October 8 Update

Three weeks and counting.

Here is a rough line up of event days:

Friday and Saturday - arrivals

Sat evening - Beach barbecue with live jazz

Sunday - Optional barbecue at Coconuts on the Beach in Frederiksted

Monday - Horseback rides - There will be a morning and a late afternoon (sunset)

Tuesday - Sunset Cruise and Beach Barbecue at Hotel on the Cay with entertainment

Wednesday - Snorkel trips - Morning and afternoon trips

Thursday - Optional St. Croix Safari Tour

Friday - Leisure day

Saturday - departures


There are a few other events that come to mind.
1. Friday evening - First Friday is a big event in downtown Christiansted - bands on the street, shops open late.
2. Friday evening is a great (but pricey) buffet dinner with entertainment (the same as we will see at Hotel on the Cay) at Carambola. Cost is around $35.00 per person. Carambola is THE premier resort on St. Croix.
3. Kayak tours are an option. $45.00 per person. Check it out at www.gotostcroix.com.

Next week I will email each attendee with their data.

Louie

Just this morning I finally reached Stephen O'Dea, the man who will take folks horseback riding who wish to go. The ride will be 2 1/2 hours, plus or minus, on the north shore, near Cane Bay. Stephen can take up to 6 people at a time. The ride will include trails through ruins and rain forest vegetation to the top of a hill affording wonderful views of the ocean and vistas to St. Thomas and St. John. The ride concludes with cooling off the horses in the water where you will ride the horses right into the ocean for a horseback swim. All this for less than last year - $70.00 per person. So, let me know if this is something that you want to do.

On another note, if you plan to snorkel off the beach a lot, you may want to go to your local WalMart and pick up an inexpensive set to have with you. What they will cost is less than what you will pay to rent for the week.

The snorkel trip(s) will leave right from Cottages at days and times to be determined. Being off season, we can pretty much set our own times.

Arrival day, Saturday, will be a good time to have a barbecue and get to know everone. I have arranged for a jazz band to entertain from 6:30 to 9:30. Since the patio area will be crowded with all of us, we will move the band next door to the restaurant area, still less than 75 feet away. How does grilled bratwurst and Italian sausage on rolls with potatoe salad and cole slaw sound?

Tuesday will be Big Beard's Sunset Cruise followed by the beach buffet with show at the Hotel on the Cay.

If you haven't checked out the website for www.gotostcroix.com or the site for http://www.caribbeancottages.com/, this will give you a lot more information.

Six cars have been reserved so far. Call Centerline Car Rentals and mention that you are with the Eastwind group for a 10% discount. They were very fair with us last year.

Around mid October I will email everyone with their information, as I have it, for any corrections.

Til next time--------------

Sept 25 update

Hopefully everyone found this. This blog was used for last year’s trip but some of the information applies to this year. If you have any questions---louie-vicky@msn.com.

Well, I guess it’s time for a little information on St. Croix. I have been remiss in my duties due to some events here on the home front that have occupied a lot of our time recently.

First, I must ask you to confirm your arrival and departure dates. Some of you are planning to spend a few extra days so we must calculate the extra charge, if not done so already.

Second, I will need to know how you will prefer to have your sleeping arrangements. The options are king beds or twin beds. There are no full or queen options. Your cottage can be set up as you desire.

Please email me with this information ASAP so that I can let Cottages know.

Now, for some other stuff that you may want to consider. These are things that I would suggest and that we can do as a group to get a better price. You can join in or prefer to do things on your own or prefer to just lay in the sun. Some of you did some of the things last year and may or may not want to repeat.

1. Snorkeling trip – I have arranged with SCUBA, a local dive and snorkel outfit
to bring their boat right up to our beach to take passengers for the 3 or so hour
snorkel trip on the west end of St. Croix. The cost will be $40.00 per person and
you can pay me now for this. I have discussed the possibility of a longer trip by
about an hour that will add to the interest. If so, the cost may be a little higher. As
the boat holds 12, we may have to do 2 separate trips. I will try to put friends
together.

2. If anyone does want to go out to Buck Island, I can arrange it for you. The cost
is 60.00.

3. Sweeny’s Safari Tours – A very popular way to see the high points of the
island. The cost is 45.00.

4. Sunset cruise – This was very popular last year and worth repeating. The boat
leaves from Christiansted at about 4:15 PM and cruises around the outer harbor
for about 2 hours. A real relaxing time. The cost is 35.00. This could be tied in
with item #5 if we do this on Tuesday.

