Day 17: St Croix

I got up, searched for a new hotel, and found the Comanche Club. Not only was it cheaper, it was also just across the street. When I saw the elevator was a cage-type and roped off at that, I knew I found a place to stay, regardless of the rate the receptionist quoted. That it was well less than what the internet said, even after taxes and fees, was just icing on the cake. She made up for it by giving me and my heavy bag a room on the fourth floor.

Then I went out and explored the old dutch fort. It was odd seeing cannons on only one of two water-facing sides, but when you look at the bay, reefs limit entrance of anything large than a canoe to one narrow channel. Reading up on it, it was more to protect against slave uprisings than foriegn invaders and/or pirates. A rasta went out to the lawn to sing easter songs while I visited the old church and scale-house, a nice touch you'll only find in the Caribbean.

Then I caught a cab and asked for the Cruzan Rum distillery. The cabbie reminded me it was Good Friday (one of my favorite holidays) and that everything's closed. Tip 42 for carribean exploration: avoid Easter by a week. So I went to the hotel to clean the bay out of my clothes, read, read, went to late lunch with Qui-Gon, read, and then set off for my other planned adventure for the day.

I caught a cab to Cane Garden Bay, dropped off on someones driveway. What can I say? They had an old sugarmill in their yard. I cut across the edge of their property to the beach, where I took a few pictures of the oil refinery, realized I forgot my kindle, and read tourist magazines waiting for sunset. After a while I headed back to the sugar mill ruins and took pictures as the sky darkened further and further, trying to get a good picture of the old windmill, the steam vent, and the volatiles flames all at the same time. It didn't work, but I got a few sweet pictures elsewhere, then set off to get a different angle of the refinery. I ended up walking a mile and a half across the side and front of the plant, not even covering the whole of it. The refinery is huge. I ducked into a trucking yard, an open gate, and the corporate office visitor lot to get some pictures. Even though a few spots were begging for a run for the fences, I decided that the triple-threat of homeland security, immigration police, and corporate security made it not worth trying.

I walked back to the highway, meaning to catch a cab, but there were none being caught.... so I ended up finally walking coast-to-coast on a state, from the surf by the refinery to the docks in Christiansted.