Caribbean Chronicles - Part 1: Saint Thomas, US Virgin Islands

SAINT THOMAS - the most cosmopolitan island of the US Virgin Islands, and also one of the most popular Caribbean cruise destinations. 

This is the third time we've been to St. Thomas .. and it just never gets old! Truthfully, I'm automatically in love with any destination that consists of countless scenic vistas, beaches, and diamond stores. Initially we were planning on taking the Skyride (700 ft gondola ride) to the Mountain Top, but ended up taking an open-air taxi tour instead. The Skyride was $21USD/person for a 20 min ride to the top, while the taxi was $25USD/person for a 2 hour tour (and it also took us to the Mountain Top).

Our tour guide and driver, Patrick (yes, he has the same name as my faja!), did a fantastic job. He was incredibly knowledgeable about the history of the island. The US Virgin Islands are comprised of three islands: St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix. St. Thomas, being 32 square miles, is the second largest of the three. In 1917, the US acquired the island during WWI as part of a defensive strategy to maintain control over the Caribbean and the Panama Canal. The island was purchased for $25 million in gold!!! The residents of the island were granted US citizenship in 1927.

Mountain Top - looking out onto Magens Bay

The Mountain Top (top of St. Peter Mountains) is the highest point in St. Thomas and is home to the Caribbean's largest duty free gift shop. At the back of the shop, there is an observation deck that is situated 1,500 feet above Magens Bay.Magen's Bay is the most popular beach and snorkeling destination in St. Thomas.  Previously owned by Jacob Jorgenson Magens (and named after his daughter Magens), the bay is now owned by Arthur Fairchild. As a result of a generous donation from Arthur Fairchild, the municipality of St. Thomas and St. John now owns 56 acres of the beach and surrounding areas.

What's the story behind the Banana Daiquiri? In 1953, Captain George Soule (an allegedly famous British sea captain ... sorry, I'm not a History major) decided to venture out from his home in the Barbados on a quest to uncover the perfect Caribbean cocktail. So I was told. Please do not hold me accountable to the truth and accuracy of this story. And so, he sailed the Caribbean Sea and discovered Guava Gimlets from Guadeloupe, Sour Sop Sodas from Saba, and Mango Margaritas from Martinique. The last stop on his journey was on the island of St. Thomas. Mixing the Virgin Islands' Cruzan Rum with sugar cane extract, ripe bananas, fresh lime juice, and homemade (secret, of course) banana liqueur, Capt. George Soule invented the Banana Daiquiri. The Mountain Top makes more than 3 million sales of their Banana Daiquiri every year. 

As we were driving down from the Mountain Top, Patrick pointed out many different trees that carried fruit that were native to the island, including: avocado, banana, mango, sour sop, coconut, papaya, breadfruit (it's not part bread), pomegranate, and fig! Fruit salad for dayssss. Patrick picked out some leaves from a tree on the side of the road and asked us to guess what type of leaves they were.

These leaves are female! Hey girl ... 

The leaves smelled sweet, kind of like lemongrass. Any guesses? Turns out, they were bay leaves. I had no idea bay leaves grew on trees. Sorry, I'm not a botanist either. After a closer look, it seemed pretty obvious. The freshly-picked leaves look quite different than the dried ones that you usually see in grocery stores. We also learned that there are male and female bay trees and that the leaves of each type of tree look and taste distinctly different. Male bay leaves are thinner in width, while female bay leaves are plumper and thicker in width. Male leaves are the ones that are typically used in cultivation, as they are more pungent and flavourful in taste. Sorry ladies!

Before heading back to the docks, we stopped by two more view points. After awhile, all ocean/beach pictures look the same, so I will spare you by not posting anymore. 

Ok, maybe just one more:

Patrick pointed out several houses along the shore and identified them as homes that are typically occupied by vacationing celebrities. One of the beach houses was formerly used by Ex-President Bill Clinton as a celebratory spot, right after he won the election in 1992.

He had a lovely bunch of coconuts.

Before I end this post, I would like to point out another fun fact (or not fun fact, if you are not a fan of amphibians)!  The island is actually crawling with iguanas and geckos. You could literally see them everywhere. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get a good photo of an iguana ... but, here's this little guy instead!

This poor guy already shed is tail.