Robin, his reputation established by his Best Painkiller Award, will start our new Best Bushwhacker contest.

Robin makes his Bushwhackers with a cup of ice per drink and four splashes of the bar’s own Bushwhacker mix: 7 different liquors, including light and dark Cruzan rum, creme de cafe, creme de coconut, amaretto, hazelnut liquor and Irish Cream. And Robin’s secret ingredient…a splash of commercial ice cream mix.

Blended until smooth, served in a hurricane glass, with proper chocolate syrup painting, whipped cream, a cherry and a paper umbrella.

The Banana Deck Bushwhacker.  $8 all day long.

This is Logan Michael Prout, who came into the world November 8 weighing 5 pounds, 10 ounces and now lives with mom Megan and big brother Parker in California.

Logan starts life without a dad. Mike Prout, one of the founding chefs of St. John’s La Plancha del Mar, died six months ago after an accidental fall at his home on St. John.

Says a friend of Megan’s, “Parker was initially upset that Logan was not a girl, but quickly got over his disappointment and enthusiastically proceeded to count Logan’s fingers and toes, ensuring all 20 were there.” (They were.)

Megan, Parker and Logan have each other, but could still use a little help as they look ahead to the future, and donations to help Mike’s family in the wake of his passing are being accepted via the St. John Revolving Fund at both Connections locations and by phone: 340-776-6922.

Your dad was pretty cool Logan!

Meet the Mele family – Maddie, Claire, Frank and Anthony – from WIllow Grove, Pennsylvania. You met daughter Maddie a couple of years ago.

This year, Mom and Dad are visiting St. John without the kids and they’re planning two weeks on island.

Claire has a high-class problem, and maybe you can help.

“My husband is a serious Cooler Person and insists on cooking all of our evening meals at the villa, but this time he says we can go out to dinner two times during our two week stay,” says Claire. “It is truly a miracle because he always cooks, and I don’t want to squander this opportunity!”

Your suggestions for just two very special nights out for a couple traveling without their kids for the first time in years?

Say hello to Judy and Mike Buchholtz, who moved to St. John full time about a year and a half ago from Terre Haute, Indiana. Judy and Mike heard about Coco, and came to the rescue.

“We found out about Coco when we were reading your Blog one morning last week and while we were drinking our coffee on our porch overlooking the BVI’s, Mike said ‘You want to take a dog to Texas?’” Judy says. “We already had a trip to Dallas scheduled for Jan. 23 to visit Mike’s mother, so it all just sort of fell into place.”

Coco left St. John named Coco, but she arrives in Dallas with her new name, Jumbie, and her new parents, Jon and Natalie.

If the opportunity to help get a dog to the states comes up again, Judy wants to let people know how much work the ACC did. “They figured out all the details and made all the arrangements and just told us what to do,” she says. “The only thing we did differently was take the 6 am ferry instead of the 7!”

So did Jumbie make it to Dallas?  See for yourself.

Here is Banana Deck bartender Robin accepting the coveted On-StJohn.com Best Painkiller award.

As the incumbent winner, we’ll let Robin kick off the new St. John’s Best Bushwhacker contest this week. Let the first boozy undertones of 2012 begin.

Folks, this is not a primary, this is a general election. Vote.

As you can see from the map, Maho is carrying the heavy electoral states, but it is early in the tally, and our Western exit polls are not yet in.

Is Maho an out of touch, one-percenter beach, or are we at Trunk and Hawksnest the 99 percent.

Do you know the super-PAC money that may be flowing into some of these campaigns? Does your beach want an open relationship with another beach?

Election day is close. Vote.

By golly, we’ve never asked! Here’s your chance to weigh in on On-StJohn.com readers’ favorite St. John beach.

You can vote below, and comment as to why if you want.

The winning beach gets a brand new high-def Beach Break.

Say hello to Jon and Natalie Alexis from Dallas. And say hello to Coco, soon to be named Jumbie, sitting between them.

Jon and Natalie are flying home tomorrow, and had planned on taking Coco with them, but Spirit Airlines says ‘no dogs allowed.’ So they’re looking for surrogate human escorts.

“American does allow dogs, but without a human companion it is $500 to $700 more,” says Jon. “We’ve always wanted an island dog and she is just awesome. We hope someone can help out.”

Coco has been at the shelter since early September, but the Animal Care Center knew who she was long before that. ACC says 11 of her puppies have come through the shelter and have been adopted. (That won’t happen anymore. Coco’s fixed now.)

ACC has also put out a plea on the American Airlines Website, but so far, no offers.

If you’re traveling to St. John from the Dallas area on American sometime in the near future and wouldn’t mind giving Coco, uh….Jumbie…a ride, let the ACC know. Call the shelter directly at 340-774-1625. Jon and Alexis will meet you at the airport.

And we want to hear about it.

We get inquiries like this once or twice a year about biking on St. John. We tell people it’s not a biking kind of place.

Anytime we see someone biking on St. John – and we don’t very often – we say ‘is he crazy?’

You have to be very fit to bike on St. John, and even if you are, it seems like a dangerous proposition.

And then we see this in the U.S. Airways in-flight magazine. A feature on St. John that tells readers you can enjoy everything from “horseback riding on the beach to biking and hiking trails that wind past the remains of old sugar mills.”

Are there biking trails that we just don’t know about?

Bill Doebler, from Holland, Michigan, wins the 2011 Treasure Map photo contest with this dazzling shot of St. Thomas Harbor at dusk taken from the top of Paradise Point.

“I didn’t have a tripod, so I sat the camera on the railing next to our table at the restaurant for the exposure,” says Bill. “The calypso band was playing so loudly that the railing was vibrating, so the picture was taken in the short interval between two of their numbers.”

The Treasure Map people made good on their contest promise of Win a Trip Back, and Bill gets airfare for two, a week at a villa, a day sail and other prizes.

You can see other top photos taken on St. John and St. Thomas here (we’re particularly fond of the Best Shopping category.) And the 2012 Treasure Map is out, look for it and maybe you’ll win this year’s Trip Back.

Keep your eyes out for sandy versions of snowmen this time of year.

Like this one, at Honeymoon Beach. It comes from On-StJohn.com readers Tina and John Dorman, who just returned home to Connecticut after a St. John vacay.

“Thought we’d share a bit of our quirky Christmas fun,” says Tina. “With my husband an avid Giants and Bud Light fan, it was only appropriate that we decorate our sandman in honor of some of his favorite things.”

The great thing about sandmen? There’s no chance of them melting.

The toilet paper flourish is spreading beyond the bathroom.

We’re not entering our photo in the Best TP Flourish contest because it’s not TP, but the paper towels at Bongo Bongo have swag too.

Send us your photos.