We're Back Online!
Our apologies for not keeping you up to date on happenings at Concordia.

Great News
Our roadway to Cafe Concordia and Concordia General Store is now paved and we're open for business. Dates, Hours and details coming soon!


Thank you for your continued interest in Estate Concordia Preserve

Cafe Concordia Is On The Map.....

We hope that as high season rolls in you will all stop by and participate in many of the Activities we have planned.
We expect a busy season!

The store and cafe have reopened and business is really picking up!! As word spreads about our new pavilion area more locals and visitors have stopped in to see what we have to offer out here on the south side of St. John!!

Shane Casto, our new Chef-Cafe Manager, has prepared a long list of delicacies for the upcoming season. If the food is anything like what I've tasted since he fired up the grill on November 1st the Cafe is going to be a popular spot as word spreads across the island.

Shane (seen above) recently moved to island and was working at the Maho Bay Camps restaurant. The opportunity to try his hand at running the cafe here at Concordia was right up his alley. His fresh ideas combined with interest in organic food, bio-dynamic gardening, and vegan options have amazed diners night after night. The cafe features a refreshing salad bar offering organic "Josephine's Greens", locally grown in Coral Bay. Also offered are nightly vegetarian options, tropical smoothies, and scrumptious delicacies off the 6ft grill. The cafe, on our lower level, offers alfresco dining with a sunset view.

The store has expanded its selection for the season and guests have been giving welcome feedback on both the prices and our selection. Don't forget we offer a pre-provisioning service. Your goods will be waiting for you in your unit. Make sure to get your order in a week before arrival!

We can also make gift baskets for any occasion under the sun!!

Our Activities desk has been busy arranging outings for our guests such as sails around St. John, hikes, donkey rides, and day excursions to the British Virgin Islands. We can book any of these activities for you in advance, particularly if you will be visiting during the holiday season or school vacation weeks. It is a good idea to book these trips early due to heavy demand during the high season from December to April. If you are interested in and excursion contact our Activities Desk directly by emailing them at ecactivities@maho.org!!

The Concordia Staff was honored to host the reception for ReCaribe 2007, the 13th Annual Wider Caribbean Wast Management Conference on November 5th. Over 100 representatives from 15 countries munched on Shane and Caroline's hors d'ouvres while listening to keynote speakers from as far away as Canada. The response to our food and service was wonderful. The event served as a great learning experience for our Pavilion rental business amd he facility easily accomodated the large group.

The speakers included our very own Stanly Selengut, who spoke to the group on his own "Trash to Treasures" recycled art program at Maho Bay Camps.

The images above and below are views of the pavilion are a during Stanley's speech.The Maho Bay Camps Art Center uses recycled paper, textiles, glass, aluminum, and clay to create works of art that are sold in the Maho Art Gallery and in stores across St. John. We also feature a selection of the recycled products in our own general store.

The Art Center offers many classes for adults and children. During the high season nightly glass blowing demonstrations draw guests and visitors to the Maho Bay Camp Art Center.

To get more information on art classes and purchasing your own recycled ware email Melody Smith at melody@maho.org.

You can also purchase Maho Camps art and logo wear on our website www.maho.org.

We have begun promoting our pavilion space for the upcoming spring wedding season and we hope to host weddings and receptions here at Concordia. Our pavilion is the perfect spot for any type of function from yoga retreats, wedding receptions, group meetings, star gazing, and even meditation sessions. The constant breeze and dramatic view is a beautiful backdrop to any occasion.

For more information and to book the pavilion space email me at audrey@maho.org or weddings@maho.org!!

I look forward to hearing from you!!

~ Estate Concordia Preserve ~
Now that our Pavilion, Store and Cafe Concordia construction phase is nearly 100% completed, we'll be morphing the blog into an info space where you can find out what's happening here at Concordia, at Maho Bay Camps, and around St. John. I will continue to post as frequently as possible, probably weekly. The photos in this posting were taken around our property so you can get an idea of the tranquility and beauty of our location on the island. Feel free to write to me if you have any questions about either property and if I can't answer your questions I will pass them along to someone who can.

Concordia has been closed for the month of September for maintenance and renovations , and has reopened on October 1. The store is open , Cafe Concordia will reopen in late October or early November.

As you may have seen in the last posting we have begun to add new activities to our weekly schedule and we are planning to have many more exciting activities for the upcoming season. I would love to use this blog and the ease of the Internet to invite you to give us feedback on the sorts of activities you would like to participate in at Concordia.

The Activity desk is in the Concordia general store where you can also rent snorkel gear and beach chairs during your stay. You don't have to be a guest to utilize our activity desk so feel free to stop up if you are visiting Salt Pond bay or hiking to Ram Head while you are on St. John. For the upcoming season our activities will be expanding to possibly include many of the following functions: movies, tours, introductory slide show, live music, crab races, guided hikes, massage, yoga, and guided snorkels. As I mentioned feel free to give me your feedback, we want to provide our guests with as many exciting activity options as possible.