5. Tuesday evening, starting at 7:00 is a West Indian buffet and show, the same as
we had last year at the hotel, but will be at the Hotel on the Cay in Christiansted
Harbor. This cost is 27.00 for the dinner and show plus 3.00 for the round trip
ferry ride. The ferry departs about 200 feet from where the sunset cruise arrives.

6. If you haven’t made your car rental plans yet, now is the time. Please refer to
my prior email on this.

7. I am still trying to make arrangements for horseback riding on the north shore
for those interested. Please let me know if you are interested. The cost will
probably be the same as last year, 75.00.

Let me know on these things and send a check as applicable.

I still have a couple of rooms open. These are 500.00 rooms, so if you know of anyone--- before I ask the management to take them back.

Joe, please pass this on to Heather and have them pass it on to Manny.

Joe, I know you’re backing me up on this. Have I missed anything??

I’ll get out more information in a week or so

Here's something that came from a conversation with Julie yesterday: Bear in mind that the hotel restaurant is open to the public and is pretty popular with the public. If you are planning to dine in the hotel restaurant as more than probably 4 people, you should make reservations. Now, for Saturday's buffet, we will have seating reserved for all of us. If you would like your own grouping within the reservation, we will have provisions for this. Just make the reservations as you normally would, reminding them that you are in our group.

Well, we are less than three weeks away. Everything is on target and all monies have been sent to me. I want to thank everyone for this. It has made my life a lot easier. A couple of people have asked about electrical power on St. Croix. Barring any outages, the electrical service is the same as we have here - 110 volts AC. So, if you plan to bring any appliance (hair dryers, razors, battery chargers, laptops) you will not need an adaptor.
So, until the next post, which will surely be the last, stay healthy and make preparations to get underway.

AS THE COUNTDOWN GUY WOULD SAY, "ONE MONTH TIL THE FUN IN THE SUN BEGINS !!" I didn't post last week because there just weren't any earth shattering developments.
Not even "revolting developments". Who used that phrase? I'll buy a drink for the first to respond correctly.
Well, Rich Moland was the first to correctly answer Jimmy Durante. I will buy him 1/2 drink since it took two guesses.
Nearly everyone has ponied up all the money for the trip, which makes my job a lot easier. I announced to the few late ones that the last one to submit will buy the first round at the bar.
Here's a tip for those who plan to do more snorkeling than just Buck Island. For about $30.00 you can buy a snorkel mask, tube, fins and bag at Wal Mart. The snorkeling is good just about anywhere and this would give you an opportunity to practice before going to Buck Island, plus you would be familiar with your own gear. Of course, the hotel has gear that you can use at the hotel beach and there are places that rent gear, but the rental cost for a week would be about the same as Wal Mart purchase. If you decide to go the purchase route, do it at a local Wal Mart because there is no Wal Mart on St. Croix.
Once again, if you are planning on renting a car and have not done it as yet, NOW is the time. Call Centerline Car Rental and mention that you are with the Eastwind Group to get the 10% discount. Ask them to deliver the car to the hotel the day after your arrival since you will surely not have enough time on arrival day to venture out. I will pick you up at the airport to save on taxi fare.
So, as Mission Control would say, "Everything is a go". And as I used to tell the Eastwind guys, "If you don't have a good time on St. Croix, you can take me out on the fantail and kick my ass!"

First, I must apologize for my tardiness in posting. I have been in New England for the past two weeks and have been remiss. That out of the way, I must thank all of the folks who have settled their accounts promptly. As of now 23 accounts are fully paid and ready to have fun. It was suggested that the last one to pay buys the first round. The folks at the Palms are really looking forward to our arrival. Julie has been searching the island for a red carpet to lay out. Wednesday evening's Sangria Fiesta, hosted by Carl and Fran Goretski started as a small idea of a pitcher of Sangria and is now developing into a real party. Our guitarist is primed and we will have some decorations. If you don't know what a pinata is, you will find out.
I hope that everyone who is renting a car has made their arrangements with Centerline Car Rentals so that there are no late disappointments.
In case I hadn't mentioned, Julie has secured special entertainment for our Monday welcome rum punch party. We will be entertained by the St. Mary's High School 20 piece steel band. Julie tells me that these youngsters are really psyched about playing for us.
Other than that, everything is on track to make this a real fun time.
Keep those cards, letters and checks coming.