St. John Talk Blog

Hope everyone has a good weekend.

So, Howard’s Bonaire pics were posted here.  If anyone is so inclined, you can check out a few of mine here. 

Video coming soon; I promise.

Now that fuel costs are at the lowest they’ve been in several years and nearly half of what they were last summer, is there a reason that we are still paying this $1.10 fee over the $5.00 that it already costs (raised from $3.00 previously) to take the ferry to/from Red Hook and over the $10.00 fee (raised from $7.00 previously)  to/from Charlotte Amalie?  Honestly, has anyone brought this to the attention of the Public Services Commission?  

We received a comment/question from a reader.  The question came some time ago so we apologize for the delay.  However, since I don’t know the answer to the question, we’ll post it here (anonymously) to see if someone knows the answer.  Here it goes:

As you seem to be the watchdog of Pond Bay and I have always been concerned about its impact on Chocolate Hole, can you answer this question?  My understanding is that Pond Bay cannot open until their water issue is resolved and that they say they are relying on a mains line being brought from Cruz Bay. If this is so then I think that it may snow before that happens. Do you have any additional information?

BTW, we’re not so much the watchdog; we just have easy access to a decent view of the property.

If anyone has any thoughts and can respond to the question, please let us know in a comment.  I’m sure our reader will appreciate it.

…or mating dance? You decide.

We are back from Bonaire. Below is some video of a Frog Fish. They are…neat… looking. You can watch this one crawl down the coral.

A unique fish and a unique site indeed.

Well, since you we’re all so curious, we were in Bonaire for a little over a week, doing lots of scuba diving and picture taking (some video too – stay tuned for that at another time).

Your patience with our absence has been rewarded with a link to my dive photos from this trip.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hthphoto/sets/72157613991575471/

Bonaire’s a place a scuba diver can never get bored as every dive is different even if you choose to go to the same dive site every day or night (which we didn’t) despite dozens and dozens to choose from all along the shore.

We are back and herewith as promised.  What a difference two weeks makes.  I like the more noticeable differences between this shot from this morning and the one two weeks ago than the usually more subtle changes over a one week stretch of time.

Although we live in Paradise, getting away to someplace where you don’t have to cook dinner, work and do the dishes still has its appeal. We’ll be gone until later next week. Sorry….no Pond Bay update this Friday, but there will be sure to be one next Friday, the 20th. See ya soon!!!

I couldn’t resist taking this shot earlier this morning of an approaching storm cell about to engulf our part of the island.  If for nothing else, rainy weather around here certainly makes for interesting skies and is a change of pace from the typical sunshine.  Click on the photo for a larger version.

You don’t need to go to Jost van Dyke to get a soggy dollar. Weather forecast calls for lots of showery rain, unusual for this time of year, to last until Tuesday. Although our plants love it, we do sympathize with the tourists who are only here for the week.

One of the more exciting (or frustrating, if you’re a pessimist) experiences on St. John is going to the supermarket because you never know how much an item is going to cost from week to week and from store to store.  What you can find in one store for $2.95 may cost $4.99 in another and the very next week that could be reversed.  And you also can’t do your shopping in just one store if you’re looking to save money as the same store may have the lowest price for one thing but the highest price for another and that’s assuming you can actually GET everything in one store, which is hardly ever the case.  

This grocery receipt from Starfish Market is from this morning.  I only noticed it after I checked out .  Tropicana orange juice (the premium kind) was ONLY $2.00!!!!!!  I had no idea because of course there was no sign near the product advertising such a promotion.  OJ has been as much as $6.99 at Starfish over the past year.  As you can imagine, this was a pleasant surprise and helped offset the fact that I paid $3.08 for a CUCUMBER!

Pond Bay today, Feb 6.

Chateau Bordeaux, the well-known mid island restaurant with spectacular views of Coral Bay and the BVI chain, only several months after revamping its menu and reducing its prices, has closed its doors and it looks like it’s done so for good.

Word has it that the restaurant has also been scrapped in an effort to sell off the equipment, furnishings, etc.

Another casualty of the recession. Really sad. We liked the place a lot.