Island Life and My Best Friend's Wedding in Paradise: USVI and BVI

I spent five days last week pretending that I gave up my career and fulfilled my long time fantasy of moving to the islands while celebrating my best friend's marriage to the man of her dreams. Sadly, I did only have five days to pretend I didn't have to come back to life on the mainland with all that that entails (work, ew), but I maximized my time in St. John and BVI. And today, as I sit back at my desk, daydreaming of all the places I'd rather be, I thought I would share a few notable restaurants, travel tips, and adventures, and add better views to your day through pictures. 

Kevin, Mal, Me, Jason

The Journey to St. John: 

Jason and I took separate flights to St. Thomas (booking with travel reward points), but landing at St. Thomas within a few minutes of each other. Upon arrival to STT, we were greeted with complimentary Cruzan rum shots, and Jason had a beer from the bar located at the baggage claim. I don't know why more airports don't have bars at baggage claim! It would certainly help cut the tension for people who have bags that are lost.

Another tip about STT: the flight attendant announced that we must arrive 3 hours prior to departure on the trip out. I'm terrible about underestimating the length of time it will take me to get through security and/or customs, and always cut it very close when traveling. On the return trip, I had a 1:50pm flight out of STT. I took the 11:00am Westin ferry on the Westin concierge's recommendation, which had me to the airport by 11:45am. I had plenty of time to get through customs and security and still had about an hour to sit before boarding, so I think you can probably take the the "three hour" as a suggestion and not a hard cut "MUST" rule, but do keep in mind you have two steps to get to your gate: customs and security. Arrival an hour and fifty minutes prior to flight time was plenty for me, but I didn't check bags and the lines were reasonable. I did hear one man say it took him several hours to get through customs and security on another trip out of there...

From there we started our journey to The Westin St. John Resort and Villas. The Westin as its own ferry service that goes from the airport directly to the hotel, but it is $120/person (round trip), so Jason and I decided to be adventurous and take the public ferry ($6/person for ferry, plus $20/person for taxis), which required a 45 minute taxi ride to Red Hook, and then a 10-15 minute public ferry ride to Cruz Bay, and another 8-10 minute taxi ride to The Westin. I think it would actually be worth it next time to do the Westin ferry, because you can ride it as many times as you want during your stay, and it saves a significant amount of time (2.5 hours via the public transportation vs. 45 minutes door to airport via the Westin ferry). Despite our somewhat lengthy journey over, it was enjoyable because we completely embraced it, enjoyed the open air taxis and ferry, and a few drinks along the way. We were greeted by Mallory (best friend), Blythe (college friend), and Ellie (Mal's mom), and an iguana upon our arrival to The Westin. 

Where We Stayed: The Westin St. John Resort and Villas

walking to our room

one of many iguanas that roam the grounds and sleep in trees

The resort is undergoing construction, but it was fortunately all contained to back areas, and the restaurants were open. There is a nicer restaurant on premise open for all three meals. Snorkel's is the outdoor restaurant which is pictured below and backs up to the pool on one side and the beach on the other and is great for those light lunches or afternoon snacks. They also have a bar that serves a variety of drinks including the island signature cocktail the Painkiller, and rum drinks out of children's sand buckets called voodoo juice. The voodoo juice does work out to be a great choice because it doesn't taste like alcohol, but is $15 for the initial drink, and $12 refills, and each bucket is the equivalent of four drinks, so it's perfect for sharing. 

first rum drink in a children's sand bucket

rum drink in a children's sand bucket #?

The resort has a beautiful large pool and is on Great Cruz Bay which allows for a variety of both motorized and nonmotorized water sports that are either included or are for a very small fee. Mal, Blythe, J, and I rented snorkels to take to Trunk Bay (see below). Jason and I also gave paddle boarding a whirl. I mastered it. Jason took a dip in the bay (to his credit he was trying to take a picture of me when he fell, but it was a slow motion fall, so I was doubled over laughing then spent the rest of the day bragging at my superior paddle boarding skills :) ) Some other people from our group took out kayaks through the bay on another afternoon, and enjoyed it.

