This is almost a franchise by St. John standards. Colette, who opened the new soft-serve ice scream shop in Wharfside Village a few months ago, is opening a second location next to Morgan‘s Mango. It’s actually her first, original location before she moved from there to Wharfside Village. But now she’s reopening that location, and she says she’s stocking good old “ice cream truck stuff.” The Ding Dong Man of Cruz Bay. Red, white and blue Popsicles, rainbow snow cones, ice cream sandwiches, maybe even chocolate tacos.
We didn’t see the Governor’s comments about the Sirenusa veto override in any of the local news coverage, so we thought we’d post it. Here it is:
Government House comments on override of SirenUSA development zoning variance veto
Government House expressed no surprise Tuesday at the 27th Legislature’s override of a gubernatorial veto which now facilitates a zoning variance being granted to Cruz Bay Condo Project known commonly as SirenUSA development in Estate Enighed on St. John.
“Given the original 13-1 vote in favor of the zoning variance, my administration was aware that a strong possibility existed for an override of the veto,” Gov. John P. de Jongh said Tuesday. Despite the arguments presented in the veto message, it is unfortunate that the Senate did not share my administration’s concerns or those that have been expressed by residents of this community about zoning and development, deJongh added.
“It is required that we stand up and take account of the community’s interest and concerns rather than the special interest of a few in making important both moral and legal decisions,” the Chief Executive noted.
Ever rent a villa that says “just a short walk to a nearby beach” only to find out that is absolute hogwash? Rent a villa in Klein Bay, and it’s true. Klein Bay is kind of a secret. A very nice neighborhood just past Rendezvous Point with some beautiful homes. It’s extra quiet here, and it is true…Klein Bay beach is just a short walk away. Mostly rocky, but you can find a stretch of sand, and other than somebody else who lives or is staying in the area, you’re not likely to see many people here. Check out Klein Bay, below!
The cops on St. John take seat belts seriously. They‘ll overlook the beer in your lap, but you’ll get stopped in a heartbeat if you’re not buckled in. So it makes sense that the Virgin Islands is again actively participating in the yearly “Click It or Ticket” campaign. Click It started in North Carolina in 1993 and spread to other states soon after. Did you know New Hampshire is the only state that doesn’t have a seat belt law? The New Hampshire state motto is also Live Free or Die.
Here’s a little surprise for Randy and Marcia, the guys from Annapolis who’ve been building Reef Madness Villa in Coral Bay. We snuck up there a few days ago to see how things were going, and got out a camera while we were there. We should all be cheering for these guys. This is going to be a WAY COOL two bedroom house with a sweet, cliff-hanging pool, and they have dumped their souls (and savings accounts) into it. It’s in Seagrape Hill, which, by Coral Bay standards, is just about as convenient as you can get. The paved road up the hill is directly across from Skinny Legs. What awesome views. Coral Bay and empty, green hillsides. Nice stonework too (which ain’t cheap.) Sneak into Reef Madness for a minute or so, below!
A couple of guys have imported a bunch of brand new containers from China and are renting them out. It’s called Storage On Site. Now, in the container business, you have basically two choices. 40 feet. Or 20 feet. These guys are taking a page from the very popular stateside mobile self-storage business and applying it to St. John. Their containers also include 13 feet, 10 feet and even 6 feet, which plays particularly well to the difficult time you have figuring out where to park a container on St. John. And if you want one configured as an office (with window, door and A/C), no problem. And their rent or lease rates are a whole lot less than what a shipping company is going to charge you to keep their container for awhile. If you live on St. John or are building on St. John, your mind is already racing.
But here’s another thought. Why build a villa at all? Buy a lot, and put your family in a container. Add a Weber grill and you’re done. No fuss, no muss. You spend most of your time outside anyway, right? (Homeowners association presidents all across the island are having heart attacks. Don’t even think about it.) Their site is here.
Of course you can get pizza delivered on St. John! Call Ronnie’s Pizza and Ronnie will show up in his spiffy little Smart Car. Ronnie claims the little three cylinder gasoline engine gets about 30 miles to the gallon. “I fill it up on a Monday and I’m good for two weeks,” he says. And he also claims he can get up any hill on the island, even with the air conditioning running. Ronnie’s will deliver anywhere in Cruz Bay, or Great Cruz Bay, Chocolate Hole, Fish Bay or Rendezvous. And he says they’ll find you. “We’re locals. We take any directions we can get.”
