St. Croix

St. Croix and Hilton Head Island
Nov. 2022

Ever since Steve (June's brother) acquired the Grapetree Hotel in St. Croix, June and I wanted to visit the island. We were in that area for our big Caribbean sailing adventure five years previous, and could see the large US Virgin Island in the distance. So when Stevie (June's nephew) announced their wedding date on Hilton Head Island, we (June) started making arrangements to combine the two destinations. The timing would work best by first going to St. Croix for 6 days, followed by the Hilton Head wedding and subsequent stay with Kim and Rick (June's sister) for a total of 10 days.

St. Croix

One of three US Virgin Islands, once owned by the Danish and transferred to the US in 1917. Aside from the distinctive architecture, the biggest difference from the US is that all three islands drive on the left side of the road, but the steering wheel is on the left like in the US.

Learn more about the US Virgin Islands.

Map

Life at the Grapetree

The weather was almost perfect for our stay, in the low to mid 80's. It rained once.
The room was very clean and very new.
The AC ran every night at a perfect 70 degrees.
Every morning we were greeted with a continental breakfast in the lobby area. June, being gluten-free, had coffee and yogurt. I took a Lactase pill, and had an English muffin with butter, a bagel with cream cheese, and usually an apple or juice, with coffee.
We usually had lunch while out and about.
We ate dinner every night at the Grapetree, which has a staff of several experienced chefs and two dining venues. The restaurant near the pool has a full menu, also the site of fine dining. The East End bar serves salads and delicious pizza.

See St. Croix pics

Oct. 26 - Wed	Travel Day. June and I drove her Subaru to Steve's home in Moraga and spent the night there. Together, we cleaned out his refrigerator which contained copious amounts of leftovers from their wedding party a few days previous. I also helped Steve cook a Blue apron meal of Udon noodles. We reserved an Uber XL for 5 am to take us all, and 4 large bags, to the airport.
27 - Th	Travel Day. The Uber arrived 5 minutes early and the ride in a large Tesla was very comfortable. We spent the day, and part of the night, flying to St. Croix with a single 2-hr layover in Miami. Josh, Steve's goto guy there, picked us up at the airport and drove us 30 minutes to the hotel. The trip, door-to-door, was 13 hours.
28 - Fr	We rented a newer Jeep to get us around the island. The total was about $700 for the 6 days we were there. Not too bad. The cost to add me as a driver was an extra $60 total so I declined and Steve drove the entire week. We toured the facilities and grounds, including the Villas. We all walked to Jack Beach, about a mile away. There, we snorkeled which proved to be sub-par. But it was nice to be in the water again. It had been 4 years since we snorkeled, and that was in The Bahamas Nov. 2018. That evening we had a wonderful meal at the East End bar, and live music with an entertaining guitarist.
29 - Sa	Steve drove us to Frederiksted, a small city on the far West side of the island. We planned to snorkel under the pier there. But as we were getting our gear on, we realized that June and I forgot our snorkel gear. Fortunately, there was a dive shop right across the street from the pier, so we got a great deal renting snorkel gear for the hour or so that we were in the water. The snorkeling proved to be sub-par, and quite a swim. After swimming, we dried off and had an excellent lunch at Polly's at the Pier. We tried to take the scenic route home by heading North on Hamms Bluff Rd. only to hit a dead-end after several miles. Google Maps mislead us, and would do so again on the island. We decided to stop in at the Captain Morgan distillery, only to find out it was closed, even though Google said it was open. As it turns out, they were closed for all tours for the foreseeable future. That evening we enjoyed a new addition to their food offerings: Fine dining!
30 - Su	We drove to Christiansted, another small city fairly close to the Grapetree. Steve and I dropped by the rental car place to tell them about the car not easily starting. We suspected the FOB battery. The guy apparently didn't have a battery, and showed us how to start it by touching the FOB to the push-button switch in the car. We mostly walked through the town, including a very scenic harbor. It started to rain as we entered Fort Christiansvaern, an historic area on the waterfront.
31 - M	The highlight for the day, and possibly for the trip, was the drive to Cane Bay, snorkeling, and the subsequent lunch at The Landing. The drive was accentuated by a missed turn, after which Google rerouted us on a road named Scenic Drive. After about 10 minutes, Google wanted us to turn down a steep and rutted dirt road. We hesitated but pressed on only to watch the road conditions deteriorate. After about 20 minutes and 100 yards before the road took us back onto the main road, I had to get out and guide Steve through the giant, heavily eroded craters on the dirt road. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, but I wasn't driving either. The snorkeling was epic, with several Leatherback Turtles, a Spiny Lobster, and lots of colorful fish. The lunch at 'The Landing' was delicious as they featured Ahi Tuna, freshly caught in the waters just passed where we were swimming. As it turns out, the ocean depth drops off significantly a mile out from where we were swimming. I'm glad I didn't try to swim out to see it. On the way home we drove to Point Udall, the Eastern most point in the US. I made the 2.5 mile hike back along the beach to the Grapetree Hotel.
Nov. 1 - Tu	We drove to Cramer's Bay, specifically Rat Beach, where we met a guy who said there is good snorkeling out at the point. We all swam 1100 ft (one way) to be disappointed. The total round-trip swim was 2,200 ft or just short of a half mile. Steve and Sheryln did it without flippers! When we got back in the car, it didn't start. Steve fiddled with it for about 15 minutes, then it magically started. We warned Josh that he may get an early-morning wake up call to drive us to the airport.
2 - We	We drove into Christiansted again to do some shopping before going snorkeling. June had an Acai bowl. I had a chicken-salad sandwich. We couldn't figure out why the girl was not more friendly. Then we realized that she was closing at 3 pm, just before we got there. On the way home we tried snorkeling at Shoy's beach, close to the Buccaneer hotel, which was a nice beach but proved to be a bust.
3 - Th	Travel - ALL DAY, Mostly in layovers, as the relatively short trip can NOT be done non-stop. We left from the small airport in St. Croix, to Miami, then Charlotte, then the small airport in Savannah, Ga. - Door-to-door 14 hours. Steve and Sheryln met Clayton at the airport and rented a car. June and I rented our own small car at the airport to make the drive to our VRBO. On our way home, June and I had dinner at Cava, a fast food vegan place that was very good. We then stopped at Krogers and picked up the essentials. In the end, we all checked into a nice 3-bedroom condo in Palmetto Dunes, right next to the Omni hotel, site of the wedding.
	BTW: June took almost ALL of the pictures and videos. See St. Croix pics See the Snorkel pics One of 3 leatherback turtles filmed by June in Cane's Bay

