Vacation Vibes Linky Party- St. John U.S.V.I.

Hi Sweet Friends!

I'm struggling to get back into the routine.  It's back to reality today.

My husband and I were so blessed to be able to visit an absolutely AH-MAZING place this past week.  We try to plan a get away trip for just the both of us every couple of years.  I miss my kids terribly by the end of the trip, but the time with just my husband is absolutely precious.  

So this week's vacation vibes is all about St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands.  BEAUTIFUL!  

I apologize now if  I included too many photos.  My husband and I adore this place. 

This is actually our second trip to St. John's.  A couple of years ago, we took the ferry to visit St. John for the day while vacationing in St. Thomas.  We fell in love with this beautiful island.

In order to get to St. John, we flew into St. Thomas ,and then rented a car.  We then took the car ferry to the island of St. John.  It is approximately a 45 minute ferry ride.  I have to admit the driving can be a bit treacherous.  The roads are filled with STEEP hills and treacherous curves.  Many times we would finally get to the top of a hill only to have to peer over the top of the steering wheel to see which way the road veered.  It was like being on a roller coaster.  My hubs did all the driving.  I just held on for dear life.  It actually wasn't that bad after we were used to it.

St. John is a much less populated island than St. Thomas.  It is more like a state park.  There are some really great local restaurants and shopping at the port.  We love St. John because of its beauty and tranquility.  There are lots of hiking trails in St. John.  Many of these take you to some breathtaking  views and ruins of sugar plantations from the 1700's.

While on St. John, we stayed at a place called Concordia Eco Resort.  It overlooked famous Drunk Bay and the Salt Pond on St. John island.   Here are a few pics of the views from our studio.

Here are just a few pics of the wildlife we saw while on St. John.

There were wild donkeys all over the island.  The donkeys were brought to the island during the time of the sugar plantations to work on the plantations.

My husband and I are early risers.  We loved to visit the beaches early in the morning.  That's when we saw these two sharks swimming at the edge of the beach.

We also saw this stingray on this same beach also.  It was swimming near the sharks.

My husband's favorite were the hermit crabs.  They were everywhere.  While walking along the hiking trails in some places, the ground sounded like the "snap, crackle, and pop" of Rice Krispy cereal from all of the movement of the hermit crabs.

You won't need a passport to visit St. John, but will need to bring one along in case you want to visit the neighboring British Virgin Islands.  I'll just end by showing you some more beautiful pictures of St. John.

This is a view from Cinnamon Bay Beach.  It's one of my favorites.  The water is so crystal clear, and the view is spectacular.  This public beach is located in the Cinnamon Bay Campground.

This is of Annaberg ruins.  It's a sugar plantation that overlooked the British Virgin Islands.  You can see Tortola in the distance.

The pictures below are of Drunk Bay.  

I don't know if you can see, but on the left are several pieces of coral.  Someone had made small dolls/bodies out of the coral and placed them all over this area (Drunk Bay).  It was actually kind of creepy because they looked like voodoo dolls.

Thanks you so much for letting me share this beautiful place with you!   I would love for you to link up and share a place you have visited while on summer vacation or a trip to a local place with your family.  Just grab the linky button above and then link below.

Vacation Vibes for Sunday June 9

I know that many of you have just started your summer vacation ,

and some of you just have a few more days left. 

 Enjoy this time!!!

I had  a chance this week to take a few more photos of a field trip that my family went on in our area.  I would LOVE for you to link up and share some photos of a family outing or vacation.  Just grab the linky button below, link back to this post, and link up at the bottom of the page.  You can link up all week.  A new Vacation Vibes will be posted each Sunday this summer.

This week I couldn't wait to share some photos of my Sweeties favorite spot... The St. Louis Zoo and some photos of Forest Park.

The St. Louis Zoo began in 1910 which was about 6 years after St. Louis hosted the World's Fair.

It's one of the few zoos in the country that have free admission into the park. It is home to almost 18,000 animals.

