Don’t get us wrong, we love the Starfish Gourmet store at Marketplace, but every now and then you run across an eye-popping pricetag.
Take this box of Beecher’s World’s Best frozen macaroni & cheese, from Beecher’s Handmade Cheese in Seattle. It’s priced at $22.49 for a 20 ounce box that serves 2-4. Crazy? It may be a bargain!
On the Beecher’s Handmade Cheese Website, you’ll pay $36 to have it shipped to your house. ($15 plus $21 for shipping.) That means, unless you live in Seattle, you can actually SAVE 35 percent on what must be the world’s most overpriced Mac & Cheese. Does it sell?
“It sells very well!” exclaimed one Starfish Gourmet employee. “I don’t know if people who buy it actually look at the price, but a lot of families put it in their basket.”
There’s nothing like an overpriced bargain. But, maybe it’s Mac & Cheese nirvana. (Our budget didn’t allow for taste testing.)
After feeling smug for getting such a deal, you can go across the hall to regular Starfish and pay $9.09 for a $3 bag of Terra Kettles Sea Salt potato chips. NOW you’ve been taken.
But the finer things in life come at a price. Especially on St. John.
Meet Rob Upham and Ken Schadegg, two guys from Providence, Rhode Island who have given up their stateside jobs to run St. John’s newest retailer: St. Johnimals Island Pet Outfitter.
The new store opens in Wharfside Village next month.
“We’ve been looking for the right island location for our second careers for 10 years,” says Ken. “We’ve owned a place on St. Croix and still own a beach house on Roatan, Honduras. But St. John is it. What they say about the people here being kind, gentle and loving isn’t hyperbole. It’s true.”
St. Johnimals will sell everything from $5 dog bandannas, to high quality pet food, to $500 leather doggie jackets. And yes, Ken thinks there’s a market, even for the high-end stuff.
“We’re stocking the best merchandise in all price ranges, for locals and visitors alike. But St. John has one of the highest visitor income demographics in the world, so there is every reason to believe some of our store’s visitors will want to splurge. But you can get your pet a great gift for just a few bucks, too.”
Ken and Rob are busy painting and stocking their store, across from Waterfront Bistro, right now. We’ll take you on a video tour next month.
Some of you may know this property as Mahogany Tree Villas, multi-unit vacation rental on Frank Bay that’s had a strong following for years.
The property has brand new owners and they have just finished updating this place from top to bottom. There are four separate rentals at Aqua Bay Villas, each of them with master bedrooms, living rooms, kitchens and terraces, and each unit is now furnished to the nines. They really did a beautiful job. (Video soon come!)
There is also a common pool area, and its best feature by far is its location. You can walk to Cruz Bay in a couple of minutes and you’re even closer to Frank Bay. Check out it Aqua Bay Villas Website, here!
That’s the Caneel Bay overlook, and if a group of supporters gets its way, you could soon be enjoying that view while biking or jogging.
They’re trying to raise $4,800 so Friends of the VI National Park can hire a planner to come to St. John and prepare the paperwork to apply for a DOT grant to fund a North Shore bicycle, walking and jogging trail from the National Park headquarters in Cruz Bay all the way to Honeymoon Beach.
“Our VI National Park superintendent Mark Hardgrove is confident that funding would be likely, providing a technically sound proposal is prepared and submitted to the DOT in the very near future,” says trail supporter Debbie Hayes. “His commitment to the trail has remained constant throughout his tenure and he has assured us that he will continue to support all efforts towards its success.”
It could be just the beginning of a trail that goes half way around the island, all the way to Coral Bay. Contact Friends if you’d like to donate to the paperwork phase.
Meet Laurie Toth, who moved to St. John from Annapolis earlier this year after nearly two decades of regular vacations. And after working on a private yacht, bartending at the Westin and doing facials at the Ritz Carlton, she has taken the next step…starting her own business.
Laurie now runs Saltwater Gypsy, a brand new consignment shop in the Lumberyard.
