Wedding Day!  The reason for this trip, our step-nephew Garrett’s wedding, took place today.  But we decided the rest of the day would be a “nothing” day.  The only plan we had was returning the Jeep we rented yesterday.  We did that first thing this morning and had breakfast at Cruz Bay Landing, after which we returned to our room and lazed about.  Amanda took a nap and read on the balcony.  I watched a movie.  We went for lunch at Snorkels, the pool/beachside bar on the resort and then returned to our room.  Amanda went for a swim and I took a nap and then it was time to get ready for the wedding.  

We took a taxi from our resort to The Last Resort where the wedding party is staying for the week (Friday-Friday) and where the ceremony was being performed.  The place is amazing!  On a hilltop with a great room and massive kitchen, a hillside, multi-tier pool with bar stools built right in so you can sit at the poolside bar.  And a gorgeous view of the ocean, the surrounding hills, and that bay below.

The ceremony took place outdoors in the shade of the palm trees around the pool.  The bride and groom shared their vows, had their dances, and all the usual rituals one sees at weddings.  At dinner time, toasts were made by members of the wedding party.  There were lots of laughs and tears.  One of my favorite memories will be the bride’s older sister saying to the groom: “I hope you have as much fun growing old with her as I had growing up with her.”  (I’m not crying…YOU’RE crying!)

We called for a taxi to take us back to the resort (I’ll talk more about the island taxis in a later post) and are now relaxing before we go to bed.  And I’m typing this post!

The Last Resort Villa

The Blushing Bride

My Nephew, Prescott

Kayla (bride) and my sister Kelly.

Dressed for success!

Amanda!

Part of the bridal party.

The deck at the Last Resort

Sunset

Twilight

This morning we woke, dressed, and headed in to Cruz Bay for breakfast at High Tide where we had dinner on Thursday.  We had talked about what to do today and decided that seeing at least one of the world famous beaches was something we should do.  We had not arranged for a rental car for reasons I mentioned yesterday, but in reviewing the taxi rates and the uncertainty of how long we’d be at the beach or anywhere else we decided to rent a Jeep for 24 hours.  Since it’s the off season here there was one readily available.  We got a 2-seater white Wrangler and headed out for Trunk Bay Beach.

Driving on St. John.  Wow.  We’d gotten a taste of it in the open-air “taxis”.  I should have described these before now.  These are all heavy-duty Ford F-350 chassis with covered bench seating in the rear.  Some of them have decent suspension still, some do not!  Two of them meeting each other on the road can be a harrowing experience, and you definitely want to keep your hands and arms inside!  Those drivers are very good at what they do.  Me?  I am a very good driver, but I’d never driven here before.  Narrow roads on very steep hills full of switchbacks that get to the top, and peaks so sharp it’s like getting to the top of a roller coaster.  There were times I wasn’t 100% sure there was actually road ahead of me!  Oh–and did I mention that they drive on the LEFT in USVI?  But the steering wheel is still on the left.  If you’re not used to THAT you really have to concentrate at intersections.  Oh, and all stop signs are just suggestions, so you really do have to watch out!

We made it to Trunk Bay Beach without incident.  Most of St. John is part of a Federal Wildlife Preserve and is managed by the National Park Service.  I think this is probably a good thing, as equipment rentals were very reasonable (chairs, snorkel and fins); which probably wouldn’t be the case if such commerce was left to the locals.  I am not well-traveled when it comes to scenic beaches.  This is my first time in the Caribbean.  L.A.’s seaside has underwhelmed me the few times I’ve been there.  But this…this was something special!  It was everything I’ve ever imagined based on TV and the movies: Clean, white sand; clear, blue water, bright sunshine, and mostly clear sky.  And NO PEOPLE.  Well, not “no” people, actually.  But there were NOT a lot of us there!  The off season effect, I guess, working to our advantage.  We both took a swim in the ocean.  A few hundred feet down the beach was an island with some buoys.  I had half glanced at a sign as we were renting chairs and went back to look at it.  The buoys are part of an underwater trail guiding snorkelers as they explore the reefs on the side of the little island.  I rented a snorkel, mask, and fins and headed out.  In contrast to the stark beauty of the beach itself, snorkeling this particular reef was nothing like what you see on the Discovery Channel.  It was kind of ho-hum, actually, as far as stunning color and clarity went.  The water around the reefs was a bit cloudy and less clear, but I could still se all the way to the bottom in probably 15-20 feet of water.  I saw probably 2 dozen different varieties of fish of all sizes, the largest being as long as my leg.  There’s a small cove on the small island in which most of the fish I saw congregated.  I was able to swim among them as long as I made no sudden movements.  It was kind of magical!  I did not stay long in that location because there were several pelicans there and they were dive-bombing for dinner in my immediate facility and I did not want to be splash-damaged!

