Fried Turkey, Ham, Pork Chops, and All the Trimmings!!

Our Thanksgiving away from home was spent at the home of Kat and Frank, the owners of eat@canebay. They annually host the dinner for all of the Thanksgiving orphans and friends and family. They live way up the hill on the north shore. We had loose directions and ventured on hoping we'd find the house with no problem (some of the roads here can be kind of tricky for the ole mustang). As we journeyed up the hill, we approached a fork in the road, with no idea which way to go and neither looked promising for the car. Luckily, one of the bartenders pulled up with his family and invited us to ride with them. We abandoned the mustang on the side of the road (it's just the norm here) and ventured on to dinner.

The view from Kat and Franks house is absolutely breathtaking!!! I've never seen anything like it. The weather was so clear we could see all the way to St Thomas. Frank said on really clear days you can see all the way to Puerto Rico too!!

Now to the food...
Over the years the dinner has been renamed Franksgiving, and we now know why. The food that Frank prepared was incredible!!! It was our first time trying a deep fried turkey, and boy was it amazing!!! We also had ham, pork chops, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, 2 kinda of stuffing, 2 kinds of greens, yams, and more. Our plates were overflowing and it was delicious!!!! We made one huge mistaken at Franksgiving...we didn't bring Tupperware for leftovers. I thought about it when we left our house because my mom always tells us to bring our own on Thanksgiving. I just wasn't sure if it was rude or not considering we just met these people!! It definitely wasn't rude because everyone had it!!! We were very disappointed that we didn't have turkey sandwiches the next day. We'll never make that mistake again!!!!

The day after Thanksgiving, Drew played golf and I explored a new beach, Ha'Penny beach. It was a beautiful day for both!!! That night was Jump Up. Jump Up is an event that takes place in downtown Christiansted four times a year. Many of the restaurants have food stands set up, there are tons of bands and Moko Jumbies (see picture below). It's a Virgin Island tradition. It was such a fun night despite the onset of rain. We enjoyed food, drinks and did a little dancing in the rain. Great first Jump Up!!!

Yesterday, Drew had to work so I ventured out with a few friends we've met. We went hiking up to the tide pools towards the west, near the rainforest. It was an awesome hike that took at least an hour to get to our destination. Once at the pools, you are at the base of the rocks where the waves crash in. When we got there, it began to rain which was pretty cool. The rain also made the waves crashing in even bigger. It was really amazing. I cannot wait to take Drew!!!

We then went to the Domino Club or Normas where you can feed beer drinking pigs. This is a staple of St Croix. It was my first time and so funny. Pigs are stinky!!! We also had lunch at Normas... turkey leg, Mac and cheese and a Johnny cake (yummy)!!!! A Johnny cake is similar to sweet bread and a popular item here.

I then met back up with Drew and we wrapped up the day hanging out at Cane Bay Beach. We met an awesome boxer at the beach which gives us that itch to get a dog even more. He was awesome!!! The end of our night consisted of eating dinner and watching the Patriots at Rowdy Joes. What a Sunday!!!!! :)
Oh, and the Redskins finally won a game!!! What a great day!!

What will this week bring???

Mailing Address

We wanted to make sure everyone had our new mailing address...
PO Box 6112
Christiansted, St Croix 00823

Ps...We LOVE mail!!!! :)

Catcher or scooper? And other random thoughts...

So considering Jenn is at work and I am off for the second straight day, there really is no excuse not to blog. The only thing on my to do list today is clean up a little and watch the Patriots. Tough life.

Before we started our jobs at the two restaurants, we had the once in a lifetime opportunity to provide a fecal sample. Needless to say, my thrill was met with utter horror by Jenn! The thought of doing this alone was enough to turn her cheeks pink, nevermind in close proximity to me. So we decided Tuesday was the day. I woke up to pee in the rental condo and found the medicine cabinet noticeably ajar. I said, "babe is your poop in the cabinet?" she was instantly mortified that I found her poorly hidden poo. Evidently, her embarrassment didn't lead her to hide it better. I said, "who puts their s@it in a cabinet?" she proclaimed, " I didn't know where to put it and don't you dare look!"...suffice to say, this was a hilarious way to start the day. I inevitably scooped my poop a little later in the morning. That made the two of us scoopers, a match made in poop heaven. Some folks we work with claim to be catchers but this seems more of a professional method. Hopefully, this is a once in a lifetime experience. We subtly concealed our poop to get it tested and we were both negative on the parasites and positive on the embarrassment.

