Queens NY

As you can plainly see, this isn’t the Virgin Islands. This morning finds me enjoying the wonderful world of an American blizzard, in the home of my son,  Sean, Astoria, Queens, New York. All in all I have to say that the weather is better on St. John.

Curtney Chinnery aka The Ghost From Jost recites his poem, “Your Counterpart”

Time, by Curtney Chinnery aka The Ghost From Jost

For better or for worse, the poet Curtney Chinnery, aka the “Ghost From Jost” is back on St. John.

The Ghost and I made this video yesterday demonstrating how to catch a tarantula. Apparently there are nearly 1,000 species of tarantula and not all are as deadly as commonly imagines. I have heard that these tarantulas, or ground spiders as they are sometimes called on St. John, can inflict a painful bite, but one which is rarely fatal.

Moreover, our St. John tarantulas are not aggressive at all and are fearful of humans.

Stay tunes for more adventures of the “Ghost From Jost…”

Maria Hope Trail

In the last few years, the Maria Hope Trail has become a popular hiking venue. Passing through shady lush tropical forest, this old Danish Road provides Maho and Cinnamon Bay campers with convenient access to the Reef Bay Trail, historically significant ruins and a scenic overlook with bird’s eye views of Maho and Francis Bays and vistas extending eastward to West End Tortola and beyond.

There have been some complaints, however, about the fact that the trail runs over private land at the lower elevations. There is now a cure for that. Down on the lower section, just before the wire fence that crosses the trail, there is a nice trail that switchbacks down the hill and comes out at Maho Beach, just east of the green building on the beach.

Alternate entrance to the Maria Hope Trail

There is a road sign (West  RT. 20) where it comes out.

This new section of trail passes through the flats just inland from Maho Beach before the it begins its steep uphill climb.

Maho Bay Flats

The low lying flats present a unique forested environment without thick or thorny undergrowth making it easy to pass though and enjoy.

Overlook on the Maria Hope Trail

The 1966 copy of VI View, lent to me by Maureen Anderson contained one of the chapters of Erva Boulon’s  book My Island Kitchen, which was published in its complete form in 1969..

In her blog, Random Thoughts, Bish Denham, Erva’s grand daughter, who grew up on St. John writes about her grandmother.

“…After World War II Grammy ran Trunk Bay as a guest house. She did it without electricity, cooking three meals a day for her guests. John Dos Passos, Dr. Robert Oppenheimer and his wife were among some of her more well-known guests. She gained the reputation for being a superior hostess and an excellent cook. Using local foods, she learned how to prepare them in ways that would please American taste buds. An article was written about her in the cooking section of the New York Times and she wrote a cook-book call My Island Kitchen. I loved having breakfast at her table because she would toast your bread on a charcoal pot set on a small table next to her chair….”

When Trunk Bay was sold to the Virgin Islands National Park, Erva moved over to Maho Bay with a new husband, Bill Thorp, and built another small guest house called “Lille Maho” next to the present Maho Campground, which she operated through the 1960s.

Better late than never, Chin and I drove over to the Wesselhoft home last night to photograph what was to be last time this season for the magnificent display of Christmas decorations jsut above Cruz Bay on Centerline Road.

The Wesselhoft Christmas lights has been a family tradition for many years. When Miss Alma passed away, the family put up the display the following Christmas, but for the next two years the house remained dark on Christmas time. This year Raffy and Carmen, Miss Alma and Mr. Wesselhoft’s children, renewed the tradition. They began a full time workday, on December 8 with the goal of finishing the project in time for Miss Alma’s birthday on December 15th.

Carmen came over on the 8:00 am ferry every morning for that week. She and Raffy worked all day with the help of various volunteers finally calling it a day and returning to St. Thomas on the 9:00 pm boat.

On the night of December 15th, honoring Miss Alma on her birthday, the Wesselhoft family Christmas lights lit up the night with colors and Santas and angels and familiar Christmas scenes.

		st john virgin islands three kings

ADVENTURE HAS ITS REWARDS AT CANEEL BAY, A ROSEWOOD RESORT ON ST. JOHN

Virgin Islands Ecotours

– Guests enjoying off-property Kayak, Hike & Snorkel Adventure inspire donations and receive complimentary one-year membership from local environmental group –

St. John, U.S.V.I. (January 2010) – Give and get back – that’s what Caneel Bay, A Rosewood Resort is offering guests who embark upon the Kayak, Hike & Snorkel Adventure with Virgin Islands Ecotours , one of the resort’s most popular off-property activities.

Through this new partnership, for each guest who signs-up for a multi-sport adventure with Caneel Bay partner Virgin Islands Ecotours, a donation is made to the local environmental group Friends of Virgin Islands National Park . In turn, guests receive a complimentary one-year membership to Friends – a $30 value with benefits to keep them engaged on continuing efforts to preserve the beauty that the resort calls home.

The value-oriented offer reflects Caneel Bay and Virgin Islands Ecotours common goal of building eco-tourism on St. John. Virgin Islands Ecotours, which offers kayak, hiking and snorkeling tours of Caneel Bay and the Mangrove Lagoon on St. Thomas, is a strong supporter the non-profit Friends of Virgin Islands National Park organization and its dedication to protecting and preserving the natural resources of the park.

Led by expert guides, the Kayak, Hike & Snorkel Adventure available at Caneel Bay explores crystal-blue waters teeming with reef life and sea turtles, beaches shaded by sea grape trees and coconut palms, and picturesque tropical forests.

A Cruise Ship passes Chocolate Hole on St. John probably bound for St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands or San Juan, Puerto Rico

Cruise ship arrivals to St. Thomas have decreased considerably compared to last year. May arrivals dropped 14.6%, June 12.1%, July 13.4% and 26.7% in August.

Hotel revenues in the Virgin Islands have have suffered a similar fate down 11.1% in May, 5.2% in June, 19.5% in July ad 25.1% in August compared to last summer’s revenues.

Hopefully we’ll see a turnaround in this trend soon.