November 16 St. Croix

November 16  St. Croix

When we arrived back in our stateroom last night, a monkey was hanging from our ceiling!

We have arrived in St. Croix at about 4:30 a.m., but could not dock until 8:00 a.m.  While the capital, Christiansted, is on the other side of the island, we docked at Frederiksted, the only town on the island with a deep water port.   St. Croix is the largest of the three main islands that make up the U.S. Virgin Islands, along with St. Thomas and St. John.

Like the other islands we visited, St. Croix has had a colorful history.  After the Arawak from Venezuela first came to the islands, another South American tribe attacked and overpowered them.  This group came to be known as the Carib Indians.  This name came about after Christopher Columbus’s visit in 1493.  The Indians frightened the sailors and they called them “caribal”, meaning cannibal, from which the word Caribbean is derived.   So now, we know that the Caribbean Islands are really the Cannibal Islands.

The island changed hands many times throughout its history, from Spanish to English to Dutch to French to Danish to American.  In the 1730s, the island began to prosper using African slave labor to grow sugarcane and export sugar, molasses and rum, much as many of the islands did.

After a leisurely breakfast in the main dining room, we wandered down the dock to this colonial town.  There was lots of color, music, and two dancers on stilts.

We were interested in the buildings which all had wooden shutters to protect from hurricanes.

One man had a truckload of coconuts and he was slicing off the top with a machete, inserting a straw, and selling coconut milk for $2. 

We bought one as I had never tasted fresh coconut milk before.  It didn’t have a memorable taste and it was warm.  I didn’t dislike it, but I didn’t like it much either.

The vendors set up their canopies all along the waterfront and the town square.  We wandered around a bit, but didn’t buy anything.

This is the beach walk which led to a beautiful sandy beach.  Above it was an old fort to protect the town in earlier times.

After about an hour or so, we headed back to our ship.

There, we donned swimsuits and headed to the “Adults Only” Solarium.  This pool area is covered and air-conditioned, and is a very pleasant way to spend an afternoon.  However, one man from Ohio loudly complained that the hot tub was too cold and had been too cold all week.  He became obnoxious in his demands that they turn up the heat.  They finally did so, but the term “Ugly American” came to mind.

Our last evening onboard is tough.  We have to pack and put our suitcases outside our door before 11:00 p.m.  We are tired, though, and unmotivated to do anything.