Not Quite Off the Beaten Path in the US Virgin Islands

Our national park quest brought us to the land of turquoise blue waters and white sandy beaches.

The land where pirates used to like to hang out, and where sun-loving vacationers still have a jammin' good time.

The land where the hot and humid climate forces one to drink "Pain Killers" on the beach.

The land where the descendants of African slaves continue to share their rich culture and lively music.

The land where exploring a national park is really quite relaxing for some,

and totally exhausting for others.

We left our van behind and changed up our normal winter migration pattern

... in order to visit Virgin Islands National Park and discover what makes this Caribbean archipelago a popular vacation destination for winter-weary tourists.

The US Virgin Islands consists of the larger islands of St John, St Thomas, and St Croix along with over 500 smaller islands and cays. And while it is high season for snowbirds, we hoped to stray off the beaten path in order to enjoy some local flair. 

But first,

some fun facts ...

These islands became a US territory in 1917 when the United States bought them from Denmark for $25 million dollars. I suspect that there are quite a few mansions here that would sell for that amount and more today ...

It is the only place in the US where people drive on the left side of the road. This is due to the fact that driving patterns were already established when the US purchased the islands ...

Christopher Columbus gets credit for "discovering" the islands in 1493, but he was unimpressed and continued on to Puerto Rico ...

What was he thinking ???

Maybe we're a little bit like Columbus, in that it's hard to think of this as a vacation trip ... we, too, were on a mission. While we would have liked to stay on the island of St John where the national park is located, vacation rentals are quite a bit more expensive there. We decided to forgo the luxurious condos and touristy areas, and seek out a more local setting.

We chose the town of Charlotte Amelie on St Thomas,

... which also happens to be the site of the territory's capitol building!

It also happens to be a popular cruise ship port, so on any given day, the city welcomes from 5000 to 20,000 tourists. So much for getting off the beaten path. From 10 am until 4 pm, the city's streets, shops, and restaurants were buzzing with customers.

Our Airbnb apartment was located in a neighborhood that is still trying to recover from the frequent hurricanes that hit the island. Our hosts are doing a great job of bringing new life to one of the historic homes.  It was only a 15 minute walk into town, but the narrow streets with traffic going the opposite way of what we are used to, made walking a bit challenging. But once in town, we were able to catch a ferry that took us into Cruz Bay, St John where our national park visit #56 would begin.

Our first stop was the national park visitor center which, unfortunately, was closed on the weekends. Pre-planning ... not our strong suit. But we would have another opportunity or two to come back during the following week.

 
The visitor center is located in Cruz Bay, but the national park beaches are spread throughout the island of St John. When visiting, it is best to rent a car or ride one of the "taxi" buses that are vying for the tourist dollar.

But since no visit to a national park is really complete without a hike,

we found the trail near the visitors center that led us past giant cacti and sweeping coastal views to ...

Honeymoon Beach.

Because the only way to get here is by hiking or ATV, we found this beach to be much more quiet than some of the other beaches we would visit. Happily, it still had all the important amenities ... fru-fru beach drinks and hermit crabs.

Can you see them???

A few days later we returned to St John and took a taxi to the #1 rated beach in the world ...

Truck Bay.Beach

There we found a lot more visitors, but also beautiful sand, warm waters, and a successful "snorkeling with sea turtles" conditions.

☑ Check another national park off our travel bucket list. ☑

Hanging out in St Thomas

During the rest of our time in the US Virgin Islands, we managed to explore a lot of the city during our daily walks. But as we often saw, the "non-touristy" parts of the city were quite run down.

 

While our Airbnb apartment was very recently and nicely redone, the surrounding neighborhood is still recovering from years of hurricane damage and neglect.

Fast-moving traffic driving on a side of the road that we weren't accustomed to made walking anywhere in St Thomas a bit of a challenge. Cars tend to park wherever they can, which means that most times the narrow sidewalks become parking lots.

Some of the cars have apparently been parked there for a long, long time.

But once we hit the downtown and harbor area of Charlotte Amelie, a wide walkway, beautiful views, and colorful architecture greeted us.

Restaurants served up everything from seafood to Latino cuisine to barbecue,

And, of course, Doug managed to visit all three local craft breweries on the island!

Unfortunately, since almost everything needs to be imported, the price of food, transportation, and lodging is quite high. I asked our taxi driver how she manages to get by with the high cost of living. "It's a challenge, but fortunately," she said, "tourists continue to come to enjoy this piece of "paradise", so I am able to pay my bills."

We learned how to get around town on the locals' choice for public transportation ... the $2 Safari buses. One bus took us to a marina further down the island, and from there we were able to catch a ferry that took us over to Water Island for the day.

There we found another Honeymoon Beach with a quiet beach, tiki bar, and Caribbean music.

No trip to St Thomas is complete without a visit to Magens Bay Beach which is located on the northern side of St Thomas. Our taxi driver stopped at the top of the hill so that we could take in the same sweeping views that pirates enjoyed as they watched over these seas in the 17th century.

Once at Magens Bay, we found ourselves on the large beach that was filled with tourists from the cruise ships visiting St Thomas for the day. But serenity can always be found if one is willing to just keep walking further down the beach.

 

We came to the US Virgin Islands in order to visit a national park that just happens to be located near a popular beach vacation destination. And since we are not the typical "hangout on the beach" type of tourists, we tried our best to immerse ourselves in the island's natural beauty and culture.

While the US Virgin Islands didn't turn out to be one of our favorite travel destinations, we were able to enjoy the local flare when we got off the beaten path,

.... embraced the warm hospitality of our Airbnb host and other island natives,

and learned to tolerate the early morning greetings of our "not-so-neighborly" rooster neighbors!

(white noise machines are exceptionally helpful for that!)