A zillion hermit crabs.

I’m sorry, it’s just that “beach” is all there is to do on St. John! The day after the tour we didn’t feel like spending time on a beach (see: sunburn) so we did a lot of driving. But way out on the east end just tooling around we found this awesome little beach and a little trail next to it that I would have enjoyed doing on a better day. Before 11 AM or after 4 PM. If I could do the vacation over again, I would plan more activities for those hours; and just sit in a cool beachfront bar and drink and snack from 11 to 4.

Well because “Snorkel with Sea Turtles” didn’t happen, we were offered a free tour the next day back on St. Thomas. Kayaking among mangroves! Hiking the coast! Snorkeling with… maybe sea turtles! You never know!

The day didn’t go well due to Xopher forgetting both his meds and his bathing suit. Also the “hike” part of the tour gave us a little sunburn. Sunburn was the cause years ago of one of our infamous Vacation Fights, and something like 20 years later it is still a powderkeg. I view sunburn as a skin condition brought on by sun exposure which can happen accidentally to even the best prepared people. Xopher views it as a moral failing. He almost started going off, but I snapped at him and ended it. There, the closest thing to a vacation fight.

I saw a big ray during the snorkeling. So that was a plus for the day.

Trunk Bay, perhaps the most famous beach and most popular beach on the island. I warned Xopher, “It’s going to be crowded! You might not like it!” etc. Was it crowded? Pff. There were people, sure. But just like in any national park, you know what to do when there’s a gaggle of people? You move a few steps down. We walked to the end of the beach and were basically alone.

Trunk Bay was a Plan B. We had signed up for “Snorkel with Sea Turtles,” scheduled to meet at the dock in St. John. A St. John tour. Said “St. John” all over the reservation. When no one showed up, and I called, the owner said, “OMG, you’re on St. John? Um, can you come to St. Thomas?” No. More to come…

Back to Trunk Bay. It had a “snorkel trail”. I wanted to do the snorkel trail. The snorkel trail was just a bunch of underwater signs saying things like “Don’t touch the coral reefs.”

So on Sunday, we arrived; on Monday, we ferried from St. Thomas to St. John, drove around and got our bearings. On the far eastern end of the island we stopped at a little beach called “Haulover.” I asked someone coming out of the water if the snorkeling was good. “Best snorkeling on the island!” she said. So the next day we hauled ass back to Haulover. It was indeed really good. The beach was rockier than the lovely and more famous beaches we’d find later in the week. But less populated with people and more populated with colorful fishies.

Welcome to the US Virigin Islands 2025 Page-a-Day calendar!

We began our journey with a relaxing overnight in Chicago, and landed in lovely St. Thomas on Sunday. Our dinner included conch fritters and the first pair of many, many rum cocktails to come.

Oh, you may notice a strawberry mojito in the background. That was for Xopher. The two rum cocktails are for me.