DAY SEVEN: Friday, 6
June 2014
After another wonderful, if cloudy
sunrise, I took my next-to-last morning stroll on the beach. The last
couple days I’d seen an older gentleman with a cane and yellow shirt come out
to take a swim as I was doing my walk. This morning we were able to chat.
His name was Mike, and he was recovering from back surgery, so the water
was very soothing. We didn’t chat long, so he could do his swim and get
on with his day. I noted just with my beach-walking I was accumulating as
much by 8 am as I’d reach all day at home during my work week. Oh, to be
on holiday longer. >grin<
When I came out for my morning
swim, I could look across and see people in the dining area. These are
people I’ve never seen on the beach when I’ve been there in the afternoon.
To me, it seems odd to stay at a beach-side resort and not even take
advantage of the beach. I find it even weirder that those who only choose
to swim or hang-out by the pool. If you’re not going to take advantage of
what a place has to offer, then stay at a different locale (one which will be
cheaper). Just an aside from the budget-conscious traveler.
Today’s plan was to go down to Christiansted in order to
look around the shops to see if I could fine something to be a wedding gift for
Rob & Lauren. Last time I was here, I parked in the public pay lot
off of King Cross Street .
I’d overheard (I think it was from Matt at the Palms bar) who said
there’s a pay lot by the Fort, which was currently free because the meters were
broken. That ended being a good lead. Because it was the middle of
the work day, the lot was sparsely filled, and there weren’t many loitering
around. There were people enjoying the park of the Fort Christiansted
National Historic Site, but no one visible that I had to worry about Silvara
being left alone.
Now I did bring a few resumes down
also, and I dropped one at the office of Gotostcroix.com, just to see if they
needed any PR assistance. They were directly under the office of Gerry
Pate (who I’d visited the last time). I wandered down the Boardwalk, and
then up and down some of the pedestrian-only streets in order to check out some
of the shops. There’s a style of knot bracelet the locals wear as an
affirmation of this place, and I heard you could get one as a ring. I
don’t like having things on my wrist, so that’s why I thought the ring would be
nice. The knot ring also functions like a Claddah Ring (wear it one way,
it shows you’re available, etc). There were only a couple in my size, but
they didn’t fit well, so I passed on them.
Since it was close to noon, I
looked at getting some lunch. The last time I was here, there were tips
that Rum Runners and Fort Christian Brew Pub were good bets. I was
looking for something with bulk which would carry me through the rest of the
day. Many of my lunches have ended up
being lighter than I planned, so I was hungry in the evening.
I stopped first to Rum Runners and
waited there a bit, as there was no one in the establishment I could see.
Since it was the lunch hour, even nearing off-season, someone should’ve
been there. I could hear people in the back (in the kitchen I guess), and
called out to them. After waiting a short bit more, and still not seeing
another person (not even other patrons), I pretty much wrote this one off.
I headed a short distance down to
Fort Christian Brew Pub, and it wasn’t at all what I expected. I’m used
to pubs having a pretty varied menu with a lot of different entrees. Even
the local magazine reported this as “one of the best dinner places.” What
they ended up having was all grill-based bar-food, so not anything which I
could consider an actual “lunch” place. I sat in the dining area near the
Boardwalk, with a clear view of the people at the bar. There were two
ladies at the side of the bar engaged in their own conversation. I only
point this out because later I learned they were the waitresses. Since
the action seemed to be at the bar, not the dining area, I picked up my stuff
and relocated to the bar. That’s when I got handed the menu and saw the
“pub grub” fare which was only available here.
I decided to try their chicken
fingers, figuring I’d be able to get some bulk out of that. It wasn’t.
The three pieces I received looked decent-sized until I bit into them and
saw these were three-quarters breading. Add fries that came with the
dish, and it was a lot of starch and very little protein. Oh, and add the
grease on top of that. By far it was the worst meal I had on the entire
island. I even mentioned the quality of the food to the bartender who’d
served me (as the waitresses were still engaged in their personal conversation,
which apparently was quite compelling to them), and it was met with apathy.
