I started this year’s travels with a trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands (if you missed that, it started here). For my next trip, I wanted to do something different, to ensure that my trip reports get some variety in ’em. So, I asked myself, … Continue reading Nebraska 2023 Trip Report (Day 1)
Welcome to another voyage through time (no TARDIS required), also known as ThrowBack Thursday (TBT). This time, TBT brings us to October 2015, to witness a return to the mountains around Cherokee, North Carolina. We’ll begin at Bryson City, a small town which serves as … Continue reading Great Smoky & Blue Ridge Mtns (October 2015)
When I first started seeing my Parkinson’s Disease specialist, I noticed a place named The Map Shop a few blocks from his office. Seeing as how I’m a self-proclaimed “map geek” (I have been known to waste hours at a time playing around with Google … Continue reading Blue Ridge Parkway (summer 2015)
One thing I noticed almost immediately after moving to North Carolina is that most rural roads have no shoulder and no pull-outs. There are a fair number of “scenic overlooks” in the mountains, but these mountains support much more vegetation than the Rockies, so the … Continue reading Water, Trees, and Exploding Golfers (March & April 2015)
Yes, it’s true. After months (maybe a year) of nothing but Colorado, I have finally purged all the photos I took during my last year in that most magnificent state. This week’s ThrowBack Thursday takes us to the Carolinas. Due to being busy with work, … Continue reading My First Year in Charlotte (April 2014 – March 2015)
OK, I lied. In the previous installment of ThrowBack Thursday, I claimed that post was the last of my 2013 Colorado tour. But I had forgotten that I went through Leadville on the way home from Creede. (Random fact: Leadville, Colorado is the highest incorporated … Continue reading Leftover Colorado, part nine (July 7, 2013)
For the morning of Day 7, I had reserved a spot on the Sea Trek tour at Coral World Ocean Park. Sea Trek is marketed to people who would like to try SCUBA diving, but don’t want to go to the time and expense involved … Continue reading Virgin Islands 2023 Trip Report (Day 7)
As you may recall, I had intended to take a ferry from Charlotte Amalie to the island of St. John on Day 3, but that ferry isn’t running. So, on Day 4, I took the ferry from Red Hook to St. John. Of course, that … Continue reading Virgin Islands 2023 Trip Report (Day 4)
I’m not sure whether the rooster moved a little farther away from my window, if I had just gotten used to his noise and could ignore it, or if it was because I was so exhausted from the kayaking, but I slept much better last night, even though I was still aware of the rooster mistakenly going off during the night. So, with a pretty solid six hours of sleep, I headed out on the day’s adventure. I walked seven tenths of a mile to the Edward Blyden Ferry Terminal to catch a ferry to the neighboring island of St. John, only to find that there was a mechanical problem, and the ferry is not running today. There are other ferries from St. Thomas to St. John, but they depart from other places, which are not such easy walking distance from my hotel. So, today became my day to explore downtown Charlotte Amalie!
I found downtown Charlotte Amalie to be reminiscent of the French Quarter of New Orleans. Take a look…
Downtown Charlotte Amalie has a pretty typical mix of souvenir shops and restaurants for a beach/tourist town, with one abnormality: there are billions of jewelry stores. Seriously, check out this screen shot from Google Maps:
For the bulk of the day, I just wandered downtown. Some highlights:
I had a breakfast/lunch consisting of a spinach omelet at a little place called Bumpas. The food was good, and the second-floor dining area provides a nice view of the harbor. I also had a Virgin Islands Root Beer, made by St. Johns Brewery. Not my favorite root beer, but not bad, either.
I soon found that St. Johns Brewery has its own store in downtown Charlotte Amalie. There I had a very tart (but good) hard lemonade, made with dark rum. I asked if they make any hard ciders. I was told they have hard ciders at the actual brewery on the island of St. John, but not at this store. So, there’s one more thing to do when I go to St. John (probably tomorrow).
I found a store called S.O.S. Antiques that specializes in items recovered from shipwrecks. I didn’t buy anything, but it was an interesting place to browse – almost like a free museum.
Speaking of free museums, I also spent a good amount of time at the St Thomas Historical Trust Museum. This place has a lot of information and photos showing how the city of Charlotte Amalie developed in the early 20th Century, and a lot of info about pre-Columbian peoples who once occupied the island. Interestingly, I found very little about the years when the island was ruled by various European countries, and very little about the old sugar plantations.
For dinner, I had a yummy angus burger at Stone House Cafe. And that was my day. Thank you and good night.
We’ve all heard the old saying, “You get what you pay for”. There are times when I feel like my purpose in life is to repeatedly discover the truth in that saying. On Cyber Monday of 2022, I watched several travel-related sites for good deals. … Continue reading Virgin Islands 2023 Trip Report (Day 1)
Voyages with Parkinson's 