I would also like to announce that both Concordia and Maho will be joining the fight to reduce plastic waste on our planet. Beginning this season we will be removing all single serving bottled water from our store shelves and replacing them will refillable containers that can be purchased and refilled with chilled reverse osmosis water from an island bottling company. We hope that this will greatly reduce the amount of plastic waste on St. John. St. John does not currently have a plastics recycling program. The Maho Art Center works to reduce waste at the camp by recycling linens, glass, and aluminum. Every scrap of solid waste removed from the stream makes a difference. In a recent August 20th Time magazine article it was shown that a leading bottled water company produced 7lbs of green house gases in just transportation of their product. It also stated that we create nearly 2 billion lbs of plastic bottle waste a year in the US alone. By making this small change, we hope to affect a considerable reduction in the amount of waste created by our campgrounds. We hope that you will support us in our efforts to preserve our island paradise for our residents and future visitors alike.

In the coming season we will also begin offering our guests a high speed internet connection at three stations in our general store. The time for Internet use will be purchased in the store and can be used during your stay with us. Perhaps in time we will also be creating a hot spot in our Cafe, where for a fee anyone would be able to connect a wireless equipped laptop!

I hope you choose to join us this season, partake in our new activities and see how great a green vacation realy can be!!

Hope to see you soon!!!

~Whats Happening At Concordia~

WHAC

It's been very busy around camp since the store and cafe opened in early May. It has been hard to find time to update the blog much less take pictures of the events that we have hosted in our new pavilion.

Our recent guests have had the chance to enjoy our new Activity area, weekly yoga classes, guided hikes, hermit crab races, and of course the delicious food in our cafe.

Above you can see one of the hermit crab races that were held in the pavilion area. Currently we are having hermit crab races twice a week. We are trying to make the pavilion activities both fun and educational so a brief lecture on the crabs and their activity in the wild is given prior to each race. The kids come up with their own names for the crabs and bait is used to lure the crab to the end of the track.

The hermit crab races have been very popular with the kids and their parents as well. We always insure that no kids or crabs are hurt during the race.

The race above was a photo finish, I think he won by an antennae....!

I have also been doing a weekly hike to Ram Head, which is the closest of the hiking trails in the National Park. During the hike I identify numerous plants and animals that we come encounter with and also answer any of the guests questions. The hike is almost 2 miles there and back across the rugged terrain of the south side of St. John. Above is a picture of my first group of hikers: Bob, Tom, Rachel, Thomas, Grace, Cam, Laura, Colin, Ellie, and Owen. You guys were great!!

We stopped at the top of Ram Head for a break, snack, and a chance to cast a wish into the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. Ram Head is 300ft above sea level.

Ram Head is a very unique location that is touched by both of these oceans!!

The image above is a picture of Concordia from the top of Ram Head. You can see how far the hike is with this picture. The large structure in the lower part of the resort is the store, cafe, and pavilion area.

The resort will be closed during September but when we re-open in October there will be new activities and events so keep checking back with us.

Don't forget to send your comments and questions I am always happy to help!!

Welcome to Cafe Concordia!!A great deal has happened here at the resort since my last posting over a month ago. I have been so busy it was hard to even find time to make this posting.

Please send me your comments, many guests have told me they have enjoyed reading the blogg and I am glad to have such a wide range of readers out there in cyber space.

As always, feel free to ask me any qestions about our property or your future stay with us.

We had our grand opening ceremony on May 11th and it was a great success. The festivities began and ended with the food, of course. Our Chef Mon Phon grilled up tantalizing appetizers to go along with his large buffet table that was set up in the cafe. On the menu we had Mahi taco's, bruchetta, sushi, grilled sausage, heart of palm dip, veggie platters, homemade organic salsa, and much more.

Above Mon shows off his knife skills in the kitchen as he prepares for the grand opening.

In the image above you can see the rum punch station outside of the store. Below you can see the larger of the buffet tables down in the cafe.

The turn out for our opening was great. Locals and tourists alike showed up to see the finished product of our latest expansion project.

I know they were all impressed by what they found!

Above Mervin shares his tray of bruchetta with our guests.

Papa Joe our outgoing General Manager and Cici mingled with our guests down at the bar in the cafe.

The food was enticing but the sweet steel pan music of the Love City Pan Dragons entertained all of our guests throughout the night. You can see a couple on the right dancing to the music. When you do visit St. John you should try to visit the LCPD pan yard or even catch a performance if you are lucky!

