It's CARNIVAL Baby!! Carnival Time in St. Thomas!

It's the most anticipated ... most exhilerating ... most exciting event on the Virgin Islands calendar. We're talking CARNIVAL baby! And it's fast approaching.

The fabulous costumes! Fantastic music! Delicious food! Intriguing contests! It's a Carnival Baccanal!

The three islands of St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John celebrate Carnival at different times of the year. For St. Thomas, the largest Carnival of the three, the dates this year are: April 12-May 02.

If you're wondering why Carnival runs for such a long period, it's because there's so much that goes on, it takes that long to stuff it all in. There are parades, tramps (more on that later), singing contests, pageants, fairs, parties, and oh, so much more.

According to a 2003 survey conducted by USA Today, St. Thomas' Carnival is in the Top Ten of Carnivals in the world. Each year the number of visitors, and non-Virgin Islands participants increases.

Carnival in the Virgin Islands is not only a fun event, but is considered seriously historical and cultural. It is fascinating to look at some of these events from the inside out.

In the coming weeks, we'll visit some of the many Carnival events that make the celebration so special:

Carnival Queen-King-Prince & Princess Contests

Cultural Fair

J'ouvert (pronounced Jou-vey)

Calypso Tents

Calypso Revue

Children & Adult Parades ...

and more.

I hope you'll join me as we celebrate St. Thomas Carnival.

A Little Virgin Islands History

The Virgin Islands is located at the head of the arc of the chain of islands stretching northward from Trinidad. These islands are known as the Lesser Antilles. They stand on the threshold of the group of larger islands continuing westward that is known as the Greater Antilles.

The Virgin Islands were created for the most part by a great volcanic explosion, and as a result has a rocky, hilly, mountainous terrain. It is amazing that the island of St. Thomas is only 32 square miles and St. John is approximately 19 square miles. The hills and mountains give the islands an appearance of being much larger.

Archaeological discoveries place human inhabitants on the islands as early as 710 BC. The Tanio, Arawak and the Carib (the tribe of Indians from whom the Caribbean takes its name), were some of these early inhabitants and survived by hunting, fishing and practicing agriculture.

MAPes MONDe Collection

The Virgin Islands received its name from Christopher Columbus. When he landed in the Lesser Antilles in 1493, Columbus named the seemingly countless unspoiled islands, cays, and islets, The Virgin islands, after the legendary Ursula and her 11,000 virgin followers.

By 1671, after periods of squabbling and brief occupations by Holland, France, England, Denmark, Knights of Malta, Spain and the Dutch, Denmark emerged victorious and the ruler of St. Thomas. It wasn't long before the expansion minded Danes had also added St. John and St. Croix to their holdings, which effectively united the three major islands.

The Danes ruled the Virgin Islands through a series of Danish governors until 1925 when the islands were sold to America for $25,000,000.

Today, the Danish influence is still evident in its wonderful architecture, and in the names of the streets in Charlotte Amalie, which is the Capital of the Virgin Islands.

Charlotte Amalie, by the way is named after a Danish queen.

Technorati Profile

The Glory & Grandeur of Yachting Season in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands

One of the most anticipated times of the year in the Caribbean is yachting season, and St. Thomas Virgin Islands is no exception. Every winter yachts of every size, beauty, grandeur and expense descend on the islands in large numbers.

They come from all over the world, some staying for several months, others staying for shorter periods; and yes, some bringing well-known celebrities. Some of the yachts are rented, or leased, but most are privately owned. They make quite an impression on many aspects of island life, not the least of which is the economy.


The yachts dock at any of a number of marinas, like Yacht Haven Grand, St. Thomas Yacht Club, American Yacht Harbor, and others; however all the yachts pictured below are docked at Charlotte Amalie Harbor in St. Thomas. During season these lovelies lined up like huge, magnificent toys, and are only separated from the picturesque shops and boutiques of Charlotte Amalie by the harbor sidewalk and Waterfront, a 4-lane thoroughfare.



The harbor, a natural deep water harbor is one of the deepest in the world, and at one time was the busiest shipping and distribution center in the Caribbean. In those long ago days, import houses and warehouses belonging to English, French, German, American, Spanish and Italian traders thrived. Today the historic old buildings housing the fashionable boutiques and salons were once those warehouses.