This will probably be the first negative review I post on Trip Advisor.
Continuing down the Boardwalk,
other than Fort Christian
I heard there were some good areas
in Gallows Bay
region, which was just directly east of Christiansted ,
and there was supposed to be a decent Tex-Mex place there. I went down
the road which would take me there (couldn’t tell you which one, as I didn’t
see a sign), and the only thing I encountered was a marina, the ferry terminal
to St. Thomas ,
and not much else. I didn’t see any place I could park and walk around.
If there was a lot there, or some small shops, I didn’t see them.
Well, I still could get my
milkshake. I pulled into Pickled Greek, walked in, and was given a warm
greeting by Shawn. I said I’d be back. Shawn gave me the bad news
that they were out of chocolate ice cream, because the people who normally make
it hadn’t had a chance to do so. The couple sitting at the counter
smiled, and the guy said he’d lost a fight with his motorcycle, so he was
recovering from that. I’d heard this story the other day, so I knew who
was involved. But it was nice to get introduced to the owner of the
Pickled Greek and his girlfriend, Peter (“Papi”) and Jewels.
Peter’s arm was bandaged, and there
was a lot of road rash on his legs. He was currently on pain meds, but he
was still doing some work behind the bar (even though Shawn told him not to).
Jewels had a bandage around her middle finger, and she could barely move
the rest of her fingers … and that was an improvement. She showed me the
pictures she had when she first sustained the injury, and they weren’t pretty.
It was an open wound across the digit with visible bone, and it nearly
was amputated.
I had a Coke and sat there for over
an hour hanging with Peter, Jewels, and Shawn, talking about island life.
They were extremely friendly and the atmosphere was very homey. It
felt like a family. That just enhanced how great of a place this
was. Being able to sit with them was a
great interaction which I’d been missing all week. I really wished I’d
located them at the beginning of the week, because I would’ve visited them more
often. About that time Peter needed to get some stuff done, and Jewels
had to motor also. I did feel bad that I didn’t get anything to eat at
Pickled Greek, due to the brick which was still sitting in my stomach from my
bad lunch . I departed then too, so I could head back to the Palms for
some last sun-sitting to work on some aspect of a tan before leaving tomorrow.
I grabbed a chair right out front
of the main area to soak up what rays I could. A brief sprinkle sent me
to the bar area where I was able to see Matt, and I told him about my trip to
VLBA. I’d seen Erin wandering by, but I
didn’t get the chance to say anything before she headed out. I spent a
few moments talking to one of the Palms employees named Cash. He was
excited about how I was doing the blog, and I took the opportunity to show him
shots of the most recent (2014) Austin Cave Day and the open house at Camp Mabry
I then returned to the beach and
got some more rays until it became too windy to stay out there. The wind
was sand-blasting the area, so I wasn’t the only one who left because of that. I
then did a major portion of my packing, so I wouldn’t have to do it the next
morning. I wanted to get at least one more beach walk in before my stay
here ended.
I took a quick rinse, nibbled some
of the munchies I had (so I wouldn’t have to bring them back with me), and then
adjourned to the bar. I got there just as Matt was leaving and Rico was
coming on. I had another root beer, but was feeling famished even though
I’d just nibbled on a bunch of high-energy things before coming over. I
didn’t want any more pub grub, so asked Rico for the dinner menu. (It
occurred to me then that perhaps I should’ve done that at Fort Christiansted
Brew Pub, and then perhaps I would’ve gotten a better meal.)
I ended up ordering a chicken
breast (grilled, and tossed in BBQ sauce), with spuds and veggies. When
the plate came, I just thought it was a fabulous presentation on how flakes of
the veggies were sprinkled on everything. It tasted yummy, and was
exactly what my body needed.
