Stacy Mulcare, the first true wedding planner to set up shop on St. John, is one busy woman. Her business, Ceremonies of St. John, has been featured on the Travel Channel and in several magazines, and the testimonials on her Website speak for themselves. She knows all the right people on the island and can pull off just about any request. And it doesn’t hurt that her husband of 15 years, Seamus Mulcare, happens to be St. John’s top wedding cake maker. Remember The Royal Wedding Cake? That’s Seamus’ work.
If you’re planning on getting hitched, you work on the hitching part and leave the planning part to Stacy. Learn more about Ceremonies of St. John here. And, read a little Q&A with Stacy here.
Here’s an update for the ladies (and the sensitive, ornament seeking men among us.) The stores are starting to display all the holiday stuff, including the sought-after island themed tree ornaments. Here’s Pink Papaya owner Linda (right) and store manager Jeanette proudly showing off their goods. Linda, and husband John took over Pink Papaya a couple of years ago. We should interview them. Nice folks. (And WHAT is that frog on the table in front of them doing???)
This out of the way place is an easy hike and well worth the drive to Lameshur. You’ll follow a well-maintained trail past a beautiful little cove that was a Beach Break a few weeks back, and when you get to the end of the trail, the payoff is a spectacular, 270 degree view. Watch out for the little cactuses though. They’ll jump up and grab you.
Oh…you’ll also hear Gerald Singer’s commentary. You’ll meet Gerald in an upcoming installment but for now, enjoy his comments about Yawzi, and hike the trail with us, below!
Ted Robinson, former chef at Paradiso and former, former chef at Tage has a new day job. He’s classing up the carryout at Starfish Market. You’ll find Ted back in the Starfish kitchen making sandwiches to go like maple glazed sirloin wraps, pulled chicken salad with cucumber and tarragon on crusty whole wheat bread and buttermilk fried mahi on roasted corn brioche. They’re stacked up and waiting for you in that cooler over by the bread. About $8 to $10.
Ted says Starfish asked if he’d come in and come up with new things to keep the old store up with the new Starfish Gourmet store across the hall, and he tells us he plans on doing crossover stuff between the two stores, like food demos paired with wine tastings.
That’s his new day job. He’s still got his night job as a private chef and, although he says he’s no longer working directly for Katilady Catering, he still takes bookings through her, and others on the island. He now calls himself an independent contractor, and takes bookings through his Ted’s Supper Club.
But the big question is, with Tage, the restaurant he founded, now closed down by its most recent owner, would he consider yet another shot at it? “If the right thing came along with the right people again, I would be interested,” he tells us. “The first time around, it was really a fantastic group of people that made it all work so well.”
Ted says he hears there are some people throwing ideas around for the old Tage, but he’s laying low for now. “I’m building a house in Fish Bay,” he says. “I’m keeping pretty busy watching my house go up and my bank account go down.”
You may remember Operation Storm Cruz Bay a few months ago when DPNR came through with backhoes and dumpsters and cleared Cruz Bay Beach of the mishmash of dinghies, rowboats and kayaks. The beach really does look good these days. But that old metal boat is still refusing to leave. This was shot just a couple of days before the mystery dinghies showed up. Cleaned up Cruz Bay, below!
Grand Opening for Big Belly Deli this week, a brand new restaurant that takes over the former Mosquito Bites location. Tim Cummins, who came to St. John just five months ago, and his sister Peg Yolman are running the joint, and they promise good food and “good price value.” Big Belly Deli will serve breakfast (eggs to order, blini -Tim spent some time in Russia, bagels)-, lunch (made to order deli sandwiches and daily soups) and dinner (3 specials a night to go, like ribs or sausage and pasta.) Big Belly Deli: 7 am to 7 pm, 7 days a week.
Meet some of the folks that read your posts and add their own on the USVI-ON-LINE forum. Forgive them if their words are a little slurred. It was evening at the Beach Bar after all. Forumites, below!
Wade had a great time recently at a Beach Bar gathering of USVI-ON-LINE forumites. While he entertained, I passed around a microphone. Watch this space for a fun montage of tipsy tourists.
One more restaurant is back on line after an end of summer shut down. Café Roma in Cruz Bay officially reopened for dinner Friday night, one of the last restaurants that closed to reopen.
Great place. Big servings. EXCELLENT pizza. (16 inch and new 9 inch.) The second floor sit down restaurant is small and can get a little noisy, but for the money it’s hard to beat what you get and how good it is. You’ve got a big, big appetite if you leave this place belonging to the Clean Plate Club.
