Day two in St. John’s. I don’t think I could ever grow tired waking up to this view. Omar and I are early risers. I grab a cup of coffee, set up my laptop on the deck overlooking the water and take care of a bit of work. Yes, I know, lame right? I just don’t like going back after a vacation with 1,000 emails and 500 fires to put out. I much prefer a little time in the early morning while sipping some soul enriching coffee and tackle a few emails.
In fact, I could work like this every day.
The great thing about this trip is there is nothing planned. No reason to rush and that is exactly what we need. A week of pure relaxation. My sister is sleeping in. Her husband grabbing his first cup o’ Joe and the day is getting off to a slow, leisurely start.
We decide that we would like to explore this beautiful Island and see what there is to do. We make our way down the scary twisty road to the bottom of the mountain and make our way to Cruz Bay. 8 miles of scenic, terrifying roads. We pass a food truck called Tony’s. We joked each day we should stop there. They probably have the best food! They seem always open and they have beer! Woohoo!
Cruz Bay is a pretty small place. You can pretty much park anywhere and walk wherever you need to go. We park near the ferry dock and start our exploration. We meander into shop after shop, making our way upstairs to the St. John Spice Store. The marriage of scents of coffee and spice envelope you as you walk through the door. A large selection of coffee and spices of course along with quality souvenirs. Omar picked up a couple bottles of West Indies Hot Sauce. Of which, I stupidly packed in my carry on going home and quickly had confiscated. Ohhh, Omar was mad! We bought a bunch of other stuff that did make it home. Coffee cups, shot glasses, an ornament, some spices. A great place to visit!
We wandered father along the waters edge, passing the ferry dock, the St. John’s National Park Visitor Center, making our way to Mongoose Junction. Mongoose Junction is a collection of shops and restaurants. Deciding what we wanted to eat, we stopped at Sun Dog’s Bar. A small but friendly bar on the top level of Mongoose Junction. We enjoyed some cocktails with an exceptionally friendly bartender. We asked if we should eat at Sun Dog or the nearby Greengo’s for Mexican. She said neither one. You have to love an honest bartender! She suggested The Tap Room, a local brewery/restaurant or 18°64°, another local restaurant.
We decided to head to the Tap Room. They had a ton of hand-crafted beers, but also featured a house brewed root beer and ginger beer. With a house made ginger beer, I had to try a Moscow Mule. The ginger beer was packed with ginger flavor yet did not overpower the drink. It was light and refreshing and a great choice for lunch. Beth stuck with her standard Rum Punch, while Omar and Andreas tried the craft beers. Andreas opting for a lighter IPA, of which you readers may know Omar and I do not enjoy. Omar got the coffee stout, a strong robust beer but for me, too heavy for the islands.
To eat, we got a variety of things. We started with some shareables, a Bavarian pretzel and tropical poppers. The pretzel came a bit burned, but they sent over a replacement. Which was good, but hey, it’s a pretzel. The tropical popper was interesting. It was cream cheese, mixed with pineapple baked into jalapeno halves. The jalapeno was extremely hot! So hot in fact I could not eat it. I love poppers too. Usually the creaminess of the cheese quells the heat but not in this case.
For lunch, I ordered the blackened mahi-mahi wrap. Made with a lemon basil aioli, it was delicious. Probably the best fish sandwich I ever had!
Omar ordered a cheeseburger. It was really good, but compared to the fish sandwich, it paled in comparison.
My sister ordered the fish tacos. There were three large tacos, flavorful and ample. I think she could only tackle one!
Andreas ordered a whole pizza. The pizza was ok, not the best nor the worst we ever ate. But we packed it up and took it home as it would prove to be an awesome late evening snack.
All in all, our lunch was a win! We headed back to the villa, bellies full, and wallets empty! LOL
Back at the villa, we had an award-winning dinner of leftover sandwiches, shrimp cocktail, pringles and cold pizza. I guess every meal here on the island can’t be a win! Later off to bed for the symphony of nature sounds and dreams of tomorrows adventures.