I was prepared to take some sunset
pictures, as I had my camera at the bar with me. I noticed the porters
bringing a table out to the beach (just beyond the dining area), and some tiki
torches were being set up. Turns out this couple had made arrangements to
have a candle-lit dinner on the beach. That’s romantic. I took what
shots I could before the couple arrived, as I didn’t want to be intrusive.
You won’t get complete privacy doing something like that, but you don’t
want some person to be taking pictures, especially when it’s someone you don’t
know. I decided to be okay with the few sunset shots I had. I’d
been purposely waiting to the end of the trip to take these. Oh, well.
Some of the fun was the interacting
with people sitting at the bar. One guy who I’d chatted with briefly
during the week was named Mike, who’d lived in Alabama for about 30 years before coming
down here. Well, Mike had gotten a new phone (not a Smart Phone mind
you), and he was trying to figure out how to work it. Rico would show
Mike a few things in between serving other patrons, but Mike was just not
grasping the concepts. It provided some amusement, but finally I hopped
over to where Mike was sitting and showed him how to do the things he was
having trouble with. Oh, what were those things? Being able to read
his text messages.
After Mike had finished his drink,
Rico was talking to this lady at the bar about the cougar who had sent Rico a
number of extremely suggestive text messages. The lady commented that she
wasn’t that bad when she sends stuff like that. I don’t know who Rico was
talking about, but the lady at the bar was named Jill, and she certainly was
cougar material.
Jill had been a resident here for
over five years and worked as one of the administrators at the local schools.
She was now getting ready to move back to Michigan to care for her sick parents.
She had no pets, children, or spouse, so she was saying the only things
she would need to move would be some clothes, six pieces of furniture, and her
car. Jill also commented she’d come here initially with only three pieces
of furniture. She was nice to talk to,
but there was a hint of sadness how she worked to get here, and now she had to
go back to the main land.
I left the bar not long after Jill
departed. There was one final night I’d get to spend on the beach in my
command chair looking at the stars (even though it was very cloudy right now).
By the way, as Rico pointed out, Friday nights tended to be one of the
deadest nights at the bars on the island. He said it’s just weird that
way, and Wednesday tends to be when it’s the most happening. My only
theory was the visitors might be arriving on Friday (and too jet-lagged to drink)
or preparing to depart the next day. Still seems like the locals who
frequent the Palms would still be there on Friday.
As I sat in the chair one last time
and enjoyed the sounds of the waves and the pulses of the sea, I reflected back
on the week. I did have a good time, but this ended up being more of a
low-key visit then previously. There were a number of things I planned to
do when I arrived which I didn’t do, simply because it boiled down to not
trying to overspend my budget. Even some of the lower-cost things I
wanted to do (like trying paddle-boarding) were things I’d have to go someplace
and pay a bit to be able to do that. Little
bits here and there would add up, and I didn’t want to be putting too much on
the credit card (as I’m traveling again in July).
I did think about how I’m a person
of the earth who is at home when near water. I don’t think being
completely on the open sea would appeal to me. No, I want to have the
tropical coast. I made a re-affirmation that even though life was conspiring
to make it so, this would not be my final trip to St.
Croix . I said that once about Turks & Caicos too, and I
still want to go back there at least one more time. But St.
Croix still remains a place which is mine. This isn’t Turks
& Caicos (where I went with Lee, thus will always be “our place”), or Myrtle Beach , or any
place I went with someone else. This is my place.
Of course being an hour earlier
than what my body was normally used to, and the consumption of large amounts of
alcohol, meant I was tired earlier. When the body is ready to sleep, I’m
letting it. I don’t have the opportunity to relax like this back in Austin .
For more information on the places visited or mentioned:
Gotostcroix.com: http://www.gotostcroix.com/
Rum Runners: http://www.rumrunnersstcroix.com/
Fort Christian Brew Pub: http://fortchristianbrewpub.com/
Pickled Greek: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147402-d1078861-Reviews-Pickled_Greek-Christiansted_St_Croix_U_S_Virgin_Islands.html
### 30 ###
No comments:
Post a Comment