One Year Later

Island Visitor

Senior Insider
Many thanks to Kara and congratulations for having this site up one year without having the server meltdown or getting yanked by the FCC.

Here are a few observations I have and what I have learned in one year:

1. You guys are sandbagging. I get accused of being TOO enthusiastic about SBH. Well, for the Newbies out there, let me say this: It is even NICER than I make it sound. Wow!

2. Take at least SPF 50 for "white meat".

3. Sand is for wading, rocks is for snorkellin.

4. If you step on a sea urchin (by ignoring number 3 above) you either pour vineger on it or pee on it (really)

5. MikeR's rule about not posting after two beers is a good one (the exception being Everything Else where a minimum of two beers should be required BEFORE posting).

6. There are a lot of nice folks in this site.

7. It dont matter what you did wear or did not wear on the beach. And it dont matter if the dress you wear into town is made of saran wrap, so long as it aint a bathing suit. Bathing suits are NOT worn in town. Bottom line: If you can throw a full bottle of rhum from where you are and hit the beach or ocean without the bottle breaking, a bathing suit is fine. If not, put the saran wrap dress on.

8. Be nice to all your waiters and bar attendents. That way, they will smile pleasantly at you when they walk past you on Saline and Gouverneur.

9. The water is too clear to "hide anything". And, yes, you will sunburn in the water.

10 Once is not enough

11 There are three types of places on earth: Here, St Barts and the places we have to traverse to get from Here to St Barts. That is pretty much all the geography you need to know.
 
Heartfelt gratitude to Bob and Kara for all of their effort and for creating this very special community. Here are just a few of the things I've learned from this board this past year.

1. There are an amazing number of really nice people out there in cyberland. Whoever says the internet is impersonal and anonymous doesn't know our group. We've seen the most wonderful outpouring of concern for our fellow posters whether they were in the path of the nearest tropical storm or Isabel, or if they got food poisoning or even if they were crapped on at Taiwana.

2. For the most part internet etiquette is not dead and thanks to almost all of you for that. And for those who don't "get it" then stick to Fodors or respect MikeR's two beer posting rule.

3. That despite our common love for our SBH paradise we're all very different with differing tastes and ideas of what makes a great villa, hotel, restaurant, or view and that should be respected and applauded or we'd all want to stay in BIJ and I'd never be able to book it!

4. Erma needs to write/produce a villa book with maps. Island Visitor needs to be crowned "Head Cheerleader" and lauded for his enthusiasm. Marina better post a detailed wedding/honeymoon trip report with photos of the bride and groom. Jacques wins the Academy Award for best island film-making. MikeR, GregB, StanL and Hershoff...keep it up guys! To the lurkers and my friends Patrick, Stan et al...we know you're out there. To those I've forgotten or haven't mentioned...keep on posting!

And finally...if ever in Toronto...the rose and/or mojitos are on us. Many thanks to all of you for many hours of enjoyment and for a great year.
 
well....number 1...I'd pay good money to see IV in a cheerleader outfit...and come to think of it...I have a great idea for a soft porn movie implementing that very concept...... but thats another story.....number 2....the 2 beer rule was not my baby...I think it was JackR...I just ran with it....Its been a real hoot and its made my off season days at the desk much more stimulating....and I thank all of you for that ( yes, even the misguided ones who think I am an elitist) and especially Kara and BoB (whom I better see this winter when you are in town visiting the relatives)....soon enough ski season and basketball season will be upon me and my visits here will be much more limited.....but until then.....drinks and posts for everyone!... ah salut!!!!
 
MikeR: How much good money?

As to the MikeR Two Beer Rule, he did not originate it. He is just Poster Boy for it. Of course, it goes without saying that I, moi, have never run afoul of such a rule ;)

Personally, I think three or four beers should be the minimum you have to drink to be allowed to post in Everything Else on the weekend. "Sorry, you are too sober. Please come back after you have had a few".
 
