Last week I had the opportunity to leave the rain of Seattle and fly to the island of St. Croix. Our wonderful friends Doug and Rita live on the island and invited me for an opportunity to just enjoy the sunshine and time to just read a good book. Getting to the Caribbean from Seattle takes time and effort, I took a night flight to Miami had a layover and another four hour flight to the island of St. Croix. This little island has suffered several hurricanes in the past years and was still digging out when Covid hit. There are no big resort hotels or cruise ships on this island, however there are wonderful restaurants.
Traveling during last two years has been almost nonexistent so getting ready to leave the US takes a lot of time filling out forms, getting tests and making sure your passport is up-to-date. We did not do a lot of the traditional things people do when visiting Saint Croix. We spent our days by the pool planning our next meal. After I arrive we went to a wonderful little place called CHRISTINE’S for lunch. Located in a courtyard in the downtown core, 6 Company Street.
We wandered the wonderful clean little town looking towards the water where FORT CHRISTIANSVAERN stands. This fortress guards the city and has been standing since the late 1700. It is open for self guided tours and only one of 5 Danish forts remaining in the West Indies. This island is very clean there is no litter or graffiti any place on the island. A real change after the mess we have in Seattle with litter and graffiti. The other thing that you notice are how many chickens are everywhere in the streets in the parking lots and in the parks.
After a few hours of sunshine around the pool and settling into a beautiful glass of wine we headed out for dinner. We went to a wonderful restaurant called GALANGAL, offering a selection of beautiful Thai fusion food and a great cocktail menu.
None of us can ever travel without a little bit of shopping therapy there are so many jewelry stores, but none compare with the small little shop called IB DESIGNS. The owners WHEALAN and KRIS create beautiful handcrafted Gold and silver pieces and for all of us, beautiful memories. Our next stop was the local grocery store where we found a great wine selection, beautiful fruit and most everything else we needed to create dinner at home. One of the things you realize is they can never count on something being there, they must depend on what is delivered to the island that week.
The parades and celebrations were once again canceled this year because of Covid, we had fun taking our picture next to one of the many carnival memories.
Sitting next to the pool at Doug and Rita’s home we looked down on the beautiful pink hotel called the Buccaneer. It sits above the water with a golf course, restaurants, spa and beach. Saint Croix offers many water sports, fishing for big game Fish, kayaking at night or during the day, sailing and boating adventure there is something for everyone.
We headed out to have lunch at the BUCCANEER, but decided to go local at Cheese burger in American paradise, A funky outside burger joint and bar with a fabulous hamburger. We invited friends over for dinner so ate at home and enjoyed cooking together. The next day was spent around the pool, massages in the afternoon, a little nap and VALENTINE dinner at SAVANT. This farm to table Restaurant has a wonderful courtyard with tables and a bar, surrounded with beautiful plants and art pieces. The menu is not huge, but the offerings are beautiful the special fish for the evening was mahi mahi, Prepared to perfection.
With my visit drawing to a close Rita And I went down and wandered the waterfront, looked in the little shops that were still open and just enjoy the warm air is the sailboats bobbed in the bay.
My last evening was at The other end of the island so we hired a car and drive because we wanted to enjoy a few glasses of wine. At night the roads are winding narrow and dark, plus you have to remember they drive on the other side of the road. Our driver took us to an area called CANE BAY, about a 40 minute drive to the top of the North end of the island. We had reservations at AMA, Small restaurant sitting on an outcropping of rocks overlooking the ocean. The food was excellent, the drinks were fabulous and the view was hard to beat especially at sunset.
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