I went back to the beach and Amanda and I enjoyed another swim before deciding to pack up and to exploring for lunch.  Since we had the Jeep and could go anywhere we wanted at our convenience we decided to go to Coral Bay on the other side of the island.  More winding and scenic roads!  Up, down, and around.  Coral Bay as a “community” was very underwhelming relative to the bustle of Cruz Bay.  Indeed, we drove by the restaurant we decided to stop at twice before realizing that it was “the spot” in Coral Bay for that sort of thing!  I’ll comment more about this when I post some reflections when the trip is over.

After lunch we drive back to our resort following a different route (the only other one) and saw even more of the island and the National Park.  We had about an hour before we needed to be at Garrett and Kayla’s resort for the rehearsal dinner.  Amanda bathed and I took a nap.  Then we joined everyone at The Last Resort in Chocolate Hole, one bay over, just a few minutes away.  After that we headed back up into the hills to The Windmill Bar which is at almost the highest point on the island with fantastic views of the other islands.  It’s on a western hillside and so has views of the sunsets every night.  We stayed and enjoyed a few drinks and conversation with Megan the bartender before deciding to call it a night.  We had an active day and the sun really saps your energy, especially when you’re not used to being out in it all the time.

We  had a bit of an adventure on the way back in that our GPS took us down a long road through some VERY ritzy properties (think Hollywood Hills) but the last half mile or so of which had been abandoned.  Had we been able to get through, we would have been right at our resort building.  Indeed, we had noticed the abandoned road at the other end when one of the golf cart drivers took us by it.  We asked him about it and he didn’t know much about it.  But I got my answer!  We took a quick dip in the pool next to our building and committed to relaxing in our room for the rest of the evening.  In the morning we will have breakfast in town and return the Jeep.  Then back to the resort where I think we will spend the day until it’s time for the wedding.  

Morning view from High Tide.

Our ride for the day.

View from one of the many lookouts around the island.

Trunk Bay Beach

Trunk Bay Beach

Trunk Bay Beach

Trunk Bay Beach

Swimmers!

My Mermaid Bride

Poolside Bar at The Last Resort

Hillside path to nowhere.

Amanda and Me

The Bride and Groom

Amanda and Me

My sister Kelly and Me

A sunset view.

This morning started with Amanda poking me.   We apparently had low water pressure and she was wanting to shower and could not flush the toilet.  We called the front desk and let them know.  They were aware of the problem and working on it.  We hung around for a little bit, but still no water pressure so we decided to start our day.  We had breakfast at one of the resort restaurants.  We then went into Cruz Bay to explore, as things were closing up after dinner last night, and exploring in the dark is no fun anyhow.  

We checked out lots of shops including a neat shopping complex called Mongoose Junction.  The most interesting thing there was a shop owner who used her cash register as a soapbox from which she schooled her customers on the politics of the day.  We learned from her that in the United States there is no such thing as a “penny”.  That which we call a “penny” does not have that word on it anywhere.  It says “ONE CENT” and is therefore a one cent piece.  So noted.

Across the street from Mongoose Junction is the U. S. Virgin Islands National Park Visitors Center.  We stopped and looked around there and then headed back to town.  I say “back to town”.  Cruz Bay is very walkable, at least the area near the water is.  The island itself is rather hilly.  If not for that and the narrow roads we might have walked the 1.5 miles or so into town.  But that would have been both a miserable and a dangerous experience.  We are glad we did not rent a vehicle.  There’s no place to park except for paid lots which would have cost us about the same as the taxi we have been taking to get back and forth.  And golf carts take us around the resort property on demand.

