We started to feel the storm effects on Sunday when the beautiful, hot, summer day turned dark and well, scary!  I started pulling furniture in off the patio at about mid-day, pulled the rugs off the floors (fear of flooding), the furniture piled into the center of our unit – far from any windows.  I Closed up all the Louvers…. by the way, I now HATE louvers.  I packed a bag for a few days worth of stuff and headed to a friend’s house.

Power stayed on for most of the night.  When it went out, things were miserable – just imagine,  the house all closed up – no airflow, just hot stiffness.  By the time we started motivating in the morning the power was out and it was just miserable.  Their dogs were starting to go a little buggy – you know how dogs know that somethings not quite right!?  In any case I left work extra early because I was afraid it would get worse – and it did.

I guess I haven’t mentioned this before but I work at a hotel – the main building is old and sturdy PLUS they have their own generators, water treatment, etc.. Needless to say, it’s a great place to be during a storm!  So – I started out the day doing my regular work in the office, but not long into the morning I realized that I could be more help by working with whoever needed me… it really helped pass the day too. Earl pushed through with downpours and high winds around 2 or 3 in the afternoon.  We worked together to keep storm drains clear as the offices started to take in a flood of water.  The downpours were just amazing – turning rooftops into amazing waterfalls and offices into little ponds.

Earl just didn’t feel like that bad of a storm – not scary, just exhausting.  I know it’s partly because we were at CLOSEST about 100 mi. from the eye of the storm.  And I know that the building I was in made me feel secure.  But in truth,  the people around me, my co-workers, the guests… never showed any signs of worry or concern, and  that put my nerves at ease as well.   The only thing I worried about was when my husband was going to get to come home!  So Earl passed and I spent Monday night at the hotel.

By Tuesday morning the storm was gone and I was exhausted.  My husband got a supervisor at American to change his flight and he made it home by Tuesday afternoon.  Back at the condo, we could tell that water seeped in through the walls, but no significant damage.  Around the island, some roads are still flooded, there are tree limbs down  – and a few full trees too.  Our power (“Current” as the locals call it) has been off and on – mostly off in the middle of the night!  And we just got cell phone service back tonight (Thursday).. I have friends who were saying they still don’t have power though – a lady at the market today said “Just our street” – jeez!  that would drive me crazy.  I really liked going in to work this because I knew I would have my creature-comforts taken care of.

It’s been a long week.  Fiona skirted by with just rain and some wind-gusts,  she was too far and too fast to really be of significance. We were all watching Gaston until 5pm today when it downgraded to a “remnant low” that the National Hurricane Center is no longer tracking.

For hurricane tracking fun I recommend these two sites: National Hurricane Center, and Stormpulse.

NHC is where all the other sites get their information,  Stormpulse has the tracking predictions and awesome imaging.

Here are some pictures from Earl.

Click to view slideshow.

Friday night  was Sunset Jazz in Frederiksted  - Ok so the sunset was a little cloudy (still awesome, but not our best) and the music was not Jazz,  but it was a good time.  I wish I knew the name of the band ‘cause they were good.  They were more Funk/R&B than jazz – but they definitely got me dancing and singing along.
The Sunset Jazz thing happens on the 3rd. Friday of every month, and this was our first time attending. The evening is sponsored by the businesses of Frederiksted, and it’s really encouraged that you bring your own chairs but purchase their Food and Beverages.
I wanted to wait for dinner and dine in one of the popular downtown restaurants, but hunger and our budget got the best of us and we had delicious spare ribs, chicken, rice and Johnny Cakes all prepared and served by the Rotary Club.
I am still determined to go back to eat and more of F’sted’s popular restaurants. – it’s hard because it’s really about an hour away!

So Saturday we double booked our social calendars – my husband my promises and I made plans – it ended up great in the end.  First,  we attended a community BYO BBQ.  The community we live in is really a social bunch – one of the things we love about living here.  So even though it’s “off season” there was a group of about 25 of us who gathered for food and drink.  To my surprise, somebody hired a musician to entertain as well – I think part of it was that they expected a lot more people to come out of the wood work.
In any case Bill Bass entertained with his steel pans for the evening.  I like steep pans a lot – especially a full size Steel pan + drum band.  Bill comes and plays solo,  he has a background track that he plays along with – and actually I think most if not all of his tracks are previously recorded versions of HIM doing the other parts of the songs.  When I think about it, it’s a little too over-the-top and cheeseball, but I really do love the sound.

