News of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands

Governor backs Coral Bay laundromat

It took agreement from Governor John de Jongh, but plans for a laundromat and Internet cafe in Coral Bay are moving along.  (The Governor approves rezoning requests.) 

Former Senator Almando ‘Rocky’ Liburd wants to open the business on a third-of-an-acre  in Estate Fortsberg.  It would be Coral Bay’s first, and only, laundromat.  The nearest one now is on Centerline Road, maybe a mile from the Myrah Keating Clinic.

Sense of humor - and sign - missing in Coral Bay

Somebody in Coral Bay can’t take a joke.  Or doesn't smile.

The Deputy Inquiring Iguana on East End reports that the Coral Bay Triangle is once again un-marred and un-besmirched by any signage.  Not even the one (at the right) tweaking the Moravian Church (the property owner) or its agent for removing the colorful, entertaining and (even!) helpful signs which used to give direction to various restaurants, bars, beaches and activities.

But, nooooooo!  Someone said no. 

And now we understand from the end of the island, the Triangle is barren.

And dull.

A prayer in Coral Bay

Midst the sadness about the removal of a funky collection of local business’ signs on land owned by the Moravian Church on land at the Coral Bay Triangle, a new sign’s appeared. It reads, “Dear God. Please bring back the signs. Amen."   (Photo courtesy of a friend who lives on the far East End.)

Earlier story:

Well, the familiar, entertaining, sometimes illegible, hodgepodge of signs at the Coral bay Triangle has been removed.  Skinny's this way, Salt Pond that way, the Trail Rides there, K2 Video to the left ... they’re gone.  It used to look like this. Photo by CptnKirk on the Virgin Islands On-Line forum where, of course, lots of people have some thoughts about how wise it is to make things in Coral Bay uniform. Full story is here: http://barnako.typepad.com/news_of_st_john_usvi/coral_bay/

Oh No, Mr. Bill! They're organizing Coral Bay

Sounds like an oxymoron to say they’re bringing some order to Coral Bay.  Isn’t that the reason so many people love living there, where the living style is just barely out of the ‘70s.

 Well, the familiar, entertaining, sometimes illegible, hodgepodge of signs at the Coral bay Triangle has been removed.  Skinny's this way, Salt Pond that way, the Coral’s Trail Rides there, K2 Video to the left ... they’re gone.  It used to look like this. Photo by CptnKirk on the Virgin Islands On-Line forum where, of course, lots of people have some thoughts about how wise it is to make things in Coral Bay uniform.

In place of the old hand-made, multicolored, multi-fonted, multi-sized placards will be one large sign holder for local merchants to populate with their messages.

The Triangle land is owned by the Moravian Church, whose property manager decided that the previous mish-mash of signs was dangerous.  Hard to read sometimes, and therefore distracting for drivers and dangerous for people waiting for buses.

Coral Bay TV episode ... who knows?

Tonight, tonight ... maybe.

This is the listing for the show that appeared on Yahoo’s TV schedule page Sunday morning. 

It could be that the house hunting in Coral Bay episode of House Hunters International will be broadcast Sunday night.  Maybe.

However, HGTV’s own page of "Upcoming Episodes” doesn’t mention it.  http://www.hgtv.com/house-hunters-international/show/index.html 

What the heck.  Set the DVR and check Monday morning.

Coral Bay's Jolly Dog Trading for sale

Two more businesses are for now sale while the owner of a third has cut its price.

The latest to go on the market is an icon of St. John, Jolly Dog Trading Co.   Owner Jeff Donnelly is asking $429,000 for the 12-year-old multi-store operation in Coral Bay. 

There are two retail outlets at Skinny Legs, and the main shop is located next to Shipwreck Landing. 

Donnelly calls it a “Once in a blue moon retail opportunity to own three profitable, well established businesses.”  He’s been thinking about offering the business for sale for several month and now, as high season winds down, he’s listed it with Town and Country Real estate’s Lori Walden.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the island, there are lots of businesses for sale, too.  The newest is the sports bar on the second floor of Wharfside Village  Captain’s Cabin was pretty controversial when it opened a few years ago because it has video lottery terminals and off-track horse race betting - not the kind of activity tourists would expect on a quiet island.  But there’s a listing for the place on Craigslist now, asking price $225,000.

And a floor below, the pizzeria and deli’s price has been cut 13% to $195,000.  “Newly renovated space with $40,000 worth of new equipment,” says the listing, http://caribbean.craigslist.org/bfs/1106846613.html.