After a morning of shopping and exploring we returned to our resort to check out the big pool.  We swam a bit and then hit the poolside bar for lunch.  After that we each took a dip in the ocean (on the other side of the bar) and I took some 360° photos.  We returned to our room to find that the water pressure was no longer low–it was non-existent!  Shortly after that we started getting text messages from the resort informing us that the issue was affecting our entire building and that engineers were working to repair or replace a water line.  Amanda napped and I hung out in the semi-private pool for an hour or so.

After relaxing for the rest of the afternoon we went back into town and ate dinner at “The Tap Room” which has food similar to Five Guys, but with more “normal” prices compared to many of the restaurants in the area.  We had delicious burgers and drinks.  After dinner we went to a minimart and stocked up on some drinks and snacks for the room.  We explored a little more and then returned to the resort and had another drink at the poolside bar before returning to the room.  Amanda started a load of laundry and I lazed about in the pool again waiting for the moon to rise.  It didn’t happen–I must have been out later last night.  I got bored and went back to the room where Amanda and I watched the just-released latest episode of “Resident Alien”.  And now I am writing this post. 

And now I am going to bed!  It was a great day!  Tomorrow we are planning to return to the High Tide for breakfast, and then perhaps to see one of the beaches everyone talks about.  I’ve never been much of a beach bum, but we’re here and that’s what people do, so we’ll do it.  Tomorrow evening is the pre-wedding gathering at The Windmill–a hilltop bar with apparently gorgeous sunsets!

Amanda!

The pool at our resort, first thing in the morning.

Walking to breakfast at the resort.

On the grounds of the resort.

More local wildlife – iguanas!

This is the taxi stand at our resort.

Mongoose Junction – a Shopping Venue

AUGH! Flip-Flops of all kinds! #SatansSandals

A view from the other side of our dinner rail last night.

If you like Piña Coladas…

More iguana!

Feet up at the semi-private pool.

Dinner at the the Tap Room.

Nighttime at the semi-private pool.

Amanda and I are on the island of St. John, one of the U.S. Virgin Islands, for Garrett Frady’s marriage to Kayla Palmer.  (Garrett is my sister’s step-son.). We left home yesterday to spend the night in Burlington, VT as we had a very early flight out of Burlington this morning.

We started our trip with dinner at Al’s French Frys, a classic diner in Burlington near our hotel and the airport.  It’s a favorite spot of ours.  When we got to the hotel, the airport conditioning in the room wasn’t working.  Two techs spent about half an hour on it before giving up.  We were transferred to a different room.

Our flights were both on time and uneventful.  We traveled from Burlington to Atlanta where we had a short layover before traveling from Atlanta to the island of St. Thomas.  St. John has no airport, so anyone going there must get there by boat.  When we got the the airport we de-planed by stairs.  They moved a stairway to the rear of the plane (where we were sitting) and we actually got off before most of the other passengers!  We had a bit of a walk to the inside of the airport terminal building–we had to walk nearly around the entire building before we got to the entrance.  When we walked in the first thing we experienced was a welcome counter with free shots of local rum.  I knew this was going to be a special trip!

Never having been here before, we used a travel agent to book the trip.  The travel agent was obviously not one that deals with VRBO and/or AirBnB and so we ended up at The Westin on St. John–a full service resort.  The Westin has its own counter at the St. Thomas airport and we were shuttled from there to the St. Thomas Port Authority where we boarded a private ferry owned by the resort that took us to their private dock on St. John.  As we got off the boat we were again greeted by staff who gave us rum drinks.  (We had each had rum punch at the bar at the Port Authority.)  A golf cart took us on a tour of the resort on our way to our room.  No, not a room…a small suite.  We have a bed, a full kitchen including a dishwasher and breakfast island and full-size fridge, a living area with a couch and a chair, a dining room table that seats 4, and a washer and dryer so we can do laundry if we want.  We also have a balcony with a nice view of the hill across the bay, though we can’t see the bay itself.  We are up on a hill above the main part of the resort.

