If I Were Going...: Christmas in the Islands #1

Waterlemon Cay, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands

When I was approaching my 65^th birthday, I decided that a great way to celebrate would be to throw myself a party – at one of the few remaining National Parks I still needed to visit: Virgin Islands National Park.

Caty and Becca were up for the trip

So, I rented a house and bought airline tickets for the whole family. I was stoked.

My birthday is generally not a big deal and it's rare to get the whole family together.

Plus, at the time, I just had a few National Parks to go. Everything looked great. I was really looking forward to a trip with my family.

Then, Hurricanes Irma and Maria spoke up, "How dare you plan your own party?" Irma was the strongest forming Atlantic hurricane ever and did "catastrophic" damage to the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) and Maria came two weeks later to kick some additional butt.

The National Park was devastated – roads closed, beaches trashed, access limited. Infrastructure was destroyed. A visit was out of the question. So, we cancelled.

VRBO was great. The rental car company was great. American Airlines was good with the purchased tickets but charged me $175 to put my miles back.

Caneel Bay after Maria; Photo: VI Daily News

And, when I tried to recoup the $175 through my Citibank Card travel insurance, they denied the claim because my “planned lodging wasn’t destroyed.” My planned destination was not the house. Oh, well, $175 wasn’t too bad. A word of caution: don’t put a lot of faith in credit card travel insurance.

And, complain as I might, cancelling my party was way less traumatic than what happened on to USVI.

Planning Resumes
Anyway, time passed and my “to visit” list was down to two Parks: American Samoa and Virgin Islands. So, we decided to spend Christmas 2019 on the island of St. John, where the Park is located.

Full disclosure, since I made the plan, the U.S. added three new National Parks. Two I have already visited as National Monuments (Gateway Arch in Missouri and White Sands in New Mexico) and one I have not (Indiana Dunes in Indiana). So, this trip would whittle me down to 60 of the now 62.

A view was important, too (this is the one we got)

As I said, we planned to stay on St. John. We found a lovely three-bedroom, three-bath condo overlooking Frank Bay within walking distance to St. John’s main town, Cruz Bay.

The important points were: three beds AND three baths, air conditioning, washer and dryer, semi-level parking (now that I have visited, I get that!), a pool and walking distance to Cruz Bay.

We had looked at some houses in Coral Bay and I am so glad we didn’t go there. It’s pretty, but there is no real town and it is steep!!!!

Coral Bay is steep

Getting There

Scott and I booked a flight that had another one of those really long overnight layovers in DFW. That’s the cost of flying out of Colorado Springs. Normally, we stay with our friend Bob, but, because our flight the next morning was at 5:00 a.m., we opted to stay at the Grand Hyatt at the airport. That way, we could just walk to the gate in the morning. We were very careful to get the “walk-to” because last time we stayed at the airport, we ended up at the wrong on-airport hotel and still had to ride a shuttle.

When we arrived, we still visited Bob and I took a short trip to my favorite DFW-area spot, the Colleyville Nature Center (where I managed to – inexplicably – break my camera’s tripod mount).

I managed to get a few shots in Colleyville: Cormorant, Egret, Wigeon and Shovelers

The next morning (Christmas Eve), I was up very early and Scott was still in bed, insistent that we could wait longer to go to the gate because we were already at the airport. For my sanity, I need a much longer “arrive time” in case something goes wrong. I was about to head out and meet him at the gate when he grumpily acquiesced. I am so glad I was a pain.

I didn't want to miss our plane!

We had had to claim our checked bags the previous day because the airlines won’t hold bags longer than 12 hours between flights, so we needed to re-check-in. We sauntered down to the desk in Terminal D, where our hotel was located. At first, we couldn’t find the American desks, but we finally did.

The airline counters next to American were packed. But. American’s were surprisingly empty, with just a few employees standing around, chatting. Terminal D is the international terminal, so I usually expect heavy off-hours traffic.

After we walked across the wide concourse, one of the AA employees informed us that they were not open yet and would not open until 4:00. Too late! So, they said we had to go to Terminal C. Now, when you have gone through security, that’s easy: you just take the SkyTrain. Outside, how do you get there? You go outside and take a shuttle. I paid an extra $100 at night to not take a shuttle and now I needed to catch a shuttle!!!