As I mentioned we were there for Mallory and Kevin's wedding with an intimate group of awesome people, which really allowed us to maximize our time with everyone at the wedding and enjoy each others' company.

first time paddle boarding pro!

The Restaurants, Food, and Drinks: 

I had quite a few very good meals in the Virgin Islands. Most restaurants we went to were reasonably priced by normal U.S. standards, but not in line with other islands I've been too where food and drinks are ridiculously cheap. We did find some places with $3 beers, and probably could have sought out cheaper options, but went for places that were highly recommended and more comfortable since we had some people in the group that haven't traveled extensively and/or wouldn't have enjoyed the more local/rustic (read: shack or dive bar-ish) places. The food in the Virgin Islands brings in influences from other Caribbean Islands, the U.S., and other international places, but isn't what I would consider exotic food by any means, and they focus on using fresh locally sourced ingredients. 

The Lime Inn & Restaurant: Our first night, the "young" people of the group met for dinner at Lime Inn in Cruz Bay, which was the perfect opening to the weekend of festivities. It is a low key open air restaurant with amazing fresh food and great cocktails, and they cordially accommodated our group of 12 with no reservation for an 8pm dinner. We started dinner with a range of appetizers including pizzas that were the perfect start to soak up the first round of rum drinks. Several of us had one of the specials of night, which was a locally caught mahi mahi. The mahi was some of the freshest I've had and came on top of a small amount of lobster cream sauce to add depth and contrast the freshness and slight citrus flavor of the fish. I would definitely recommend Lime Inn if you're looking for fresh fish and the very laid back island atmosphere with great service from the staff and owner, who stopped by our table and chatted with us several times. (Sadly all weekend I pulled my bad (or good?) habit of being too lost in my food and company to take any pictures of my food.) 

Ocean Grill: Our first dinner with the entire group was the rehearsal dinner hosted by Kevin's parents at Ocean Grill in Cruz Bay. It is again another open air restaurant, and they seated all 18 of us upstairs in a balcony area overlooking the courtyard. They hosted our group and allowed us to all order off of the normal dinner menu without even having to put in the order in advance, which I liked. I find it silly/annoying when restaurants act like they cannot accommodate groups of that size if we don't go with a prefix or pre-ordered menu. Again, another great set of servers dealing with our rum drinking crew. I switched it up from fish and went for the pecan crusted rack of lamb with an onion demi glace and garlic mashed potatoes, and my god was it the right choice! The lamb could not have been cooked more perfectly or been juicier and more flavorful. Definitely order the rack of lamb if you go; I met other people throughout the trip that went there and said the same. The restaurant also has a notable pastry chef, so save room for dessert. I had John's chocolate cake, which was a simple moist chocolate cake (not fruffy or complicated as they described it) and Tahitian vanilla ice cream. Perfect end to dinner followed by drinks at the Beach Bar, which is literally on the beach and you can take your drink down and stand in the sand and listen to the live music playing. 

Morgan's Mango: This was by far the favorite meal of the weekend! The concierge recommended and totally nailed it. I'm normally a bit hesitant with recommendations from the concierge, but am certainly glad I went with this one. Morgan's Mango has an extensive list of cocktails that come in large glasses, and have lots of fresh fruit in them. We only had five of us make it out to this dinner, but started with lobster and pork ravoli, cajun shrimp, steak and brie quesadillas, and mushroom soup. The mushroom soup was a special for the night and is one I would love to recreate. It had the consistence of a light potato soup, with incredible mushroom and buttery flavor and had little button mushrooms throughout. The first bowl was so good, that we had to order a second bowl to share, and even that was not enough because we practically licked the bowls clean. Main courses for the evening were filets with chimichurri (again perfectly cooked and fresh chimichurri) and paella with a saffron cream sauce. Both dishes blew our taste buds away. The boys determined the paella was the best they had ever had due to the freshness of the seafood and mainly the saffron cream sauce. It was one of the few times I've taken food home with me from a restaurant because it was too good to leave behind. We didn't make it to desert because of the massive amount of food we had and the fruity frozen cocktails. If you can only have one meal in St. John, go here and order ridiculous amounts of food. 