The people and atmosphere at Eat@ cane bay could not be better. The beach bar looks right out at the north side of the island. Sure beats being in a cubicle or behind a desk. The owners have invited us to thanksgiving along with the rest of the staff so this has relieved some anxiety about being alone on turkey day. We are looking forward to a very different tradition. Our thoughts will undoubtedly be with our family and friends stateside this Thursday...we are thankful for your support and blessing!
Other than the aforementioned, we have explored a lot of the beaches on island. All are stunning, and have a little something different to offer. We are currently preparing to book flights for a January trip to St. Marteen to see my grandparents. Lots to look forward to including our first visitors. Who's it going to be????
Until next time, have a happy thanksgiving!
Love to all,
Drew and Jenn

Settling In...

So we have been here a little over a week now and we have signed a three month lease and have two part time jobs!
Since we last checked in, we decided to forgo the mansion apartment because of the cost. We probably could have made it work but how much time are we going to be at home anyway? We had a great real estate agent who showed us about four properties. We chose a place in Queens Quarter that has a resort type feel to it. There are a lot of younger people, including doctors and nurses from the hospital down the street. The place is small but perfect for us so far! We can't wait to have visitors on our airbed!
The day after we moved in we went to the restaurant on the property to have lunch. We ended up talking to one of the owners and were confident we would be hired. They hired us the next day. The place is called Reminisce and it is new and thriving. The only issue is that it is a little disorganized and caters to more of a local clientele. While Cruzan people are super nice, they do not understand tipping. Our first shift Wednesday night, Jenn got 2.50 on 48!
We also got hired at a beach bar called Eat at Cane Bay. It is an awesome spot and the owners have a great reputation. It is definitely where we would like to be full time. We have trained two nights there and they have us on the schedule for the rest of the month. Now we have a dilemma because we have committed to Reminisce Wednesday through Saturday...So we have some tough decisions ahead and will likely have to disappoint some people that have been super nice to us...
Other than working a lot, the weather has improved some. We are trying to explore the island as much as we can in our free time. It's crazy that we actually live here!!! The initial shock is wearing off and we aren't homesick yet. But we miss you all so much! Who is going to be our first visitor?
Much love,
Drew and Jenn

And the journey continues...

Saturday, November 5
Sorry that there are no pictures on here. We got iPhones before we left for the island and I cannot figure out how to upload the photos on this blog. I'll have an album on Facebook.

We are starting day four on the island much more hopeful than day one. And, the sun is peeking out for the first time! Let me go back and first recap day 2 and 3...

Day 2
We woke up rather early because we needed to get the mustang taken care of and get the rental car back by 1015am to avoid additional charges. The first stop was Marshall and Sterling insurance...no discounts were given despite the name! We obtained liability insurance for the mustang (only $320 for the year) and continued on to the DMV. We got a temporary moving permit and could legally drive the car to the DMV!! No more VI police encounters!!!!! After a short inspection and short wait in the DMV, we were registred, tagged, and titled in the VI!!! Very bizarre to see the plates on my car! Shout out to Chris Fowler for driving the mustang to Florida for the first leg of it's journey! Huge help!!

With the car stuff completed we decided to go explore and get some lunch. It was 130pm and we hadn't eaten. We went into town and stumbled upon the brew pub, the only microbrewery in the VI. We got some food, chatted with a few people and even filled out a job application. The pub was in town and on the boardwalk of the harbor. There were boats in the harbour and the sun was peeking out a little. It was more of what we had inmind when we decided to move to an island!!! After a long lunch, we ventured to the grocery store...