We stood outside waiting at the shuttle stop for maybe 10 minutes when I noticed a sign that said that before 5:00 a.m., you needed to call and request a shuttle. Now, I was freaking out. My comfort window was shrinking. When we got to C, we checked the bags and then found a very, very long security line and NO TSA Pre-Check. A sign said that a ten-minute walk would take us to shorter lines and Pre-Check. Off we went. When we got there, the Pre-Check lane was closed and the line was long. I was certain we would miss our flight. So, we got in the “priority” line (I am not sure what that is for, but …) and they handed us a “Pre-Check” card. Basically, it allows you to follow Pre-Check rules in a regular line.

We made it through, but, I was not thrilled with the process. I won’t do it that way again.

Anyway, our next stop was Miami, where we met up with Caty, who had taken an overnight flight from Denver (Becca and Aaron were coming in the next day). Then, after a short wait, we were off to St. Thomas, where the airport for USVI is located.

It was an uneventful flight with some nice views of Miami …

Miami

… the beautiful waters off Miami …

We saw more turquoise waters near Miami than near USVI

... And, some unidentified Caribbean islands ...

Looks like lots of beach and not much civilization

As we landed in St. Thomas, I could see that what I heard was true. There isn’t a lot of flat ground.

Approaching the airport on St. Thomas

Once we deplaned, we had to take a taxi to Red Hook to take a ferry to St. John (while you can rent a car in St. Thomas, the car ferry runs less frequently than the people ferry and our house host recommended we rent the car in St. John).

The car ferry approaching Frank Bay, where it unloads, from our condo balcony

The cabs are a bit different (and more energy efficient) in USVI: they are vans that fill up before they go. So, we loaded with other passengers and then waited an extra 10 minutes while a previously boarded passenger took a potty break. The ride took about 45 minutes over steep and winding roads. And, it wasn’t until we got in the cab that we discovered that they drive on the left in USVI. The cars are American with driver on the left, but you drive in the left lane. Who knew!?!?!

Some say they drive on the left because that's how donkeys walk; these didn't get the message

In fact, USVI is the only U.S. jurisdiction that drives on the left, inherited from what was then-current practice on the islands at the time of the 1917 transfer of the territory to the United States from Denmark. I read that headlights use the U.S. pattern which casts light to the right, tending to blind oncoming drivers, but we didn’t do much night driving.

We missed the 4:00 p.m. ferry by six minutes (thank you, potty lady). So, we waited (and had a yummy, juicy, drippy burger) and then took the 20-minute ride over.

The crossing is lovely

On the dock, we met our “local host,” Myrna, who walked us to the car rental agency and then had us follow her to the house.

Ferry dock at Cruz Bay

Cruz Bay
The main town on St. John is Cruz Bay, which is on the west side of St. John facing St. Thomas. It has a beautiful little bay ...

Cruz Bay

I found that Cruz Bay is even prettier when viewed from one of the overlooks on the hills above town ...

Cruz Bay

And, Becca and Aaron photographed it from an even higher vantage point ...

Even more perspective; Photo: Becca Stevens

The shallow bay has the ferry dock ...

Ferry dock

... and a narrow beach ...

Scott takes a stroll

... ringed with restaurants, resorts and shops ...

Cruz Bay

... and it is filled with anchored boats (including the two we went snorkeling from) ...

Cruz Bay

Cruz Bay was much smaller than I expected and the streets were narrower, filled with loitering locals and tourists with drinks in hand. It’s not unusual for cars to stop so the passengers can chat with friend in the street. People park partially blocking the streets and driving is a bit crazy. The road to the house had some sharp turns and steep hills. And, it passed an above-ground cemetery ...

High water table and hard volcanic soil necessitate above-ground crypts

Our House: Tropical Blessings

The house, dubbed "Tropical Blessings," was lovely.

Tropical Blessings; Photos: VRBO

It was airy and spacious with an exceptionally well-equipped kitchen (including some utensils we couldn’t even identify). And, the views from the two balconies were lovely, day ...

Our view of Frank Bay

... and night ...

Common Gallinules in the Salt Pond at sunset, taken from our balcony

The parking was adequate for our fairly large SUV (most St. John rentals are Jeeps, but we had five people, so we had a big car).

The washer and dryer were a great asset (used them every day) and the house provided ample beach towels, coolers and beach chairs.

