You met Kristen Maize, from the Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park, here earlier this month. Here is what she does in her spare time. She is an amazing painter, and she has a showing of some of her stuff at the Michael Banzhaf Gallery starting with a reception on May 4. If you’re on island then, mark the date. Most paintings usually sell opening night. Kristen says six of her ten paintings are in sepia tones, inspired by old photos of St. John. The rest are full color and compliment the paintings of the past with similar images in the present. We think she’s a rising star, and her paintings are reasonably priced right now. (No, I don’t get a commission but if I’m lucky I’ll get a kiss on the cheek next time I see her.) Michael Banzhaf, next door to Mongoose Junction, is also a pretty cool gallery. They’ll figure out how to get your art home for you.

Car barge Capt’n Vic has just undergone some serious iron work repairs. This is actually really good news. It means the barge isn’t headed for the scrap heap. Lots of welding and lots of fresh paint and Vic remains a viable part of the Red Hook-Enighed Pond run. With Vic running, that makes four barges in service. General II recently returned from a stateside overhaul. The Roanoke still makes the runs. And the new big boy, Mr. B. remains up and running. In theory, that could mean very efficient shuttling of cars back and forth. In theory. Vic is our second favorite. It’s slow, but it’s breezy and has a second floor porch. The Roanoke is by far our favorite. Even slower we think. But great palm trees and great outdoor seating. And cold beer!

First timer tip? DON’T buy a roundtrip ticket. If you’re not going back on the same company’s barge, you have to wait for the right one. The potential delay isn’t worth the few bucks a RT saves. But, that’s just us.  

Okay, it’s not technically a beach, but it is well-traveled territory. And, you actually can find little stretches of sand and pebbles here and there around Coral Bay. This was shot at the dinghy dock behind Skinny Legs. It is parking lot central for all the live aboard folks in Coral Bay. This is where you’ll probably be picked up for a day sail out of Coral Bay. You can see every size, shape and age of dinghy bobbing up and down here. And a crab or two, too. And a great, Heineken Man statue keeps an eye on it all. Go there for a couple of minutes below!

Well whatever is going on in the former Chelsea Drug Store space at Market Place, it is hidden from view. Which means something is going on. This is the space that Starfish is taking over for a gourmet wine store, which will, presumably, include a bunch of gourmet stuff (since you don’t often refer to gourmet “wine.”) A June opening is a good bet. It’ll also be cool to see what Starfish does with all that space in the main store currently occupied by (gourmet) wine. Best deal, wine wise at Starfish? Yellow Tail Shiraz in the 1.5 liter bottles. An Australian red. It’s named after the yellow-footed rock wallaby, a kind of kangaroo that is a regular at the vineyard in Riverina. Gosh, you learn a lot here, don’t you?

Reports of Cruz Bay fixture Lindy’s death are premature. He is alive and well (okay, maybe not so well, but every bit as happy as always.) Here he is, sitting in Cruz Bay this very morning.This guy is friendly and harmless, but how he survives on a diet of Heineken and cigarette butts from the street is beyond me. He won’t hurt anyone. But I wouldn’t want to trust him with Russia’s nuclear bomb codes. 

Chelsea Drug Store is the only game in town now. The drugstore next door to Dolphin Market is closed, but will soon re-open. This time as an optometrist’s store called St. John Eye Care. This may not seem like a big addition, but it is. For all the island residents who wear glasses, or will someday need to, this means one less reason to have to schlep over to St. Thomas. Opening date? Soon come.

The Satyamuna guys, Giuliana and Ofer, have added something new to the menu. Jazz Brunch. But this one is on Saturdays. Rich Greengold and Eddie Bruce started playing a gig at Satyamuna a couple of weeks ago. They’re the same guys that do jazz at Miss Lucy’s brunch on Sundays. They set up across the hall from Satyamuna in front of the Mail Center and play until about 2:30. We asked Giuliana and Ofer how it was going and they said people are loving it. Buy a weeks’ worth of WiFi from Surf da Web nearby. It’s closed on Sundays, but the WiFi still works. Now it’s an extra nice place to sit and catch up on email on a Sunday afternoon.

Okay gang…another brand new business that you can cheer on for making it. The place is called “Bringin’ The Fun” and it’s above the former location of Everyting (which is now a real estate office), just below Banana Deck. It has Internet, cappuccino, and munchies like bagels, cake and ice cream. Sample prices…Large latte: $4.50. Large espresso: $2.75. Bagel with lox, tomato, red onion and cream cheese: $7.75. And for a fee, you can stash your luggage there. $3 per bag. (They promise to drag your bags up the steps for you.) It’s actually kind of a funky place. There’s a little pond and a waterfall. And they open at 6 a.m., which is a lot earlier than we open. The New York transplant owner wasn’t there when we stopped by. She’d make a great interview. We’ll catch her soon. “Book and Bean” is also a good place for great coffee. St. John doesn’t need a Starbucks.