After years of talking about escaping the Rochester winters, we finally did it. We booked a trip to St John in the US Virgin Islands for 9 days. That’s right… 9 days! And as an added bonus, my brother, Patrick, and his wife, Jeni, and baby, Jack, decided to join us.
The magnificent view from our villa's porch.
St John is… well… heavenly!! It truly is! The weather was in the 80s, the beaches were pristine and not crowded, the water was super clear, warm, and calm, and the island is very green, since most of the island is a national park.
View of Trunk Bay.
Aside from going to the beach, swimming, snorkeling, diving, hiking, and just relaxing, we, of course, ate. We did not eat very many dinners. Since our trip to the beach started at around 10:00 am and ended around 2:00 pm or 3:00 pm, we ended up eating a late lunch, which meant that we were no longer hungry for dinner. We did, however, have a few delicious outings.
Jeni and Patrick
One of my favorite spots was called Shipwreck Landing. The service was super friendly and the food was delicious. I ordered the Curry-Nut Crusted Mahi Mahi sandwich. The curry-nut crust was a blend of curry spices and peanuts. It was really nice!
Jack, Patrick, and me
A very popular dish in St John was conch fritters. We of course tried them… at two different restaurants for that matter. They were pretty good. I am glad that I tried them, but I would not go out of my way to eat them every time.
Conch fritters
Another great place was called Donkey Diner. We had a delicious breakfast there! I, however, had breakfast envy. Typical! Jeni ordered the stuffed French toast, which included homemade cinnamon bread stuffed with cream cheese and topped with a homemade Mango and Pineapple Chutney. YUM! The chutney was so delicious! I ended up ordering a side of it and savored every bite.
The last place that I would like to mention is La Plancha del Mar. Oh my! We had the most amazing dinner there! If you are ever in St John, this place is a must! The food and the service were outstanding! Our server (who apparently went to school in Ithaca!) was super friendly and made our outing even more pleasant.
To start, we ordered the bruschetta, which included a perfectly toasted baguette slice topped with herbed goat cheese, an almond mushroom tapenade, and caramelized onions. Need I say more??
For my entrée, I ordered the seared Wahoo, which was served with a fire roasted red pepper and tomato purée and a butternut squash polenta. My mouth is watering as I am typing this post! Apparently Wahoo is a local fish and it was prepared similar to tuna. It was great! The best part of the dish, for me at least, was the butternut squash polenta. Who would have thought about making polenta with butternut squash? It was so delicious!! I could have eaten the entire pot! :)
Joel ordered a special, which was supposed to be an appetizer but they agreed to make it as an entrée. The dish included tuna served with a tomato foam, Israeli couscous topped with crisped basil leaves, and a side salad. The dish looked and tasted equally delicious! In fact, the dish looked so good that the head chef came to our table to snap a photo of it as a marketing piece. :)
For dessert we settled for a pineapple flambé. The fresh pineapple was topped with this really delicious cake. YUM!
Their drinks were very good as well. The drink menu reminded me a bit of the drinks that are on the Lento and Good Luck menus. They used a very interesting mixture of ingredients. One of those ingredients was habanero bitters. It worked really nicely in the drink.
Beautiful island, wonderful company, and delicious food. What more can you ask for?? I cannot wait to go back!!
ride.hike.eat. 