Something that I don’t talk about a lot on here:
As my New York friends like to put it, ‘I’m sort of outdoorsy’. (see related post here) I like to go on long hikes, solo camping adventures and I’ve spent more than one day of my life in a 16-foot rubber raft, wedged next to a bucket of poop, floating around in some ridiculously beautiful places.
One of my “outdoorsy” pursuits in life is to visit all the national parks in the US system. After the inauguration of Indiana Dunes National Park this summer , there are 59.
In July, I visited my 45th. This meant two things:
1 I’m more than 75% done with my goal (see related post on my thoughts about the importance of goals here)
2 Last week I got to go to St. John in the US Virgin Islands. See photo:
St.John is awesome! Five fabulous things to do below:
St.John, USVI Five Fabulous Things
1 Food.
There is so much good food here! In Cruz Bay, try Lime Inn for the atmosphere, Ocean 362 for the view, Extra Virgin Bistro for the homemade bread and amazing wine list, Banana Deck for the happy hour, and Greengos Mexican for a walk to other side of town. Seriously, every restaurant we visited was amazing. Make reservations. Even in the off season, it was pretty crowded (related note: Go in the off-season! I can’t imagine what a nightmare this place would be over Christmas.)
2 Virgin Islands National Park
I loved the Virgin Islands National Park. (Duh. See thing about National Parks above.) The best things to do: Walk along the Lind Point trail, right out of the visitor center (pro-tip: have a taxi drop you off, parking there is terrible). Check out the Park Shuttle for the Reef Point Trail (sign up for the boat shuttle as far in advance as possible). Do the snorkel trail at Trunk Bay (It’s a bit washed over from the 2017 hurricanes, but the idea that it exists is worth it.)
3 Go to Europe!
Or the British Virgin Islands at least. We took a trip with Calypso Charters on their ‘Bad Kitty’ boat, and I would recommend it to anyone. There’s snorkeling, hiking AND rum (only after the snorkeling…which is safer I guess?). Pro-tip: ask to confirm if they will serve coffee in the morning (they didn’t on our boat. I had made sure to already drink my requisite 6 2 cups of morning coffee, so I didn’t mind, but it seems worth mentioning).
4 Take a taxi tour
This is a great way to get a feeling for where things are and how far apart everything is, without having to rent a Jeep and deal with parking (I can not emphasize enough how annoying the parking seemed). HOWEVER, the taxis are totally random, and if you get a bad driver the two-hour tour would be excruciating. By luck, we ended up with someone GREAT-his name is Richard Penn and the phone number for his taxi business, RAP Enterprises, as of 2019 is: (340) 513-4627.
5 Lodging
The easiest thing is to stay in Cruz Bay. We were at Gallows Point Resort and I can’t recommend them highly enough-the location is perfect and their set up is so beautiful. Check out the view from the property:
Some people really like the Westin, but for me it felt a little isolated (you have to take–and pay for–a taxi to go pretty much anywhere off the property, or rent a car.) If you want to go a little off the beaten path, check out listings on Airbnb.
Happy August! One more photo below to celebrate.