So we left Bill and the neighbors after dinner and headed up to the North Shore and Rowdy Joes.   Our friend Blake, just joined a band so we had to go check him out.  Probably the highlight of our musical Weekend, Blake played drums with the group“Marisol and the Drunk Dumplins”.  Lead guitarist is actually a local celebrity - Kurt Schindler, the man can play.  And the woman singing (Marisol?) was fantastic too.
The other reason I loved Saturday Night was that we actually really like Rowdy Joes (the venue) too, the only downside is that it’s a difficult drive, especially at night.   We had a good time though and I even got my husband to dance with me.

Friday night my husband brought home Roses.
We had Shabbas dinner out on our patio, until we got entirely too bitten up.
Noah made brownies and tried adding Coffee – bad idea.

Saturday we did NOTHING – and I really had to push not to do anything ’cause this was a big weekend for the Island.
We missed a parade for Mardi-Croix.  but, I was content not doing too much.

Saturday night we went Kayaking with a group of friend – there’s this spot in the Salt River (the first place where Columbus REALLY landed)  that is known to have Bioluminescence floating in the water – but the best time to see it is when it’s REALLY dark.  So, this weekend was new-moon and we all went.  It was freakin’ amazing!  you put your hand in and the water around your hand just glowed – we bumped a few jelly-fish and they looked like glowing orbs in the water – we could see where the other kayaks were by the glowing wake.  It was like a scene out of avatar.  Seriously cool.  And the effect is something that has never been able to be filmed or photographed, so you have to go to experience it.
after kayaking we went to have dinner, but because of Mardi-croix the places we wanted to go were all closed.
So we picked up KFC on the way home – I haven’t had KFC in years, and it was much better than I remember it being.

Sunday we went to the Agricultural Festival (St. Croix’s version of a county fair)  we looked at livestock, plants, and food booths, I bought an eggplant that I later roasted – but we were planning to go out to the beach from the fair, so we didn’t want to get anything that would have to sit in the car in the heat.   We spent the rest of the day at the beach and ate at the restaurant on the property – I had a really good red snapper – made my day.

Goats at the Agriculture Festival

Sunday night we made good on our annual Valentine’s Tradition, – get you’re mind out of the gutter!  We watch Casablanca every year.  This time, I left the DVD in stoarge but I was able to Download it.

Monday we were supposed to hike to the tide pools – not like Pt. Loma, but tide pools big enough to swim in + the hike is about 5 mi. round trip.   But our friend who knows the way was sick, so we put it off and hung out at our pool instead.

Day one – East End – Point Udall to Christiansted for lunch and back for the beach in the afternoon.

Day Two – North Shore – Carambola Hotel/Beach – lunch in Cane bay.  Carambola is a beautiful resort but it is about 45 min away from where I live.  So it was not even an option as a place for my parents to stay there.   We enjoyed the time on the beach, but didn’t really get in the water because of a dark cloud looming over us.  We went to a restaurant called Eat@Cane Bay for lunch and it was just ok… not great.  But the view and the company made the meal

Day three – Buck Island – Snorkel excursion by day and Jump Up in Christiansted at night.   Buck Island is great.  It’s a fun day or half day excursion.  We went with Big Beards, but there are several tour boats who will take you out there.   We liked Big Beard because my husband and I get a discount from now on when/if we go out with them.  Their equipment (masks, snorkels) was in great condition – people were very impressed.  But the boat was almost full with over 25 people on board – so it wasn’t as quiet as we had hoped.

Mom on Big Beard's Boat to Buck Island

Buck Island is a national monument, it is well preserved and the coral is full of beautifully colored fish.   There is a trail that runs through the reef – marked with signs. On the way back we had some dolphins swim alongside the boat – nice touch.

At night we returned to Christiansted for the Valentine’s Jump Up celebration.  Jump Up happens about 4 times a year encouraging people to come out to shop and eat in downtown.  The Street vendors, dancers, and Moko Jumbies all come out to play and it is a fun time to see your neighbors in the streets.

