Happy Inauguration Day
Tuesday, January 20th, 2009
A painting by an artist often in Cruz Bay Park. We didn’t get his name, and we didn’t buy the painting. We regret both!
Archive for January, 2009
La Plancha puts serious sear on its menu
Monday, January 19th, 2009
Jason Howard and Mike Prout, along with third partner Jonathan Fritts, are gearing up to open St. John’s newest restaurant. La Plancha del Mar takes over the old China Shack space on the second floor of The Marketplace.
Chef Mike has a serious steel plate grill that sears at 600 degrees, and he’s promising killer tuna and rib eyes.
The guys say their menu will be inspired by Southern France and Southern Italy, but they also aim to keep the prices reasonable and working-class locals friendly.
They’ll try a soft opening later this week, but the official grand opening is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 24th starting at 5:30.
Read our interview with Mike, and learn about this way cool black sand and sea urchin bar, here!
Meet our newest advertiser! (We’re nervous.)
Sunday, January 18th, 2009
Cruz Bay Watersports says they are “all things Watersports,” and that’s a good description. Sails, dinghies, charters, dives and snorkels. Oh. And parasailing. These are the guys with the red boat you see running around with parasailers out of The Westin.
We’re nervous, because we saw the parasail boat while we were out with Captain John a couple of weeks ago, and in a haze of Red Stripe boldness, declared that parasailing looked fun and vowed to do it.
Then along comes our newest advertiser, who is happy to let us bring along our video cameras and do a story about parasailing. Which means we will actually BE parasailing.
Stay tuned for that, and in the meantime, check out Cruz Bay Watersports, and all they offer, at their Website, here!
And…anybody have any reassuring words for us about parasailing?
Good school play? Yes, they say
Sunday, January 18th, 2009
We pass on this review, from a reader, of the Gifft Hill School’s weekend performance of Princess Willow and the King of Thieves.
“Awesome! The kids pulled if off with style, humor and flair!”
The school put on the play in conjunction with the New England Youth Theater Group, and it was made possible by the generous support of an anonymous donor.
We’re told the kids had just 7 days to learn their lines and about 30 songs.
Gifft Hill School could use more support for things like this. Send an email to Beth Jones if you’re interested in offering a little help.
For sale: Peter Bay manse for $32 Million
Saturday, January 17th, 2009
The most talked-about villa in Peter Bay for the past few years is now for sale (pretty much guaranteeing it will continue to be the most talked-about villa in Peter Bay for awhile longer, at least in the real estate world.)
The gigantic house on the point in Peter Bay is called Presidio del Mar, and it can be yours for a whopping $32 million, an all-time record high listing price for a residential property on St. John. Six bedrooms, nine bathrooms, a total of 18,000 square feet and a location not to be beat. Oh, and a 98,000 gallon cistern.
It is also for rent for $4,600 … a NIGHT.
The owner has generously donated use of the house for the Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park’s big annual fundraiser January 31. (We’ll see if we can sneak in!)
Dumpster shirt
Friday, January 16th, 2009
Sorry if we seem obsessed with the South Shore Road dumpster, but we are. The fact that somebody went to the effort of “displaying” this shirt is only trumped by the fact that, sometime later, somebody else had actually taken it. That’s just funny.
Got a dumpster story? Tell us. Please. We love them.
Spotted in a Northern Virginia field
Thursday, January 15th, 2009
St. John draws lots of its visitors from the Mid-Atlantic, and at least one villa owner is keenly aware of that, using a billboard in a field he owns to promote his St. John villas.
The billboard greets motorists on Route 29, a major DC commuter route, near Warrenton, Virginia. Clever marketing.
St. John Vistas: Cruz Bay
Wednesday, January 14th, 2009Here is one of those perfectly beautiful St. John mornings. We shot this from Grande Bay.
Enjoy a Cruz Bay morning, below!
We watch, so you don’t have to
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009
We told you about an NBC cast and crew using Villa Amorosa in Peter Bay to shoot scenes for a reality series a couple of months ago. The show aired last night, and Momma’s Boys is continued evidence of the decline of American television. Really dumb.
But it did include some familiar scenery. In addition to Amorosa, we got to see places like Peace Hill, Mongoose Junction and Magen’s Bay on St. Thomas.
One Momma summed up the intelligence level of the show. “We’re here in paradise, but for me this is hell.”
Stonework for roundabout
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009
The Cruz Bay roundabout may actually spruce up the neighborhood. There are several retaining walls that are part of the construction, and it looks like they’ll get faced with island stonework. (This one’s in front of the school.)
That’s a good thing! They could’ve just slapped some turquoise paint on those retaining walls.
Look. Doesn’t it already feel like everybody’s going round and round?
Pond Bay Club
Monday, January 12th, 2009If construction on the Pond Bay Club on Chocolate Hole continues at its current pace, the first owners could be staying there by August or September of THIS YEAR. The general contractor, Florida-based Wharton-Smith, says all phases of the entire project will likely be completed by December 2010.
Meet project manager Jay Wicklund, a Naval Academy grad who moved his wife and kids to St. John for the duration of the project, and get a tour of the rising Pond Bay Club, below.
The light switch is at…
Sunday, January 11th, 2009
In the bathroom.
“After all these years, you are the first person to ever ask about it!” says Banana Deck co-owner Kristin Giesbert. “I painted that before the restaurant even opened, about ten years ago when I was living in Coral Bay.”
What motivated the artist in her when she picked up a bare switch plate and paint brush all those years ago?
“I was inspired by banana palms. And I was bored.”
