April was house/dog sitting for a friend while I was there, so we got to stay in a lovely home that was up on a hill. St. Croix is quite hilly, and being up on a hill meant that the house stayed quite breezy and cool, which was nice because it didn't have air conditioning. It was also nice to wake up to this view outside my bedroom window each morning...
...and to eat breakfast on this lovely patio:
On Saturday night April and I went kayaking in a bio-luminescent bay. The bay is filled with microscopic organisms that glow when the water is agitated (like when you paddle, or splash your hand in the water.) The bio-bay tours only operate when the moon and weather conditions are right, so I was very fortunate to have been able to go when I did. The entire trip was AMAZING! The water literally glowed when we paddled or put our hands in the water. We kayaked in clear boats, so when you glided through the water it looked like a million shooting stars were all under and around you. It was an unforgettable experience!
Contrary to how this picture looks, I did not pee myself in my excitement. My shorts got wet while paddling.
Sunday afternoon after church some of April's friends took us on their boat out to another small island nearby with an awesome beach, called Buck Island. I saw several sea turtles in the water on the boat ride. It was so cool!
Monday being Labor Day, we hung out at the house, and several of April's friends came over. The house had a pool, so it was a good time of chilling in the pool, eating good food, playing games, and just hanging out.
Tuesday we went to Point Udall, which is the easternmost point in the U.S.
Coincidentally, the westernmost point in the U.S. is also called Point Udall, and is in Guam. The two points were named after two brothers, Morris "Mo" and Stewart Udall. I think it would be fun to visit all 4 extreme points in the U.S. The northernmost is Barrow, Alaska, and the southernmost is Rose Atoll, in American Samoa. All according to Wikipedia, that is.
Wednesday was a lazy day around the house. I spent pretty much all day by the pool with my book(s). Thank goodness for the Kindle! It was pretty awesome to read, jump in the water when I got too hot, lay in the sun, and then lay in the shade, have a snack, and then repeat the process several times over.
Thursday we went to Fredrikstead, which is on the other side of the island. We went to the Whim Museum, which was at one time a sugar cane plantation. Like the States, the West Indies have a long, sad history of slavery, and this museum talked about what life would have been like for a slave on a sugar cane plantation. I learned that of all the Africans who were kidnapped from their homes in Africa and sold into slavery, only about 4% came to the States. Over 30% went to Brazil, and the rest throughout South/Central America, the Caribbean, and Europe. This was surprising to me, because I never knew that such a large proportion of African slaves ended up in Brazil.
An old windmill on the plantation, used to crush the sugar cane to extract the juice. And I thought the Dutch had a monopoly on the windmill.
Because my flight home on Friday was later in the day, we had time to take a tour of the Cruzan Rum factory. For $5 I got a tour of the factory, two mixed drinks, and a bunch of samples of rum.
In the Caribbean, it's okay to drink rum cocktails before lunch.
In addition to all of this there was lots of laying on the beach, some snorkeling, watching movies at night, and good conversations with a dear friend. It was great to see where she's been living these past two years, and to meet her friends in the USVI. All in all, it was a wonderful, lovely, unforgettable vacation.
2 comments:
So much fun! Can't wait to see pics. Love, Mom
Love seeing your adventures! Jealous of your water fun!
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