March 21
The St. Thomas airport is making a new parking deck, which hopefully will include rental cars. This will allow visitors to walk across the one road and access a vehicle. It was about a 400 yard walk from the terminal to the car area, but who can really complain when the temperature is around 80F with partly sunny skies. The STT airport looks larger and newer than I remember 8 years ago. That certainly was the case with San Juan airport, and they are still making big improvements. That was about the nicest mid-size airport I have had to travel through.
The drive from STT to the Red Hook ferry dock took me through the main tourist area of the island. Two large cruise ships were docked. Plenty of pedestrians around the bay area. I had to keep reminding myself to drive on the left side of the road. Yes, the Virgin Islands mimic England and Japan. I pulled into the ferry loading area and began the wait. The ferry “loop” to St. Jophns island takes two hours, so I had one hour to wait. I was not expecting the fare to be cash, check, or money order… only. The $65 was a big hit to my cash reserve, but I should still make it home with change to spare.
The main tourist area on St. John was chock full of people, and no place to park. The streets are narrow, and it had started to rain. The biggest frustration was not finding a parking spot, and trying not to hit people. Once I headed out of town, no issue for parking, and a grocery store provided lunch items. I stopped at Princess Bay, in Hurricane Hole. This area is part of the Virgin Island Coral Reef NMon. About 30 minutes of snorkeling and seeing fish like BarJack made for a proper “visit” to this park. Route 10 cuts across the center of the island and is within the Virgin Islands NP for quite some distance. Tomorrow will be stops at sugar plantations and Trunk Bay for more snorkeling.
Last item for today is seeing my first Bananaquit birds. This is the official Virgin Island bird. They love sugar, coining the term “sugar bird”. My host at the campsite for the evening has a planter which he keeps full of sugar, and he has a crowd of residents who love him for it.