Tag: Beach

Family & Friends, Travel Adventures

St Thomas Day 1: Direct flight delight

Somewhere around Christmastime, but before all this winter’s snow, we made a call to book a beach vacation over Spring Break. We had no idea how much we’d need it.

2025 Snow Troopers

January 2025 was just as the Counting Crows would say, “a long December.” A city-wide water crisis in Richmond had spillover effects to surrounding counties and, while our water at home was unaffected, work was a different story. We had two working bathrooms at our hospital, but colleagues at other local hospitals shared photos of temporary employee restrooms – 5 gallon buckets lined with red biohazard bags.

This trip we’re headed to St Thomas in the Virgin Islands, an unincorporated territory of the United States. We needed to pick somewhere within the US, Mexico or Canada to ensure that Ale, our au pair and 6th member of our family, could travel with us. Added bonus of the St Thomas selection: some of our best friends from home, Dee and Patrick, are coincidentally vacationing there at the same time. More to come on that.

Arriving at St Thomas

A few perks of St Thomas – direct flights from Dulles and same time zone as Richmond. As anyone who’s traveled with kids knows, these may be two of the hugest factors in calculating toddler travel meltdowns. Aside from the 3am wakeup to catch the 9am out of Dulles, traveling here was easy peasy. (I say that cautiously knowing there’s still a trip home to be had.)

Amir rented a three-row SUV from Budget. Things aren’t cheap here, but everything is essentially a 30 minute drive or less. We figured a rental would give us flexibility to explore since we’re staying at an AirBnB, not a resort with built-in shuttles.

They drive on the left side of the road here, but unlike the UK, the steering wheels are still on the left. Despite the small size of the island and its roads, cars and SUVs are just as big as mainland US. I plan to dig into just why that is.

Sea View on the Northern Coast

Sea View was easy to find. The roads winding up and down the mountains with breathtaking views of the sea immediately brought me back to those guardrail-less cliffs in Crete, Greece. As I’ve noted in a multitude of past posts, Amir is a great driver in an unknown environment. I learned that early on when we were duty partners on the ambulance.

Sea View is as-advertised

As soon as we arrived, I could barely get my sunscreen and suit on before the kids were jumping into the pool. I planned ahead and brought lifejackets for #1BigBrother and #1LittleSister since I knew we’d be doing a good amount of snorkeling. I have a 1:1 non-swimmer to adult rule without lifejackets. Since it was 3:1 this afternoon, the lifejackets went on.

Amir headed to the grocery store almost as soon as we arrived here. We’d barely eaten breakfast, missed lunch, and were about to be eaten by a pack of hungry children. We were warned that groceries are expensive yet still didn’t expect the level of sticker shock. At the Cost-U-Less supermarket, a box of Ritz crackers costs $12, a dozen eggs $15 and somehow a handle of decent rum only $10.

Amir grilled up cheeseburgers on the poolside grill, and Ale finally showed some skills in the kitchen/bar arena, making us all “Pain-Killer” cocktails.

We’re all exhausted from the day – understandably so. We have no plans to wake up by any particular time for any particular reason. If we make it out to a local beach where we can snorkel, that will be a major win.

~Steph

Family & Friends, Travel Adventures

St Maarten Day 5: Pruned and Pickled

Last day here – we had motivated intentions to hit the other side of the island via taxi, but the kids won. They loved what they saw at Kids’ Club yesterday and demanded a return visit.

Kids’ Club Schedule at Sonesta Maho

I started the morning taking everyone to breakfast. Second day in a row – 3:1 ratio at a buffet – do not recommend. But if you have to do it, here’s what you need to do:

Step 1: get a table within eyeshot of the buffet

Step 2: bribe two eldest for good behavior

Step 3: get a plate for the youngest – she needs to be distracted eating while you leave the table to help the other two

Step 4: whisk eldest kids through buffet lines while keeping an eye on youngest at table

Step 5: beg waitress for juices (ain’t nobody got enough hands for getting them on the buffet line)

Step 6: sneak away to grab plate for yourself

Step 7: abandon your plate secondary to embarrassment/hunger analysis when youngest two start screaming

#winning

Thank goodness for pizza 24/7

After feeding everyone, I headed to Kids Club to drop off the #1Bigs and take #1Little to the pool. We had some fun, but since she still has ZERO swimming ability and 100% sink capacity, this ex-lifeguard was NEVER relaxed. It was only when Amir showed up a bit later that I was able to breathe (and drink).

After a long day at the pool, we made a plan to eat dinner but then divide and conquer. The Bigs had their hearts set on movie night at the kids club. Ale took #1LittleSister for a bit while Amir and I enjoyed an evening cocktail by the water. Would you believe my husband, Egyptian lover of all things olive, gin and cocktails, had never before had a gin martini until tonight???? WHAT?

Tomorrow we head back to VA. Boo.

– Steph

Family & Friends, Travel Adventures

St Maarten Day 4: I feel old

While the days here are going well, the nights are a bit painful. Between me snoring and keeping Amir awake, little people crawling into our bed and some less than fluffy pillows… this isn’t the best sleep we’ve ever had. Thankfully the days are exhausting, so you have no choice but to crash when your head hits that stiff pillow.