Hilton Head

Clayton, Steve and Sheryln, June and myself all had our own bedroom and bathroom. June and I had separate beds, which works for me. The kitchen and living room was perfect. The access to the beach and pool were steps from our back door. It was very nice.

See Hilton Head pics

Nov. 4 - Fr	June and Sheryln joined the rest of the ladies at a luncheon at Kim's house. Clayton drove Steve and myself to Golden bear golf course with the rest of the wedding guys. Rick rounded out our foursome. Later that evening, we dropped off our car at the Hilton Head airport, then we returned to the Golden Bear for the rehearsal dinner. We were all served multiple courses of Italian food for hours.
5 - Sa	Almost every day started with a beach walk with various participants. June and Kim walked (I think) every day. At noon, we played pickleball with Kim at the Palmetto dunes courts, about a 10 minute walk from our condo. The court was very nice, but we payed $25 for 1.5 hours. We rotated in between Steve, Sheryln, Clayton, June, Kim, Rick, and myself. I think everyone had fun. At about 4:30 we walked to the wedding. It was a blast!!
6 - Su	We walked the beach, then went to Stacks for breakfast. Not good pancakes! We visited CVS after breakfast for glasses, and we bought a towel and I bought a shirt. We played pickleball on 2 courts at Palmetto with the entire family for an hour and a half. The previous 7, plus Kelly, Zack and Katie, and Chris and Virginia. Kim and Rick bought Pizza and salad at their place. Kelley and Mike were there with Zack and Katie and Maya.
7 - M	Clayton left for the airport in an Uber early in the morning. June paid for it because she was so appreciative to him for driving us everywhere. His was very pleasant and helpful the entire time! Steve and Sheryln left that afternoon. We rented bikes (Hilton Head Outfitters) and rode all over the place. We had dinner at Big Jim's BBQ that evening after we returned the bikes.
8 - Tu	Pickleball with Kim at the Hilton Head recreation center. There's about 6 courts, striped on two basketball courts. Believe it or not, it was not that confusing. The nets rolled out every day. There are many retirees in attendance at mostly beginning and intermediate levels. It's also exposed to the wind. Still, a lot of fun! June and I had already packed up and had our bags in the back of the Kim's car. So we then went to their house and moved in for the duration of our stay. Rick had gone to work that morning. June had a queen-sized bed to herself, and I slept on a nice trundle upstairs. We each had our own bathroom, but mine was downstairs and hers was upstairs. Weird and complicated. We had dinner at Fraser's Tavern in Sea Pines. Mike was with us. I had Pot Pie and an Old Fashioned.
9 - Wed	Rick played golf that morning at his local club. Kim drove June, and I rode with Mike to tour Savannah, a lovely, small Southern Town on a cold, blustery day. We parked at the State St garage and walked though the wharf river area. We decided to have lunch at Vic's River Inn on the recommendation from a friend of Kim's. We waited a long time to order, then to get our food, but then to get the bill. After all of that, our waitress must have gotten off shift, so we asked the new waiter to split the check two ways: 1. June and myself, 2. Kim and Mike. It took three tries and two waiters to get it right. In the end, the manager gave us about half off of our bill. So, it was a wonderful lunch! We drove back to Hilton Head while Mike drove back to Beaufort. We had a very nice dinner at Nectar Farms kitchen in Hilton Head.
10 - Th	Rainy day. I went for a 2 mile run and got drenched. We went out to buy a big 'birdhouse' puzzle at Barnes and Noble. We drove to Sea Pines, Salty Dog cafe. Spaghetti dinner at Ken's.
11 - Fr	Walked around Jarvis park and saw lots of wildlife. Don't remember what we did for dinner, but pretty sure Mike was not with us.
12 - Sat	After breakfast, Pickleball in the morning (Mike joined us), then then entire crew took us to the airport. We had breakfast at Truffles in Bluffton with Mike. It was a VERY long travel day starting with a 1-hour flight departing at 3 pm EST, a layover in Charlotte for 2 hours, then a 5-hour flight, arriving at SF airport at 9 pm PST. That alone would be a 8-hour day. But then we got our bags, called for an Uber, figured out that the Uber picks you up on the Departing level, the first Uber was canceled, then finally got and Uber and took a 1-hour drive to Steve's to get our car, then a 1.5 hour drive home. In the end, we got home at 12:00 midnight PST, 3 am EST. Ugh!!

See Hilton Head pics