At Sogo’s, not a place that’s on the beaten path. Maybe it should be.
On-StJohn.com readers Pete and Marcia, enjoying a relaxing week this week at Villa Splendore in Great Cruz Bay, say they have been visiting St. John for nine years, and they tried Sogo’s a couple of nights ago for the first time ever.
“The food was wonderful,” says Pete. “Marcia had a curried chicken roti and I had grilled king fish. Both came with fried plantains, broccoli and fungi. The roti was especially good. It was a ton of food and, along with two beers, the bill came to $28.”
It is almost time for the Beach Bar’s Minimal Regatta, an annual competition pitting the craftiest of boat designers against each other. The rules are simple. Build a boat that floats. Okay, maybe not quite that simple. The rules are actually:
Your craft must be made with the following materials:
- One 4×8’ ¼ inch sheet of plywood.
- Two 2x4x8” boards
- One 2’ wide, 60’ long roll of duct tape
- One pound of fasteners (nails, screws, staples.)
- No adhesives. No caulking.
- Painting is optional; only latex or enamel paint is allowed. No resin-based or polyurethane paints.
-No paddling devices allowed, other than those made with the above materials.
- All craft inspected for compliance on day of race.
Did you know the boats hanging above the bar in the Beach Bar are all past years’ winners?
After their holiday in 1983, the Nellis family boards the ferry and heads home. Watch their taxi ride through Charlotte Amalie… get a glimpse of the QE II, and see what the airport looked like almost 26 years ago.
Sure, you can get a little carried away with the staging thing when taking photos of real estate for sale. (Do you really lay a stem of bougainvillea on your perfectly rolled up beach towel at the end of your bed?) But, look at this! This is definitely the other extreme.
A kitchen photo for a listing in Carolina which is, granted, called a fixer-upper, but wow. Do the owners really want to sell this place? What IS all that stuff?
You never know what you’ll see on the beach. Meet Marcella and her troop Jai, Sinead and Gemmesha. We caught up with them practicing for their performance in the Carnival Parade July 4. (They’re also performing on St. Thomas next month.)
You might recognize Marcella, a parade veteran. This will be the first year for her new troop, “The Tribe.”
Meet the ladies, and watch some dancing, minus the dramatic costumes they will be wearing for the parade, below!
St. John will stage its own version of The Amazing Race in a couple of weeks. A treasure hunt to raise money for Ile a Vache, Haiti.
The treasure hunt is part of a larger, multi-island fundraising series for Ile a Vache by St. John musician Michael Beans, who will perform as part of St. John’s daylong treasure hunt event. St. John’s 3 Sail Church is organizing St. John’s participation.
Church member, and Today’s Flowers owner, Laurie VanKuren is helping get things ready for the treasure hunt. She explains what it’s all about, and has some tips for treasure hunters, in our interview with her, here.
And, here’s Michael Beans himself, talking about his fundraising tour.
Captain Josh, from Lion in da Sun, generously agreed to his part in the recent Making of a Shot of Brandi at the last minute. Before Josh’s cameo, there was an alternate ending that showed Captain John angry for real!
Sometime recently, this place opened up. Caribbean Host is a duty-free store inside the airport terminal on St. Thomas. (Past Customs and security.) Plenty of perfume and $6 rum. It’s next door to the waiting area gift shop.
The duty-free store just outside the terminal by luggage claim also remains open.
Let’s join the Nellis family for a quick drive to Caneel Bay, including a stop at the overlook, and a tour of the grounds at Caneel before brunch.
Bonus: About a quarter of the way through, listen for one of the daughters saying “There’s Lucy,” and then watch closely. The famous taxi driver/restaurant owner, the late Miss Lucy drives by in her taxi with trademark goats horns and flowers on the hood.
(On to the St. Thomas airport next time.) Caneel, circa 1983, below…
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This feels like a really fun house. Lots of people know a bit about the owners of this brand new Coral Bay villa because owners Bob and Linda chronicled their building adventure for all the world to see with their Bo Atabey construction blog, and it was great to see it in person. It turned out fantastic.
This is a very comfortable cottage. It’s got a great pool, a great view of Coral Bay and the mountainsides and it has some of the coolest furniture we’ve ever seen.
Here’s a quick video of the view and pool at Bo Atabey, on Coral Bay’s Seagrape Hill.
