Charlotte Amalie – As we pulled into the pier it was obvious this wasn’t the same pier we had always docked at before in St. Thomas. Crow Bay Center had a huge pier and was very nice. There were cool island pictures, that had the look of chalk, painted all along the way, with a touch of potted palm trees to dress it up with some greenery. It was so nice to hear Caribbean music being played when we docked! There was a man all decked out in island finery on stilts welcoming everyone to the island. He had the most wonderful baritone voice – reminded me of James Earl Jones. There were also a couple of ladies with him in their head gear and island dress for pictures. What a refreshing difference from that nonsense that assaulted our ears yesterday from the Norwegian Dawn in St. Kitts.
We ran into Steve and Christina at the buffet for breakfast and they were so excited to let us know they got up with Patrick and he was going to meet us by the pier! So we got another island tour today. As many times as we’ve been to St. Thomas, we’ve never done an island tour – this turned out to be perfect! We met at 9:30 and Patrick had cleared his calendar for the day so he was all ours for however long we needed, wherever we wanted to go. Steve and Christina wanted to show us all the sites (they’ve been vacationing on the island for 20 years or so) and their favorite spots.
Magen’s Bay Beach was one of the first beaches we would come to. Patrick stopped along the way to show us some of the most stunning views of the island. He took us to Mountain Top where the banana daiquiri was born. As the legend goes, in 1953 there was a British sea captain by the name of Captain George Soule and he sailed from his native island of Barbados in search of the perfect Caribbean beverage. His search ended at Mountain Top where he combined the islands’ own cream rum, sugar cane extract and ripe bananas from a nearby grove, then added fresh lime juice and a secret banana liqueur. And so the banana daiquiri was born. There is a huge souvenir store along with the bar where you can get one of these amazing daiquiris and enjoy it on the viewing veranda that overlooks Magen’s Bay Beach. It’s one of the bigger beaches we’ve seen and looked amazing. Steve and Christina came out with a couple of bags of loot. I walked out with a new hat.
We continued our journey around the island with the next stop being Coki Beach. We didn’t get out here because Bob and I were here several years ago on one of our first times on the island. It was very interesting when Patrick was telling us that in his opinion Coki Beach was cleaner than Magen’s Bay Beach – and of course it was better for snorkeling, which we knew.
Sapphire Beach was next and as soon as we pulled in and Bob saw the name he knew we had been here before. I didn’t remember this part but did remember the marina. This was where we had meet to one of our all time favorite sales with Rick and Cathy on the Nightwind sailboat. Unfortunately it was taken out during the hurricanes that hit the island the fall of 2017. Nightwind was in dry dock but the warehouse that held her was destroyed. It was so sad. Anyway, we had never been to that beach, just to the marina next to it. It seemed nice enough. It was small but there was a beach bar there and some chairs.
Secret Harbor isn’t far from Sapphire and this is where Steve and Christina have stayed for years. It was a wonderful quiet little area with a nice beach, condos and the Sunset Grill where we share lunch and an adult beverage.
It was an awesome day of a personal island tour of all 32 square miles of St. Thomas. Patrick was the perfect host and tour guide. We have his number and will be looking him up when we’re on the island again.
We grabbed burgers from the pool grill and hung out on our balcony the rest of the evening. One more day until reality …
It's a Wonderful Life! 