St.Thomas, USVI

We took this trip in February, escaping the Georgia “cold” and it felt funny showing up to an island in pants and jackets. I was so thankful that I packed the kids shorts in my personal bag, they changed right away.

This was their very first airplane ride and they loved every minute of it!! We had 4 hours in the air and no food cart because of turbulence, yikes. When we took off Louie through her hands up and said “WEEEEEE!”

We rented a jeep and went straight to an early dinner at a spot next to “Cost u Less”, the islands version of Costco.  We didn’t buy anything here because it was all in bulk, so we went to our bnb and watched the sunset on our bay. We saw the sweetest couple having a romantic dinner on the beach too. The next morning we Moes Fresh Market, a local grocery store with all the things we could imagine. Including fresh breakfast and lunch, which changed daily. And of course, when we walked in they yelled “Welcome to Moes” Its the little things that reminded us of home in a backwards way.  

In the store we also saw a joyful person wearing a dress with a full beard, clearly so happy and yelled out at me, “Okay a Kardashian in the house!!” (freshly dark dyed hair I guess) I laughed awkwardly and kept walking because I have no idea how to respond to these type of things. The next morning we drove to a beach and we saw the same person walking on the road, waving so big to us.  Loved that.

Our airbnb was cute and great for us. Steps right up to the door, a secret giant closet upstairs that the kids immediately named their office, and a view of the bay where lots of little sailboats parked.  When we walked in, it was probably 85 degrees inside. So it was a very warm welcome…. Eventually, we did get the AC working, so well that I slept frozen every night.

MAGENS BAY

The line to get in made us a bit nervous because it was really slow and backed up all the way down the street. We’re glad we waited becasue it was so worth it. The perfect first beach day. We foudn a spot under a palm tree, the kids tried out their snorkels and we just kept saying how pretty it was. It truly felt like a dream. That night we went to dinner at what would become our favorite spot, Hook’d. The gluten free fish n chips were everything, i still think about them often. Im not even gluten free but i ordered these multiple times on our trip. Redhook dt was perfect for ice cream, dinner, and getting home quick because we were always so tired by the end of each day.  

Lindquist Beach

This day will live in my memories forever and ever. I’ll remind my kids for as long as they live about this beach. We snorkeled non stop, seeing the most vibrant fish and giant turtles. I willl never forget the look on George’s face when he braved the deep and came with me, he looked right at me and yelled “THEYRE SO BEAUTIFUL”   I cried. Lindquist beach was our all time St.Thomas favorite, we went back three more times after this. We also swam with two manta ray, a barracuda, and foudn a mullosk living in a conch shell. Core memories for me. This evening, we ate at Agave which was alright.  Nothing to write home about or even write to you about.

Rest Day + St. John

We had one calm cloudy-ish day and stayed in our own bay, it wasn’t anything special. Very restful and calm and that night we, on a WHIM, decided to take the ferry to St. John for dinner. We decided within 30 minutes of the ferry leaving, so we quite literally ran out the door, parked, grabbed tickets and hopped on! All the seats up top were taken for the ride there so we sat underneath with the school kids, who got in trouble for sleeping across multiple seats. When we exited the ferry, we walked straight into a big street market.  Josh walked straight past them all but I totally wanted to buy something and still wish I had.  We walked to The Longboard for dinner and the sun was in my eyes the entire time but from what i could see, it was so pretty. I ate my first Poke bowl and loved it so much.  Afterwards, we walked to ice cream at Irie Pops and then to a local playground.  It was sweet and we watched some kids play baseballs and our kids were immediately playing with their new friends on the playground.  

We headed back to the ferry early so we could sit up top because the sun would be setting during our ride.  It was beautiful. This was when I learned that we were staying near Epstein island, we drove right past it. Yikes. After our quick trip to st.john we decided we had to go back and take the care next time.  So we planned for the car ferry in a few days!

Coki Beach Fail

We woke up and drove to Coki beach, but it was SO packed. We walked in and straight back out.  Thankfully all of these beaches are 8 minutes apart at most.  So, back to Lindquist for us and we enjoyed every second.  It was extra empty but even more stunning than before. We grabbed a quiet spot under the palm trees and settled in for the day.  That night we tried out Island Time Pub for dinner and loved that too. Its hard not to love a place with the views we had.  We lived in a constant state of gratitude here. We had our moments of hard, beach rashes for one kid and another who never wanted to stop and eat which resulted in hangriness. Overall, we were just overwhelmed that we were on a trip like this.  I’ve seen others do it, but never could have imagined it would be us one day.  

St. John

We woke up right and early to get to the car ferry.  They say you have to pay ahead online and get there 45 minutes early to ensure your parking spot that gets you on the boat. But you know me, I grabbed a ticket the night before for the wrong date. Soooo we showed up, parked, I called and told us to have cash, so we ran for cash. Also, Josh driving on the left side and then backing onto a barge was so wild. We backed up, and then corrected it, probably 10 times. LOL. And we set sail! Feeling ocean waves while sitting in your car is STRANGE. I was nervous once we started going, but it was fun. When we arrived, we drove right to mongoose junction for breakfast then headed straight to Trunk Bay. The line to get in made us not want to go…so we went to Honeymoon beach instead and this is where WE SWAM WITH A SHARK. Well, the boys did. The waves were so huge, but crystal clear as they are in the Caribbean, and Josh and G were having fun when Josh looked over and saw a shark buddy right next to them. He grabbed George and left.  Then he went back and told a sweet guy who was swimming alone and he kept telling me he owed us his life.  After this, we drove to lunch and then looked for a new beach.  We stopped at so many and decided we had to go back to Trunk Bay.  We ended up parking on the side of the street and walking to get in and it was 100 times worth it.  This beach was a bit busy but big enough for all of us. We loved the water and the rocky island right off the beach. It even had a snorkeling trail!  We stayed here until it closed at 4pm, we grabbed snacks and headed home on the ferry! This night we ate at Hook’d again before heading home.  This day was long since we had an early start but wow, so memorable and beautiful.

Lindquist Beach

Saturday was our last full island day and we had no set plans but it was such an easy choice, back to Lindquist!!  We snorkeled with more turtles and even found our same mollusk friend near the rocky spot that we left him in a few days before.  We floated, rested, and soaked it in.  We ate our last dinner at Island Time Pub again and then we walked to Ice cream.  

Trips like these would not be possible without Josh. He is the planning, saving, and fun dad. He is always making sure we have more than we need and making us laugh and solving any problems that come up. And definitely also impressed with our kids. They go with the flow and enjoy every minute with us and it makes these memories really sweet. But I’m in complete awe of our creative and kind God who graciously made all of this to share with us. What a GIFT.