Cooper Island Beach Club: We went here on our catamaran tour of BVI, and the space is open air overlooking the ocean and surrounding islands with outdoor lounge chairs and rum bar. Many people in our group were not pleased with their food (mainly the chicken wraps and chicken sandwiches, which were apparently dry and terribly lacking in flavor); however, I got the chicken roti and enjoyed it. It wasn't as good as the one I had in St. Lucia a few years ago, but certainly flavorful and not a dish that pisses me off as a waste of space and calories. I ordered it under my theory that if ever questioning what to order, go with a local choice, because it's normally what they do best. This restaurant also had good strong cocktails, and put up these drink holder post tables in the water, so you can take your drinks out and stand in the ocean while sipping on them! 

Cooper Island Beach Club (notice the drink holder posts in the water)

The Adventures: 

Outside of time spent playing at the resort in the pool and doing water sports, we had several other adventures that filled our time. 

Trunk Bay: We took a 30 minute cab ride to Trunk Bay to go snorkeling. It has a 225 yard long underwater snorkel trail. We spent about an hour and a half snorkeling through the trail, and then around the tiny island to which the trail abuts. The water in Trunk Bay is the clearest water I've ever seen, and there is cool sea life and coral. The fee to get into the park was $4/person. There is a sandwich shop and showers on site. 

Definitely add Trunk Bay to the list of beaches you must visit. 

Trunk Bay

ray and fish in Trunk Bay

merman

pretending to be a mermaid

Bad Kitty: I'd highly suggest taking this tour or another one of this company's day tours. Nine of us from the wedding party took a catamaran tour of the BVI on the Bad Kitty. It was an awesome way to see five different notable spots in the BVI. We started the day out bright and early (7:30am!) and took a peaceful ride with breakfast over to Virgin Gorda to get through customs and do a quick bit of shopping. 

Stop two of the day was to The Baths, which an area where huge granite boulders were formed on the beach by volcanic activity. The only other similar location in the world is in the Seychelles Islands. We swam seventy yards from the boat to The Baths where we walked through, between, on top, and under these huge boulders learning cool facts about their formation and events that have taken place there. The Baths were so so cool and should definitely be added to your "must see before you die" places! (I've definitely added the Seychelles Islands to see the baths there to my list.)

The Baths: View from inside back out to sea

The Baths: View from on top 

Next stop was to Cooper Island for lunch (see above), and then to Norman Island for some snorkeling. There were three caves in the side of the cliffs at Norman Island, and the snorkeling was better than that at Trunk Bay. The sea life was not afraid of people and came within inches, and the coral was incredible. We also saw two eels while snorkeling! 

Awesome black and blue fish at Norman Island

Coral at Norman Island

Final stop of the day was to Jost Van Dyke to see the beautiful beaches of White Bay and to finally taste the original Painkiller, which is a coconut rum cocktail with fresh shaved nutmeg, at the Soggy Dollar Bar (they also have now created the Nilla Killer--a vanilla rum based version of the Painkiller). This place is definitely one that every tourist goes to, but is so much fun, and one where you totally need to embrace your inner tourist. The bartenders are hilarious, the drinks are delicious, and the beach and water is gorgeous. Can't go wrong with that combination!

Bad Kitty anchored in Jost Van Dyke

Soggy Dollar Bar waiting for my Nilla Killer (notice the police badges from many different places across the roof)

Soggy Dollar Bar

I would classify the Virgin Islands as a very beautiful, relaxing vacation spot, where you know you'll get a comfortable and more customary standard of accommodations/food/drinks, English is universal, the U.S. Dollar is the standard (duh), and the craziest things you'll face are the ocean life and open air taxis. We saw many people visiting with their families, and see how it would make a great vacation spot for an easy long weekend getaway. I hope you enjoyed a little escape to the Virgin Islands with me! Our trip certainly revitalized me and has me dreaming of my next vacation! 

xoxo 

*K

(all pictures by me)

A Tale of Two Cities: Charlottesville and Charleston

So I'm not quite Charles Dickens, nor is this about London and Paris, or a war (you get the point), but it is about two delightful and charming cities I've visited recently.

