Sunday, March 26, 2017

YOLO in St. Croix, USVI Feb 2017

We left Dominica and headed straight up to St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands.  We skipped all the islands along the normal cruiser's route as we'd been there before and didn't want the hassle of clearing in and out for just a day or two at each place as we island hopped our way home.

We anchored in Gallows Bay at Christianstead and took the dinghy to the boardwalk.  This dinghy provides good advice for all--"Sit Down and Shut Up".

The old Customs House near the fort on the waterfront.
 The Scale House where they used to weigh their goods before shipping them to other parts of the world back in the 17-1800's.
 A double rainbow over the anchorage at Christianstead.  We get a lot of rain here.
Seaplanes come and go daily here, so the anchorage space is limited farther in from the reefy entrance here.

 These are long green tendrils of seaweed that grow on the rocks near the boardwalk here.  They float like long green hair in the lapping water here.
 Fort Christianvaern, built in the 1700's by the Dutch.  Their lasting architecture has been restored here and is quite impressive.
Stacks of old cannonballs inside the fort still.

 This strutting cock seemed to want us all to notice his brilliant colors.
 The boardwalk along the shore in Christianstead.  Note the old sugar mill.  They dot the island here from the days of sugar cane processing and rum making.  Cruzan Rum is still made in the VI.
 We came to the boardwalk to watch a dog parade but soon learned that the paper had misprinted the date and the parade had been the previous week.  New locals, Clare and Kelly had brought their new rescue puppy, Ro, to watch and we ended up yakking for hours.
 Ro was the center of attention with all passersby, but soon got tired and just flopped down for a rest.  We gave her 1st Place for the best dog of the day.
 Old cannons at the fort.  Our boat is way off in the distance there.
 We got a permit to anchor overnight at Buck Island National Marine Park, a few miles off the coast here.  The sandy beaches and clear water were such a nice change and we snorkeled every day for the five days we stayed here.  There is an underwater snorkel trail here at the other end of the island, too.
 Jason stopped to talk to Chris and Deb, members of the yacht club here and they invited us for the Sunday brunch at the yacht club.  We moved YOLO from Buck Island to Teague Bay to join them.
 The old church tower is part of the historic waterfront here.  All the historic buildings are the same yellow color now and owned by the government.
The inside of the Scale House with the old scale in the floor.











YOLO in St. Croix, St. Patrick's Day, 2017


St Patrick's Day is a BIG deal here in St. Croix.  We are not sure why, but it is one of the biggest celebrations here and everyone gets into the party and parade mode here. This leprechaun was dressed in proper togs for the event.
A single old lady walking her bike, covered in green streamers was an entry in the parade here.
 A disturbing aspect of the parade was the contingent of young local girls who followed the massive speaker trucks blasting music at painful decibels.  They bend over and shake their bootie for all to see.  They even get next to each other and mimic doing it doggie style in the streets.  What kind of momma raised these girls??
 Karen in the green sparkly mask a float threw to us.   Strings of beads and candy also winged their way to us, but no booze samples.
 This swashbuckling pirate was dressed to the nines for the parade walk.  Love those boots.
Only one mocko jumbie in this parade, but lots of dancers in groups. The old Dutch architecture makes a nice background just a couple of blocks off the waterfront.
 This colorful phoenix had quite the wingspan.
 One of the few men in costume in this parade.
 Standing in front of a hat store, I wonder if the watermelon rind style is for advertising???
The St. Croix (STX) Jeep Club had one of the biggest entries in the whole parade.
The animal welfare float was decorated like a dog. 
 Moving music was popular in the parade, too.
 The Lost Dog Pub had given out lots of green T-shirts with their name on it and this was their float entry.
 This was the only boat entered in the parade.
Some big green butterflies in tutus.  Oh my.....
 A lot of dark faces in the parade, but when it was done, we moved the block or two down to the waterfront and found it full of mostly Caucasian drinkers and revelers partying on the boardwalk.  This lass had an interesting costume.
 This man was dancing with his capes in front of the Heineken beer barge tied to the boardwalk.
 Guinness, the archetypal Irish brand was in view today, too.  The barge had a live musician who played great music and many instruments.  Kirt Schindler is quite popular here.
 A man in all green and another with the Irish flag draped over him.
 Plenty of green hair and clothes of all sorts.
 Karen on St. Patrick's Day.  We only had three beers each the entire day.  We found the $1 beer vendor and sucked down a few cool ones until they ran out of Presidente and Coors Light.
 The costumes of the dancers made people watching a wonderful pasttime for the day.  It was great weather, too.
 Jason and Karen in Brew STX, keeping in the shade while watching the crowd drinking and dancing.
 A colorful (mostly green) crowd along the boardwalk in Christianstead.
 The man in the green cape was giving away shots of Fireball whiskey, but the bottle had a Go Pro camera attached to it and he captured each person with their mouth wide open.
 The rainbow-winged angel had plenty of feathers in her costume.
 The signpost on a corner of the boardwalk. Pretty colors, but Higgins Lake wasn't on the sign.
 Looking back down the boardwalk towards the music barge and the crowd listening and dancing after the parade.  Notice the old sugar mill in the background.
This little kid was doing hula hoop non-stop without even thinking about it.  The parade bogged down to a stop and he was keeping himself entertained.
 The blow-up leprechaun was resting on this vehicle in the parade.  Can't say they spent lots of money on their float decorations.
 This guy was amazing.  He would get into the hoop and twirl himself around in it.
 A live leprechaun calling out greetings and instructions to the dancers.
 This lady motorcycle rider had a green fish scale outfit on that was like a second skin.  And those gold six-inch stiletto heels must've been hard to shift with.
 These guys were banging on brake drums on their rolling instrument.  At least they looked like they were having fun.
 Big booties doing the shake.
 A two-fisted drinker.  Priorities went to the drinking this day.
 Kids got to sit on this Irish donkey for pictures.  Cute.
 I liked this lady's feathered tricorn pirate hat and the parrot on her shoulder.  It wasn't real.
 This takes all green to a new level.  The green man must've been hot.
 Even the Pope showed up...Oops, it's just another St. Paddy's Day dress up man.
 The guy on top of the Heineken barge looked like he could be dangerous.
We stuck around in St. Croix to get medical stuff attended to. It's the first time we've been able to use our medical insurance in years.  Not nearly as much fun as this St. Patrick's Day celebration!