Will the mysteries of DPNR’s Cruz Bay cleanup never cease? A Boston Whaler has been busy the last two days towing fancy center console dinghies from off island into Cruz Bay…at least a dozen of them… and tying them up to newly-installed moorings. And the people bringing them in won’t tell the Cruz Bay regulars much about what’s going on. One story is they’re part of organized outings being provided by a big cruise ship line.
But…wasn’t the whole DPNR storming of the beach thing all about clearing everything OUT? (The last of the liveaboards were moved to Great Cruz Bay last week.) You have to assume DPNR approved those moorings the new dinghies are tied to.
Whatever is going on, please promise us as On-StJohn readers you will rent your dinghy from Noah’s Little Arks, not from some outfit we know nothing about. Stay tuned.
After just a couple of years, one of the best additions to Marketplace is for sale. “Book and Bean,” both a bookstore and coffee shop was just listed. Beings I don’t read, the book part was always lost on me, but the coffee (organic, fair-trade) is great. Same for the chai tea and smoothies.
Actually, the owners hope to sell the Book and Bean business as it is, but it may end up being the leasehold that’s sold, which means anything could end up in this prime little spot. Owner Lisa McCarthy and husband Michael, a former Westin sales director, are off to the Big Island of Hawaii where he’s got a new gig with Hilton. And where they’ll find lots of Kona coffee.
You can find the numbers (leasehold sales price, gross revenue, rent, etc.) here.
We’ll get back to the North Shore Road next week, but this is news you can use now. A stretch of road between Centerline Road and the South Shore road has very recently been paved, and this can shave a heck of a lot of time off your drive. For example, if you’re staying on the South Shore, when you’re coming back from Coral Bay, take this road. A better option than Gifft Hill Road and a way to entirely avoid going through Cruz Bay. And the same for going the other direction. From Centerline, turn left at the lower entrance of Pastory Gardens. In exactly 4 minutes, you will be at the top of Jacob’s Ladder and the South Shore Road.Buckle up. Thanks to 21st century technology, you’re about to do it in 2 minutes, not 4. The shortcut, below!
Al Roker interviewed Keith Bellows, editor of National Geographic Traveler, this morning about the magazine’s recent article on islands in the balance. St. John and St. Thomas got 39 seconds out of the 4 and a half minute piece. The entire segment was a very TV news-like condensed version of the lengthy magazine article. Still, some pretty pictures of lots of islands. If you wanna watch it, click here.
That got your attention, didn’t it. It’s true. The bar and cafeteria are undergoing yet another renovation. You can still get a little something. There’s a hot dog warmer set up in a corner. And a cooler with ham or turkey sandwiches, or salads. Or chocolate cake. But that’s about it. Oh. And relax about the bar part. There’s a temporary pouring station set up as well. (ETA on the new space: “About a month.”)
Musician Steve Simon was spotted walking with Governor John deJongh in Cruz Bay recently, and they weren’t talking jazz. Simon, active in many civic efforts on the island, was talking up the Gov about his plans to replace St. John’s aging Star of Life ambulance boat. We hear the Governor has agreed to let Simon head up a public/private effort to raise funds for a replacement. Knowing how plugged in Simon is, we bet there’s a heavy emphasis on the private side. Maybe we can expect a fundraiser concert or two as well.
Star of Life, a seized drug running boat, was given to the St. John EMS for use as an ambulance boat back in the mid-90‘s. It is long in the tooth and it’s the only EMS boat for emergency transport to St. Thomas, so replacing it would be a very good thing.
There are a handful of villas on this South Shore bay, including Vida de Mar, the place we visited to gain access to this cool beach. This was shot mid-afternoon, that time of day when the sun gives the water that beautiful, silvery glow. This bay also has an interesting drug smuggling history. Ask a local about it. Devers Bay, below!
Stacy Mulcare, the first true wedding planner to set up shop on St. John, is one busy woman. Her business, Ceremonies of St. John, has been featured on the Travel Channel and in several magazines, and the testimonials on her Website speak for themselves. She knows all the right people on the island and can pull off just about any request. And it doesn’t hurt that her husband of 15 years, Seamus Mulcare, happens to be St. John’s top wedding cake maker. Remember The Royal Wedding Cake? That’s Seamus’ work. 
After just a couple of years, one of the best additions to Marketplace is for sale. “Book and Bean,” both a bookstore and coffee shop 