Let's start with Charlottesville......Jason introduced me to Charlottesville, which is one of the most charming and wonderful cities. He went to law school at UVA, and therefore, he spent three glorious years there. We now take trips down (well up now) several times a year. Charlottesville has the university, great vineyards, hiking trails, really awesome restaurants and bars.

One of our three trips up to Cville in the past few months, we stayed at High Meadows Vineyard Inn, which is actually in a town called Scottsville that is about 15-20 minutes outside of Charlottesville. It was one of my first real experiences staying at a B&B besides the South Street Inn (also in Charlottesville), which we stay at often when visiting. (Side Note: South Street Inn is conveniently located a few blocks from the downtown mall and has AMAZING cookies!) We had a wonderful time at High Meadows.The house is a beautiful old home in many just happy colors (pinks, blues and yellows), and each room is themed. The breakfasts were amazing (including Belgian waffles one day and a scrumptious fritatta the next day). Nancy, the inn keeper was a charming lady and they had a pet peacock named Henry!

High Meadows Inn (picture by me)

Scottsville is a very small town, so when we got in Friday night, we enjoyed a late dinner at Horseshoe Bend Bistro in Scottsville. I had the steak au poivre, which I had no complaints about.  After listening to some live music, we found out the one cab company that existed in Scottsville was no longer operational, so we were going to walk the mile or so back to the B&B, but due to the fact that it was pretty late at this point and the road there was a windy road with no sidewalk or shoulder for that matter, the bartender very kindly stopped working for a few minutes so she could drive us back. Talk about southern hospitality! Needless to say, this one goes on the list of restaurants to revisit for that reason alone.

 

We spent Saturday afternoon watching the UVA v. UNC Lacrosse game. It was my first time watching lacrosse, but seemed pretty easy to understand enough to get into it, and the weather was quite perfect (as always). 

We discovered Citizen Burger, which is now a must-hit restaurant on all trips to Cville (and we have all three trips. The burgers are incredible (they have truffle parmesan fries and a truffled brioche), and they use local free-range beef, and have "red", "pink" or "no pink" for the temperature options, which is fantastic, since most people don't know what in the hell "medium rare" actually means. I would say this burger rivals a DuMont burger, which is one of the best burgers ever.  Other awesome things about Citizen is they have great beer selection and a good tv set-up at the bar for watching games, and it is conveniently located on the downtown mall with outdoor seating.

Annabelle and Jason brunching at Citizen

My handsome brunch date

Here are a few more restaurants in Charlottesville: 

• Mas Tapas: This is my favorite restaurant in Charlottesville. They update their menu daily, and there is nothing on the menu that won't wow your tastebuds (Bacon Wrapped Dates are incredible), and they have excellent sangria! I haven't been to Charlottesville without a trip to Mas. It's normally our first night restaurant and is great for large groups. They have a patio with heaters, so even on chilly nights it's still enjoyable. (Sadly I don't have any recent pictures from Mas....the food is normally inhaled).
•  The Local: farm-to-table style. Great food and really big and good for large groups. 

The Local: Steak Special with a cream sauce, asparagus and mashed potatoes

West Main: Steak and Eggs on a Bed of Grits

• West Main:  This is a good staple, and the food is always reliable. They also start serving brunch at 10:00am, which is great if you're an early riser and hungry for a good meal. 
• The Virginian: This is the restaurant where President Obama ate when he went to Charlottesville. It's owned by the same family that owns West Main, Citizen Burger, No. 3., and the Biltmore. It's also a dependable go to for southern food. 

The Virginian: Eggs Benedict with Creamed Spinach and Artichokes

Another wonderful thing about Charlottesville is that it is located with driving distance of many good wineries in the Monticello wine region. We always try to go to at least a few of them and end up taking home a few bottles of wine (and sometimes a case or even a wine club membership), and will likely spend several hours of an afternoon just sitting out on the lawn of one of them enjoying a bottle of wine and the beautiful views. Some of our favorites are Barboursville, King Family Vineyards (they have polo matches on the premises), Del Fosse, Cardinal Point, Keswick, Veritas.... (I could go on and on).

