Meet Joan Hayes. She and hubby Jeff, from Raleigh, have been coming to St. John for almost two decades. Joan and Jeff are now officially the new owners of Island Blues.

What are their plans?

Joan says they want to capitalize on the music venue side of the place.

Officially owning Island Blues, and being ready to re-open Island Blues are two different things though. Joan and Jeff have a lot of sprucing up to do. They say give them a couple of weeks to get opened back up.

Sounds like they plan to Pump Up the Volume. Read our interview with Joan Hayes, here!

The Fish Trap re-opened for business Tuesday, to great early reviews, under Chef Aaron Willis. You can check out the new menu online here. (The wok menu is a new addition.)

And who do we have among Fish Trap’s returning wait staff? None other than Our Favorite Beach Bar bartender, Boo. Fish Trap is open every day but Mondays.

When we’re not On-StJohn, we’re In-DC, which is okay because water, sailboats and Painkillers are just a weekend road trip away in Annapolis, where the original Pusser’s outpost is. You can get the Pusser’s Painkiller on Tortola… (and maybe soon in a strip mall near you but more about that in a minute) but how does the Pusser’s Annapolis Painkiller hold up to the original Soggy Dollar Painkiller, from which it is derived.

We set out to get you the answer.

The first difference is that the Soggy Dollar Painkiller comes in one version, but the Pusser’s Painkiller comes in three strengths; No. 2, No. 3 or No. 4. Just like Tylenol with codeine.

The Pusser’s Painkiller is also lighter and sweeter. Noticeably on both counts. We decided light and sweet aren’t better.

It is also made with a specific rum, that being Pusser’s (which is a play on Purser but more on that later too.)

And technically, you’re supposed to drink the Pusser’s Painkiller in a tin mug. Just like sailors.

After much research, much much research, we came to the conclusion that any Painkiller is best consumed on an island. That said, the winner is…hands down…The Soggy Dollar Painkiller.

Now here’s your days reading:

Pusser’s generous credit to Soggy Dollar/what “Pusser’s” means.
Soggy Dollar’s modest story.
Why the former CEO of Long John Silvers wants a Pusser’s on every block.
Where you can see Pusser’s Tortola Webcams.

There goes another place to get something fast and cheap to eat. Senorita’s Pizza, in Wharfside Village, is the latest victim of the run on St. John restaurants. It’s not like this was a newcomer either. Senorita’s Pizza has been there for about 5 years (which is a pretty good run by St. John standards.)

Go around the corner and buy a hot dog from Beach Dawgs/I Scream. Colette is very pretty and she has enough toppings that she can probably make you a hot dog that tastes like a pizza. Buy two. Consider it a large.

The owner of Cruz Bay’s Bringin’The Fun coffee shop and Internet café is closing down barely 15 months after opening. And she’d love to find a buyer for the business. Alex Nydick tells us it’s an unusual situation. She’s renting the space from Banana Deck, and Banana Deck has agreed to let her sell the business and draw up a new lease so she can recoup costs from the extensive build out she and partner Rance did before opening the hip little place. But no food service allowed. Got an idea for this little water view space? Bring the offers, she says. Read our interview with Alex, here.

The tardy posting of a Sunday blog entry is completely excusable, considering the extensive research project we took on this weekend. We’ve been curious for some time about the Pusser’s Painkiller vs. the Soggy Dollar Painkiller, and more specifically, the stateside version of the Pusser’s knockoff. The results of our detailed research forthcoming. As soon as our heads stop pounding.