My Caribbean Vacation
I recently returned from a perfect winter vacation. My friend, Kathy, and I traveled to St. Thomas for a week. We stayed at a timeshare/hotel, Bluebeard's Castle, up on a hill overlooking Charlotte Amalie, the capital of the island, and its gorgeous harbor. Everyday was perfect weather. In fact, when Al Roker on the Today show said," And now here's the weather in your neck of the woods." no weather appeared. Kathy and I roared. Why should the weather ever come on TV in the U.S. Virgin Islands - everyday was sunny with a daytime high of 85 and a night time low of 70. It was glorious!
We took the ferry from St. Thomas to St. John's three days. St. John's is the smaller island of the two, is predominately national park and has absolutely perfect white beaches. We loved St. John's just a bit more than St. Thomas and so happily rode a 45 minute ferry over to the island three of our precious days.
The local people we met were very gracious. Many people went out of their way to help us. Tourism is their business - their only business - and boy are they nice to the tourists! I really enjoyed the native St. Thomas islanders especially K-9 Joe, our taxi driver to the airport, who handed me a scrapbook full of articles describing his work as a policeman and his ability to train the police canines. Terrifc man.
One of the highlights of our trip was a visit to the local St. Thomas synagogue. I am Jewish and Kathy is Gentile but it is she that has studied the Torah; not me. So, we avidly set aside a morning to hike up a very steep residential street to visit the temple, its small museum and giftstore. When we arrived, the rabbi was there and took us into the sanctuary and gave us a short history of the Jews who came to St. Thomas during the Spanish Inquisition and built the first temple which eventually burned to the ground and was replaced by the current building - small, but magnificent.
So, I'll stop there - a perfect vacation - and yes, I want to go back...
Real Estate Tip #5 - Staging a home for sale is an excellent idea. Staging is not interior decorating; it is not setting up a home for everyday living. It is showing a home that says, "Welcome - you will like living here." There are many factors involved in staging a home. These include setting up each room to reflect its "name" (a dining room should not have a ping pong table in it); declutter; purchase fresh towels, shower curtain; put up bright pictures to add color; etc.. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that many homeowners need a professional stager to help them see their home as the buyers will see it. For $100 you can hire a Stager to give you a professional consultation. A welcoming home should sell faster and for more money!
We took the ferry from St. Thomas to St. John's three days. St. John's is the smaller island of the two, is predominately national park and has absolutely perfect white beaches. We loved St. John's just a bit more than St. Thomas and so happily rode a 45 minute ferry over to the island three of our precious days.
The local people we met were very gracious. Many people went out of their way to help us. Tourism is their business - their only business - and boy are they nice to the tourists! I really enjoyed the native St. Thomas islanders especially K-9 Joe, our taxi driver to the airport, who handed me a scrapbook full of articles describing his work as a policeman and his ability to train the police canines. Terrifc man.
One of the highlights of our trip was a visit to the local St. Thomas synagogue. I am Jewish and Kathy is Gentile but it is she that has studied the Torah; not me. So, we avidly set aside a morning to hike up a very steep residential street to visit the temple, its small museum and giftstore. When we arrived, the rabbi was there and took us into the sanctuary and gave us a short history of the Jews who came to St. Thomas during the Spanish Inquisition and built the first temple which eventually burned to the ground and was replaced by the current building - small, but magnificent.
So, I'll stop there - a perfect vacation - and yes, I want to go back...
Real Estate Tip #5 - Staging a home for sale is an excellent idea. Staging is not interior decorating; it is not setting up a home for everyday living. It is showing a home that says, "Welcome - you will like living here." There are many factors involved in staging a home. These include setting up each room to reflect its "name" (a dining room should not have a ping pong table in it); declutter; purchase fresh towels, shower curtain; put up bright pictures to add color; etc.. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that many homeowners need a professional stager to help them see their home as the buyers will see it. For $100 you can hire a Stager to give you a professional consultation. A welcoming home should sell faster and for more money!
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