By our count, there are almost two dozen St. John businesses for sale, from delis, gift shops and water sports to a gourmet restaurant.  It’s natural that owners would want to operate through the winter season and then throw a few feelers out to see if there’s interest.  Truth is, though, there’s not been much movement off the list of offerings for quite some time, only additions.

Whale sighting

Friday the 13th was lucky.

“It certainly (was) here on the East End," Virginia Westrick reported. "At about 7:30 (in the) morning, we spotted a single whale breaching just off of Leduck Island.

"The whale appeared to be small and alone and heading towards Johns Folly Bay.  We saw him only for a short while from our vantage point on Long Point, but what a great way to start off a Friday the 13th!”

Ms. Westrick is an avid underwater photographer, but on land when she spied the whale.  She sent these two photos.  Click on the images to see bigger versions.

This sighting augured well for the whale watch cruise planned for Sunday by the Environmental Association of St. Thomas and St. John.  This would be the group’s third such trip this season.

Don't miss the Donkey Diner

Can a former molecular biologist and a financial services expert find happiness flipping eggs and spinning pizzas in Coral Bay?  So far, so good say Sean and Sue Rubin, formerly of Boston and now proud, relatively new owners of the Donkey Diner.

Striving to offer the best breakfast on the island and all around “kickass food,” the Rubins visited 10 islands before they decided on St. John.  Since closing their deal, they’ve made a few changes to what was already a well-known spot for omelets, 'stuffed' French toast,, pizza and barbecue.  They also added eco-friendly 100% Organic Cotton t-shirts with a new design drawn by a local artist and added another guest chef for Sunday evenings which feature Caribbean seafood.

When we visited, Sean and Sue were happily talking about the fact they’d just gotten a liquor license for the restaurant, no small feat they thought since the Diner is across the street from the Guy Benjamin School.  But so, too, is their neighbor, Sputnik, which also serves drinks.

Sue’s parents had just been visiting the week before we met up with the couple.  She says it all went well and that Mom and Dad left satisfied that the Diner was a real business and their daughter hadn’t made a bad, or frivolous, decision.

To talk with Sean and Sue is to come away impressed by their energy and optimism, and their commitment to each other as well as to making the Diner more successful.

Donkey Diner web site:  http://www.donkeydiner.com
menus: http://www.donkeydiner.com/menus.html

Restaurant ch-ch-changes

Eateries come and go.  This week, Satyuma is gone.  The vegetarian bistro at the Martketplace shoping center closed its door after being on the market for several months.  A family illness of none of the owners’ parents drew them away from the isl;and and the business weakened. (Original posting had a typo, said 'none' sted of 'one'.)

Meanwhile, at the Lumberyard, Lucky Pagoda was scheduled to open this week. It's a Chinese restaurant which hopes to do better than the late-and-departed China Shack. It was also at the Marketplace.  Pagoda is on the space most recently occupied by the Artists Association and, before that, by Polli’s Mexican.

Meanwhile, out on East End, Concordia restaurant is making a go of it, despite its remote location.  The menu includes eight entrees each night, relatively bargain-priced (for St. John) at $16 to $22, according to Lynda Lohr’s story in the St. John Source.  She talked with chef Elizabeth Muro who emphasizes freshness and variety.  Offerings have included a fisherman’s platter of shrimp, mussels, scallops and conch; brown rice stir fry with fennel, peppers, and onions, and a baked chicken breast with fennel and summer squash. Fresh vegetables are provided by Coral Bay’s green, green farmer, Josephine.

Concordia Web site: http://estateconcordiapreserve.blogspot.com/

Busy, busy Coral Bay

Shipwreck Landing had 15-minute waits for lunch at 2 p.m., Jolly Dog's store was slammed, and there were two (!) yachts in Coral Bay harbor. 

Whether it was the President’s Day week or day trippers from four of the world’s biggest cruise ships carrying 10,000 passengers docked in St. Thomas, the quiet east end of St. John was jammed.

We visited with Sean and Sue at Donkey Diner ... more to come (much more news!) about this great, hard-working couple.  Went to Jolly Dog and grabbed some hats and T’s (future giveaways here) and enjoyed fresh, grilled Mahi Mahi and a home-made Taco shell filled with spicy salad at Shipwreck.  BTW, don’t forget, Steve Simon and the Jazz Islanders play there Wednesday evenings ... the same crew that makes music Sundays at the Beach Bar.