I am starting at square one. HELP

Don't know if you want to go to STT, STX or STJ. It makes a difference. Your idea of a Carolina Barbecue joint sounds good in theory. It'd be great to get some real Southern barbecue down here but your market would primarily be continentals and Southern/Midwestern continentals at that. There are plenty of West Indian style barbecue joints and they are quite popular. Also, how would you get a relaible supply of hickory for somking the meat here? Remember, everything has to come by boat. Don't want to shoot down your idea just wanted to give you some "food" for thought.

I know a guy on STX who shipped his boat, similar to yours down here. I looked into it myself and got quoted around $3,000 from Norfolk VA.

I would get my wood the same way I get lilac here in the south, I have it shipped to me, I'm thinking STX primarily. I would also offer smoked sea food, I do lobster, rock or Maine, oysters,scollop's, shrimp although not sea food per say, gator as well..so it would be more of a variety than I initially described. Like i said I'm at square 1 of the exploratory stage. If I do this I'm looking at 18 month at the earliest for actually relocating. Also..I registered under my STONECOAST420 name but never received a password, did I do something wrong? coincidently, the STONECOAST420 name is a micro brew beer made in Portland Maine, which is my all time favorite I might add 🙂 I have sooo many questions and thank you to yahoo answers for directing me to this invaluable site!!

I think you need to log in again under your Stonecoast name. On St. Thomas we have Texas Pit BBQ in a few locations around the island & they seem to do very well. Your plan sounds good to me but I'm not on STX so I don't know if they have something similar. Good luck!

Are there many motorcycles on the island? i would sell my truck, bring my bike and wife's SUV. I'm not sugar so getting wet doesn't bother me and it would be more economical.

Oh yeah. I know 2 motorcyclists myself. One drives a Harley.

Hey Stonecoast420,
Im a County Boy here on STX. My fav is shipyard export by the way.
Anyway I thought id say that there is more to life then weather. This place is beyond anything mere text on a message board could ever capture. Come visit first is my advice. It may not be what ya think. It wasnt how I pictured it.
premove visit is a good idea.
BTW a bike was my primary mode of transportation while I lived in NC for a few years. Not here, no way, not for me, I like life. Maybe fun for an occasional cruise, but...well come visit youll see.

I am in desperate need of some help. I have done a lot of research on all 3 islands and cannot really determine much difference. I know that STJ is the smaller of the 3 and the less commercialized. But are there many department or grocery stores, doctors, etc? Also ive learned that STT is the more city like of the 3. But how city could it be in an island? Is there a lot of traffic?Is this island really 13 miles long by 4 miles wide.? I know that I have a lot of questions but I am really confused. I like the idea of STT because of the short ferry ride to STJ. I really don't know much about STX. My boyfriend and I are planning on moving with our 2 dogs and are having trouble determining which island would be the best for us. We are very laid back and do not need much night life. However, it would be nice to go and listen to live music. If anyone could help me in determining the difference in the 3 islands it would be greatly appreciated.

I'll second Mango's sentiments regarding use of a bike here, bad idea as the roads are in pretty rough shape, and most people are not used to sharing the road with a bike. I am a long time rider (Sturgis for the past 5 years prior to moving) and I sold my bike before moving here.

I spent ten years in NC, I would like to see a BBQ place, but the market here (on STX) would be limited. You really need to visit first, and kind of see befoer doing much in the prep work for re-location. You may find that this isn't the place you need to be for the business you want to open. New restuarants here tend to have a pretty short life span.

Stonecoast: A PMV for someone in your situation is, I think, an absolute MUST. The next MUST would be to work in the restaurant business for a couple of years before even thinking of opening your own place. Bnk spoke "for true" about not only restaurants on STX but on STT and STJ also when saying, "New restuarants here tend to have a pretty short life span." Never a truer word was spoken!

I lived and worked on STT for 11 years before deciding to open a restaurant. Now 11 years later and still at it, I'm inclined to completely dissuade anyone from doing it. Not that I don't love what I do but the road has been very long and very hard and the downsides have been tremendous from time to time. I see restaurants come and go with the wind for a million different reasons.

Be careful, be very careful, get to know your island, its demographics and the demographics of your customer base before jumping in, otherwise you'll either be in for enormous heartbreak or will skip out owing a lot of people a lot of money and thus negate your chances of ever coming back. And in this business the old KISS adage holds true - as in "keep it simple, stupid!"

I wish you all the very best. It sounds as though you're doing some good research and planning and, again, plan on making that all-important PMV and maybe even a couple of them. No harm in coming down during slow season do do that (or 'them' because you might want to check out STT/STJ on one and STX on another) and your trip(s) will be cheaper out of high season both from the airfare and local accomodation standpoint. Cheers!