Ronnie’s (which used to be The Rolling Pin in a different location a few years ago) serves pizza, calzones, salads, chicken wings, mozzarella cheese sticks, and other quick and tasty stuff. Just up the hill from the Lumber Yard and Mixology.
Smart Cars are probably coming to a dealer near you this year or next. Watch a fun little Smart Car news story here.
That new Italian restaurant that the owner thought he’d have open in November, but postponed it until January, only to have the whole deal held up by problems with the building, now expects to open within a month or so, pending permits and inspections (optimism is good in the restaurant business.) It will indeed open in the short-lived Infusions Martini Bar across from Lime Inn.
We stopped by to say Hi to Livio Leoni, who was hard at work hammering and nailing instead of roasting and sautéing the other day, and through his thick and charming Italian accent we made out a couple of things. He plans to change the menu as often as every day. He’s making the pasta from scratch. And he doesn’t think the tomatoes you get on St. John are all that good. He also says he’s got a secret that’ll still make them into a bravissimo sauce anyway. But he wouldn’t tell us the secret. Oh, and Livio’s restaurant will be called Da Livios. It looks nice in there.
This is a neighborhood beach. If you’ve ever wondered where people who work in Cruz Bay live, you’ll find a lot of them in the Frank Bay neighborhood. We should all be so lucky as to be able to walk to work in the morning, and stop at a beach for a sunset on the way home. Frank Bay is right across the street from Coconut Coast Studios. It’s also a good spot for cruise ship watching. Don’t mind those pipes. They’re just part of the desalinization plant. Spend a minute or two at Frank Bay, below!
We get this occasionally. “Your videos take too long to load.” We get it mostly from people on-island. FYI, many recent On-StJohn TV interviews are also available on YouTube. The quality is not so great and we would much rather you watch our videos here, but the YouTube files are tiny, and more island-friendly. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and you’ll get automatic notification when there’s a new one to watch. On-StJohn TV on YouTube here.
Ever see one of these things and wonder what they are? They’re little 3 foot tall shelters called bush cat feeding stations. (This one is at the Concordia entrance.) They’re all over the island and volunteers make sure they’re filled with food and water for the island’s feral cat population. The St. John Animal Care Center helps out a lot. It spent $15,000 on animal food for the shelter and feeding stations last year. And they also often spay or neuter these cats and return them to where they were found. ACC also sometimes finds human homes for them too.
This is almost a franchise by St. John standards. Colette, who opened the new soft-serve ice scream shop in Wharfside Village a few months ago, is opening a second location next to Morgan‘s Mango. It’s actually her first, original location before she moved from there to Wharfside Village. But now she’s reopening that location, and she says she’s stocking good old “ice cream truck stuff.” The Ding Dong Man of Cruz Bay. Red, white and blue Popsicles, rainbow snow cones, ice cream sandwiches, maybe even chocolate tacos.
A couple of guys have imported a bunch of brand new containers from China and are renting them out. It’s called Storage On Site. Now, in the container business, you have basically two choices. 40 feet. Or 20 feet. These guys are taking a page from the very popular stateside mobile self-storage business and applying it to St. John. Their containers also include 13 feet, 10 feet and even 6 feet, which plays particularly well to the difficult time you have figuring out where to park a container on St. John. And if you want one configured as an office (with window, door and A/C), no problem. And their rent or lease rates are a whole lot less than what a shipping company is going to charge you to keep their container for awhile. If you live on St. John or are building on St. John, your mind is already racing.
Of course you can get pizza delivered on St. John! Call Ronnie’s Pizza and Ronnie will show up in his spiffy little Smart Car. Ronnie claims the little three cylinder gasoline engine gets about 30 miles to the gallon. “I fill it up on a Monday and I’m good for two weeks,” he says. And he also claims he can get up any hill on the island, even with the air conditioning running. Ronnie’s will deliver anywhere in Cruz Bay, or Great Cruz Bay, Chocolate Hole, Fish Bay or Rendezvous. And he says they’ll find you. “We’re locals. We take any directions we can get.” 
That new Italian restaurant that the owner thought he’d have open in November, but postponed it until January, only to have the whole deal held up by problems with the building, now expects to open within a month or so, pending permits and inspections (optimism is good in the restaurant business.) It will indeed open in the short-lived Infusions Martini Bar across from Lime Inn. 
Ever see one of these things and wonder what they are? They’re little 3 foot tall shelters called bush cat feeding stations. (This one is at the Concordia entrance.) They’re all over the island and volunteers make sure they’re filled with food and water for the island’s feral cat population. The 