View at King Family Vineyards (photo by me)

The different vineyards make fabulous wedding venues (we've attended a couple at some of the aforementioned places). Here are a few pictures from Sujan and Steph's wedding on Memorial Day Weekend.

Us at Sujan and Steph's Wedding at Castle Hill Cider

The group with the newly married couple!

Caroline, Diem, Jason and me at the cocktail hour

Charlottesville also hosts the Foxfield Races in the fall and spring. The fall Foxfields is the family day and much more tame, whereas the spring one has quite the rowdy undergrad showing, but the undergrads are sectioned off into the orange section, so if you're not looking for to partake in something that could appear on a reality tv show and rival Snookie, then you can head over to the green and other sections with grad students and alumni, and still have a fantastic time with plenty of champagne and maybe a sighting or two of horses.

And now on to Charleston...I took my first trip to Charleston in May, and immediately fell in love with it. It is absolutely beautiful, historical, and best of all full of amazing restaurants (easily some of the best meals I've had). Here are just a handful of pictures I took during many walks around the city. There are plenty of walking tours or tours in horse drawn carriages, but I found it nice to wander around the city and create my own walking tour, which I enjoyed having more flexibility to see what I want and make detours as I pleased. Many of the houses and buildings have signs affixed to them explaining their significance, and there are many websites with do-it-yourself tours.

Beautiful old trees in White Point Garden

Murray Street houses near the battery
and right off  Charleston Harbor

Historical Houses on East Bay Street

For our first brunch of the weekend, we decided to take a stroll around the streets below Calhoun and see what we found. A high majority of the restaurants in the area are below Calhoun Street. We happened upon Poogan's Porch, and the wait seemed reasonable (we were told 15-30 minutes at 12:30, and only waited about 10 which was awesome considering it was prime brunch time on a Saturday). Poogan's Porch is one of Charleston's oldest culinary establishments housed in an old Victorian house built in 1888, so as you can imagine, the restaurant itself is built into the house, so there are many rooms on two floors that can accommodate various sized parties. Poogan's has an awesome brunch menu full of the richness of southern and low country cuisine, and a drink list that encourages good brunching. They start you off with these wonderfully fluffy and hot biscuits, which even Jason enjoyed even though he claims to not like biscuits. We also had the alligator bites to start, which had a good bit of cajun flavor (but not really spicy, at least by my standards) and were not chewy as some alligator can be if poorly prepared. For our main dishes, Jason and I almost always end up order the same thing, but because I wanted one of everything on the menu, we "compromised" (=Jason ordered one of the things I wanted so we could "share". Sharing does not happen with us and meals). Jason ordered the chicken and waffles, which were topped with a blueberry Texas Pete syrup; it was definitely good, but neither of us are big chicken and waffle lovers, and the spiciness was bit lacking for our tastes. I totally won this meal and got the pulled pork benedict, and holy hell was it fantastic! I will venture to say this is certainly one of the top five brunch dishes I've ever had. The chef smokes the pork on site, and adds a perfect barbecue sauce that has just the slightest vinegar taste to give it a bit of a bite, and then adds a poached egg and hollandaise. This dish should certainly be a staple in any restaurant with barbecue and brunch. As you can tell, I loved this restaurant, and it's reasonably priced ($9-15 plates, but the drinks are on par for large city cocktail prices).

Poogan's Porch Menu

Blueberry Vodka Sparkling Lemonade! Delish!!

Fried alligator bites with a spicy aioli 

Homemade Biscuit-Poogan's Porch

Something pink and sparkling...I had to have one :)

Pulled Pork Benedict....the best brunch dish ever!

Chicken and Waffles with a blueberry Texas Pete syrup

After spending the afternoon walking off brunch and exploring, we were in need of an afternoon snack and stopped by Peninsula Grill for steak tartare. I would highly recommend this place for late afternoon snacks off of the bar menu (because sparkling rose and tartare are reasonable snacks), and based on the bar snacks, I venture to say the dinner would be equally pleasing. It is also a good place to have a meal at the bar if eating alone, without being limited to solely bar-style food. They have a subtle influence of the local low country cuisine in their rich steak and lamb dishes.  The Peninsula Grill is attached to the Planters Inn, which is a very well known hotel.