Of course during those times, pirates like Blackbeard were also frequent visitors to the island. That is, until it became apparent that their presence restricted trade (for obvious reasons). A Virgin Islands governor responsible for allowing pirates access for financial gain was severely punished by the Crown in Denmark ... but that's another story.

Today, Charlotte Amalie harbor is still a bustling center of activity as yachts, cruise ships, departing/arriving seaplanes, tour boats like the Kon Tiki party boat (yes, the one that just sits the bottles of rum and fruit punch on the bar and it's every man and women for themselves), as well as small boaters provide plenty of traffic.

One of the activities that keeps St. Thomas a hot spot for yachting takes place each Spring. The International Rolex Regatta, held this year between March 27-29, 2009 has been around since 1974, and is an island tradition.

Commodore Newbold, of St. Thomas Yacht Club stated recently ... "Over three days, the finest yachtsmen and yachtswomen from around the Caribbean, the United States and Europe join in world-class racing in a spectacular environment, which includes the warm, clear waters surrounding our club. It is an adventurous way to get a jump on their summer sailing season."

The beautiful, classy yachts definitely add a pleasant ambiance to the island scene. It is a joy on an early morning walk to pass them so close on the sidewalk that you can greet and chat with crew busily swabbing the decks and attending to other chores.

But what I find really intriguing is while shopping, dining or walking on Waterfront ... to casually observe an early morning breakfast, a romantic sunset dinner, or maybe a cocktail party on the deck of one of these vessels. I'm telling you, it's the stuff of movies.

The Settler's Handbook: A Guide to Virgin Islands Relocation

Numerous people have asked what information resources I used to successfully relocate to the Virgin Islands.

I used everything (almost), at my disposal: newspapers, the Virgin Islands Chamber of Commerce, The VI Tourism Department, contacts ... and anything else I could think of to get information about the islands.

I said "almost" because what I didn't use was "The Settler's Handbook, U.S. Virgin Islands". Although I did just fine without the book, the process would have been much simpler with it. The Handbook is a publication designed to assist people in relocating to, or starting businesses in the USVI, and has been around off-and-on for approximately 25 years.

When I made my move the handbook was unfortunately, out of print (had been for years). The book was revised around 2002 and is now periodically updated. For anyone considering such a move, the Settler's Handbook is an incredibly valuable resource.

Some of the book's highlights includes:

• Chapters on each island: St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John


• Information on the history and culture of the islands


• How to move personal items such as, cars, furniture


• How to register your vehicle


• How to dress for the tropical climate


• A list of schools, churches, civic organizations


• Information on community life, entertainment, holidays ... and so much more.

More information on The Settler's Handbook, U.S. Virgin Islands is available at:

http://www.visettlershandbook.com/ and http://www.amazon.com

St. Thomas: My New & Beautiful Tropical Home

So, I relocated to the small Caribbean island of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. A U.S. territory since 1917 when the island was purchased from the Danish for 25 million.

And, there I was ... a stranger in a strange land. But, as I said before, although there was some cultural difference, I felt right at home.

Immigrants from the U.S. mainland are called state-siders ... and not always with the most positive reference.

My biggest difficulties were adjusting to the heat, and understanding the speech of the islanders, which was English spoken quite rapidly, often with heavy accents. I found the lilting accents beautiful; almost musical. In time, I not only easily understood the speech, but when I returned to the states for visits was told I had acquired something of an accent myself ... although I never heard it.

My living situation was quite exceptional as I lived on a hill above town and had a wrap-around balcony that afforded me an enviable view of the cruise ships in St. Thomas Harbor. The harbor was in the town of Charlotte Amalie, the Capital of the Virgin Islands.

St. Thomas Harbor in Charlotte Amalie as seen from my balcony

St. Thomas harbor at sunset from my balcony

During high season, which ran between December and May, the island could accommodate as many as 16 ships spread out between Havensight Harbor, St. Thomas Harbor (hailed as one of the deepest harbors in the world), and Sub-Base (an area that had been a naval base for many years).

