Travel

Luke Walker, a great photographer and friend, invited a group of fellow photographers and other wedding professionals to his cottage at the southern tip of Skaneateles Lake this past Tuesday. It was a great time and the weather was fantastic. It has been a beautiful summer from my point of view, and we’ve escaped the really HOT weather… at least until today. But Tuesday was just perfect, not too hot, not too cold.

Marybeth Longo provided some heat on the grill, as is becoming a tradition. She grilled some awesome chicken and her now famous “Corn on the Cob Flambe.” What is the secret recipe to corn flambe? Well as best I can gather, you first soak the corn without removing the husks, in water for a while. Then you turn the grill on until it reaches super-nova stage. Once the proper temperature has been reached you put the corn on the grill and close the cover. Then you walk away and talk to your friends for a really long time. Once you realize the corn is in flames, it’s done! I love it!

Luke and his sweetheart, Alisha Clark, another awesome photographer, struck a pose for the camera. By the way, I was the only person with a camera at the party. I’m a DJ, not a professional photographer. Let’s see, we had Brady Dillsworth (a professional photographer), Sarah and Matt Antonino (both professional photographers) and Marybeth Longo (who is a videographer, but that’s close enough to a photographer for me)… and I’m the only person with a camera??? What’s wrong with this picture? (no pun intended)

Thanks Luke for a great day. Wish I could have stayed a bit longer. Enjoy the rest of your week there.

I look out my window today and see snow. Lots of snow. Not only that but it’s cold. Very cold. Did I mention windy? So let’s see… Windy, Cold and Snowy. Hmmmm. A week ago however, I was in St Thomas with my wife and some friends. It was sunny, warm and breezy. Now don’t get me wrong, I love the snow, I love to XC Ski and I love upstate New York because of the seasons we get… but I’ve decided that I also love St Thomas in late January. And I can’t believe it’s over. Just not fair.

Our group rented a beautiful villa called The Caribbean Countess. It was located on the North Side of the island overlooking Magen’s Bay in Peterborg. Renting a villa is really the best if you’re going with a few people. You get privacy and the total cost per person is not really much different than if you were staying at a resort Hotel. In fact you may end up saving money by renting a villa.

We had a really fun time exploring the island. One of the beaches we ended up at more than once was Coki Beach. It had great snorkeling and some excellent “beach food” served by very friendly locals. For more serious eating, we discovered some wonderful restaurants. For lunch, our favorite was Glady’s Cafe in Charlotte Amalie. Only open for breakfast and lunch, Glady’s had a nice atmosphere, excellent food and very reasonable prices. I’d recommend it highly.

For dinner, we found a couple excellent restaurants. In Red Hook, the East End Cafe was one of our better finds. Excellent service, a very nice wine list and great food made this Italian & Seafood restaurant a winner!. We loved the delicious homemade desserts made by Judy.

But the Gold Medal has to go to Mafolie Restaurant in Charlotte Amalie. Perched high on the side of a hill, it overlooks the port and provides a breathtaking view at sunset. A wonderful relaxed atmosphere with excellent service and food that is superb made this our favorite restaurant in St Thomas.

For a great milkshake with a kick (Amaretto, Baileys, Kahlua, etc), go to Udder Delite Dairy Bar. $3.50 will get you one of the best milkshakes you’ve ever had. Virgin milkshakes are also available. It’s right on the way to Magen’s Bay.

A great day trip is to take the ferry to St John. You can either take the vehicle ferry if you’ve rented a car and want to drive around St John or you can take the people ferry. They run every hour during the day. St John is much less developed than St Thomas and has pristine and largely empty beaches, great snorkeling and a much more relaxed pace since the island is 2/3 U.S. National Park.

Something to see on St John are the Annaberg Ruins, an abandoned sugar plantation from the 18th century.

Here are a few images from the trip. Some were taken on St John, a short ferry ride from St Thomas. The Anaberg Ruins were very interesting. The Sunsets and Sunrises were spectacular and the villa that we stayed in, The Caribbean Countess, was incredible.