Today we ate all three meals at the buffet here at Sonesta Maho. The food is delicious, with a wide variety of local dishes as well as guaranteed to please toddler favorites like chicken nuggets and pizza. Last night we marveled at how they seem to have gotten a hold of the supplier for McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets which, if you’ve had them, you know are very distinct. And no where except McDonalds. And apparently Sonesta Maho.

Enjoying the finer things in life

This trip is a bit different than our usual adventures. This is not intended to be an exploratory mission of the island, rather a slow down and easy fun. We’ve gotten to know the pool, waterslides and swim up bar in great detail, but I don’t have too much to share on local culture and society. I started to feel guilty for like a half second and then remembered just how hard we work, and that the kids are perfectly happy eating pizza and ice cream at the same place every day. And I’ve yet to hear a complaint about the endless “slushies.”

Nap time

Right now we’re looking at July for a two week trip. Iceland and a France are on the menu for consideration thanks to reasonable fares on Icelandic Air.

The sandpit at Kids Club

Mid afternoon we did make a new discovery – hidden behind the lush greenery by the pool is the kids club. Suited for ages 3-11, it’s a two story indoor/outdoor facility with art, legos, a two-story indoor slide, beanbag chairs, Xbox stations and an entire playground outside. It’s closed off from the rest of the resort and surprisingly quiet. We dropped the two oldest off for an hour to enjoy some independence for all. Amir felt guilty – I was kicking myself for only discovering the place at the end of the trip. The kids want to go back tomorrow. I’m sure we’ll cave.

– Steph

#1BigBrother makes a new friend

Family & Friends, Travel Adventures

St Maarten Day 3: Catamaran Adventure

Ooof. This will be a short one. I’m sitting on our balcony listening to the steel drum band play Bruno Mars. I probably enjoyed the fruity drinks too much today.

Piña colada fan

Just after we made our hotel reservations, I went online and booked a Catamaran snorkeling adventure. We met the bus at 0845 and landed at the dock at 0920. Our tour wasn’t leaving until 1000, so we chatted with nearby friends and explored a few shops.

Waiting for the boat

The catamaran has a max of 60 – we were pushing 51. The start was a little bumpy – delayed by the late arrival of some cruise ship passengers from Wonder of the Sea.

We stopped at two snorkeling spots, plus two beach spots. Lunch was impressive. I thought the tuna and hand and cheese sandwiches were the meal, but they turned out to be just an apperatife when the chef surfaced with grilled pork ribs and chicken with curry sauce.

Exhaustion on the way back

Tomorrow is a big “?” We might rent a car and explore – we might hang at the resort and do the usual. The latter sounds fairly appealing right now, but I’m also exhausted.

– Steph

Family & Friends, Travel Adventures

St. Maarten Day 2: Look Mummy – there’s an airplane up in the sky!

We didn’t have to say bye to any blue skies as it was blue skies all day long. By popular demand, we of course spent the morning at the pool, but for the afternoon tackled #2 on the must-do list with a little watching of some BIG airplanes.

I can’t help thinking about my dad. He loved the water and boats. He hated sand. The house he and my mom retired to was perfect. No sand, great views of Little Creek Amphibious Base and the traffic that special waterway offers. Binoculars and a telescope – he spent his last days slowly. Slowly watching the amazing things moving around him. Ships, helicopters, toddlers, political unrest. This place is his speed.

Photo credit: Amir Louka

The airport at Maho Beach is technically the Princess Juliana International Airport, ranked by The History Channel as the 4th Most Dangerous Airport in the World. The runway is relatively short, starting just after the sand and ending just before some mountain elevations. It was first used as a military landing strip by the United States during WWII and opened in 1944 as a commercial airport open to public travel. At present, the entire airport operates out of makeshift tents that feel more like a state fair setup than a trustworthy aviation operation – but that’s just due to a huge renovation project that commenced in 1994 combined with the setbacks of Hurricane Irma (Cat 5) that struck the island in 2017.

Waterside table at Sunset Bar and Grill

When we approached the Sunset Bar and Grill, we were a bit worried about the size of the crowd and our ability to secure a table and food prior to multiple toddler meltdowns. By some stroke of luck, we walked up, asked for a table for six, and were taken to a high top with the best view in the joint.

The largest plane that lands here – Airbus A330

Despite being crazy crowded, the restaurant runs like a well-oiled machine except with new technology. Our waiter greeted us promptly, took our drink and food orders on an iPad, and returned within 15 minutes with frozen fruity fun for all.

I forgot to take any photos of my fish tacos – I ate them too quickly. The tuna tartare is worth trying, and the tortilla chips and guacamole were solid (verified by Ale, legit Mexican pedigree).

We stuck around until 3pm, awaiting the arrival of an Air France flight from Paris. The plane is an Airbus A330, the largest aircraft that currently lands at Princess Juliana. Amir downloaded an air tracker app – perhaps the sister app to his helicopter app he uses to track aeromedical flights – and was able to provide a realtime countdown to its arrival.

Airbus A330 landing at Princess Juliana Airport

After the aerospectating, we split up. Me and the littles went back to the room for some naps and downtime, Amir and #1BigSister for some beach time, and Ale for some free time to decompress. No big plans tonight as tomorrow we have an early start for a catamaran and snorkeling trip to a nearby island.

– Steph

Afternoon nap