After getting settled and unpacked, we called for a cart to take us back to the main lobby where we looked at the gift shop and the deli/convenience shop they have here.  We also met with the concierge who gave us some information and advice.  After that we took a taxi into town about a mile away where we ate at High Tide, a wharf-side outdoor restaurant in Cruz Bay.  We picked a table for 2 at the railing right next to the beach where we had a perfect view of the looming sunset, which happened about 20 minutes after we got there.  It was beautiful and amazing.  We had coconut curry chicken which was delicious.  High Tide serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  I know we will be back before we leave!

We returned to the resort by taxi.  Amanda caught a cart back up to the room.  I walked the short distance to the local market to see about some snacks and toiletries.  I walked back to the room.  I changed and went to the small pool that is shared between our building and the one next door.  I had the entire thing to myself.  It had a little grotto/waterfall and a small raft.  I floated there for almost half an hour and watched the moon rise over the palm trees on the hillside and did my best not to think about anything. 

When I got back to the room Amanda and I watched the new episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds while she worked on her latest cartoon.  Now I’m typing this.  And now I’m going to bed!

The suite life.

Some of the local wildlife.

The semi-private pool for our building.

More local wildlife.

The High Tide bar and Restaurant in Cruz Bay

A shot of the bar.

My bride and me.

The view from our dinner table. Worthy of a travel brochure, if I say so myself!

Before you read this post, you need to go read this one if you haven’t already.  Go ahead–I’ll wait!

Back?  OK.  That was 2018.  In 2020 I ordered a Cameo video from Jonathan for Amanda and played it for her on Christmas.  She loved it.

Last year we moved to the Keeseville area–about an hour away from Ticonderoga, home of (among other things) the Star Trek Original Series Set Tour.  Throughout the year they have various Star Trek celebrities visit and you can purchase photo ops, tours, and bridge chats with them.  Earlier this year I noted that Jonathan Frakes would be visiting in May.  I asked Amanda if she’d like to go and she said yes and so we went!

What can I say?  It was incredible!  The event was for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday; but we decided to just make a day of it on Saturday, which was when our events with Mr. Frakes were scheduled.  We got there a little after the doors opened.  This was actually a little too early, but the web site warned that there would be lines.  (There were, but they came later.)  We got checked in and explored the gift shop and museum for a few minutes.  We then made our way to the local elementary school where the vendor fair was setting up and where the presentations and round table discussions would be.  I scored a complete set of Star Trek Fotonovels–a set of 12 for only $5 each!  That’s half of what they go for on eBay.  I had a couple of them when I was a kid.  My great grandfather would come from New Brunswick to visit.  When it was time for him to go home, we would bring him to the train station in Montreal.  While my Dad brought him to the train and go him on board, I would explore the station concourse.  I found a book store that had these Fotonovels.  I think I wore them out from reading them so much!  I never saw them anywhere else–I am glad to finally have the complete set!

Amanda bought a figurine of Will Riker.  She thought she might like it autographed, but wasn’t willing to pay what was being charged, especially since we already have his autograph (for the price of a stamp!).  We attended a talk about the 50th anniversary of the premiere of “Space: 1999” a sci-fi show I watched on CBC when I was a kid.

We made our way back to the tour site and had lunch at a diner across the street.  When we were done, there were 2 lines running halfway down the parking lot!  One was for the photo op with Jonathan Frakes, the other was for LeVar Burton.  We made sure we were in the correct line and waited.  We took a few pictures of the 1966 Batmobile, owned by James Cawley who created the Star Trek sets from original blueprints.  And oh look–there he is, walking around like he owns the place!

Later in the day I approached James when I saw him standing in the parking lot.  As I got close he reached out his hand and shook mine like we were old friends.  “Thank you for what you’ve done here,” I said.  He smiled and thanked me for being there.  Later on Amanda and I both spoke with him.  Amanda dropped her Dad’s name and James immediately recognized it, “sure, I know Kevin!” he said. 

The photo op was honestly underwhelming.  We were herded through the set of the bridge of the original starship Enterprise.  Frakes was sitting in the captain’s chair.  We stood behind him, the picture was taken, verified, and then we looped around and left the same way we had entered.  So that was that!