A nice touch! Photo: VRBO

The only problem with the house was that the WiFi didn’t work most of the time (we eventually found a free local WiFi set up after the hurricanes that worked much better) and the cable TV never worked. That wasn’t a big deal for me, but it upset Scott very much and it created challenges for the Peach Bowl, where OU was going up against LSU – more on that later).

Scott tried the pool, which was rather small and shaded and he said it was rather chilly. None of the rest of us ever went to the pool.

The pool we never used

The ocean was much more inviting.

Honeymoon Beach

The U.S. Virgin islands
Before I talk any more about the house or our visit, let’s talk about USVI.

Trunk Bay

A group of Caribbean islands about 40 miles east of Puerto Rico and immediately west of the British Virgin Islands, USVI’s islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.

Map: gotostcroix.com

USVI consists of the main islands of St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John, as well as surrounding minor islands. The land area is only 133.73 square miles.

Reefs attract lots of tourists; this is Becca

The territory's capital is Charlotte Amalie on the island of St. Thomas, which is far more “American” than St. John. St. Thomas has lots of stores, hotels and restaurants that we see in the states; as far as I could tell, St. John has none. The population is about 107,000, most of whom are of Afro-Caribbean descent.

Tourism and related categories are the primary economic activities. On St. John, tourism appears to be the ONLY business.

The islands were originally inhabited by the Ciboney and Arawaks, possibly from as early as 1000 BC. Caribs arrived circa 1500 AD.

Christopher Columbus, on his second voyage in 1493, is thought to have been the first European to see the islands.

Landing of Columbus, 1847, John Vanderlyn

Columbus (when he wasn't murdering native peoples) named the islands "Santa Úrsula y las Once Mil Vírgenes" after the legend of Saint Ursula and the 11,000 virgins. Why he chose to do that, I don’t know!

Ursula; Image: historic-UK.com

Saint Ursula was a British princess who, at the request of her father, set sail along with 11,000 virginal handmaidens to join her future husband, the pagan governor of Armorica (sounds like a made-up nation in a Marvel comics movie).

After a “miraculous” storm brought them over the sea in a single day, Ursula declared that before her marriage she would undertake a cross-European pilgrimage.

She headed for Rome with her followers and persuaded the Pope to join them.

After setting out for Cologne, which was being besieged by Huns, all the virgins were beheaded in a massacre. The Huns' leader fatally shot Ursula with a bow and arrow in about 383 AD.

The name was later shortened to "the Virgin Islands."

The Spanish later settled in 1555, with English and French settlers arriving on St. Croix from 1625. There followed a complex period in which the islands were disputed between Spain, France, Britain and the Netherlands.

Denmark also took an interest in the islands, and the Danish West India Company settled on St. Thomas in 1672 and St. John in 1694, later purchasing St. Croix from France in 1733. The islands became royal Danish colonies in 1754, named the Danish West Indian Islands.

The islands were ideal for sugar plantations. Sugarcane, produced by enslaved people from Africa, drove the islands' economy during the 18th and early 19th centuries.

Annaberg Sugar Plantation

Other plantation crops included cotton and indigo dye.

In 1733, St. John was the site of one of the first significant rebellions by enslaved people in the New World when Akan-Akwamu slaves from the Gold Coast (modern Ghana) took over the island for six months. The Danish put down the rebellion with help from the French in Martinique.

Instead of allowing themselves to be recaptured, more than a dozen of the rebel ringleaders shot themselves before the French forces could capture them.

It is estimated that by 1775, enslaved persons outnumbered the Danish settlers by a ratio of 8:1.

After another rebellion occurred on Saint Croix, slavery was abolished in 1848, now celebrated as Emancipation Day.

The plantations are now ruins

With the plantations no longer as profitable, Danish settlers began to abandon their estates, causing a significant drop in population and the overall economy. Additionally, a hurricane, earthquake and tsunami in 1867 further derailed the economy.

USVI Flag

The U.S. began to take an interest in the islands, and in 1867, a treaty to sell St. Thomas and St. John to the U.S. was agreed upon but never completed. A second treaty was negotiated in 1902, but was defeated in the upper house of the Danish parliament in a tie vote.

The onset of the World War I left the islands isolated.

The United States, fearing that the islands might be seized by Germany as a submarine base, again approached Denmark about buying them.

