Thanks, and we look forward to your entries!

You're also invited to check out this day-by-day travel log of one couples week at Tradewinds Cottage. Rod & DJ's St. John USVI Adventure

Dear Lois and Doug,

We were continually amazed at the work that must have gone into bringing Tradewinds Cottage back from the ruins of whichever hurricane sent it topsy- turvy before you bought it. What a triumph! And how thoughtfully laid out, refurbished, and decorated. We were skeptical that we'd want to be so far out on the island and now we can't imagine being elsewhere - what peace and renewal one can experience there. Thank you for your talents and creativity.

We've done more than our share of relaxing in this most conducive setting. Miss Lucy's, Francis Bay Beach (wow), Salt Pond Bay - all familiar "friends" and memories that will remain dear to us. The place totally rocks! We shall return....

What a truly beautiful place to spend a week. It was better than I could ever have dreamed for my first visit to the US Virgin Islands. Thank you. Hope to visit same time next year.

Thank you Lois and Doug! We felt as though we found a slice of heaven at Tradewinds Cottage. The space was perfect for our small family, and we especially enjoyed your tastes in art and music! And the island... oh the island, especially your side of it. Sweet Plantains and Salt Pond Beach were our two favorite spots... oh and the views from Ram's Head hike!

So, thanks again for making our holiday stay so special.

We had the most amazing time on the island and at Tradewinds - we didn't want to leave! We explored beaches, hiked many trails, ate and drank at Skinny Legs and Shipwreck and Sweet Plantains. By far, the day sail with Clark and his gorgeous boat the White Wing was the tops in our book. Clark made even the biggest "chicken of the sea" feel comfortable snorkeling and boy am I glad I did! We highly recommend a day sail on the White Wing for a truly unique experience and snorkeling in some of the best spots. Thanks also to Lois and Doug for opening their great home to guests. We had everything we needed and a fantastic view to boot! Lois, we think Cathy, your cleaning lady, is a gem and we were very pleased we were able to meet her. Thanks again to all that made our first (but certainly not our last) trip to St. John so great and memorable!

We had a wonderful time on our first trip to the Virgin Islands. What a beautiful place to spend a week and what an amazing cottage to spend it in! It was a pleasure to wake up each morning with such spectacular views and snorkel in the water all day. Thank you for preparing the cottage with all the necessary amenities. We had a great time with no worries.

So much more than we expected!

The panoramic view with ever-changing clouds, cooling breezes and refreshing showers.

Relaxing music from CDs and feathered friends, hope for tomorrow that the rainbow sends.

The deep warmth of sunbathing on the deck, rewarding snorkeling at Salt Pond Bay etc.

Friendly chats with local residents, quiet evenings 'neath the twinkling Southern sky.

Donkeys here, felines there, tree frogs sounds as evening fare.

So much more... so hard to say

Goodbye!

What a wonderful two weeks it has been! We have seen and done a great deal on our favorite island in the USVI. Here are some of the highlights:

• Hawksbill turtles at Waterlemon Cay (definitely the best snorkeling)
• a little fish turned Harper and I into a floating reef, came right up to our masks and hid under our arms. Trunk Bay was Harper's and my overall favorite despite the "tourists"
• sailing on the White Wing with Captain Clark
• visiting the Bush Cat Feeding Station
• the spectacular view from Tradewinds Cottage

Misael and I enjoyed our time spent on the beautiful beaches of St. John. Our favorite beaches were early mornings at Salt Pond and Solomon Beach (a short hike from Cruz Bay). Coming back to relax at the cottage after a day at the beach was perfect. We actually spent most nights mixing up our own smoothies and cooking dinner listening to your amazing CD collection. Your home is truly a place to relax.

Our second stay at Tradewinds, last time was in May, 2004. Once again, a wonderful time. Lots of snorkeling, lots of great food. Thanks Lois & Doug (& Cathy for cleaning the place so excellently).