Wow... something older than me! Although i'm considered a newbie to both sb and this site... it is because of this site (and all of you regulars) that my enthusiasm and knowledge of sb is what it is...and now i have to ask: is there a possibility that my dreams of this place will exceed what i will find? Ok IV, here's your chance to put on that suit and tell me you were once where i am now... and your dreams of this place never matched what you found, what you found far exceeded any dream you ever dreamt. i am so looking forward to my time on this remarkable island and i just really wanted to thank all the folks behind the post... i don't think i've ever been more prepared for a holiday...

Lori
 
lori...let me play the devils advocate here for a sec.....part of me thinks that the hype here has the potenital to make the reality anticlimatic...honestly, I am not sure I would want to hear all this stuff before I went for the first time....I mean...how would you like it if you knew beforehand...say....how Christmas morning was going to be?....or how the first time you made love with a special person was going to be?....wouldnt that temper and dilute the experience a bit knowing just how good it was going to be beforehand??..isnt a big part of the excitement of doing something new, the anticipation of the unknown which exists until the reality transpires?..i dont know.....but for me the unknown is the coolest part of it all.....but hey.....if thats not an issue, then I am more then happy to share the knowledge and experience.....just a thought, and Im not entirely sold either way, as I also see the advantages of knowing what to do and where to go...but it certainly is another way to look at all of this...
 
I agree with Mike. I'm not sure I would have wanted to know everything I know now before embarking on my first SBH trip. It was so unknown to me and was I wowed, yes!

Having just taken our first trip to Paris/French Riviera, I can honestly say that it did not live up to all the expectations I had from talking to friends and family who had been there. Before anyone gets their bloomers ruffled, most of these friends and family who had been to France had never been to SBH (I think our SBH friends knew the differences). And, not that we didn't enjoy ourselves but I think we learned that we absolutely love St. Barth beach vacations and yes, we can enjoy other vacations but not in the same way. Yet we will continue to explore Europe.

On the other hand, we do have the wonderful first time impressions of IV to reflect upon. A person who asked just about every question known to man in advance of his trip and yet St. Barth just knocked his socks (among other things I think) off. So, there you have it. Different strokes.....

Oh, and thanks once again Kara and Bob for a continually evolving absolutely fantastic forum!

Cheri
 
Lori:

MikeR and Cheri have been to SBH many times. Therefore, listening to their cautions is not a bad idea. Even so, back when I was asking all my Newby questions, I believe it was Nick The Dog who said "you just have to go there and experience it for yourself". And that proved to be true.

We Current Newbies are blessed and perhaps cursed with all the info available. While I concede that the Information Overload here could so hype the place that reality will be a letdown, I must say that I certainly was NOT letdown, despite all the info I had received on this site.

Here is what I did about 10 months prior to my first trip:

1. I bought every book on SBH I could find, including one written in French which is out of print

2. I surfed the net for anything matching St Barts

3. I lurked this site every day, many times a day

4. I asked All The Newby Questions That Newbies Are Afraid (or too sensible) To Ask

5. And I read every single trip report and thread on this site.

So it is safe to say that I had more "classroom training" about SBH than probably any Newby in history. Even so, the actual Field Work blew me away. And it did so for several reasons. No matter what you think of SBH now, it will surprise you. St Jean looked somewhat as I expected. Flamands was a surprise. Saline was as I expected. Gouverneur was not. And Gustavia was far more interesting and quaint than I had imagined.

We cant experience it for you. Only you can walk in your shoes and see it with your eyes.

Mike said that all the hype here is like describing Christmas. Well, did Christmas morning ever disappoint you as a child? Or was it always magical?

And Mike also said that it is like being with a new lover for the first time. Okay, consider this site SBH Foreplay. Sure, we can whisper in your ear how wonderful the rest is going to be. Even so, all the SBH Foreplay in the world can never entirely prepare you for when the Real Thing comes along.

My prediction: Lori will be blown away.

If she is not, I promise to go to SBH and see what is wrong with the place. It's the least I can do after all this hype.
 
