DAY TWO

Considering the exciting, full day of shopping we had yesterday, we slept in and got off to a more relaxing start to the second full day of our visit with our daughter, who lives on St. Croix. Today would be much more low key, and filled with lots of chatting with our daughter, who would be off from work for the weekend. In the late morning, we decided to do some site seeing on the island - visit some places we had never been in previous visits. We jumped into our daughter's car, and off we went. We drove toward the western part of the island along the north shore, past Salt River Bay. This is the first and only documented place in the United States where members of Columbus' expeditions landed. This was back in 1493. Also located here is the largest remaining mangrove forest in the US Virgin Islands.

The view west from North Shore Road Click here to enlarge.

Then, we continued our ride along the north shore roads, which hug lush cliffs overlooking the beautiful Caribbean. Of course, we had to stop every once-in-a-while to take photos of the exquisite view.How beautiful, peaceful and unspoiled this area is! The rain forest is located here - very different from the dryness of the eastern end of the island. The rain forest is composed of 15 acres of private property, full of mahogany trees, yellow cedar and Tibet trees, which rustle peacefully in the wind.

The view east from North Shore Road with Buck Island in the distance Click here to enlarge.

We decided to stop for a late lunch at the Sunset Grille on Sprat Hall Beach. This place is very special to us since our daughter was married here three years ago. Her wedding was planned for the beach at sunset, but Mother Nature had her way by sending a tropical wave with endless rain to St. Croix that day, so the Sunset Grille became the new wedding venue. Today we enjoyed the sunny view of the beach, while we munched on smoked salmon wraps, which completely hit the spot!

The windmill at Estate Whim Plantation Click here to enlarge.

The Estate Whim Plantation Museum was our next stop. This 12-acre site is the oldest sugar plantation museum in the Virgin Islands, a restored example of life on a plantation in the 18th century. The plantation functioned as such from the early 1700's until the 1920's.

Large Chimney at Estate Whim Plantation Click here to enlarge.

 

 

The museum features a great house filled with reproductions of colonial furniture, an original sugar processing plant and fully restored windmill used in the process. (Our daughter mentioned that the windmill had to be repaired after both hurricanes Hugo and Marilyn, since the great force of the wind caused the blades to blow right off the mill!).

 

 

The grounds are also filled with tropical flowers, plants and trees - even some growing sugar cane. There is also a museum store to investigate. The cost of admission is $6.00 and there are guided tours available.

  

 

Of course, when you visit the Caribbean, no late afternoon would be complete without a stop for tropical drinks. We were near the Off The Wall Beach Bar and Restaurant, so we decided to head there. This is a popular spot for watching the beautiful Caribbean sunsets. From this place there is a very special view of Davis Bay and the Carambola Beach Resort. In addition to the wonderful tropical drinks served here, you can also get something light to eat. We opted for drinks only, since our daughter was planning a barbeque on her deck for this evening.

  

Looking west across Cane Bay and Davis Bay from the beach at Off The Wall

Then is was time to find our way back to the house and freshened up. We enjoyed a nice warm evening with a delightful dinner while we watched and listened to the end of another perfect day in paradise.

Continued in DAY THREE.