We had some time to kill before our set tour, so we went back to the school to look around again.  At 2:00 we returned for the set tour with Jonathan Frakes, followed by the Bridge Chat.  The tour was late to start because the tour ahead of us was still in progress.  Author David Gerrold was giving the tour and no one thought to send a chaperone with him.  The man likes to talk and was way behind.  We finally entered the sets and started in the Transporter Room.  It was…small.  I knew these had all been built from original blueprints, but I couldn’t get over how small it was!  Some of it was due to the fact that there were about 40 of us in the same room.  But it was small!  But I could tell later when I looked at my pictures that it really was what we saw on TV.  Frakes joined us to applause and proceeded to interact with us.  He took questions, told stories, and just generally mingled with us.  I don’t know what I expected, but this was nice!  He was genuine and personable and obviously actually cares about the Star Trek franchise and its ongoing legacy, even if he can’t remember every single thing about it!

As he milled about us in the Transporter Room Jonathan eventually made his way to the control console.  There were a couple of museum staff there, but they got out of his way.  He had been there last year, but since then the technicians had beefed up the controls so that when you slid the sliders they actually “activated” the transporter!  The lights blinked the the sound effects played.  Frakes, fiddling around as he was talking, moved one of the sliders and tripped the effects.  “NO SHIT!!!,” he exclaimed as he stopped mid-sentence of whatever he had been saying. 

“No Shit!”

The tech then explained that yes, it actually “worked.”  He tried it again and the look on his face was positively…orgasmic:

“Ooooohhhh…..YEEEAAAHHHH!!!!!!!”

From the Transporter Room we moved through the set hall to Sickbay.  During the Q&A there Amanda actually interacted with Jonathan, providing details about a TNG episode that is a favorite of hers (“The Host”) because he was sketchy on the details.  The look on her face in that moment confirmed that this gift was totally worth it!  She was SO. HAPPY!

We then moved to the briefing room.  There was a 3D chess set and other familiar props from the strewn about the table.  Frakes sat at the end by the computer console.  Amanda was across the room, and I stood next to Jonathan.  More stories, more Q&A.  And then, as he was making a reference to Deep Space 9 (another Trek series) he instead, in a Freudian slip I’ll never forget, instead said “Deep Throat 9” and didn’t even know it.  “Wait…WHAT was that…???” I said, getting a lot of laughter.

The tour then entered the Engineering section/engine room.  Wow.  I had been amazed until then, but this set just blew me away!  Everything was so familiar!!!  And just as I have seen it dozens and dozens of times before. 

After that, it was time for the Bridge Chat.  Those without tickets were escorted away from the main entrance to Engineering.  The rest of us left through a back hall that led to the Turbolift.  The doors were slid open and we were back on the bridge!  It was ringed with folding chairs.  The people who had tickets for the chat but not the tour were already there.  We were told to sit anywhere.  “But not THERE!” someone laughingly said to me as I braced myself on the arm of the Captain’s chair as I stepped down into the well of the Bridge.  Amanda and I sat in chairs right in front of the helmsman’s (Sulu) station, facing the Captain’s chair.  Frakes came in and took his seat and we spent the next hour with him.  After discussing a few topics and hearing a few stories, I raised my hand.  “I don’t have a question–just a personal comment,” I said.  “This visit is the culmination of a series of gifts to my wife Amanda.  I will make a long story very short, but several years ago I sent you a handwritten letter to an address I found on Google.  In it I told you the story of how my wife met you when she was 14 and how all she could say in that moment was, ‘you’re pretty’ and asked you to send her an autograph.  You were kind enough to do that and I am very glad that she finally has the chance to meet you again.”  Amanda was positively beaming at this point, and gushed, “and you’re still pretty!!”

“You’re pretty too,” Jonathan Frakes said.  And the whole room applauded.

We went back to the school to pick up our photograph and took the scenic route home along the lake.  It was the best day I’ve had in a very long time!

We had thought that today would be a day at Disney, but when I went to buy tickets last night they were all sold out for today. We had breakfast at our hotel again and this time pointed the car toward Huntington Beach to hopefully see some of my Family. My cousin Jason lives there with his wife Linda and their children. Jason’s Mom and Dad also live in the area. We explored the Main Street area of downtown Huntington Beach for awhile and heard from Jason’s Dad, Alan. We met him for a light lunch and some conversation.