What more could be said? We wondered if we had idealized everything in our memories. Was it really that good? Would we like it as much? Absolutely. It will probably be awhile before we're able to come back. But trip #3 will be at Tradewinds Cottage. Wouldn't stay anywhere else. Highlights this time: 4 sea turtles (one really close for 15 mins), 2 nurse sharks, 3 octopus, 1 eel, Queen triggerfish, three kinds of angelfish, squid, rock hind (we watched it change colors in seconds), spider crabs, 2 really large Southern stingrays, and tons of beautiful fish and starfish. What a week! Thank you,

Another week in paradise! Our second time here in 5 years. We celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary there. The week was filled with many trips to Maho Bay, under the palms by 8 every morning for a swim. Quiet beach early in the day. Plenty of super white sand and colorful fish in the reefs. Night life at Island Blues is a great spot for evening drinks. We enjoyed our nights out on the deck stargazing. The walk to Concordia is a good walk. The bench overlooking the eco cabins is a sweet spot. It's sad to leave that wonderful island but at least Tradewinds Cottage is a gem in the US Virgin Islands. We will always remember our stay there. The bed sleeps well. The deck is a perfect spot to read and sun on. Well it's all good! Well be back. Thanks for having us.

Thank you for sharing your home in paradise with us. It was a perfect spot for our honeymoon! We had a wonderful time at the beaches. Got great tans and did tons of snorkeling. I found the snorkeling right in Salt Pond Bay to be some of the best. We swan with a sea turtle so close we could practically touch it and saw two huge rays all at our own local beach! I found Trunk Bay to be a bit too "touristy" for me but loved every other beach we visited. We didn't get to sail with Clark on White Wing because he wasn't sailing last week, but we did get out on another charter and had a great time snorkeling at Newfound Bay and Flanagan's Island.

We'll miss Skinny Legs and Sweet Plantains, our two favorite restaurants. Miss Lucy's brunch was great as was dinner at Paradiso, Zozo's, and Aqua Bistro.

We will miss St. John very much. It has been a perfect two weeks!

Thank you for helping us have a truly relaxing vacation. Having stayed at Cruz Bay several times we weren't sure about returning to St. John because it was getting too much like every other island. Then we discovered Tradewinds Cottage and the "other" side of the island. Stress free living, awesome views, the trade winds, beaches, bars, and restaurants. The east side has it all. And when the mood would strike us to do absolutely nothing, your cottage let us kick back and do nothing in style. Again, thanks for a delightful place and helping us to have a great vacation. Tom and Jeanne Maini

Thanks again for ANOTHER wonderful week on St. John! The tiled bathroom and downstairs bedroom are fantastic additions - we'll be back!

Lois and Doug, The Tradewinds Cottage was all that we had hoped it would be: spectacular views, refreshing breezes, clean comfortable setting for a quiet family vacation. Loved the beaches nearby and across St John, the snorkelling was superb, especially on the Tortola side of Haulover Bay. We'll be back!

Doug & Lois - We had a great time at Tradewinds Cottage! The weather was beautiful. Snorkeling at Salt Pond was our favorite place. The hike up Rams Head is a must do. You guys are lucky to have such a nice place! Thank you!

We were lucky enough to find Tradewinds on the internet and stay there the week of February 18th, 2006 - Febrary 25th. The online pictures do not do it justice. The moment we opened the door, we were overwelmed by the view. We have stayed elsewhere on St. John, but never had a view like this! The cottage was immaculate and stocked with everything you could imagine needing. The only downside of staying here was having to leave.

Lois & Doug - By our last day at Tradewinds Cottage I was getting into a routine... We would spend 4-7 hours at the beach. Rum drinks in the afternoon. Watching sunsets. Boy could I get used to living like this! We did see a stingray in one foot of water at Hawksnest. An iguana fell out of a tree and almost landed on the hood of our car. Don't worry, he recovered and ran up the tree. We saw the longest shooting star on the deck, during a full moon. I'm an early bird so I watched the sunrise every morning, what a view! My favorite beach was Maho - could load the car up and park and not have to walk far with all of our stuff. The bottom is real sandy and the water is crystal clear. While at Maho we saw a shark (small) and a sea turtle. Dave called it the Trifecta! What a trip! Can't wait to return - love this cottage! Love this side of the island, the best. Thanks for everything.

We recently had the good fortune to spend Christmas in St. John at Tradewinds Cottage....and we can't wait to return! The cottage is representative of the island itself....inviting, casual yet pristine and beautiful! From the moment we entered through the bouganvillea laced portico to the evenings we spent on the deck gazing up at the night skies in awe we knew that we had found a very special place indeed! As lovely as your website is, your cottage is even better in person!

