The islands of St. Thomas and St. John are very different. St. Thomas is a bustling tourist spot complete with a crowded city, traffic, cheap duty free shopping and lots of nightlife. Just two blocks off the waterfront in Charlotte Amalie you are in a very poor and dangerous area. St. John is almost all national forest and unspoiled beaches.

Saturday December 13th

I flew in from JFK, arriving around 4pm AST. I didn't rent a car there because like the rest of the Caribbean, they drive on the left. I took a taxi ($40, unless you want to be packed in with 8 others in a van) to the Marriott Morning Star and checked in. My room was upgraded to building 4 on the ground floor facing the beach with a nice balcony (first picture above). I took a taxi into Charlotte Amalie ($5) where I grabbed dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and took a sunset picture from their outdoor deck (second picture above). I walked the length of the waterfront and grabbed some supplies before taxi-ing back to the hotel. The quiet beach at the hotel made for a good night walk that evening before digging into my book, music and rum on the balcony.

Sunday December 14th

After a morning swim at the beach at the hotel (third picture above), I taxied back into Charlotte Amalie to do a walking tour. A big outdoor market runs every day on the waterfront (fourth picture above) selling mostly tourist junk at cheap prices. My walking tour began across the street from the market, covering the 17th century Ft. Christian (red building in the background of the fourth picture above), Emancipation park, the 18th century Frederick Lutheran church and "99 Steps" (first and second pictures below), finally ending up on Main street (third picture below) near Camille Pissarro's birthplace. The small, but free, Camille Pissarro gallery is located upstairs there with some of Pissarro's work and a good collection of local artists' works including Janine Wesselmann and Silva Kahn. I made the 20 minute walk from town over to the cruise ship dock along the coast to take the aerial tram ($15) to the top of Paradise Point (large picture above right and fourth picture below) where I had lunch and a couple of their famous "Bushwackers". I got back to the hotel by 4pm and spent the next 8 hours reading on the balcony, sipping rum and listening to music on the beach.

Monday December 15th

After a morning swim and walk, I taxied over to Redhook Bay at the east end of St. Thomas ($12) to catch the ferry to St. John. The pleasant and scenic ferry ride to Cruz Bay took about 20 minutes and only cost $3. I grabbed a quick lunch near the dock at a Subway and then hired a taxi for $40 for a private 3 hour tour of the island. Leaving Cruz Bay, the tour goes through the center of the island's national forest, emerging first at a lookout over Coral Bay at the east end of the island (first picture below). Continuing north to the coast we passed Cinnamon Bay (second picture below), the famous Trunk Bay Beach (large picture top of page left and third picture below) and Caneel Bay beach (fourth picture below), which is the spot in the Virgin Islands for the rich and famous.

Tuesday December 16th

On my last day on the island I walked all around Frenchman's Reef and took some shots from the bluff overlooking the water (second and third pictures below). The pathways in the area are often inhabited by native iguanas, who are very used to humans being around them (fourth picture below).

 Having accomplished my goal of slowing myself down and generally returning to my own vague definition of sanity, I flew back to Los Angeles through Miami that afternoon.