Sparkling Rose at Peninsula Grill
(in my trend with pink sparkly things)

For brunch on Sunday, we went to Husk where we were without a reservation again but seated immediately up on the front porch. Sean Brock, former executive chef of McCrady's (another renowned Charleston restaurant focused around the postmodern gastronomy movement), is now the executive chef at Husk, and he focuses on using local heirloom ingredients, and changes the menu daily, which allows him to serve only the freshest, local, and inventive dishes. We started brunch with 28-ingredient bloody marys (and challenged the waiter to name all 28...he didn't quite get there), and house made pork sausages with pimento cheese and green tomatoes. The sausage was packed with flavor and complemented nicely by the creaminess of the pimento cheese (which is something I'm not a huge fan of, but it is ubiquitous in the Carolinas) and the tartness and juiciness of the tomatoes. Per usual, I ordered steak and eggs, except they served Wagyu beef (cooked rare) with a sunny side up egg, red wine jus, and sausage and confit potato hash. The steak was so tender that I didn't need a knife, and totally upped my standard for brunch steak and eggs. I have no recollection of what Jason ordered, because I was so consumed with my meal. We also had a side of cheese and grits, that came out with a nice thick crust of cheddar cheese on top and cheese baked into them. We ended brunch by trying Madiera, which came to be widely drank by colonists because of the lack of wine grapes in the region. Madiera is a fortified wine that is heated as high as 140 degrees Farenheit, and is quite sweet and found at many places in the area.

The Bar at Husk is also awesome. I stopped by as a break from exploration another day to have an afternoon cocktail. The mixologists have created some really refreshing and locally-inspired cocktails, and they have quite the extensive bourbon selection. I had heard that Husk was over-hyped, but my god, after our meal, I think it's worth every bit of hype, and I loved that the wait staff was so attentive and unpretentious.

Husk brunch menu

Front Porch at Husk

Breads with bourbon flavored salt and sesame seeds

House made pork sausages
with pimento cheese and green tomato

Wonderfully cheesy grits!

Wagyu Steak and Eggs

We had a few more meals in Charleston, and I neglected to take any pictures. While Jason was at conference dinner, I had dinner alone at Hall's' Chophouse, and had the best bone-in filet that I've ever eaten. In my gluttonous streak from the weekend, I also had sides of pepper jack creamed corn and lobster mac and cheese (and they were the "for the table" sides). This steakhouse is on par with Lugers, Delmonico's and Marc Joseph's in the city. They also have live music frequently; when I was there, it was a blind man who beautifully sang many of the classics from the 50s, which adds the olden days ambiance I love at steakhouses. Our last dinner in Charleston was at Cypress, which has typical low-country cuisine. We were limited to a pre-selected menu because we were dining with a large group from the conference, so I'm not sure we got to experience the range of the menu. We started with a lobster bisque, that was too salty for me, but lighter than most bisques, then had a delicious heirloom tomato salad, and steak diane with a truffle peppercorn cream that was very good. Although it wasn't my favorite, Cypress seems to be a local favorite, and they have an extensive wine selection. The interior of the building is a blend of the traditional architecture and exposed brick with modern fixtures and was really nicely done. As you can tell, I only tried a few restaurants in Charleston in the four days I spent there and would dare say that you would have to work very hard to get a less than an excellent meal.

In between meals, there is no shortage of things to do. There are quite a few museums including the Old Exchange Building and Provost Dungeon that hosted many notable historical figures; I couldn't resist going to tour an old dungeon! I did the tour, which was about 30 minutes and was really cool. I also spent a rainy morning at the Charleston Museum, which is America's oldest museum founded in 1773. There are also several beaches within half an hour from downtown Charleston including Folley Beach, Sullivan's Island, Kiawah Island, and Isle of Palms. I went to Sullivan's Beach, which is supposedly one of the more natural and less commercial beaches in the area. I was told by locals that Folley Beach was the place to go for more of a scene and beach party.  Additionally, there are also military and naval attractions in the area.  Charleston is definitely on my list of cities to get back to soon!