St. John At Last + Tips on Getting Here   4 comments

        Ah, there’s nothing like a long day of travel to make you appreciate a soft bed and a roof over your head, even if that bed is two mattresses pushed together on the floor and the roof is a tent.
        Lee and I staggered in to Estate Concordia Preserve just before the registration desk closed last night. Our flight to St. Thomas was uneventful and we didn’t encounter any problems picking up our marriage license. The ferry to St. John was another story. We would have made it to the 3pm ferry, if, as we had been told, such a ferry existed. It turned out that the next ferry wasn’t till 5:30 so we found a bar with free wifi and half price beers and waited.

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Leaving Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas on the ferry.

        The ferry ride was scenic and smooth. We pulled into Cruz bay just in time to hop on Vitran bus, which took us despite our luggage. The bus bounced and wound it’s way to the other end of the island while we hung on for dear life. It was dark and I was starving by the time it dropped us off at Concordia.
        Unfortunately, the cafe is closed on Mondays so Lee and I called a cab to take us to the closest restaurant, Shipwreck Landing, which we think is the location of the rehearsal dinner. We sat at the bar and chatted with the friendly bartender. The outdoor atmosphere was very welcome after all the air-conditioned travel spaces and the food was delicious. The bread was amazing, partly because it tasted like it was toasted on the grill. My garden salad with grilled Mahimahi was exactly what I needed and Lee devoured his favorite salad (the taco variety).
        Our eco tent is awesome! It’s huge and comfy but not too comfy. These accommodations are genuinely energy conscious and environmentally friendly. I think our wedding guests will get a good idea of what it’s like to live on a boat.
        Now that Lee and I have had our run, showers, and breakfast, it’s time for some last minute wedding stuff and then a trip back to Cruz Bay. I want to pick up some groceries there and we’re going to try to meet my mom and perhaps Lee’s friend Doug at the ferry landing.

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Shroud Cay, The Bahamas, from the airplane. We visited this cay on Pirat.

        
        With that, here’s Lee with some travel advice for our wedding guests based on our experience getting here.

Getting Here Annex
        It was a little bit of a challenge to get to Concordia. We took an airport taxi into Charlotte Amalie for $16 for two people and two bags (they like to charge for bags it seems). From there, there is a ferry that leaves at 10 am, 1 pm, and 5:30 pm for $12/person plus $2.50/bag. The ferry is blue and white and stops in a yellow plastic fenced in area on the waterfront in the middle of downtown. The other option is to go out to Red Hook by airport taxi and there is a ferry there that leaves hourly 6am to 11pm, $6/person $2.50/bag. When we go back I’m going to ask if I can just carry my bag and avoid the $2.50. One book lists the standard taxi fare for the airport to Red Hook as $15 for one person not including bags. Red Hook is a 20 minute ferry, Charlotte Amalie is a 45 minute ferry.
        When you get to St. John, there are taxis and a bus. Concordia is basically as far away from the ferry terminal as you can get.. The book lists the taxi fare as $20 for one person. The Vitran bus leaves either every hour or every other hour, depending on how they feel that day and is only $1/person. The may or may not allow luggage, for us the allowed it. The bus ride took about an hour is a motion sickness inducing thrill ride through the park – if you get a younger driver (the old drivers are reputed to be slow).
        Also we haven’t been to the grocery store yet, but the better ones are likely to be in the town with the ferry terminal. We’ve heard that “Dolphin” and “Starfish” are good, with Dolphin having lower prices.

Posted March 22, 2011 by Rachel in Uncategorized

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