Welcome back!

Orchids, Chocolate Hole, St. John US Virgin Islands March 7, 2010

click image to enlarge

As promised here are some more photos of the overlooks recently cleared by Jeff Chabot and his crew of intrepid volunteers. From those of us who hike the trails of St. John:

THANK YOU!!!

View from the Bench on Caneel Hill

The Caneel Hill Bench

View from the Caneel Hill bench

Hikers following the Caneel Hill Trail beginning from the National Park Visitors Center in Cruz Bay or from the Caneel Hill Spur will arrive at a wooden bench just before they reach the summit of Caneel Hill. There is now a view from this very welcomed resting spot that at least for the view to the north goes, rivals the view from the viewing tower at the summit. This thanks to the hard work and dedication of the trail crew from the Appalachian Mountain Club.

Greetings Film Lovers!

The St John Film Society will welcome visiting filmmaker Marta Bautis on Thursday, 7:00 PM, February 18th at the Marketplace in Cruz Bay.

With her award winning film. Sarayaku: Rivers of Corn, Ms. Bautis will introduce us to the inspiring Kichua women of the Ecuadorian Amazon.

Please save this date and stay tuned for more information to follow on this upcoming event.

Meet the Filmmaker!

Join us for a special pri fixe dinner at La Plancha del Mar before the film. Our friends at La Plancha will be serving a lovely three course meal, including wine tasting!
5:30 PM $35 p/p or $25 for Film Society Members (Memberships sold at the door) Seating will be limited so please make your reservation today!

777-7333

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”

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

*The Children’s and Adult Parade Days are days when administrative leave is granted, although they are not legal holidays

Information from the Virgin Islands Department of Education website