Lois & Doug - We loved the place! After a few days we opted to just stay at Tradewinds Cottage and enjoy it. We escaped Boston just in time as a foot of snow fell on the next day. We found your "Feet, Fins & 4 Wheel Drive" guide the most informative. Best food at Shipwreck Landing but parking can be a problem. A trip to Mongoose Junction is required for buying expensive stuff. We picked up staples at Lily's Gourmet Market behind Aqua Bistro. All in all reasonable for St. John. Everything costs 2-3X as much but at least the restaurants offer "same day service!" Marilyn took good care of "Spike" the hummingbird and the swarming flock of sugarbirds.

Lois and Doug - thank you!... We enjoyed staying in your wonderful cottage! We ate well, drank well, snorkeled well and danced. Lois, do you work in a music store or maybe at Sirius? The music is great! We really enjoyed Haulover Beach, nice memory, fish of many colors, not crowded. Island Blues top bar atmosphere but best was staying right there a Tradewins Cottage!

I've been told that in the real estate business the key, most important factor is the site. They say it's "location, location, location." Well, Tradewinds Cottage has it. The view is fabulous, fantastical, inspiring, the bestest. It calms the mind, heart and soul.

What a perfect place to experience the Caribbean. Picnics on the beach, relaxing meals at home. Lois told us we were the first guests to stay in the new downstairs bedroom. They had just completed it this Fall. Lois handmade those gorgeous seastar tiles in the shower!!! My highlights were yoga on the deck at dawn, early mornings on the beach. A huge thanks to you Lois and Doug for creating this wonderful place for us to realize dreams!

Dear Lois and Doug - We had a wonderful time - so loved being in this area and in your beautiful, comfortable home. All year long we keep photos of our last vacation on the fridge, awaiting our next trip. Now we will be planning to return to Tradewinds if you have the availability! It was a new treat for us to have the music at night while cooking and eating and relaxing. Many thanks for all your kindness!

Having visited St. John three times before, this was our favorite place to stay! The cottage was perfect in every way and we so appreciated all the personal touches! We enjoyed fine dinners at Miss Lucy's and Asolare and had great wraps to go from Calabash Boom Mini Mart. Skinny Legs is a must too! We'll be back!

We had an incredible week at your cottage. We tried to sample as many spots on the island as possible, but feel content knowing that endless opportunities exist for future exploration - necessitating many a return trip! Needless to say, your cottage is a special space. The layout and construction are perfect. The view towards Norman Island and beyond, while serene, is hauntingly beautiful as well. Hopefully our photos will capture a little piece of it. Thank you very much for your hospitality and hopefully we will be back again soon.

Second time in four years, we had a super time. We enjoyed the music, view, banana rum, beaches, and the birds on the back porch. Loved the tradewinds and the sound of the waves. This is a great cottage and we felt privileged to have found this place and share in your special place. We will do it again, God willing.

This was a memorable vacation (and a glorious, luxurious cottage!). The view from the deck is fabulous, and having come to St. John for 12 years at my mere age of 13 years it gave me a whole new look at Coral Bay (in its real culture and stunning sights). The breeze is a constant refresher made to perfection by nature. I slept on the futon and I would fall asleep to the relaxing, soothing rhythmic lullaby of the ocean. Also, use the blender to make up some cool concoctions, it adds the perfect tough to a Tradewinds sunset.

Heidi: The house itself is ideal and a beautiful setting, every comfort, but there is something else here - this house is serenity, a place where the world's chaos dissolves in lapping waves and motionless clouds. This place makes sense. You have done something remarkable with this little, charming house. Everyone who visits here feels at home. I don't know what there is to go back to, but part of me that I thought was lost is found. Maybe we will meet someday, I think the islands are calling me back. For some of us, there is no place else to be. Thank you and warm regards.

Having spent the first four days on the island at Cruz Bay, it's our feeling that Coral Bay was the best part of the island. And the view over Johns Folly Bay from Tradewinds is unforgetable, as is our experience in this beautiful jewel of a cottage. We loved the proximity to Salt Pond Bay, but our very best favorite beach is now Waterlemon. We fed the bananaquits brown sugar daily and put sugar water into the feeder for the hummingbirds every other day. We kept saying they were going to miss us when we left, but believe me, we are the ones pining away until we can return. We'll be back!

