Hibiscus Beach Resort Christiansted

... as Ms. Murphy and her Law would have it, this was the only time EVER I have not packed a change of clothes in my carry-on (checked bags went directly to St. Croix). Yoiks. After a quick stop at the beach, it was off to Lincoln Mall to get new digs and have a birthday dinner. The following day we had breakky at my favorite diner in Miami Beach, then hopped on our first-class plane. Finally....St. Croix - and with a little bit of luxury this time ...

... What a ripoff! You would be better off walking around the property yourself, than spending 10 dollars to just look at 3 rooms! We then concluded our tour at Fredericksted, where we were booked on one more first-time adventure- the ATV tours by Gecko's Island Adventures! (You can read our testimonial and other details on their webpage http://www.geckosislandadventures.com/t estimonial.htm) A definite ...

... m just a west coast girl. I'll get back to you with pictures and narrative, we're having fun hanging with our new friends but it gets dark so early that we have to make effort to not drink until a decent hour. It's 7:30 now and it's been pitch black dark for 2 hours, the bars are always open and people drink well before noon on a regular basis--Never-land for sure. Love you and miss you all, I'll get back to you soon!

Why is it that we always try to kill ourselves the few days before departure???? Always the case. But at 4:35 pm the house is clean except for a final floor sweeping in the morning and we're basically packed except for last minute toiletries. You'd think we were cruising around the world!!! WAY too much luggage. Hope we can afford the overage charge on the seaplane. Maybe we'll throw it all ...

... of these "greathouses." With acres of rolling green hills, St. Croix's plantation estates also bore crops of okra, cabbage, corn, and other vegetables still prominent in Caribbean cuisine. As the sugar industry declined after the 1960s, tourism became the most important industry on the island.

St. Croix was cool - I stayed at a friend's house who had stayed with me the year before. I went on a school trip with my marine biology class. It was a lot of fun and although many parts of the caribbean are tourist-ridden, st. croix was mainly just locals or ex-pats. The family I had stayed with had been living on st. x for many generations (something like 6, maybe 7) and even ran the Cruzan Rum factory (which at the time was in negotiations with absolut vodka or something ...

... hadn't been a single fish it wouldn't have mattered. So we sailed to the other end of the islandand the boat was anchored in the open water, fairly close to the shore. No beach here, just snorkelling straight off the back of the boat.. The gorgeous girl, I believe she may have been called Bailey, led us on a trail around the reef, and I know I am really using up my superlative type credits but the coral was truely AMAZING. Really big, not that colourful but so BIG. I realised that the ...

... my first insight and experience of what a slaves life was like - They slept in a room about the size of a classroom with about 5 or 6 families all sharing that same space. No furniture, just matting on a dirt floor. Then it was on to a preserved plantation house with not always original, but of the age, antique furniture in each room. It had a cellar that was cooled by a moat that had been dug all around the house, but this was just a dry moat that encouraged the air to ...

Free Spirit, our 40' Island Spirit catamaran was sailed over from Capetown, SA in January 2004. We took delivery at the Miami boatshow and after the show and some outfitting sailed her to her new home at the Nanny Cay Marina on Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. We are now at home in Annapolis preparing for a year-long cruise of the Caribbean. D-day is Oct. 15th when we fly to Tortola, have the boat pulled, bottom painted, surveyed and set sail.

Went snorkeling at St. Croix. Paul developed a strange reaction to something he stepped on -- started going all cold, and his hands became rigid ... which, with his double-jointedness, was startling. After six hours in hospital, he was diagnosed with "low blood sugar" -- caused, of course, by the delays in the waiting room, not by whatever he stepped on. Oh, well. He's fine now.