Today’s Beach Break is Francis Bay, the beach just passed Maho and reached by boat or by a bumpy, but not so horrible road. It’s fun to sit on this beach and look out at all the big sailboats and yachts…expensive boats love to hang out in this bay…and then to look up and down the beach and try to figure out which people are the rich people who belong to those boats. (Wait long enough, and their dinghys come to get them and you can see if you were right.) Notice how brown the hillsides are. It’s really dry right now. Go to Francis here!

Frankly, my idea of the perfect Beach Break is a camera on a tripod pointing at some sand and waves. But our Creative Services Dept. (Russ) is constantly pushing for innovation. So we are trying a new technique in the next couple of Beach Breaks called Boat Cam. It’s nothing more than Russ straddling the side of a dinghy and me going ‘round in a circle…a kind of 360 degree virtual tour. It’s really not that great, what with wave and wake rocking us back and forth, but until I can figure out how to hang Russ from a gimbal, it is what is it. (By the way, “it is what it is” is the most frequently-used phrase by anybody building a villa on St. John who is in the final weeks of finish work. It basically means “We’re broke! Okay! I’ll accept this!)

About villa videos: If there’s a video, it means we know the house. Full disclosure: This is a paid advertisement, but the comments below are our own.

Welcome our newest advertiser: Great Expectations. This place is too big to sum up in a few words or a couple of pictures, but if you’re a large group looking for a villa on the South Shore, consider Great Expectations. The list of what you get is long. For starters, 7 bedrooms, two pools, two spas and a full-sized tennis court. It’s perched on a knoll, giving it views in several directions, and that means both sunrises and sunsets. The grounds are beautifully landscaped, the suites, including a studio with its own kitchen, are all super nice and comfy, and this place is pretty cool. The owners obviously care about it. It is impeccably maintained. And it’s spread out over an acre, so even if you don’t like all those people you got roped into traveling with, you don’t have to see much of them. Great Expectations is also for sale.

Read more at the Great Expectations Website here. And take a 5 minute video tour here!    

There was some serious money at that Pine Peace Auction over the weekend. First estimates say the event raised between $155,000 and $160,000. That’s alotta loot for a little island. The biggest single winning bid went for a three night stay in a 7,000 square foot, 4 bedroom villa at the St. Regis Temenos Villas in Anguilla (pictured.) It went for $21,000. Congratulations to auction co-chairs Lori Barlas and Beth Jones. If you want to see what the winning bids were for all auction items in all categories, they’ve got them posted here.

There’s this booth by the ferry dock called Visitor’s Connection, and its big purpose is to drive traffic to the Westin for timeshare tours. We watched this booth on and off for a couple of days recently, and discovered that it also serves as a sort of free concierge service. You don’t have to sign up for the Westin tours at all, even though the Westin pays for the booth and for Christina, who is generally manning (womaning?) the booth. Got questions? Get answers. Need reservations? They’ll do it for you. Looking for something to do? They’re full of suggestions. We really think it is kind of an under-utilized free service. Of course, the Westin would love to have you stop by for a timeshare pitch, but while we lurked and watched before deciding to do this story, we didn’t see any strong-arming at all. Good place to just pick up a map or some brochures too. Meet the very friendly and awfully cute Christina here!   

If you can’t sit in the park and see how long it takes for that crazy lady to spit on you, what’s the point in going to St. John. The Cruz Bay Park (Frank Powell Sr. Park) will reportedly be closed for four months.Donated gravel was just put down, covering the bare dirt around the Freedom Statue. Other little things will be done between now and July. Then, the park will be closed until November.

 

Gee, imagine that. We’re not sure if all the press St. John gets is a good thing, or a bad thing, but Sunday’s Washington Post names St. John the most popular island in the Caribbean. The title is based on submissions from readers of the Post’s daily blog and weekly chat, so this is far from scientific. “Judging from the number of times this U.S. Virgin Island was mentioned, it’s clear that making two-thirds of an island a protected national park is a popular idea,” the Post says. “Readers say it’s a great place for beachgoing, water sports, families and just getting away from it all.” 

Puerto Rico won the title “Easiest Island”, Grand Cayman, Turks and Caicos were named “Beachiest”, St. Lucia, Dominica and St. Eustacia won “Best for Natural Beauty”, and Aruba and Barbados were named “Best All-Around”.  Here’s the Post’s Readers Speak article.

Seriously, we’ll believe this when we see it, but plans for a roundabout where the Texaco station is are still moving forward.  Guess it’s a good idea, if you could, oh, say, SHUT DOWN THE ENTIRE CRUZ BAY SIDE OF THE ISLAND FOR A YEAR WHILE YOU BUILD IT. Here’s a question. In countries where you drive on the right and the driver sits left, like the U.S., traffic goes counterclockwise in a roundabout. In countries where you drive on the left and the driver sits right, like the U.K., traffic goes clockwise. So, on St. John, how would it work? Clockwise, right? I mean, correct? Traffic planners love roundabouts. Busy right now? Read all about them here.