We left Alan to visit Jason’s Mom Jane and John. After a brief visit they took us to Newport harbor where we enjoyed some local shops and took the harbor boat tour. The sheer opulence was staggering. I’m not sure I have ever seen so much wealth concentrated in one geographic area. If I wasn’t to envious I might be disgusted! As the tour guide told us, for many of the owners these are just their vacation homes. Their fifteen million dollar vacation homes. And yachts. Lots and lots of yachts! So many yachts.

After the tour we had an early dinner at The Crab Cooker on Balboa Peninsula. Then on to Jason and Linda’s house where we spent an hour or so getting caught up and enjoying each others’ company. We returned to Jane and John’s to get our car and made our way back to Glendale and the hotel to relax.

Here are some pictures from today’s adventures.

We started today with breakfast at our hotel.  We then drove from Glendale down to Dana Point.  Our first stop was the Dana Point Headlands Conservation Area.  The docent there was very nice and gave us some tips based on what we said we wanted to do.  Our next stop was The Shwack, a restaurant in Dana Point’s Lantern District.  From there it was a short walk to the Bluff Top Trail.  Very reminiscent of Rochester, NY’s Secret Sidewalk, this short trail takes you along the bluff high above the Pacific Ocean.  On one side are the front decks of what must be very expensive real estate.  On the other are magnificent views of the ocean and Dana Point harbor far below.

After taking all that in and lingering in the breeze we drive down the hill to The Ocean Institute on the western end of Dana Point Harbor.  The docent had told us that there is a stairway to the beach behind the Institute and so we went to spend some time on the beach just watching the waves come in as the tide slowly rose.  I’ve never thought the ocean was particularly interesting.  In fact, I find it generally very boring when compared to the likes of Lake Champlain.  But I will admit that I could spend hours just sitting there watching waves come in.  It’s hypnotic and peaceful; and in that respect I understand why people are drawn to it.

From Dana point we made the short drive to San Juan Capistrano and toured the mission there.  I can’t say I gave it the full attention it as a museum deserved, but it was awe-inspiring.  The church in particular gave me pause.  As a lapsed Catholic I do not feel a “call” to my Faith these days.  But the mission’s church, incredibly preserved and still in use today, is a thing of beauty.  My hat came off, my finger touched the holy water and then my forehead, and I just had to sit there for a few minutes and take it all in.  We toured the grounds and spent some time (and a few dollars) in the gift shop and then it was time to head back to Glendale.  Amanda, her Dad Kevin, Kevin’s friend Beata, and I had all been in the same car so far; but Kevin and Beata were scheduled to pick up Amanda’s sister and her husband at the airport this evening, and so we had to return to Glendale so Kevin could get his car.  (In retrospect I guess we should have rented a minivan!) After a bathroom break we drove down to Manhattan beach and had a very nice dinner in a seaside restaurant called The Strand House.  Our table was close to the open-air deck and the propane heaters took the edge off the cool ocean breeze.  The only thing missing was a view of the ocean.  It was right there in plain sight, but invisible in the darkness.

After dinner Amanda and I returned to the hotel.  It’s a good thing I like to drive.  Driving in and around L.A. is an adventure like no other.  I have many comments about the “design” of their highways out here, but I’ll save them, perhaps, for another post some day.  We are having to much fun to let these posts degenerate into a grump-fest! 🙂

Enjoy some pictures from today’s adventures.

We are in L.A.!  Travel yesterday was blissfully uneventful, especially when compared to our trip here last year.  We are in the same hotel in Burbank, and even in the same suite!  It feels like we were just here.

Our main reason for this visit is to help Amanda’s Dad celebrate on Sunday when the Make Up And Hair Stylists Guild honors him with a Lifetime Achievement award.  We also hope to visit my cousins who live in the area. Another day at Disney might be on the schedule if the weather holds (there is an ever-increasing chance of rain for Monday).  We fly home on Tuesday.

Last evening we explored The Americana at Brand, a unique outdoor shopping center about a mile from the hotel.  I don’t know what it’s like during the day, but at night it reminded me of The Venetian hotel in Las Vegas.  We had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory and just strolled around looking at/in the shops before heading back to the hotel.

Today there is no plan—just some general exploring.  Dinner will be had in Manhattan Beach with Amanda’s Dad before he picks up Amanda’s sister and her husband at the airport.