February 8, 2023 @ 10:30 AST
Site Visit #74
It wasn’t “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” that got us from St. Croix to St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands but it was close. We left our hotel in Christiansted around 5:45 via taxi to the booming airport on the south side of St. Croix. We were literally the only people there initially.
Our flight from St. Croix to St. Thomas was full – eight passengers, which required me to sit in the co-pilot’s seat! I gave the pilot advice gleaned from my time playing Flight Simulator on a PC.
On arrival in St Thomas, we took a taxi to Red Hook on the far eastern end of the island (after dropping luggage in our hotel). From Red Hook, we took the 15-minute ferry across to Cruz Bay, St. John completing our four-hour, three-island journey to Virgin Island National Park.
There are two National Park units on St.John. The National Park covers much of the island, while the Coral Reef National Monument covers much of the water to the south, east, and north of the island.
Our original plan was to hike up the Cinnamon Bay Trail to a hilltop with excellent views. The hike had one mile of uphill to a supposedly nice view, then one mile back down. We decided to see how we felt when we reached the trailhead.
Getting around St. John is fairly easy with their system of taxis. These are actually trucks based on a large pickup frame, with the bed replaced with open-air, covered bench seating. Fares are fixed by a government agency, so taxis try to get as many people as possible going to the same spots.
Before grabbing a taxi, we headed over to the National Park Visitor Center located about a five-minute walk from the terminal. There was a lot of construction around the center, but it was open for business. Unfortunately, there were no videos here for either the National Park or the Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument, which shares the Visitor Center.
We did pick up brochures for both parks and got our Passport books stamped. Heading back toward the ferry terminal, we found a taxi heading out along the north road past Cinnamon Bay, which was our destination. Soon, we were hanging on as the taxi negotiated the steep and winding road as quickly as was safe (or at least, close to safe).
Cinnamon Bay is a common destination. It boasts a campground, a small picnic area, a beautiful beach, and a snack bar. Before boarding the ferry in Red Hook, we had stopped at a Subway and grabbed a couple of subs. It was nearing noon as we left the taxi, so we decided to grab a couple of soft drinks at the snack bar and enjoy our lunch in the picnic area.
Following lunch, we took a stroll along the beach. The bay shelters the waters so there are no big waves here. Just the clear, blue-green water for which the Caribbean is known. At this point, we decided against the mile of uphill, but headed away from the beach and across the highway to some ruins of an old sugar factory.
A sign told of the factory and showed a shorter trail that departed from the south side of the ruins, climbing into the forest. The trail was listed at only a half mile, looping around and eventually returning to our starting point. This seemed a good, short distance and we took our time, reading all of the informational displays along the route.
A strange thing happened as we got deeper into the woods. Even though we were going uphill on an uneven dirt trail, my knees, which had been aching a bit, stopped hurting; my back, which was a bit sore, stopped hurting; my breathing, which had been a bit labored, was no longer so. There is something about being off in the woods away from the crowds and the noise, that heals all of my aches. This has been true for as long as I can remember, and it was true today.
The short hike suddenly seemed too short. I wanted to do more, but we needed to start heading back to Cruz Bay as we still had a ferry to catch followed by a taxi ride to the hotel on St. Thomas. We finally returned to the start of the trail, and crossed the road to the taxi stand to await an inbound taxi. My knees started hurting again. My back ache returned. And I needed to take some deep breaths again.
I do miss the woods!
After another harrowing taxi ride, we arrived in Cruz Bay in time to see the hourly ferry depart. With an hour to kill, we grabbed some ice cream and just enjoyed the relaxing life of the islands! Tomorrow we fly back to Miami, and after visiting one more park in Florida, we head home. The time here went way too fast, as we knew it would.
Steve
