Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
But the Danes were not just here for the frothy piña coladas
that awaited us at the end of the tour. “We are here,” one sun-
burned blonde explained, “to see what a mistake our country
made.”
From 1733 to 1917, Denmark owned St. Croix. It then sold all
of the USVI to the United States for $25 million in gold. Con-
cerned for the security of Panama Canal, the US made the is-
lands a territory, giving its residents right of American
citizenship, except for a vote in the presidential election. While
the stars and stripes may wave there, the island still boasts its
own unique spirit.
What results is a mélange 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 Ameri-
can.
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 combina-
tion 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.”
St. Croix is the largest Virgin Island, an 82-square-mile land-
mass dotted with pastel-tinted brick and mortar architecture,
found in the towns of Frederiksted and Christiansted,
named for Danish kings.
To view the structures the Danes designed at a time when
Americans were still English citizens, we headed off on an is-
land 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 is-
land Santa Cruz. Today residents born on St. Croix are known
as Crucians.
As appealing as Christiansted's charms are, the real beauty of
the island lies beyond the city limits. Here, on rolling hills lit-
tered 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 mon-
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