The store was open for business that night and discount cards were being distributed to potential customers. Our general store features an activity center(see below), cyber cafe, wine, beer, produce, ice cream, snorkel gear and chair rental, hygienic products, Maho art, dry goods, locally made items, and we also offer pre-provisioning for our tents and studio units. Let me know if you would be interested in any of the services we provide.

Above you can see the gift corner in the store were guests can purchace local hot sauce, post cards, Concordia wear, Maho art, and books.

Yoga class have also begun in our Yoga pavilion. Classes are held on Thursday mornings at 8AM with Lori Walden. Each class is $15 per session paid to the instructor.

Come join us.... your table awaits you!!

Cafe Hours: Thursday - Tuesday 5:30 - 8

"Grill It Yourself" Monday and Tuesday Night!!

Store Hours: 7 Days 8AM-7:30PM

Welcome to our new Cafe, Store, and Pavilion!!

The day is fast approaching for you to join us at our newly built pavilion site. The construction is complete and we are stocking the shelves, fine tuning the menu, and rolling up the yoga mats in anticipation of your joining us for our grand opening.

Our cafe manager Mon Phon and store manager Sara Over have joined the team and are ironing out the workings of our brand new cafe and store. Mon, a well traveled chef is planing a wonderful menu that will feature both Caribbean and Asian cuisine as well as special "you be the grill master" dinner . Sara joins our team from our sister property Maho Bay and hopes to provide you with all the essential sundries for your Caribbean vacation.

Above is a picture of the cafe area and chairs overlooking beautiful Salt Pond Bay where fantastic sunsets can be viewed all winter long. You may think the image below was taken from the pavilion but it is a mural done by local artist Kat Sowa.

Gail Van De Bogart a local potter made these beautiful sconces for us at the Maho Bay art studio. The sconces are made of both clay and recycled glass. They line the breezeway between the store and massage area.Our first guest were able to enjoy the pavilion this weekend and all reports on their stay were great. We can't wait for you to join us as well!

The image below gives you a view of the pavilion area with the rock garden in the back ground.

We are only a 20 minute walk up our trail from Salt Pond Bay and only 20 minute drive out of near by Coral Bay on Route 107. The view is beautiful and the breeze is cool so stop by and visit us. Our site features a general store, yoga and massage by appointment, activities center, beach gear rental, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We are fully wheelchair accessible and of course groups are always welcome!

We hope to see you soon!

We have all been hard at work in the last few weeks. The crew is working to set up the cafe today and the store will be soon to follow. Kat Sowa has been on site these last weeks working on the finishing touches of her mural and also on the positioning of the boulder garden landscaping around the site. Above is a picture of Kat's completed mural. The picture hardly does it justice you just have to come and see it in person.The guys were able to complete the slab pour between the two buildings that will aid in wheelchair access to all parts of the site. Our campground already has 4 accessible tents and this will allow our guests who are in wheelchairs to also access our dining, yoga center, store, and pavilion facilities.Above Cyrille smoothes out the slab to insure that no water will pond on the slab when it rains.The back staircase is almost completed as well. Alfredo is working diligently on the fabrication of the baulsters now that the handrails are in place.The awning is complete and ready for the fabric to be installed. We are ordering a sand colored fabric in a fire resistant finish to complete the cafe site. The grill will be out doors and we need to insure the safety of its constant operation. Out bar is ready this week and will be delivered and installed by the end of this week. I will be sure to add pictures when this happens.

Kat is overseeing the placement of each boulder to insure that they all add to the natural beauty of the site. All of the boulders that are being used were removed from the site during the initial excavation. We have tried to re-use all the materials from the site that we could.Eva, Kat and Dave's timid pooch, searches for shade in the heat of the day. That might not be the best place to sleep!

Above Bobby our excavator poses with Kat next to one of the larger boulders that he helped us position at the entrance of the cafe.
As mentioned above the cafe is being set up today. Above Mon the new cafe manager tours the site with Joe and Jennifer. In the image below Mon and Maggie work to unwrap all of the appliances in the cafe. We are getting our electrical inspection tomorrow so we can then begin stocking our coolers for opening day! The landscapers are on site today working on the placement of the cactus garden and other plant around the site. Below you can see them working on the rock garden.

Jody, one of our excavators, takes a break in the shade on the newly created seating area. These rocks will be used by guest for star gazing at night, climbing, and as a shady spot during the day.

Below you can see our finished pavilion deck. Its hard to believe that this entire project began with an idea of creating a yoga center and has transformed into a beautiful spot for meetings, weddings, lunch, dinner, breakfast, and just plain relaxation. I just can't wait for it to open!

Well, I have to go work on the store layout but if you have any questions about our new store, cafe, or pavilion feel free to email me. I would be more than happy to answer any of your questions!

Check back soon!!