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

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.

Virgin Islands house hunting - the Lost Episode

HGTV did not broadcast the episode about a North Carolina couple hunting for a villa on St. John. 

The show, produced last December when Ted and Sharon Prosser went shopping and bought a villa in Coral Bay, had been scheduled for Sunday night at 9:30pm.

Prosser said the show was on the schedule Saturday morning on his DirecvTV guide.  However, when The Inquiring Iguana tried to set up his DVR to catch the program, the 9:30 p.m. slot was then scheduled for a segment about real estate in Toronto. 

“It might be that when St John won the contest they were running " Best Place In The World" for a second home, they moved our show,” Prosser said in an e-mail.  He’s asked the producers for more information.

New Chesney album, Letterman appearance

St. John’s Kenny Chesney does Letterman Tuesday night to mark the release of his new CD, “Greatest Hits II.”  He’ll sing a song from the album, “Out Last Night.”   That track has already been released as a single.

"I've heard it coming out of a few car radios and it makes me feel like summer,” Chesney has said. “You know, some songs just make you smile when you hear it ... maybe because I remember all the fun my buddies and I got in that night.”

Amazon link to the CD

Watch 'Momma's Boys' on St. John

Last week’s episode of the lame reality show featured ‘the boys’ and ‘their 'Moms’ in the VIs. 

There are some brief shots of their time on St. John at about 30 minutes into the show. 

You can see the entire show by clicking on http://www.nbc.com/Mommas_Boys/video/episodes/?vid=944101

St. John hardly seen on 'Momma's Boys'

Mongoose Junction, Cruz Bay, and Peter Bay were tough to find on Monday night’s episode of “Momma’s Boys,” the NBC reality show.

The network says it "follows three possessive, yet loving mothers who must help their complacent sons choose the perfect woman.”  In this week's episode, 'the boys' took their Moms and potential girlfriends to the VIs.

The Department of Tourism said St. John and St. Thomas would be featured.  Well, the cameras and the casts were there, but the islands were hard to find.  You kind of have to know your way around to know what you were seeing.

For instance, at about 28 minutes in, one couple went shopping at Mongoose Junction, but unless you know the place, you wouldn't know.  Same went for a scene shot at, I believe, Estate Lindholm (you'll recognize that view of the Cruz Bay harbor).  And there was some video of a couple at what appears to be a villa (said to be Amorosa) overlooking Peter Bay. 

NBC has posted some clips from the Jan. 12 show.  See them here: http://www.nbc.com/Mommas_Boys/video/

Tourism was quite enthused about the show's visit. “We have been working diligently to bring large productions such as these to our islands,” stated commissioner Beverly Nicholson-Doty. “NBC not only provided us with an opportunity to showcase our attractions to a large national audience, but the production also employed our local film industry, utilizing our experienced pool of talent and crew.  We expect the resulting coverage to highlight the many offerings of the U.S. Virgin Islands, both as a tourism destination and as a filming location.”

Campus Girls hit the Beach Bar

Not everybody is happy about last week's story about a west coast photographer's business idea to issue calendars featuring pretty girls on the beaches of St. John.

Several comments about the piece said this notoriety is not what the island needs.  In fact, it should be avoided lest the next multimedia appearance of the island be in something like “Girls Gone Wild in Love City.”

A deputy of the Inquiring Iguana remembers when the St. John project was being worked on and the Campus Girls did a little local exploring. “I was sitting at the Beach Bar when they came in to eat,” the Deputy reported.

“And boy oh boy!  they got some looks!  Not what you would expect though.  They were so PAINFULLY out of place with their hair and make up so done up.  They got plenty of snickers from men and women.  It's funny how St. Johnian's idea of beauty is so much different then stateside."

Campus Girls' St. John travelogues

You don’t have to be Sports Illustrated to get pretty girls to pose on a beach. 

Campus Girls USA has proved that by following in the steps of a last year's SI Swimsuit issue by gathering a bunch of coeds on the island an d taking their pictures in skimpy bathing suits. (Here's what SI produced on St. John last year: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/2008_swimsuit/onlocation/st-john/)

Trevor Debth, a Los Angeles photographer, is the brains behind this new venture.  The idea is to issue calendars of coeds from six NCAA athletic conferences.  “Every girl that models ...plays an integral part  in the fund raising,” he explains. “They commit themselves to selling the calendars.  100% of the profits go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.”

The Campus Girls production team spent an month on St. John, as well as other islands, flying in girls for five days of shooting. Each of the photo shoots was  also turned into a video.  There were half a dozen sessions on St. John, and each video features the Campus Girls frolicking on the beach and offering their impressions of the island.

More seen and "scene" reports

• Bob said, "with family on beach at Caneel in 1997. Coach of green bay packers also in 1997, forgot his name. 2003 saw TV crew from TLC a Wedding story on AT&T and STJ. Bill Clinton. Forget year. "
• William Rini "saw Val Kilmer twice - both at Caneel Bay's beach bar and at La Tapa."
• Michele was on island in May 2002, "sitting on the beach at the Westin when Lars Ulrich (drummer from Metallica) and son Miles come walking down the beach. He starts talking to my husband. I knew who he was, but my husband did not. When Lars realized that my husband did not know who he was, he sat down on the chair next to us and continued to talk to my husband about the island, beaches, etc. while his son played in the sand."
• Joan Streck: "I saw Denzel Washington at Caneel Bay in March 2006, he was walking up the path from Cottage 7, just wished each other a "Good Day"
• LeAnne said, "In 2003 my hubby and I saw Russell Crow strolling in front of Mongoose!"

Rich and Famous "Scene" on St. John

Some interesting responses to this week’s survey.  Some serious, some fantasy-land.  Here are a few, as of Friday morning.

• Harrison Ford, at Caneel Bay
• Mohammed Ali, at the Westin
• Jmm said, “A few years ago I saw a guy who looked like the pope. My wife said it absolutely was not The Pope. Probably not, but still....”
• Kim Kemp ... “My husband and I were married on Trunk Bay in 2003. During our visit we saw Kid Rock at Woodys. Being from Michigan (like him) and having far too many adult beverages I had a short conversation with him about Michigan life. He was very nice and wasn't bothered by anyone in the bar.”
• Howard ... “In April, we saw Paul Adelstein (Prison Break, Private Practice) drive up in a Jeep to Miss Vie's to check out the menu. When one of our group told him the food was well worth a try, he smiled and asked if they did drive thru but never did stop for lunch. Not quite as star-worthy as Brangelina, but those of us in the know were still pretty pleased with ourselves for spotting him.”

Chesney disguise fools no one at Woody’s

The summer tour is over and, like swallows to Capistrano, Kenny Chesney and his concert roadies piled onto St. John for some r-and-r.

A BVI Charter boat captain was on hand at Woody’s Thursday night when Chesney sat down to jam.

“I think the big floppy hat was supposed to be a disguise, but it did not work! Lots of people there! The coconut telegraph works quickly on the island!,” he wrote on his blog at http://www.saildivebvi.com/serendipity/.

Meanwhile, StJohnJulie saw a post on the Virgin Islands On-Line ting from “Bumblebee” saying she’d seen Chesney at Woody’s, too. “We arrived around 6:15pm ... and a pretty big crowd had already gathered outside. Inside was of course packed. He played until about 9:15pm.”

“Word was, he had brought a group of 80 or so people (expenses paid) and they were staying at the Westin,” Bumblebee continued. “We ran into a few of them at lunch on Thursday at the grill outside Chateau Bordeaux (where Loretta grills up some awesome food!!).”