US Virgin Islands, St Thomas
12 May 2016 | Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas
Ros Brice
The American Virgin Islands (USVI), once Danish, were bought by the USA in 1917 for $25 million for strategic reasons, mainly as a Caribbean base and to cover the approaches to the Panama Canal. The USVI are self governing and attached to the USA but not integrated as part of the Union, although there is a voting delegate from the USVI in the US House of Representatives. Hence USVI nationals resident in the USVI, although they are US citizens, cannot vote for the US President or for members of either of the US Houses of Congress. The territory includes 3 main islands and a multitude of islets. St John and St Thomas lie close together, but St Croix is 35 NM to the south of St John. Each has a different history and has developed in a different way: St John is still an almost untouched natural state and part of it is a National Park; St Thomas is modern and caters for cruise ship tourism while St Croix is still living in its colonial past.
St Thomas is 80 sq kms, its highest point is Crown Mountain (470m) and population is 48,000. It appears very green, with a long peaky spine forming its backbone. The Danes occupied St Thomas around 1672 but the majority of the population were English, Dutch and French Protestant settlers. The Danish founded Charlotte Amalie, named after the Danish queen, as the principal port and is the present day capital. Historically, the port was a neutral zone and open to everyone: traders, slave dealers and pirates who came to do business or to sell their booty. The golden age for St Thomas lasted until around 1815, when a century of warfare in the region ceased and a long decline began. The population steadily fell, in spite of a few thousand French arriving from St Barthélemy in the mid 19th century. The French are still a distinct ethnic group on St Thomas and live in the region known as Frenchtown. Like most of the Caribbean islands, tourism has become their main economic mainstay and most cruise ships stop in St Thomas...that can mean 2-6 a day in Charlotte Amalie in the cruise season!
We docked in a new marina that seemed almost exclusively intended for super yachts. Everything was big and high and substantial! However, 'little' Trilogy was welcomed and as many of the large vessels have apparently started heading south in preparation for the hurricane season, we had a pontoon to ourselves and the marina staff could not have been nicer. It was Friday afternoon when we arrived and it wasn't long before some excellent live jazz music reached our ears. We were determined to have our well earned GNT before seeking dinner, but the music kept coming from Fat Turtle which fortunately had a table spare for us.
Oh what a night! We seemed to be the only white skins present and our table was tucked up to the side of the band, which allowed us to watch the crowd and be immersed in the music. There was a keyboard, bass and rhythm guitars and a drummer. There were a couple of vocalists from the crowd who did guest spots, but it was this talented group of improvisers extraordinaire that wowed the crowd. The band has no name but is simply known as Mr Taylors Band, the band's keyboard genius. The locals, who were all glamorously dressed and having a great time, moving their bodies to the nuances of rhythm and tune variations. The band would call the cord to each other and then let it run until they came out of that variation and inspiration came for the next...seemingly effortless! Finally the music stopped, the band dissipated into the crowd, with lots of hugging and appreciation expressed by their fans. We thought that was it, but Mr Taylor quietly headed back to the keyboard and one by one the others followed, picked up their instruments and slipped into the beat and melody, much to our delight. Some locals danced, a man with an exceptional baritone voice took the mike to sing Georgia while we kept the cameras rolling, the feet tapping and revelled in his rendition. While all the instruments were being packed away, we chatted to a handsome couple seated nearby and before we knew it, they were sharing a Bailey's on board Trilogy. The delights and surprises of Caribbean cruising keep coming our way!