Our favorite barge is back.

The Roanoke returns with a brand new ramp and a fresh paint job, including mustard yellow interior.

And the palm trees survived the rehab.

Sidney, the jovial owner of Sidney’s Peace & Love on Jost van Dyke, passed away this week after a battle with cancer.

Sidney ran the bar and restaurant on Little Harbor for nearly 40 years.

“I have had a lot of fun and enjoy meeting all the people,” Sidney told us last summer. “It makes you happy and you feel good. You make a lot of friends.”

Sidney’s Peace and Love, famous for its lobsters and pig roasts, will continue under Sidney’s daughters.

They plan a memorial service at Sidney’s Peace and Love on Friday, March. 19.

Almost a year after ADM Wireless bought the Mail Center and saved it from going under, there is renovation and expansion in the works.

We’re told it’s about two weeks from being done.

Mail still coming and going in the meantime.

The center of the roundabout is getting a nice finishing touch.

The road crew is installing stamped concrete that will make up the decorative center of the circle.

Here is a cool video, produced by St. John videographer Bill Stelzer, that was commissioned through the Friends of the National Park by Disney. It will be shown to cruise ship passengers and, while it’s pretty basic information, we’re thrilled they will see it.

“The whole idea was to give an easy-to-understand presentation of why the coral reefs are so important,” Bill tells us. “It is meant to be nonspecific, so it applies to the entire Caribbean.”

Today we head up and down the partially paved path to Lameshur Bay. It’s a bit of a bumpy ride, so buckle up.

Off to Lameshur Bay, below!

Very lucky people spot whales this time of year. Jim Murphy at Villa Serendipity was one of the lucky ones this week, spotting a whale just outside of Chocolate Hole.

“The whale came up and breached, but by the time I got my camera and turned it on, the breaching was over,” Jim says. “I’ll be up with my coffee early every morning the rest of this week, with my camera ready.”

Click on the picture for a larger view. You’ll spot it.

Mojo Cafe has a mascot of sorts. He is Buddy, a mild-mannered iguana that hangs out in a nearby tree.

He loves to be hand fed, and his favorites are tomatoes and bougainvillea. Meet Buddy, below!

This photo sent to us anonymously, from Granby, Connecticut. We look forward to seeing these pasty white children tanned and running on a beach. Them too we bet.

No trouble finding the Donald Schnell Studio now!

The last of the demolition of the old Texaco station reveals the very good looking backside of the stone Amore Center, where the Schnell Studio moved to a few years ago. It’s really a fine looking 3-story building. But until now, you’ve probably just driven by without much noticing.

There’s talk of some kind of mini park or sculpture or something in the triangle that used to be Texaco. Got any ideas?

The new Spyglass restaurant is taking its first menu (click above/below to see bigger) for a test drive with a soft open. There is Mexican (lots of Mexican in Cruz Bay these days), burgers, salads, sandwiches and wraps.

It’s an introductory menu, meaning it is a work in progress. Let them know what you’d like to see.

There is a new record holder in the 8 Tuff Miles race. Thomas Chorny, from Bloomington, Indiana, ran a smokin’ 46:27, beating the previous record set last year by Jeremy Zuber by more than three minutes. (Zuber did not run this year.)

Second place men: Christopher Reis, Cincinnati, Ohio: 46:56

First place women: Ruth Ann David, St. Thomas: 58:03

Second place women: Emily Egelhoff-Whalen, Raleigh, NC: 63:21

There were 1,000 runners signed up for this year’s race.