Day Four – Westward – Botanical Gardens, Rum distillery tour, Domino Club/rainforest.

The Botanical gardens are really beautiful and set on a large property just west of mid-island.  The estate was formerly a sugar mill and is now overgrown with all kinds of trees, flowers and plants from the islands.

ruins in the St Croix Botanical Garden

The rum distillery is a short and sweet stop on the island tour – free for locals and $5 per non-local, you get a quick, and unusual view of how Cruzan rum is made .  The bottling and flavoring are done in FL – but the base and the aging process are all done here.  And at the end – there’s a tasting.

We  knew that there were 2 cruise ships in port in Frederiksted, so we skipped over the town and headed into the rainforest in search of lunch, mamawana, and beer-drinking pigs…. All can be found at the Domino club.  There was only one thing on their menu – Chicken and Johnny Cakes (like fried dough) – cooked perfectly and paired well with beer.  From The rainforest, we were done for the day and headed home.

Dad Feeds the Pigs Beer at the Domino Club

Day Five – West Coast – Brunch at Sandcastles and An afternoon of lounging at Sandy Point.   For my parent’s last full day on the Island we wanted to take them out to our favorite beach and show them how awesome it really is.  On the way we decided to stop for brunch at Sandcastles – a restaurant right on the beach just south of Frederiksted.  The food is good but the service is pretty slow.  There is a great beach – with particularly good sea-glass out front.

We didn’t want to waste too much time though, so we got moving to Sandy Point – just a short but treacherous drive from Sandcastles. Not so sure my parents liked the ride out – but the beach was as beautiful as can be.  The tide was a little strange, making the drop off deep and quick from the shore – NOT normal for Sandy Point.  It was hard to get in, harder to get out – but still so worth a bit of a swim.

We returned to the East End that night to watch the Superbowl and hang out with friends.

Day six – Beach Day. My parent’s last day was just time to relax, pack and soak in a little more sun.  My husband and I snorkeled out to the Reef at the Divi – we had never been out that far, so it was a fun little adventure.  The thing we quickly noticed was how shallow it can get – and quickly.  You don’t want to get caught on coral or spiny urchins – so we re-positioned ourselves and admired the fish and fauna from a spot with more depth.  I think it would be a great place to spend more time snorkeling, but I’d check the tides next time.

Late that afternoon we took my parents to the airport.

Over the course of the week we ate at a ton of restaurants – Cultured Pelican, South Shore Cafe, Bombay Club, Good Spirits, Rum Runners, Eat @ Came Bay, Galangal, Sandcastles at the Beach, Domino Club, Cafe at the Divi.
We also went to the Casino at the Divi twice, something we hadn’t done since moving to the Island even though it’s less than 4 miles from home.  We won some money, but the dealers were pretty bad at counting and the risk of that was a little daunting.

It was great to have them here – but we were exhausted from all the adventuring.

Jacks and Isaac Bay are on the Southwestern end of St. Croix and a little more difficult to get to.  We had heard stories about the beauty of Isaac bay, but never how to get there.  We knew there was a walking path down from Pt. Udall, but that was all downhill to get there = uphill heading back.

So one day when we were adventuring in our jeep we started to see signs and what seemed like some walking paths.  I went to my computer, and Google-maps to find the satellite views and sure enough, we were right at the trailheads for these hidden treasures of land.

The following weekend, I was on a mission.  We put on our bathing suits, hiking shoes, shorts, hats, filled water bottles and took a backpack.  For the record, hiking pants would’ve been a better choice than shorts.  We drove to the end of the road in an area called Grapetree Beach – and parked.  We found a trailhead that started with a small scramble up some rock and started on our journey.   The hike was a little less than a mile each way and had some difficult spots, but was well worth the trek.

Once we reached Isaac bay we only saw one other couple on the beach with their two dogs.  We jumped in the water almost immediately –and were cautious to enter around the coral and rocky areas.   Next time, we will also be bringing our snorkels because there is a good amount of coral and things to see.

On the hike back we went down a path to check out Jacks Bay too – it didn’t seem as welcoming as Isaac bay – not as sandy and the water looked rockier.   But still – a beautiful site if you don’t want to hike all the way to Isaac.

