The new owners of Book & Bean at The Marketplace are the same folks who run the popular Pink Papaya store in Cruz Bay. John and Linda Dickson closed on the purchase of Book & Bean this week, and have some new plans for the place. They’ll continue to sell coffee and books, and they’ll carry newspapers, including the New York Times, as well as cards and stationary, and they’ll sell goodies, thanks to a deal with a baker in Coral Bay.
And they’re starting to fill the store with local art that’s for sale, including works by Lisa Etre (who was one of Pink Papaya’s previous owners.)
You’d think they’d be busy enough with one store, so why expand? “It’s the highest traffic area on St. John, besides the ferry dock,” says Linda. “It’s a good business and we’re just going to make it more fun and colorful.”
The Book & Bean signs will stay up for a few weeks, until the new “Papaya Cafe” signs are made (and approved by Marketplace), in a month or so. We’ll give them a bit to settle in, then we’ll take you to see the new store.
Sad, but true. Chilly Billy’s will serve its last breakfast this weekend. We hear Sunday is the last day. Owners Jeff and Laura Christiansen bought the restaurant from the original owner about four years ago. And it’s been for sale for the last two years. It was last listed for $225,000.
There’s a kitchen full of food left to cook up. $2 off meals and free Bloody Marys and mimosas all weekend.
(Know how Chilly Billy’s got its name? Watch this interview with the original owner’s daughter.)
You could call Rock Ridge Road the Nose Bleed section. These are pretty awesome views up here. Rock Ridge Road is lined with a mix of brand new and older vacation rentals, and we’ll point out a few of them. We’ll start our ascent just past Ristaba. Rock Ridge Road…below!
Every city center needs a little market and Cruz Bay is getting one. There’s a new tenant at Meada’s Plaza and it looks like they plan on opening a mini grocery store. We’re working on details, like name and owner and whether there is even one shred of truth to this (our best source is a non-English speaking truck driver), but if we’re right it sounds like a great deal for all the folks who work in Cruz Bay. To the best of our knowledge, no one has unpacked a crate with a neon 7-Eleven sign in it… but that might be the kind of home-grown place Cruz Bay is getting. (Just don’t buy your hot dog there. That’s what Beach Dawgs is for.) What does that Drudge guy say? Story developing.
You read the story about the new Gym in Paradise owners. Now they’re willing to pay to stay in your face about this. 40 is the new 30 (and so on)…but only if you stick to your routine.
If you’re on vacation, go three times. Okay…two. If you live on island, support these folks. They’re updating the equipment and this is not a huge profit operation. Mark and Michelle would appreciate the business. Besides, they’re moving their whole lives to St. John, making them newbies. Everybody deserves a honeymoon…before the reality of what they just got themselves into sets in. Bwa-HAH-HA-HAAA!
When I was a kid, my Mom had a knack for making chores sound like fun, so taking a cue from Mom, here’s something you’d really enjoy. The Friends of the VINP is asking villa management companies to put this flier in villa activity books, hoping visitors will volunteer a couple of hours during their vacation to help clean up a ruins site or a trail or a beach. Think about doing it. The morning outings are scheduled twice weekly. You just show up at the NPS maintenance lot next to Mongoose Junction, and you’re drafted. Do some good, meet new people, learn a thing or two! More information here.
Season Two’s theme was munchies kind of stuff that you can make during the day and chow on over cocktails at night. Episode One? A recipe submitted for Cocktail meatballs in chili sauce and grape jelly. No, really. Not bad!
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The higher you are up, the more amazing Rendezvous Bay looks. I once saw a whale in the bay while shooting video at Villa Tesori. One of Tesori’s neighbors is House with a View. You get to it by turning up Gifft Hill Road and then taking a quick right. This is a big house and the name fits. A new pool was also recently added. Check it out.
HOUSE WITH A VIEW: 4 BEDROOMS, NEW POOL, AMAZING VIEW. $1,350,000
Ya’ll turned in some great homework this time around, but we had to whittle down the list. So, we decided to choose the four weirdest-sounding villa appetizers.
In the coming weeks, look for grape jelly meatballs, breaded AND grilled shrimp, jalapenos in bacon and peanut butter pizza. First new vittles episode this later this week!
Great Cruz Bay Road is the Great White Way of vacation rentals. And it has two other notables. Speed bumps, and walkers. Tons of each. And caution on both counts! We’ll point out a dozen villas, and we’ve probably missed at least as many more. Feel free to contribute to the Villa Strip extraordinaire. Great Cruz Bay Road, below.
I know this is a popular camera, so just a warning. Nothing lasts forever. Our trusty, shockproof, waterproof Olympus Stylus 720 changed its mind about the waterproof part last week. As best we can tell, it was by no fault of our own. The battery/memory card door seal just failed. She took on water, and died a soggy death. Ours was about 18 months old, so it may have just been wear and tear. (After drying out, the memory card amazingly was undamaged.) It was a great camera and there are newer underwater models by Olympus, so we’ll just upgrade.
If you don’t have an underwater camera, consider shopping for one. Several manufacturers make sleek little models and they take good pictures, above and below.
If you’ve had a chance to swim with a turtle, you know how fun and special it is. And, many times, those turtles are hams. Swim with us and a turtle at Leinster Bay for a couple of minutes.
From the pages of our small town community newspaper, a wedding announcement. Joe Morris, known to locals and tourists as Dinghy Joe (the guy who owns Noah‘s Little Arks and all those yellow dinghies), will be made an honest man this summer. Longtime beautiful girlfriend and business partner Kim is sporting a big rock (several rocks) and they plan an August wedding. Where will they honeymoon? St. John. Not a bad choice. The reception should be one heck of a party.
The new owners of Book & Bean at The Marketplace are the same folks who run the popular Pink Papaya store in Cruz Bay. John and Linda Dickson closed on the purchase of Book & Bean this week, and have some new plans for the place. They’ll continue to sell coffee and books, and they’ll carry newspapers, including the New York Times, as well as cards and stationary, and they’ll sell goodies, thanks to a deal with a baker in Coral Bay. 
You read 
Ya’ll turned in some great homework this time around, but we had to whittle down the list. So, we decided to choose the four weirdest-sounding villa appetizers.
