First I spent about a week on Saint Croix, the largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands, but still just 28 miles across. It would have been extremely bikeable, except it wasn’t – the roads were winding, often with no shoulder, and the traffic is not cyclist friendly. Locals I talked to blamed this on the tourists.
Still, with a base in Christiansted, and a rented car here and there, I managed to get a good feel for the place. Of the three islands, it had the most relaxed mood in its settlements and the greatest number of authentic Caribbean dining options.
This is Christiansted:
This guy is ready to give you yoga and massages – and he pays you! 
Probably from Danish colonial times. 
A view from near my apartment. 
Go team! 
The boardwalk. 
Fish by the boardwalk 
This is one of the roads I would walk down every day from my apartment to downtown. 
They use AC to get people into their stores.
There was delicious food typical of the Caribbean, and international fare as well.
My first meal in Saint Croix was stew chicken at Zeny’s restaurant. 
At a brewery on the boardwalk, I tried Caribbean rock lobster. 
In fact, this restaurant near my apartment is was Trini resteaurant. 
The tasting room of a distillery that makes vodka from breadfruit. 
Filet mignon burger. People said I had to try it. It was only OK. 
Food truck… 
…where I got parrotfish. 
People said I had to go to this underground lair to try the chicken-fried steak. Well, it sure is deluxe. 
Hey, at the steak place I chatted with a customer who was celebrating quitting working here. 
There was an old fort in Christiansted, just like in so many of these old Caribbean towns, from when Europeans were always trying to hack and claw at one another.
I took a drive out to Cruzan rum distillery. (Well, first to Captain Morgan’s, but the visitor center was closed.)
Cruzan rum is only OK but the tour was great, seeing the huge distillation process, some of the ruins of the old original distillery built by the Danes, and getting plenty of complimentary drinks at the end.
I also went out to the Saint George Village Botanical Gardens. These gardens had ruins from colonial times, and even traces from indigenous peoples.
A little path to an isolated beach:
I was able to drive out to places to eat not in walking distance of my apartment.
Over on the west side of the island was Frederiksted, the second-biggest settlement on Saint Croix, and a little hike to the westernmost part of the island. Here you can see the earliest sunset in the U.S.
A monument to the westernmost point of the island. 
A little hike nearby. Walk, really. 
There’s the beach I’m going too. 
The Caribbean has cacti! 
The beach at the end of the hike. 
World’s worst dildo. 
Frederiksted. 
I saw the sunset before you. Or would have if it were clear out. 
The conch of freedom, commemorating the end of slavery on the island.
From Christiansted, I took one guided tour our for snorkeling to Buck Island. It was the best snorkeling I’ve done in my life. Even better though, on the way back a pod of dolphins found us and sported and played around our boat.
Overall, the island, like much of the Caribbean, had everywhere sexy, sexy chickens.
