Nico and I like to get away at least once a year… to keep us–well sane — and to reward ourselves for hard work. To refresh, refocus and to feel renewed in the one week away.
We started this the year we met by taking the ultimate new relationship risk and traveling together! We went to Europe to visit family and it was a beyond amazing experience; not only to see a part of the world and our families, but for us to really understand each other and grow and learn about one another. We traveled from Luxembourg – to Germany – to France (day trip) to Prague – to Poland… most of the time just us two =)
^I’ll be sharing a post about the EU trip!
The year after that we took off to Jamaica and stayed at an all-inclusive resort.
However, this year, with a recommendation from one of my long time friends, we decided on Saint Thomas – one of the United States Virgin Islands. We also decided to make this trip a combination of the first two trips. How?
Well – for one – we took off to a warm island in the middle of winter here. And two, we rented a car and explored the island life ourselves.
Between Nico and me, we’ve experienced a handful of islands – but nothing with such a homey (almost European) feel like St. Thomas (& St.Johns!)
We stayed at a boutique-like hotel, called Mafolie, instead of opting in for a more “standard” hotel — like the Marriott.
The people, atmosphere, food, and weather were magnificent.
Our favorite restaurant, by far, was this small outdoor seating by the bay place in Frenchtown called Epernay. From the very first bite, we were in love and even though extremely full by the end – we made sure to not waste even the tiniest amount of our meals! —the food coma was soooo worth it.
We took the car ferry one morning from the Red Hook area to St. Johns – which is another USVI about a 30-40 min ferry ride over. We were pretty happy we brought our car, so we could go at our leisure and be able to explore the entire island – which we did. and found this small. somewhat private beach in Cove Bay all the way on the East side of the island.
We also found a trail on the side of the beach which ended up having multiple trails: Salt Pond, Drunk Bay and then a longer trail leading up to Rams Head – which is where I took these awesome pictures!
The colors and view speak for themselves. I have never done a hike in my bathing suit (+ my Nike Free run sneakers) and …well… I LOVED it…On our second to last day, we found a small island –off the island– where the locals say they go when they want to “get away” Its about a 10-15 mins boat ride over there, called Water Island. or you can borrow someones dinghy if you’re lucky enough!
When you get there, you can rent a golf cart to drive around the area or walk to the beach called Honeymoon beach (which is what we did)- about a 10 min walk.There are 2 outside beach bars there: Heidi’s and Dinghy’s. We sat at the Dinghy bar area on the chairs provided for “patrons” only. So we naturally bought some drinks from the outside bar and enjoyed the view.
We went over to the opposite end and tried out Heidi’s for lunch and some more drinks —– wow. The food was outstanding. I mean Nico had a cheese burger— but no joke; it was one of the best burgers we’ve ever had. I had a Cesar salad with grilled chicken. The chicken was so tender and flavorful and the dressing was home-made and just the right amount of creamy.
People who live on that little island would come and go with their dogs for a quick swim – made me miss Freddy – of course!
We WILL be going back again… we’re hoping as early as October with some family members (including Freddy).. it was that great!