After a few months of negotiations, a selling price of $25 million (about $575 million in today’s dollars) was agreed upon. The deal was finalized in 1917. USVI is now classified by the United Nations as a “Non-Self-Governing Territory” and is an “organized, unincorporated United States territory.”

Hawksnest Beach

From 1966 to 2012, an oil refinery operated in USVI. When it closed, the environment was improved, but the economy suffered.

USVI lies on the boundary of the North American plate and the Caribbean Plate. Natural hazards include earthquakes and hurricanes.

Left, Irma's aftermath; right, the eye of Maria; Photos: NPS

Hurricane Hugo struck USVI in 1989, causing catastrophic physical and economic damage, particularly on St. Croix (we didn’t go there). USVI was struck by Hurricane Marilyn in 1995, killing eight people and causing more than $2 billion in damage. The islands were hit by Hurricanes Bertha, Georges, Lenny and Omar in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2008, respectively, but damage was not as severe in those storms.

In September 2017, Category 5 Hurricane Irma caused catastrophic damage, particularly to St. John and St. Thomas. Just two weeks later, Category 5 Hurricane Maria's weaker outer eyewall crossed St. Croix. The hurricanes damaged or destroyed 90 percent of buildings.

Known for white sand beaches, USVI is volcanic in origin. The National Park Service manages more than half of St. John, nearly all of Hassel Island and many acres of coral reef.

The balcony had a nice breeze; Photo: Scott Stevens

The climate is tropical (read: hot and humid; Scott hated it), with little seasonal change throughout the year.

Rainfall is concentrated in May through October, while in the winter the northeast trade winds prevail.

We had some rain, some clouds and lots of sun.

As I said, tourism is the Islands' biggest industry. With 3 million annual visitors, the sector is responsible for about 60 percent of the GDP.

Other major sectors are the public sector, some limited agriculture and small-scale manufacturing, most notably rum production. With the loss of the refinery, little diversification and significant hurricane damage, USVI’s economy – and infrastructure – are seriously challenged.

USVI is located in the Atlantic Standard Time Zone and does not participate in daylight saving time. When the mainland United States is on Standard Time, the U.S. Virgin Islands are one hour ahead of Eastern Standard Time. When the mainland United States is on daylight saving time, Eastern Daylight Time is the same as Atlantic Standard Time.

In 1956, Philanthropist Laurance Rockefeller's Jackson Hole Preserve donated its lands on St. John to the National Park Service, under the condition that the lands had to be protected from future development.

Caneel Bay

The remaining portion, the Caneel Bay Resort, operates on a lease arrangement with the National Park Service, which owns the underlying land.

The Caneel Bay Resort had some very significant hurricane damage.

The boundaries of the Virgin Islands National Park include 75 percent of St. John, but various segments under private ownership within the park boundary reduce the park lands to 60 percent of the island acreage.

The Park has multiple beaches. The three main ones, Trunk, Cinnamon and Hawksnest, are all on the north side and have sandy shores. We visited all three and I will talk about them in my next posts. Caty and I also visited Waterlemon Cay, which has a rocky beach but great snorkeling. And, we spent some time at Honeymoon Beach, which is partially private land. We did not got to any beaches on the south or east side, although we drove by many and walked down to Haulover Bay.

Map: NPS

And, the Park is why we went, although it is hard to tell when you are in it and when you aren’t. Most of St. John is either beach or steep forested hills. The roads (which I managed to never photograph) are steep and winding with a couple of extremely sharp turns with crazy steep grades. You just have to downshift, turn and gun it, hoping you won’t hit an oncoming car or drive off the road (which you can’t see over your hood) at the top. Scott drove the entire time he was there, but he ended up leaving two days earlier than planned, so I got a chance to try my left-hand skills again.

Protected waters

I must say, after riding on that side for five days, it was easy. And, I don’t agree that an American car on a left-hand lane is harder. I am used to driving from the left-hand seat, so I would rather keep doing that and only have to learn being on the opposite side of the road. The roads are so curvy that maximum speed is only about 40 and most of the time you are doing 20 or less, so it’s not bad.

Much of the island's waters, coral reefs and shoreline have been protected by being included in the National Park. This protection was expanded in 2001, when the Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument was created.

Our Visit: Water
It was in the water where we took advantage of the Park. We snorkeled every day and Becca and Aaron took two SCUBA trips. The snorkeling was such a big part of the trip, that I will cover that in my next posts. We saw lots and lots of fish ...