Last Port of Call: St. Thomas, USVI

January 10, 2020, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands — This was a... a what?... a lack-luster end to an otherwise interesting cruise. Is it because being back in the U.S. Virgin Islands was less exotic than being in the Amazon? Or was it the tour I chose, which was not interesting? I’ve decided, right or wrong, that I don’t need to come back to St. Thomas.

Here’s what I learned: The U.S. purchased St. Thomas from Denmark in 1917, for $25,000,000. The Danish had ‘conquered’ the islands in 1666. Around 149,000 people live on the 4 islands that comprise the USVI. Hurricane Hugo hit in 1989. Hurricane Irma hit the island on September 8, 2017... and Hurricane Maria hit on September 18, 2017, just 10 days later.

Artist Camille Pissaro was born here, in 1830.

Beyond that, I know nothing. Not that there’s nothing more to know, but I didn’t find out. So I’ll show you a few photos.

I went on the ‘included’ tour... on Viking, every port we stop at, you can take an ‘included tour’ that you don’t pay extra for. Some have, in the past, been very good. But not always. This one was a not always. Here’s our vehicle for the panoramic tour of the island. Even when we experienced a bit of ‘liquid sunshine,’ we stayed dry. And the visibility from this kind of bus is better than from a normal bus.

Out first scenic overlook. That’s the Viking Sea in port. We were the only cruise ship in port, which meant there were fewer people in town... and fewer vendors at the assorted bus stops. Which is not a bad thing.

You can’t get away without seeing a forlorn building...

...or a colorful house...

At Mountain Top, where we had a panoramic view — but so much mist we couldn’t make out the various islands — we were treated to 40 minutes in a typical tourist souvenir shopping opportunity. I was sorely tempted by this phosphorescent fishnet beach cover-up set of pants and crop-top top... not.

Lesson learned: If you’ve traveled with me before, you know I sometimes find things in my photos that I had no idea were there. This is one of those. Here’s the photo I took:

And here’s what I found in it when I cropped it tight, and read what was on the handwritten cardboard sign. I had thought it was an announcement of an upcoming yard sale.

But here’s what it said:

SLAVERY REDUCED

US TO DUST

ASHES TO ASHES

DUST TO DUST

THE OBJECT

IS TO GROW

FROM DUST

TO INDUSTRY

LIKE TURNING

STONES INTO BREAD

Growing up in the American educational system, in New York, I thought of ‘slavery’ as an American issue. I never thought about how pervasive slavery was in the Caribbean, and Central America, and South America. I have learned a little more in my travels.

I won’t see this again until the next Viking cruise... and, no, I haven’t booked one... yet.