This place exceeded all our dreams. The porch was one of my favorite places and I kept brown sugar in the feeder at all times for the sugarbirds! We loved every minute in this lovely, elegant cottage and plan to return as soon as possible! We tried five or six beaches and each had its own charms. We used Keep Me Posted for internet and calls, very low-cost and close. John swam with a sea turtle and we saw the solar eclipse from the end of Ram's head Trail. And the most peaceful sleep John had since he was 3 years old. This place will be part of us always.

What an awesome week! Happy anniversary to us, 11 years! We're already plotting our return and we wouldn't stay anywhere else. Tradewinds was just what we'd hoped for and more. The CD collection was a definite bonus. We filled a dish full of water for birdbaths and it was hysterical.... We had 10-12 bananaquits (sugarbirds) all trying to drink and bathe in the water at once. We nursed our "last night blues" with Painkillers on the deck. There was half a moon, but still good stargazing. We saw lots of shooting stars. I could go on and on. But we'll stop. Couldn't have asked for more (except more time). We'll be back.

Dear Lois and Doug - What can we say? We saw two whales from the deck, unbelievable! A week is totally NOT enough. The view from the cottage is beyond spectacular! The beaches on St. John are the most beautiful in the Caribbean. Your cottage is so lovely and well-equipped. The beach chairs, coolers, hats, towels so appreciated. We did not want to leave. We will be back. Thank you for one of our best vacations, even if it was way too short. Thanks again for a wonderful stay at your sweet, sweet piece of paradise.

Dear Lois and Doug - What a great week we had at your lovely cottage! We were worried about a July week with hurricane season, but each day seemed better than the last. Coming "home" to Tradewinds cottage each evening after snorkeling all day was so wonderful - loved the deck, of course - and all the homey touches. Your front porch was for morning and deck for evening. Loved the changing hues of blue in the bay each day. Even washing dishes was fun with that view! How blessed your are to have this piece of "paradise.!" Thanks for sharing it with us.

This has been a fabulous week's vacation! The deck here is just perfect with the constant breeze - sunrises every a.m. and star gazing each night - saw a ray and sea turtle from here down below in the bay! Tradewinds Cottage provided all the comforts of home with awesome scenery all around for a wonderful week in Paradise!

How far we came in one week! We landed on the island pasty white tourists, scared to death on the road, unsure what to do at the restaurants (do we wait to be seated? where's the menu? where do we order? and how did everyone else get their food?) to tan, laid back, and annoyed by the truckload of "tourists" being dropped off at "our" beach... I didn't even flinch and remind my husband (Left! Left!) every time a car passed us on the road! We felt so at home at Tradewinds. Will miss listening to James Taylor sipping on pina coladas watching the sailboats during the day and wonderful star display at night.

Ah, yes another great week here! Our 4th year and as always great! Loved the CDS, the videotapes, and books! Thanks again!.

Tradewinds is the perfect place to stay - ingeniously designed, beautifully appointed and very thoughtfully equipped. We hope to be back.

Ah, the islands! What a great way to experience paradise. An all-inclusive resort with hundreds of other tourons? I don't think so! We will indeed cherish the week we spent in this great cottage for our honeymoon. How great to grill fish, have some wine and chill to good music while enjoying the stunning views. Lois and Doug have been great hosts - without even being here. They have included everything to make us feel right at home. It was nice to go to a beach and have all the comforts - chairs, mats, cooler and umbrella. I'm not sure I can go back to the boring driving in the states after the fun left-hand mountain courses here on the island. We'll be back soon and we'll still have our smiles from this visit!

We had a moment today and wanted to share...

We spent a wonderful few days at your hideaway a couple of years ago and left with tons of fond memories. Five minutes ago, we were just sitting in our kitchen listen to UB40's Food For Thought and flipping through pictures on your website. If you squint your eyes just right while looking at the deck picture and listening to UB40...you almost feel like...ok, it doesn't work that great but that didn't stop us from doing it and rushing all of those memories back to us...Ms Vie's, Skinny's, Island Blues, random donkeys and herds of runaway goats, long naps, morning coffee on the deck and a million more. We have a little one now, but that won't stop us from rounding up the gang one day and getting back to our little spot nestled on the hill. Until then, UB40 will have to suffice.

Best Regards,

Dear Lois and Doug,

We had a pleasant stay at Tradewinds. I am used to stay at 3 diamond hotels around the continent. But, the privacy and the view that we were able to have during our week stay was Priceless!!! I highly recommend Tradewinds to everyone who is looking for a connection with the ethereal energy that created it all.