It's flowering season for the trees

Don't know what kind of trees these are, but they sure make the island pretty!

the Palm Trees get a Trim

Here's the befores (durings actually)

And here's the after...  I think they took a little too much off the top, but it'll grow out

A Million Dollar White Castle - I Wonder if He Knows?

Sure, up close, it has an amazing  view of the Caribbean Sea, it is beach front and the porch is as big as my house back in Kansas...

But at some point the architect should have said something.

Is it just me, or is this the same look of a White Castle hamburger joint?

Will he fit in my carry on???

The gift shop is going out of business... they are even selling the landmark sign... Anyone want a 10 foot iguana?

Look... Up in the sky

Where I Walk - Part 5 - "Red Hook"

Town... although not really a town.  Just a small group of businesses centered around a marina.

The big yellow building is one of two High Schools on the island.  You can see that the first couple of mile walk with all the wonderful scenery, views of the ocean and creatures great and small are all over.  Red Hook has it's charm, but it is always under construction, and not the easiest place to walk.

Fix a little - tear up a little...
Tear up what you've already fixed, fix it again...
And the work project just never seems to get finished.

But no rush, after all...

Your recovery tax dollars are at work, keeping this crew of 10 working for months on end with little or no progress.  Who could imagine a better use for your dollars.



But I digress...

Like I said, Red Hook is a group of businesses mostly catering to the needs of boaters.  There are several terrific restaurants.  They all have convenient access from the bay.

Jackie and I patronize Duffy's Love Shack... The best bar built in a parking lot you will ever find!

Jackie and I on the left, Every guest we have ever had on the island seats to the right.

Duffy's is just getting ready for the day, so not open for a strawberry daiquiri served in a parrot glass... Later tonight though.

On the street across from the marina is another small shopping center.  They have a pharmacy, hardware store, Doctor's office, a few other sundry shops and...

our "post office".  Almost no home delivery on the isles.  Most people have a mail box service.  Safe and dry delivery... who could ask for more...

This was a good day... 4 packages.  But it also means I carry them back to our condo away from home.

And since I am carrying anyway... Here's the real reason for my walk.  I shop everyday.  Mostly because the produce is not as fresh as we would like.  Once you buy, you should use as soon as possible...

Considering everything has to be flown in to reach the shelves, it is very well stocked.  Just plan ahead.  And get used to the idea that if you need 10 items, only 9 will be in stock.

And, that's the end of my walk... 2 and a half miles, about 5,000 steps and except for the last little bit, very pretty.

Oh, except...

I have to walk back.

Seems longer when you are loaded down.  just as pretty, but longer...

Where I Walk - Part 4 - "The Flat"

Remember yesterday, I closed with an opening.  The world (well, Island wide) famous, "hole in the fence".

Everyone seems to know about it, and everyone uses it.  US Property - No Trespassing... Seems to just be a suggestion at best, and a challenge to most people.  So, let's see what's on the other side...

Not really sure why the fence is actually there.  The mysterious "other side" is in reality a park...

The park has a rare convenient parking lot, a nice view of Red Hook, the closest little town, and a nice view.  It also features the only flat area on the island.  The road follows the edge of a bay, and is level.  This is where the mall walkers come.  There are always a dozen or so people walking the 1 mile loop from the hole in teh fence to the "real" road.

It's not very pretty, and it is among the hottest parts of the island.  The road is lined with trees that hold in the heat, and block the breeze.  It gets stifling.  But, on an island where the roads are just a never ending series of hills and curves, 1 mile of flat road, without many cars coming at you, is heaven for walkers.

There are a few interesting things... Like the wild chickens and roosters.

And hidden in the brush are hundreds of land crabs.

But for the most part, it is just flat and hot and lined with trees.

But it gets you to the end, where I make a run to town for essentials... tomorrow we will cover Red Hook!

Where I Walk - Part 3 - "Vessup Beach"

Vessup Beach, The "green" part of my walk.  Vessup Beach is one of the few remaining undeveloped natural beach fronts on St Thomas.  Affectionately called the local's beach, Jackie and I enjoy the solitude you usually find here (especially early in the morning, when I walk).

