a quick weekend to st.john island to scope out our wedding plans.
the weather was gorgeous and the sky was blue.

up at 3:45am and off to Burlington on a saturday morning,
Carrie & I packed lightly (only 2 pairs of shoes each)


Burlington to Detroit and Northwest's new "world gateway" only one week old...
complete with indoor train and funky fountain art sculpture!


off to San Juan, Puerto Rico - not quite a state yet.
i guess that two senators in washington would help with
the ugly mess of an airport they have here


after three hours and two missed flights to the virgin islands,
we were off in a small cessna 402 - me riding co-pilot - chance eat your heart out


landed in st.thomas and got a ride from the Westin Resort to the dock,
had a refresher in Tickles bar and then boarded the boat to st.john. we checked
in to our room at 9pm and stopped by the bar for some wings and fruity drink.

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sunday morning gave us a new perspective on things after the 5 stop, 15 hours of
travel yesterday...our deck looked over the pool and the bay


carrie & i scoped out the pool area and the digs at the Westin Resort st.john....not too shabby


off to rent a car and do some sight-seeing/wedding-planning


first stop was Great Expectations Villa we have rented for the last full week of October 2002 for our wedding party. we drove right by it the first try...


once we recognized the rooftops from the web page, we turned around and found the front door


kristin & chuck gave us the complete tour...
the pool area from front and back




the great room


the bedrooms have open doorways east and west and views of
both bays (sunrise and sunset) AND outdoor showers off the bathrooms




and the guest house has a large bedroom with deck west and east (over the tennis court)




and a bedroom below on the garden level


and excercise room with bed/bath


we got a good look at the whole place and LOVED what we saw


including the new hammocks installed by chuck & kristin

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once we finished our inspection, it was off to cruz bay and a drive north into the u.s. national park


1st drive by, trunk bay, apparently busy and full of cruise boat tourists


2nd stop: possible ceremony location, hawksnest beach


3rdstop: another possibility, maho bay


then east to the other end of the island and coral bay where we shopped a bit


and saw some goats on the way down


and a baby on the side of the road, chewing grass


then back up the winding roads and next to more wildlife


and back into cruz bay for some grocery shopping and a stop for hot food and cold beverage at duffy's loveshack!


more wildlife out in the streets of cruz bay


then back to the hotel for some latenight hottubbing

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monday morning, up bright and early for breakfast meeting with the wedding planner at the Westin to scope out the possibility of having the wedding at the resort




then we were off to the lounge chairs and a day of floating on rafts in the pool and drinks at the poolside bar


after a long day in the sun and more discussions with kristin owen, carrie had a plan for our last night...

sunset off the new beachfront room's patio


then into town for 'tapas' at La Tapa - excellent food and a live 6 piece band, Samba Combo, 2 feet in front of us!


as well as local favorites for the hotel room patio later

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up tuesday early to pack and head out of the bay on the Westin boat


our last view of st.john


the local mailman looks like he is a million miles from the cliche' of angry postal worker


off to San Juan on the little Cessna 402 again... for a bumpy and quick ride back to puerto rico


carrie was happy to be on the ground again and headed for a large jetliner


back to the mainland and burlington (with customary 3 hour northwest delay in detroit) by 12:45am...helluva trip.