I did not need to become accustomed to my surroundings, which were amazingly colorful and beautiful. My yard contained plentiful fruit trees, like Genip, Tamarind, and Mangos; lush flowers like the Bouganvillea, Oleander and Flamboyant; and exotic animals like the Iguanas that boldly crossed the yard as if they, not me were the rightful tenants of the house.

Iguana on an early morning yard crossing

Iguana on tree limb in yard

As a visitor from Cleveland, Ohio once so appropriately put it:"It's as if everything where I came from is in black and white, while everything here is in technicolor."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

St. Thomas Here I Come!

So, there I was ... back stateside. Back at work. My vacation over.

The one bright spot was that I knew I would be returning to the Virgin Islands as soon as I could day-trade (trade off days with other employees), and string enough days off together to make another trip worthwhile. Remember, I was working for an airline.

Pretty soon I had established a pattern of travel to St. Thomas that took me there once, sometimes twice a month. During some of those visits, I made sure to circulate resumes to the contacts I had made on the first visits. I wasn't exactly clear why I did this; it just seemed that you never knew. Networking was always a good idea.

Then, after several months ... big news. Really, bad news! The airline was going under. Kapoosh! Down the drain! It was disheartening. For a few minutes. Until I realized that perhaps, this was an opportunity. Time to take that lemon and make some lemonade.

I began making plans to do something almost unbelievable. I started planning a relocation to the Virgin Islands.

Four months later, I was a resident of St. Thomas.

The Last Days of my St. Thomas Vacation

I couldn't believe my Virgin Islands vacation was almost over. Rats! I couldn't remember when I'd had so much fun. But not just fun, I'd had a curious sense of contentment the entire visit. And now it was time to leave.

I had packed as much into each of the seven days that I could. The day after the Sunday afternoon beach party at Sapphire Beach, I had been the typical tourist and visited a few of the great attractions.

Ferry leaving Red Hook to St. John

I had taken the short ferry ride to the island of St. John, which amazingly is about two-thirds national park. Of course, the park is a story in itself ... with Laurence S. Rockefeller as the main character. It was Rockefeller who bought up thousands of acres of land and turned it over to the federal government in 1956 to help create the Virgin Islands National Park at St. John. But, that's a story for another day.

The pristine beauty found on St. John is difficult to imagine; the rustic little village of Cruz Bay where the ferry boats dock is straight out of a novel; and the beaches ... well, all I can say is breathtaking.

Cruz Bay, St. John

During the next few days the attractions I visited included:

Coral World Ocean Park
A marine park built on a peninsula adjacent to Coki Beach on St. Thomas' east end. From an underwater observatory that is 15 feet down spectacular ocean life seems up close and personal. Then, there's the 80,000 gallon circular coral reef aquarium; the shark shallows; stingray lagoon; turtle park; and so much more. Before you go, check on feeding times, which is fun to see, especially if children are along.

Atlantis Submarine
This is a submarine designed to take excursions 90 feet down under. During the hour long dive each passenger has his own window on the world of the sea. A diver adds to the excitement of the experience by doing a feeding. Just be aware that children must be 36" tall, no exceptions. Now, I'm just a little claustrophobic so this was something I had to challenge myself to do; but in the end it was well worth it.

Paradise Point Tramway
Essentially a seven minute cable car ride up 700 feet above sea level. Once at the top of this mini mountain, there's a "knock your socks off" view. The most popular time to visit the Point is at sunset. The town of Charlotte Amalie, the ocean, the cruise ships in port ... it's just an awesome sight. There's also a cafe, bar, boutiques and souvenir shops at Paradise Point.

I took a sight-seeing tour that meandered its way into the hills above the town of Charlotte Amalie, and ended at Magens Bay Beach. Amazing! I was reminded of my first taxi ride and my fear of both the height and lack of guardrails. I was still petrified, but it was getting better. My advice ... if you don't see St. Thomas from this perspective, you've probably missed about half the beauty of the island.

As an airline employee I visited some of the hotels and resorts, met staff and asked a load of questions. I was heartily welcomed and even received tours of some of the larger properties. I would later look back at the contacts I made during those visits with a great deal of gratitude.

But alas, that last day finally rolled around. Although my heart was heavy, I was already planning my next trip.

As I boarded my flight that afternoon, I took one last look around, smiled and promised myself , I would return many times to what had become my own wonderful paradise.