We  have yet to really spend any time on Cane bay beach, Ha’Penny,  Shoys, the Hotel on the Caye (off of Christiansted) or the beaches at condo row – we have heard that some of these places are not as good in the winter (like Shoys) and some have good snorkeling (condo row).  I would love to SCUBA the wall at Cane Bay.
So much to do!

So, one of the things we have explored is the beaches on Island. For a while we were getting into a nasty (kidding) habit of going back to the same ones over and over, without sufficiently exploring the others in the area.

This post is about the beaches we’ve come to enjoy.  Next I will get to the ones we discovered today, and the ones we really need to get to soon.

One thing about the beaches on St. Croix – they are all public use land.  So, even if the beach is a part of one of the nice hotels on Island, there are always signs for “public access”.

The hotel beaches that we keep going back to are the Divi Resort, just around the bend from where we are living.  Chenay Bay is just down the road, and Carambola Resort is further on the North Shore.   The great thing about going to a beach at a hotel is using their amenities!  Parking, check! Chairs, check! Fresh water rinse, check!  Bar/restaurant, check!

The Divi  is the easy way for us to go.  It is so close to home – it’s taking Lazy to the next level.  But the truth is, it’s a really nice beach too.  Lots of beautiful white sand, nice mesh chairs,  you can swim out to the reef (it’s a good distance).  And the staff at the hotel are super friendly.  They have kayak and snorkel-gear rentals, and their lunches are pretty good too.

Chenay Bay changes every time we go.  The hotel is undergoing a ton of renovations and their pool is looking really nice.  Unfortunately the beach is not “all that” it’s pretty small and the chairs are similar to the ones at Divi, but moldy.  We really like their bar/restaurant though – it’s on a deck next to the water with a nice view

Carambola’s beach is a lot of fun, it is also a more popular beach.  When the water is calm there is great snorkeling and diving from the shore.  Last time we were there, the waves were not so calm and we ended up body-surfing instead.   They are a little more fancy – with high-tech zero-gravity chairs and there’s a guard at the gate for the property.  The guard asks your name and you let them know you are coming “for the restaurant”.    They don’t generally make an issue – just want to keep track of the numbers of people.

Another beach we’ve been back to several times that is not part of a resort or hotel is Sandy Point.  This is the South-Western most point on the Island and it is protected by the Fish and Wildlife Service.  The beach is only open on weekend days 10am-4pm September thru March.  It is a nesting ground for sea-turtles and the summer months are their nesting season.

We are always surprised to see sedans parked by the entrance to the beach, ‘cause we can’t imagine getting out there without  the height and stability of the Jeep.  But once you walk out to the pristine beach, you’ll feel like you’ve walked into the Corona commercials.

The others that we’ve ventured to have been good for specific reasons,  but not where we want to spend a full day I think.
Ha’Penny – is on the south shore,  I guess we were just turned off by the amount of people who were there when we went.  But our friends told us to check it out earlier in the day.

Coakley Bay – mentioned in many places as a white-sands beach.  but maybe the white sands have washed away by storms.  we found great sea-glass on this beach but also a lot of bugs!

Knight Bay – on the east end before going to Cramer Park.  We discoverd this beach unexpectedly, and there were a few people camping out (tents set up and dogs playing in the sand) we will probably go back because it is a sandy bottom and another close and convenient spot.

Dorsch Beach I think that this is where we found Sandcastles on the Beach,  just south of Fredricksted.  The restaurant was nice and we had an enjoyable lunch there.  We found some great sea-glass in the break.  But if we are going to go to that area, we’ll be snorkeling off the pier of swimming off Sandy Point.

Taxis are another crazy situation all together.  They are generally shared-ride vans, and are much more frequent than the public transport. Taxi rates are all government controlled.  There is a book that states what fares cost from Point A to B for almost anywhere on the Islands.  There are extra charges for luggage and rules about when the drivers can and can not pick up more passengers. On St. Thomas they have Safari buses in addition to the shared-ride taxis.  The Safari buses seem to have more flexibility with the rates they charge – especially to non-locals.

“GOOD DAY”!