The diversity of St. Croix always amazes me.  Last week I went shopping with girlfriends who represented a virtual United Nations - one Dane, one Pole and one Brit joined me in Christiansted.  We visited and made purchases in a variety of shops and took a lunch break at Rumrunners, located in the Caravelle Hotel  on the waterfront side of Caravelle Arcade. From our harborside table we watched the boats bobbing at anchorage and the seaplane taking off and landing nearby.

As requested here is a link to brief history of St. Croix .  Another good source of information is Frans Lawaetz, as the Lawaetz family has been a part of Crucian life and history going back to the days of Danish ownership.  You can visit one of the family’s homesteads at the Lawaetz Family Museum just off Mahogany Road.

The holiday season is getting into full swing around the island.  The traditional festival of Christmas Spoken Here at St. George Village Botanical Garden is held in early December. The festival is a fun event to find wonderful local food, crafts, sauces, baked goods, arts and more.  Walking the gardens at any time is an enjoyable way to surround yourself with indigenous trees, flowers and landscaping.  The gardens are spread throughout plantation ruins. It features a working blacksmith shop, a lovely welcome center and gift shop, and great house filled with custom Christmas trees during Christmas Spoken Here. 

This week we also ventured to the north shore.  Our favorite route is to drive through the rainforest on Mahogany Road.  The forest canopy creates a beautiful green tunnel through which you drive while climbing a steep mountain road.  There were several passengers from the latest ship in port – the Celebrity Mercury -- visiting Mt. Pellier Domino Club—home of the famous beer drinking pigs  (non-alcoholic beer only, of course). 

After leaving the rainforest the road takes you past Carambola Resort and Golf club.  The course is a Robert Trent Jones course.  Just past the golf course you once again begin climbing a mountainside which tops out at The Beast.  From the top there's  a panoramic view all the way to St. Thomas and the British Virgin Islands on a clear day.  The Beast has impressive inclines and switchbacks—make sure your brakes are in good condition.  

Once at the foot of the Beast we drove along the shoreline past Cane Bay.  Cane Bay is one of the top diving spots and location of The Wall deep water dive location.  For the truly dedicated diver a great way to visit St. Croix is aboard one of the Nekton scuba cruise boats.  One is anchored off the western shore and will head to the north shore tomorrow.   

 This is the third in a series of posts from Vicki, who will be sharing information and experiences from her second home on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands where she and her husband have been part-time residents since 1987.  During that time they have built a house, rebuilt a house (thanks to Hurricane Hugo), owned a condo and are now happy to be renters with a lot less work involved.  She first began helping people plan their travel to the island in 1990 via online bulletin boards.  Over the years she has answered hundreds of questions about the area and looks forward to responding to yours.