IV..points well taken....but wow.....you did alll that in preparation of the trip??....wanna hear the complete opposite?...I was living and working in St Croix and St Martin.....a guy I met in a bar whom I did not know at all told me of a nearby place where the women were beautiful, the food was incredible, and great wines were both plentiful and inexpensive......and .......being the hedonnist I was........bada bing bada boom.......I was off like a prom dress.......the rest is history
 
Mike:

LOL. You have to remember that I discovered SBH during The Internet Age. The Internet, as we all know, makes each of us "expert" in anything and everyting - kind of like staying in a Holiday Inn Express every nite.

Give us broadband, a good computer and short chain hydrocarbons and We The Internet Generation believe there is nothing beyond our fingertips. The world is truly smaller - a computer screen away.

And I must admit that this site REALLY got me interested.

Lori will be blown away. I can almost guarantee it. And it is BECAUSE of the hype not in spite of it.

The first time she climbs the rocks toward The Dune at Saline, the anticipation will be all the greater KNOWING what is coming.

And when she sashays into La Mandala and orders a drink before sunset, it will be the anticipation that lets her know how special it will be.

Trust me on this one. You can stay at a Holiday Inn Express, read every book known and memorize this site. But once you go bouncing over Le Tormente yourself, your life will never be the same.

Lori will be blown away. Expect an OUTSTANDING Trip Report when she returns.
 
Mike and Cheri... that was exactly my point... will i be let down? As IV stated, we live in the age of the 'net' and it is due to this that my preparation for this trip far exceeds anything i did for past vacations. However, on the other hand... this site truly allows me to strecth out the experience of said vacation. What narrows down to one week on an island is now strecthed into two months. Since i've already gone down this path, i can only have faith that IV did this before me and despite his knowledge... was truly wowed... i'll have faith that i also will be surprised and will fall in love much as you all have.... keeping my fingers crossed for good measure. i again, thank each of you for sharing your experience.

Lori
 
Greetings from the one beer poster originator. Personally i can't wait for island visitors trip report after returning. How many days to go IV? Your enthusiasm is great- probably why we all check the board first thing every day. Thanks very much to kara and Bob for inviting us all into your living room. Sorry if we smell bad after three days. It snowed here today- Right on my last years Gov Beach coral rock.
How can we post photos of things other than SBH? Like my gov beach rose garden.
Thanks again, Over and Out
 
Jack..repeat after me....snow is good..snow is good..anyway a pic of the gov beach coral garden sounds good to me....and I can post a pic of this huge brandy snifter I have filled with sand and shells from all the major SBH beaches...its amazing to see after the sand settles and layers just how many different shades of white they each are
 
Lori - a comment from someone who is going back for the second time in 10 days. I found this site by accident very early prior to our first trip to SBH. I devoured every question and answer I could regarding villas, hotels and day to day stuff just to get a feel for what we were in for. By the time our vacation rolled around, I was SO excited that my husband (who doesn't read this board...huh?) couldn't understand how I could feel that way about a place that we hadn't even seen yet. Our flights were perfect, which always helps in the beginning of a vacation! As soon as we left the airport and started up the hill to Vitet we were both amazed and delighted at what we saw. By the time we got to our villa and saw how spectacular it was, I knew that everything I read on this site was true. BUT, it didn't ruin any of the enjoyment of our first time on SBH. It truly was much more that we had expected which is why we're going for two weeks this year. SO, all of your expectations, no matter how grand, still can't compare with stepping out of the plane onto the landing strip, taking in the warm sunshine and feasting your eyes on the one place that will compare to no other. ENJOY! 10 days and counting...

NH Diane
 
Indeed--a great run. And thanks to those like MikeR who have continued to hang out here. Wonder what happened to Jack R and NH Diane who used to be prolific posters?! I know IV continues to monitor the site and enjoy the island. I have been on the site since nearly its beginning but I am hardly a prolific poster--so I hate to see people peel away--hope perhaps some names of yore will reappear one of these days... It would be interesting to get their perspective on changes to the island.
 
I did not come aboard until 2008, so I love the older posts. I too miss some who have drifted away.

All posters matter.
 
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