There are areas of the beach that has easy drive up access.  Especially on holiday weekends, people like to camp here.  Sometimes with very elaborate set-ups.  Their camp site may include more than one cooking tent, large speakers for the constant music, gaming area (poker and dominoes for the adults, football (really soccer) for the kids).  Portable showers, generators for power to run the big screen TV (really).

I have seen lots of things on the beach, including the already shown horse swims...

More than a few religious experiences...

All Creatures, great and small hang out at the beach...

Even deer, on a tropical island... Who knew???

Even on days when god's creatures are hiding, the scenery along the mile long beach is still worth looking at...

At a few spots, you have to find a path through the woods to get over the rocks...

But at the end of the beach is Latitude 18... (named for how far above the equator we are... 18 degrees of latitude).

Locals, boaters and occasionally walkers stop for a beer or two on a hot day.

And then we leave the beach for a short walk up a dirt road to...

The Hole in the Fence!

And despite the US Property, No Trespassing sign, everyone does.

But you will have to come back tomorrow to see what is behind the fence!

Where I Walk - Part 2 - "The Point"

OK, as promised, once I finish walking through the Ritz (see Where I walk - Part 1 - "Puttin' on the Ritz"!), I really start to get into a power walk...   Or I sit on a rock on the beach.  I mean really, if you see a horse climbing into the water, how can you not stop.

I mean really, who wouldn't stop???

The horses race.  On the day after they race, or the day before they race, they are brought down to the beach to swim, cool down and have a different type of workout.  Much like me somedays, but I digress...

Timing is everything in life, and catching a view of the swimming horses only happens about once a week.  BUT, if I don't catch the horses, I turn right at the Ritz...

And you are walking THE POINT...

This is actually a photo of the point from up on a hill.  But you get an idea of what i am talking about.  On the far right side, you can see a few buildings with blue roofs.  Those are the time share buildings at the Ritz I talked about yesterday.  If you see that sliver of land that connects the point to the time share at the Ritz, that is where I see the horses swim.  The point is almost an island, connected by that sliver of land.  It is the furthest East you can get on the island and still be on St Thomas.  In the background, you can see St John (the pretty US Virgin Island).  Only about 3 miles.

OK, back to the point... This is that sliver of land, on the Ritz side, the horses are 20 yards on the other side.

At this point, we are walking again... The road to the entrance of Cabrita Point.

Like many things on the island, parts of the point are GREAT ideas, that just didn't quite work out.  At one time, the point was going to be an exclusive area to live.  With a guard house controlling access.  SOmeone should have guarded the guard shack.

But there are a few successful projects, a beautiful place to live would be these condos.  Their back door is 10 feet from the Atlantic, with the British Virgin Islands just about 7 miles away.

See (but from this angle, you see Red Hook, still US Virgin).

And there are plenty of high end private homes.  Most are protected with a private gate and have an amazing view of the water, but a so so view from the road I am walking.  But a few even have pretty gates.  This is among the best.

Other homes use less inviting means of protection.

I just always have to smile as I walk by this... With all the construction that could/should be done, all the roads that need to be repaired, all the hiking trails that could be cleared to add another tourist attraction to improve the economy... Here's a Caterpillar Tractor that hasn't moved for 5 months... or more...

Sigh.

The point is not as dramatically pretty as the walk through the Ritz property, but you do get a few nice views... Here, we are looking back on the Ritz property.

Do they even make kids memorize poetry anymore???  Sometimes it tales 5 decades to understand, but here is one I remember from my youth..

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;	5
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,	10
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.	15
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost, The Road not Taken

But in this case, doesn't matter which road... It runs a loop around the point.

The road starts to get a little rocky from here... Wish they would use that tractor from before.

But you do get close to St John, and can usually get a look at one of the ferries that travel back and forth.  This is the car ferry.  Makes a bit of noise.

It gets hot and not as pretty as the rest of the walk, but once you make the loop around the point, and get back to the Ritz area, you can walk along Vessup Beach...

Which i will show off tomorrow!