Here are just a few of our FAVORITE exhibits at the zoo.

1.  The Penguin and Puffin Coast

This is such a COOL exhibit.  It's great on a warm summer day at the zoo.  Often the penguins like to show off and will splash you as they swim and do their acrobatics under the water.

2. The Stingray Exhibit and sharks too!

This is such a FUN exhibit.  You have a chance to touch the stingrays and even the small sharks that are on display.  The stingrays love come up to your hand.  My 3 year old was even able to touch the fins of a shark.

3. The Sea Lion Sound

This is the newest exhibit at the zoo.  You can walk through a virtual underwater tunnel to view the sea lions.  The sea lions LOVE to show off.

And we just had to watch the sea lion show.

4. The Children's Zoo

5. AND a trip around the zoo on the Railroad

We always save this for last.  LIKE when everyone is hot and sweaty and complaining that they just can't walk anymore.

AND you can't visit the St. Louis Zoo without seeing some beautiful sights at Forest Park.  This is St. Louis' large city park which houses the Zoo, Art Museum, Science Center, and the Muny.  You can often find many people walking or jogging on the trails that weave their way through this park.  My favorite view is that of the fountains and pond which were built for the World's Fair in 1904.  

Often you can find paddle boats in this water.  We LOVE to go to the boathouse at Forest Park on a summer evening and rent a couple of paddle boats for our family.  My kiddos love to try and get us right under one of those water fountains.

This is a photo of the St. Louis Art Museum.

Take a look at this unusual tree we found by the Art Museum.  It's a sculpture of a tree.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  You can link up below.

Vacation Vibes A Virtual Field Trip Linky Party

Hi Sweet Friends!
 I'm starting a new summer linky party called

Vacation Vibes . It's a virtual field trip linky party.

I would love for you to join me and link up.

Grab your camera and your family and visit any local attractions in your area or those tropical paradises.  Then grab the linky button below and place on your post.  Don't forget to  link up at the bottom of this post and share your trip.

Today, I thought I'd share with you our trip to a local Farmer's Market that has tons of history.

My family lives about 45 minutes away from downtown St. Louis.  We love to visit the Soulard Farmer's Market. It has been in business since 1779.  If you've never visited the city of St. Louis, the area of Soulard is a great place to check out.  It has some beautiful old buildings, great hang-out places, and is home to my favorite restaurant in the area, Tucker's Place.  It's also where Mardi Gras takes place in St. Louis each year.

On this particular day, my husband and I were having a "date day".  That's what we call any period of time together without our four children, even if that means we are visiting the Farmer's Market.  Ha ha!

This is usually what we see at the entrance of the Farmer's Market.

There are aisles and aisles of fresh produce inside of the Soulard market.  Many are from local produce farmers from our area.  We were on the hunt for some fresh, home grown strawberries.

You can even find stands with homemade soaps and hand lotions.

AND you can find these and bunnies for sale also.

Our kids love to visit the sno cone stand that is at the front entrance.  They make the largest and tastiest sno cones EVER!

This particular stop in St. Louis has many great teachable moments for our kiddos.  When we first arrive, we browse the stands looking at the produce and prices.  We have taught our older children to determine the best price for the produce.  Some times they make a game out of who can find the best price for the best produce first. They also get a great education in the varieties of produce and fruits that can be found at the market. 

My sweet hubs gets to carry our "loot".   On this particular day we purchased baby spinach, bing cherries, strawberries, mushrooms, green peppers, green beans,  and rhubarb ( for my father in law).

If you are planning to visit St. Louis in the near future, I highly recommend you stop by the area of Soulard or even take a trip to the Soulard Farmer's Market.  To find out more about this area, click HERE.
Thanks so much for stopping by!  I would love for you to grab the linky button above and add your link below about a family outing or trip somewhere in your area or in a tropical paradise.  It's so much fun to learn about the history and attractions in other towns and cities.