St. Croix: Introduction

With the smell of molasses hanging in the humid air, we toured the Cruzan Rum distillery. Along with us, a group of Danish tourists peered in the giant vats where sugar is transformed into St. Croix's most popular export.

But the Danes were not just here for the frothy piña coladas that awaited at the end of the tour. "We are here," one sunburned blonde explained, "to see what a mistake our country made."

A Little History

From 1733 to 1917, Denmark owned St. Croix before selling all of the USVI to the United States for $25 million in gold. Concerned for the security of Panama Canal, the U.S. made the islands a territory, giving its residents right of American citizenship, except for a vote in the presidential election.

While the stars and strips may wave today, the island still boasts its own unique spirit, however. English is spoken with a Caribbean lilt, and driving is on the left side of the road.

What results is a melange of American and Caribbean, with a peppering of other cultures as well. The island is rich in history and has flown seven flags throughout the years: Spanish, Dutch, British, French, Knights of Malta, Danish, and American.

What Brings Honeymooners to St. Croix

That combination of cultures, mixed with a rich history and natural beauty, brings visitors to St. Croix, an island that offers a sampling of the other Virgin Islands. "St. Croix is a combination of St. Thomas and St. John," explains Elizabeth Armstrong of the Buccaneer Hotel. "St. Croix has such a good mixture: the rolling hills, the beaches, and the small towns."

The mixture comes together to create a country atmosphere combining the shopping and history of St. Thomas with the natural beauty of St. John. The result is the largest Virgin Island, an 82 square mile landmass dotted with pastel-tinted brick and mortar architecture in the towns of Frederiksted and Christiansted, named for Danish kings.

Looking Over the Island

To view the structures the Danes designed at a time when Americans were still English citizens, we headed off on an island tour, a feat accomplished in five or six hours. We started on the north shore in the town of Christiansted, just minutes from where Columbus landed over 500 years ago and named this island Santa Cruz. (Today residents born on St. Croix are known as Crucians.)

Looking like a building carved from lemon sherbet, the Old Scalehouse once weighed sugar, the product of over 100 stone mills scattered across the island in the late 19th century. The sugar was loaded on ship that later returned to St. Croix with a ballast of brick, used to construct many of the homes and businesses. Near the Old Scalehouse, Fort Christianvaern is now operated by the U.S. Park Department. The yellow fortress, with its dungeons and old cannons, is now open for self-guided tours.

Shopping

Although it pales in comparison to its more cosmopolitan cousin, Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas, Christiansted still boasts enough shops to keep even the most dutiful consumer happy. We admired the high dollar goods at duty-free shops such as Colombian Emeralds and Little Switzerland, known for its Rolexes, crystal, and jewelry, as well as boutiques offering the finest of the world's perfume, china, and gold (including one store selling authentic doubloons and pieces of eight.)

However, some of the best buys are items that bring home the spirit of the Caribbean: the "St. Croix hook," a bracelet in gold or silver designed by Sonya Lts. (No. 1 Company Street, Christiansted), featuring a simple hook clasp that gives a clue to the wearer's romantic status: pointed down it signifies the wearer is single, pointed up and turned toward the heart it symbolizes attachment.

Touring

As appealing as Christiansted's charms are, the real beauty of the island lies beyond the city limits. Here, on rolling hills littered with historic sugar mills, the island takes on a country charm. Bucolic cattle dot open fields, small homes cling to the hillsides along winding roads, and the occasional shy mongoose, imported to kill snakes, scampers like a large squirrel across the road and under cover.

Traveling west from Christiansted, the island becomes progressively more lush. This natural abundance is best seen at the St. George Botanical Gardens, a 16-acre park where 800 species of Caribbean plants thrive among the ruins of a sugar cane plantation. Bougainvillea as colorful as crepe paper lines the walkways that lead visitors on a self-guided tour of an orchid house, a rain forest, and even a cactus garden.

The lavish lifestyle enjoyed by plantation owners during the 19th century is preserved at the Whim Greathouse. Here we toured an elegant home that combined English gentility with Caribbean practicality, filled with fine imported furniture as well as floor-to-ceiling shuttered windows and cool plank floors.

Fredericksted

St. Croix's southern city, Frederiksted, lies just a few miles from the former plantation house. A stop for many cruise ships (a new dock was constructed here in 1994 to replace damage done by Hurricane Hugo), the town is a smaller version of Christiansted. Shopping includes duty-free boutiques featuring china and crystal to a vendor's market for inexpensive t-shirts and jewelry.

St. Croix's best treasures, however, are not the man-made ones but the natural areas found at opposite ends of the island. From Frederiksted, take Rt. 76 or the Mahogany Road north for a trip to the rain forest. The 15-acre rainforest has thick vegetation where the sunlight is filtered through mahogany, yellow cedar, and Tibet trees. This forest is also home of LEAP, the Life and Environmental Arts Project, where skilled artisans craft everything from sculptures to spoons from the hardwoods found in the rain forest.

Buck Island

Just off the coast of the far northeast side of the island lies St. Croix's other natural treasure: Buck Island. Several outfitters take snorkelers on half and full day trips to this island to swim along the Buck Island Reef National Monument. Here, in about 12 feet of water, snorkelers follow a marked trail for a self-guided tour of this undersea world.

With a look at both St. Croix's natural and man-made treasures, one fact is certain. Although shoppers may look for bargains in Christiansted's duty-free shops, the United States got the deal of the century when we purchased this slice of paradise.