“I decided that St. John really needed an outlet for underused and unwanted goods, and I kept hearing the phrase ‘people are always coming and going,’ which made me think that all these ‘things’ keep going round and round as well,” Laurie tells us. “I’m just providing an outlet for people to recycle their things and make money at it instead of giving it away or leaving it by the dumpster.” (Hey, watch it Laurie! Dumpster diving is world class on St. John.)
Laurie already has a lot on consignment and it’s nice stuff, not junk. But she will be constantly looking for more.
“Hopefully, this will attract all types of people from the community, from the old timers down to the kids who are here working for season,” she says.
“I hope that eventually the entire population of St. John will walk through the door.” Saltwater Gypsy: 340-244-8888
There were unrelenting spells of rain in October and November, some of the longest periods of rain in recent memory.
If you could get past the housebound, stir-craziness of it all, it was actually a wonder of nature to watch.
We watched one spell for an entire week from Catherineberg, where what views we could see included misty mountains and the complete disappearance of what is almost always a very broad beach at Cinnamon Bay.
Work has begun on a new parking lot at Enighed Pond, the same location where the car barges come and go.
The lot, which has been talked about for over a year now, is just a short walk past the tennis courts and up the hill by the fire station to Cruz Bay, and since you can’t smoke anymore…that hill is a piece of cake.
You quit smoking. Now you’re exercising. Wow. See how St. John loves you?
There has been talk of including shops and even marina facilities there as well, though that could be years away.
No indication of when the new parking lot will be ready for the public.
The shiny new, yellow mystery building next to La Tapa will be home to the St. John Legislature. It is moving from its leaky, outdated building across the street and up the hill.
But wait! As always on St. John, there is drama brewing.
Senator Craig Barshinger is happy about the move, but not about how the spaces are being laid out.
The Senator says his office is too small. A lot of us have that same complaint. But he also says current plans leave very little room for the public too.
“The new Legislative Chambers has inadequate room for the public to sit,” Barshinger writes in an email to constituents. “How can we have public hearings in the room when there is no place for people to sit? If you do not act, a half-baked plan will be implemented and we will be stuck with the consequences for years hence.”
You can read the Senator’s plea for public intervention, and see pictures too, here!
We are thrilled to welcome our neighbor, Still Waters, to On-StJohn.com!
Located on the street directly below Bongo Bongo, Still Waters is a very sleek and sexy, very bright and sunny villa with two master suites plus a huge loft bedroom.
The two-story great room has walls of sliders overlooking the pool and the views, the kitchen is fantastic, and Still Waters sees both Hart Bay and Chocolate Hole.
Owners Ann Marie and Bob, from Low Key Watersports, keep this place in impeccable condition, and Ann Marie is a wonderful host. And if you want, you can always come up and borrow a cup of rum from us!
There’s a banner flying above Woody’s again. Congratulations to co-owner Todd Beaty and wife Christy on baby number two.
Max Collins Beaty was born at 6:20 a.m. November 16 and baby and mom are doing fine. Max joins brother Bannon, who was born in March 2009.
Max was born on St. Thomas, leaving the Woody’s staff without new dad Todd around to help celebrate. But that didn’t stop them.
“We closed a bit early, and the staff bar hopped around Cruz Bay, handing out cigars and buying shots for everybody every place we went,” says manager Dawn Burgess.
“It’s back to work now though. I’ve told the waitresses to really work on up-selling the t-shirts. There’s another Woody’s mouth to feed now.”
Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park development director Heather Rusham is setting her sights high for this year’s online auction, and if you’ve got a rental villa, or charter boat or anything else to donate to the auction, she wants to hear from you.
“Last year, we raised $15,000 and we’re shooting for $25,000 this year,” says Heather. “It isn’t too late for folks to make a donation of product services, room nights or anything else, and we can add new items at any time.”
There is already a pretty nice list of items on the auction board, which goes live at 10 a.m. Eastern time today and will run through Dec. 5. There are hotel and villa stays in the VI and BVI, boat trips, art work and jewelry – and the money raised will help fund about $600,000 in Friends projects in the coming year.
If you’ve got something cool you’d like to have considered to donate, e-mail Heather. If you’re starting your holiday shopping, or looking for a weekend getaway, starting bidding here!
