CHRISTIANSTED AND HISTORICAL AREA

We headed into Christiansted to do a little bit of roaming around the area and possibly some shopping. I have to say the parking in this area was crazy and the one way streets, then the streets that dead end but isn't a one way street but only one car can fit in it...it was crazy.

We headed down one of these one way not so one way only one car fitting streets and it dead ended with no place to turn around right at the water in front of us. I was pretty much forced to go into an underpass that belonged to a hotel. Um, I'm not sure where we are heading but I'm almost sure we are not supposed to be there since you drive right by the open area at the check in desk. It led to a very small parking area but I managed to turn around with great difficulty.

As we headed back out to the street a spot opened up for parking. Whew! Thank goodness. We got out and I looked across the street and there was Big Beards. Ahhh, I remember this street now! I've been down here the last time we were here and doing a tour with Big Beards. Well, at least now I knew where to go if we booked with them.

We got out and walked toward the little shopping area, which was open in the middle with shops along the sides.

There was plenty of places to buy trinkets, clothes and souvenirs. Karl ended up buying a really cool blue long sleeve dive shirt. I really liked it.

Every place we dive I always shop for magnets that say where we went diving there. They are SO HARD TO FIND! Most places I can't find any. However, this place had several and I screamed like a school girl when I found them.

The hubby always manages to find the local feral cats no matter what country we are in.

Colorful!

As we walked out of the shopping area we were at the waterfront. It was so pretty.

We managed to see some Tarpon in the water. Karl said "Wow, those are big!"

A sugar mill that was a tasting room.

Across the water was the Hotel on the Cay island and I had planned on visiting it while we were here.

There was a historical area so we went to check it out. This is The King's Wharf. It was the center of international commerce during and after Danish rule. It was filled with smells, sounds, and various languages being spoken in the exchange of news, gossip, and business dealings. Islanders traveled here with sugar, rum, and cotton to be weighed, taxed, and stored before being transferred to ships anchored in the harbor. In exchange, mariners imported plantation supplies, lumber, wines, mules, and human cargo from around the Atlantic world.

The Scale House: constant activity during the sugar harvesting season from January to March. All imported and exported goods were inspected and weighed here to determine the taxes to be paid. Unrefined sugar and rum that were produced on the local plantations, arrived here in sealed wooden barrels called hogsheads that weighed approximately 1,000 Danish pounds (117 English pounds).

Here's an overall of the Christiansted National Historic Site:

The Customs House: Customs service was constructed in 1841 and served as a clearinghouse for all persons and goods that left and arrived in Christiansted. From here, officials collected duties assessed at the Scale House, kept records of all cargo, passengers, and tolls, inspected ships, and patrolled the coastline for smugglers.

Danish West India & Guinea Company: First completed in 1749, served as the warehouse for all goods handled by the Danish West India and Guinea Company. Over the years it has served as the government warehouse, communications center, post office, and today offices for the National Park Service. Auctions of enslaved Africans may have occurred in the courtyard until 1754 when the Company was dissolved. From 1754-1796, the complex grew to three times its present size, nearly reaching Fort Christiansvaern. In 1796, the complex was reduced by half with the construction of several blocks of buildings separated by Hospital Street. Most of the buildings were torn down in the 1830's. The complex appears much as it did in the 1850's.

The hubby and I started walking across the lawn and up toward another building.

Fort Christiansvaern, St Croix's first fortress, was built at Bassin Harbor in 1749 by enslaved Africans during the reign of Christian VI. It served to defend Christiansted and provide safe anchorage for vessels. The fort remained in use until 1878 when it was demilitarized and used as a jail, police station, and courthouse until 1952. In order to protect its investment of St Croix, Denmark improved the island's coastal defenses in the 1780's with the construction of new forts and batteries. Several guard houses were also constructed, located on points of land jutting into the sea and near shipping channels that cut through reefs.

It said there was an admission to get into the building. I'm not a big history buff and normally wouldn't do things like this, so we walked back out only to find that Sakari and Karl wasn't with us. We headed back to the first building to find them sitting along the side.

Steeple Building: White Danish colonial style Lutherian church with a clock tower built in the 1750's.

Government House:

Karl said he was feeling sick. I wasn't sure if he was trying to get out of walking around, it was too hot and he was having heat exhaustion, sick from being bribed into eating fruit off the ground at the Botanical Garden or trying different fruits and vegetables from Jungle James place. Was he poisoned? Can his belly not handle it? I wasn't really sure but he said he was sick. Maybe he was just tired of walking around and wanted to go back home. Ok, ok, we're leaving Karl...come on.

We started walking back toward the car.

We were strolling along rather slowly. Karl would gag and sit down. Then try again. Then all of a sudden it was "let the vomiting session begin". It was game over for him. He couldn't hold it in any longer. We were left to just hang out while he did his business and Sakari took care of him.

While we were waiting, I was looking around and found something rather interesting on the door:

We had visitors while we waited.

We eventually made it back to the car. I thought maybe Karl just needed some food and with the heat, it was making him sick on an empty stomach. I cranked the a/c in hopes this would help.

We looked on the map and it said there was a Subway in the area. I started driving, however, it said it was right there where we were. Hmmm, it must not be there anymore. The next closest thing listed was a Wendy's. We went there and it was closed. Next was a McDonald's in Frederiksted. I didn't really want to drive out of the way...but did so anyhow.

We made it to McDonald's, put in our order, and Karl decided to lay his head on the table and sleep. Karl refused his food and just held it in a zombie like state when we gave it to him. NOW I know he's really sick. He doesn't refuse food like this. I have to say McDonald's was the cheapest meal, eating out, that we have had here on the island. It was $32.00 even to feed all 4 of us.

Karl seemed to think that he had a migraine. He said he gets them sometimes but hasn't had one in awhile. Poor thing. I've had them in the past and they are not fun.

Here's a short video of the waterfront and historical area: