked up our grocery order at Starfish Market and headed up the beautifully winding North Shore Road to our villa in Peter Bay Villa La Susa was a magnificent villa in lower Peter Bay and completely made me forget I was getting older by the minute Day 2: Slowing Our A$$es Down We were finally on island time and, after 5 months of the pandemic, everyone was ready for some R&R But first…mimosas! (and Bloody Marys, of course!) We started the day at Maho Maho was always my favorite beach, but I had not been since Hurricane Irma had blown through in 2017 I was so sad to see the beautiful leaning palms were gone and the beach almost didn’t even resemble what it had been back in the day” (Note to self: saying things like back in the day” makes you sound 50…) I also wasn’t sure what to think of the new Maho Crossroads” across the street While loungers and food trucks and bars are nice…I missed the natural beauty of the old Maho Nothing a few rum punches couldn’t cure We needed the old St John…so we headed to a place that never changes…Skinny Legs! It was still all stinky bathroom, no French fries, no frozen drinks, and feed the chickens at your own risk,” while eating a juicy burger and sipping a cold coconut swizzle I’m glad some things never change That evening, we headed into Cruz Bay thinking we would have dinner at Longboard Unfortunately, everyone else had the same thought Rather than wait an hour, we headed over to Woody’s for boozy drinks and tacos Day 3: Getting a Little Trunk There was no better way to start each day than with morning cocktails and the view from the villa before heading to the beach of the day” Today’s beach was Trunk Bay Maybe some think it is overrated, but I still think it’s the most beautiful beach on the island I wanted to share it with our friends who had never been, so we packed up coolers and chairs and headed to the beach to get a little trunk! If you drink in the sun, you can get toasted 2 ways! After the beach, we headed to Gringos for a proper tacos and tequila lunch That evening, we planned to do the birthday dinner,” even though my actual birthday was still 4 days away The rest of the group was leaving before the big day, so we were celebrating early In the cursed summer of 2020, Cruz Bay restaurants were doing what they could to allow visitors That meant we weren’t all allowed to sit at the same table and we had to use disposable dishes and cutlery While paper plates were absolutely antithetical to the whole notion of fine dining,” we just felt lucky to be there and didn’t mind, even when trying to cut a thick, juicy steak with a flimsy plastic knife that snapped in two within 9 seconds Unless you wanted to become a stealthy BYOKer (bring your own knife) at the risk of angering the Silverware Sergeant, it’s just the way things were that weird summer We wanted a nice dinner where we could use real forks and plates, so that meant dinner at the villa I had arranged for Sam & Jack’s to make us a dinner to go along with a cake so that we could enjoy at least one dinner at the same table I should mention here that I am THAT friend I’m the friend that makes everyone wear sequins to the hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant because I think it will be festive I’m the friend that buys matching t-shirts and hats for everyone when we go on a road trip I’m the friend that gets too excited about birthdays and insists that everybody dress up in matching outfits, buy costumes, and/or apply face paint, depending I’m very lucky to have friends that let me be THAT friend We dressed up We drank champagne We ate cake We used real forks I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday dinner Day 4: Honeymoons Aren’t Just for Newlyweds Honeymoon Beach used to be one of the most secluded beaches on the island You can’t see it from the road and the only way to get there was to make a steep and dirty trek 250 feet straight down on the Lind Point Trail or walk 30 minutes in the hot sun from the Caneel Bay parking lot Both options included lugging your beach chairs, cooler, and gear with you The reward, however, was blessed solitude At least until the cattlemarans” showed up from St Thomas, dumping hundreds of over-eager, yellow vested bobbers into the clear, shallow water, because the only other way to arrive was by boat The good news was that they only got to linger for a short while before the bull horn sounded, rounding them all back up to head somewhere else I remember one time when Matt and I had made the hot and sweaty walk from Caneel Bay with chairs, cooler, towels, bags, lunch…We were the only ones there We set our chairs up, put our towels in them, and headed out to snorkel While we were snorkeling, the yellow-vesters showed up, bobbing around loudly, standing on the coral To avoid getting head-whacked by flailing flippers, we decided to finish our snorkel once they were gone We headed into the beach only to find two portly yellow-vesters plopped in our chairs…wet…on our towels They had the nerve to look at us and say, Well, we just thought these chairs were here” I remember Matt responding, Really? Who do you think brought them? The Chair Fairy?” Ahhhh…the good old days (Note...