St Kitts - March 2014

St Kitts - Frigate Bay

This was the first year to take advantage of our condo that we bought with John and JoAnna in Cabo.  We exchanged our condo and put in requests for several places in the Caribbean.  Nothing good was popping up since the week we wanted to go was Spring Break and in high demand so we decided to book a trip to St Kitts and pay for our own hotel.  Turns out a week later, one of the places popped up in Curacao but it was too late as we had already booked our trip.  John and JoAnna will end up using the condo trade-in at another island later in the year.

Rooftop Bar at Marriott

St Kitts is a beautiful island - very mountainous and green - and is a very quiet, undeveloped island which made it perfect for relaxing.

Accommodations:

Marriott - This is the only big hotel on the island so we booked two rooms.  Shawna was able to get most of the nights free for our room on points.  It is what you would expect of a Marriott - nice and clean with a great pool. The hotel is located on a beach on the Atlantic side; although we only hung out on that beach one day.  The hotel also has several restaurants but we usually went off property for dinner since there were several cheap options within walking distance.  There is a casino at the hotel but we never took advantage of it because it was pretty smokey inside.

Marriott

Activities:  

We flew in on Saturday through Miami where we met up with John and JoAnna and caught the same connecting flight to St Kitts.  It took us all day to get there but we did have a long layover in Miami.  We got to the hotel late so we had a few beers and snacks at the hotel bar and watched the Duke/UNC game - Duke won!

Most of our days consisted of waking up, having breakfast, checking work email, going to the gym and then relaxing at the pool while drinking beer.  We brought a small cooler with us and bought beer from the grocery store which saved us some money.  Every day at the pool, there were activities but we mostly just chilled, read, drank and napped with an occasional dip in the pool.  JoAnna tried the water aerobics one day and Shawna tried the trivia but lost.  One evening, they had mojito night at one of the bars so we had a few drinks there and listened to the band which mostly played Mexican music.   We also watched Duke and UVA games in the ACC tournament.  The finals were the day we left and thus we only saw part of it at the airport on the way home - Duke lost to UVA so while sad, we were happy for JoAnna.

John, there is a monkey on your back!

One day, we went on an all day sailing, booze cruise with Leeward Island Charters.  It was a lot of fun!  We started the cruise from the port in Basseterre and sailed to Nevis.  The cruise included all you can drink (beer, liquor and rum punch) and lunch on the beach in Nevis.  We met most of the people on the boat and had a great time talking to them.  On the way to Nevis, we stopped to snorkel for about an hour where JoAnna proclaimed "once you've done the Great Barrier Reef…".  Needless to say, the fish were no where near as cool as Australia but we did get to see flounder, blow fish and some other colorful fish that we have no idea what they were.  We arrived on Nevis and had lunch on the beach - bar-b-cue chicken and sausage with rice and salads.  The lunch was quite good.  We then hung out on the beach - Keith and John hung out in the water while JoAnna and Shawna proceeded to have a sand fight.  We have no idea why we did this as we both hate sand.  We found sand in our bathing suits for days even though we rinsed it several times!  On the way back, the trip was more chill - most of us napped.  When we arrived back at port, we were supposed to hang out in town but we went back to the hotel instead.

Waiting for our Sailing Trip

Sailing Trip to Nevis

We also did an island tour for the day with Barry Wyatt.  John found him by reading some of the reviews on the Marriott website.  We drove around most of the island and saw: Frigate Bay Beach, Basseterre, Wingfield Estate, Caribelle Batik, Brimstone Hill Fortress, and black rock.  We were shocked at how many churches there were on the island - one town (which was not big at all) had over 10 churches.  We ended the tour at Shipwreck Beach for a late lunch.  Barry was very nice and told us about the island and the sights.

Brimstone Hill Fortress

Shipwreck Beach

We decided to spend an afternoon at Reggae Beach which is one of the nice beaches on the southern side of the island.  We walked along the beach but mostly hung out and drank beer.  Keith tried fly boarding for the first time which is where you get on a board and with a jet ski, you are propelled up in the air.  He made it look effortless and got quite high up but he said it was both awesome and scary at the same time.  His legs also hurt for a few days afterwards since he belly flopped in the water several times.  While Keith was doing this, Shawna stood in the water to take photos and saw a sting ray swim right by her!

Reggae Beach

Keith Fly Boarding

Restaurants:

Located at the hotel:

Cafe Calypso - We had breakfast here most mornings - coffee and yogurt parfait.

Pizza Shack - We had this for lunch a few times.  Pretty good pizza.

La Cucina - Keith and Shawna had dinner here one night by ourselves.  Shawna had the tomato/mozzarella salad for an appetizer while Keith had the antipasti.  We shared mahi mahi on risotto with black bean salsa for our entree - the food was very tasty.

Bohemia Beach Pool Bar and Grill - We had lunch here one day - shared a burger which lacked flavor.  We also had several frozen drinks from the swim up bar.

Calypso Restaurant - We had lunch here one day - shared a salad and quesadilla.  Pretty good.

Located off property:

Rituals Coffee - Walking distance from the hotel.  This is mostly a breakfast place, although they also serve sandwiches and dessert.  We ate breakfast here one morning - we split the Colorado omelet which was quite tasty.  We also stopped here one night on our way back to the hotel to grab some dessert.

Burger Boys - Walking distance from the hotel.  We had dinner here where we split a burger and fries.  It's a small place that also serves pizza (Pizza Boys).  The service was slow but that is par for the course in the islands.  The food was OK.

Karma - An Indian restaurant that is walking distance from the hotel and located on the beach with outside seating.  We shared samosas and papads for an appetizer which were very tasty.  For our entrees, we also all shared the butter chicken, red Thai curry and shrimp biryani.  The food was not nearly spicy enough but still pretty good.  This restaurant turns into a night club later on but we did not stay to experience this.

Chinchillas - Located on The Strip which is on Frigate Bay Beach within walking distance from the hotel located on the Caribbean side.  This was one of the best meals.  We shared chicken fajitas and fish tacos which were quite tasty.  

Shipwreck Bar and Grill - Located on Shipwreck Beach and is a very popular spot.  We had lunch here - conch fritters and fish tacos.  The tacos were not as good as Chinchillas but the conch fritters were good.

Shiggidy Shack - Locate on the Strip.  We had dinner here on Friday night which is when they put on a show of dancers and a fire eater as well as fireworks.  We sat at picnic tables on the beach and watched a nice sunset.  We shared the conch chowder and grilled lobster which was very good.

Reggae Beach Bar and Grill - We had lunch and dinner here as we stayed the day on this beach.  For lunch, we shared the coconut shrimp and curry chicken wrap which was very flavorful.  For dinner, we did the lobster fest - we each got to pick 3 of 4 fish/meat options and also had sides that were served buffet style.  Shawna had the lobster, shrimp and ribs and Keith had the lobster and ribs.  The sides were vegetables, rice with beans and plantains.  Very tasty!

Ciao - An Italian restaurant that is walking distance from the hotel.  We had dinner here our last night.  We shared the tomato/mozzarella salad and the lobster pasta.  The food was OK but the owner was very nice and she poured us chocolate limoncello after dinner which was quite tasty.

Harbor in Basseterre