We heard lots of horror stories about food prices, but they weren't too bad! And, the grocery store sells beer, wine, and liquor!! So, food and drinks cost us $175. Little moe than home, but not bad. We had our first homecooked meal in St Croix that night and were feeling better about our decision. We were excited about our 10am appt the next morning with Donna, real agent #1 to see the mansion apartment. We slept well that night, dreaming of living in a mansion!

Day 3

We met with Donna at 10am to see the apartment in the Shoy mansion. It was awesome! Everything is new, in fact some stuff isn't even finished. Views of the beach, walking distance to the water, private pool and tennis court. Awesome!! We met Billy, the maintenance guy who is finishing the apartment and keeps up the property. The owner was also there. He's a hedgefund guy from VA and owns like half of the island. He was nice but informed us that he now wanted $1500 plus utilities for the place. Punch in the stomach! We could afford that at home, but not knowing where we will be working here makes that price anlittle scary. Donna said that she would talk to him and see if he would be willing to come down on the price. We went down to the water, put our feet in and crossed our fingers.

In the meantime, we scheduled an appt with real estate agent #2, Emma to see some places. But, before that appt, we went to VI Flex and worked out. First work out in a while and it felt great.

We saw a few places with Emma, only one that we would consider. It's a cute one bedroom in a place called Queen Quarter Villas. Only 2 years old and very private and safe, but no views and a 5-10 drive to the beach. Nice pool and rstaurant on the property. Rent $950 plus utilities. I could see us living there for sure, but it's no Shoy! Hmmmmm....decisions, decisions!!! Waiting to hear from Donna before making a decision.

We had another homecooked meal and relaxed at home.

Now it's the morning of day 4, the sun is trying to come out, and birds are chirping. Today's objective is to find a JOB!

We will keep you posted.
Love, Jenn and Drew
Xoxo

Our new reality

We had a great visit in Boston with my family the week leading up to the big move. Jenn was able to enjoy Halloween in Boston as we went as Wayne and Garth to my buddy Brian's house. We were asked all week about our emotions, whether we were anxious, excited, etc...In hindsight, there is no way to predict your emotions when you land on an island you have never been to. That sounds crazy even writing.
So we took a red-eye from Beantown to Puerto rico. The flight was rather empty because who takes a red-eye in the same time zone? But Jenn found us a good deal and her bargaining skills is one of the things I love about her. It was basically a sleepless night when we arrived in San Juan. We layed over for four hours until much to my horror, I looked out to an eight passenger Cape Air "plane"...I was so tired and ready to arrive that I stuffed my fear somewhere deep inside. Jenn said she would hold my hand but she was snoozing 10 minutes into flight. Lol...she can sleep even in a death trap.

Alas, we made the 40 minute trek in one piece. We arrived on St. Croix sleep deprived yet extremely optimistic. We hopped in our rental car and Jenn began driving on the LEFT side of the road. She did a great job and got us to our condo in Questa Verde. We took a much needed nap and then ventured to the shipping company for the good ole Mustang. The car had no tags but we were told it would be ok to drive to the airport and then home. 10 minutes later I spot a VI cop u-turn and light up our tagless Mustang. Now is where all the Locked Up Abroad episodes race thru your mind... Thankfully, he was understanding and did not fine us. We went straight home because it was dark knowing we would have to solve our car issues the next day.

We got the Mustang back to the condo knowing I could have been pulled over again with a less understanding cop. This was a tense 15 minute ride to say the least. Thank God for the silly reggae station to calm my nerves. We set out for a much needed dinner. Our dyslexic property manager, I could not make this up, gave us some illegible map to dinner. God bless learning disabilities! 40 minutes later we were 11 miles east of Christiansted at the Divi resort. At this point, doubt starts to enter your mind about the crazy life change you have just made...did we pick the right island? Are we ever going to get accustomed to this culture? We had a much needed dinner and calmed eachothers nerves a bit... We came too far to turn back now afterall. Stay tuned for a much better day 2.
Love to all,
Drew and Jenn