St. Thomas 2014: Day 1 (Star Garden)

On July 5, right after wrapping up our 4th of July fun, Casey and I dropped off the boys at his (very generous) parents' house. Then, he and I headed to the airport for our flights to St. Thomas, USVI. We had our honeymoon here, and traveled here with both of our families in 2004...the last time we'd been there. So, 10 years later, we were back.

I find it difficult to describe such a vacation. A true vacation...time away. But, honestly, I don't think it's even necessary to describe it further than...6 days, without kids, in the Caribbean, in a private villa. That doesn't require any more descriptors, does it?

My parents were also generous since we were staying at the villa with them and my brother and sister-in-law. We stayed at the amazing villa, Star Garden. We actually arrived on Saturday night, late. When we woke (late) the next morning, we walked around to see what would be our home for the week. 

That morning, a lovely tropical rain had come through briefly. You can see the moody skies and the ground wet from the rain, but it doesn't take away from the breathtaking home or views. This is the front of the house. 

Just inside the gate and looking at the front porch and the path that takes you (to the right) around to the back of the house.

Looking the other way at the front porch and front door to the house. The gardens were so green and colorful. 

Inside the main building there was the kitchen...

And a living space with TV...

And an enormous dining room. These were the common rooms of the villa. There was also a bathroom off the living area. Then, the bedrooms were housed in two separate buildings to the right and to the left of this main one. 

Here you can see the living room and kitchen and how they flow into each other. The dining room is just off the kitchen to the left. 

Back outside, this is the path on the right of the house that leads to the back and one of the guest room buildings. 

Those Adirondack chairs conveniently face the east so you can watch the sun rise from that vantage point. 

This is facing back toward the front of the house again and those doors lead straight to the living room. 

Then, at the back of the house, there's the entrance to the guest room buildings, the back porch, and the pool area. 

That staircase led up to our room upstairs on the left. 

The back porch and back of the house...

And the view from the back of the house. Stunning...and you can't even see all of it from this photo. 

There it is. I spent a week staring at it and I still couldn't get enough of it. You can't see the white sand beach down there on the left, but that's Magen's Bay. One of the most beautiful beaches in the world. 

This is the view out toward the ocean. And the direction from which we watched several beautiful sunsets...pictured later. 

That balcony up there is ours. 

This is what our room looked like inside. 

And of course, our amazing view of Magen's and beyond. 

This is the view from our balcony of the pool area and Magen's beach beyond that. 

Looks like paradise, right?

And it was. I parked myself in one of those lounger chairs (that are sitting in the water) with my Kindle and stayed there practically ALL of the first day we were there. 

I did some of this too...

So, basically the best day ever.