USVI Day 8 (Videos added!)

Today we took on another challenging hike. This one wasn't super long but did have major elevation gain and we also had all our snorkeling gear with us. It's been hotter the last couple days so it was getting toasty inside the tree cover, partially shielded from the breeze.

This is brown bay. There is a large grass-bed here which was a fun contrast to the rock and coral we've been floating over for a while now.

I like the tree/shrub cover which is always along the beaches. There is always shade and there's always a clothes-line.

Gorgeous as always - I'll never tire of that color.

There are ruins hidden in the trees here which are quite extensive. I thought this would be a good filming area for some sort of horror movie. It wouldn't take much to make it feel really dark inside these vines.

On the trail again, back up over the (mini) mountain.

Goats again, they must have finished the mowing project.

In the background here, you can see Love City Mini Mart where we bought most of our groceries. It was superior to the other marts in both price and selection. It was however the most sketchy. For example, you can see a shipping container on the far right side of the picture. These were both warehouse space as well as apartment space. Good stuff.

We ate at Shipwreck Landing again which continues to impress every time. Solid.

Note: The cell-phone camera's flash is bright.

USVI Day 7 (Videos Added!)

Today we did a little more driving and a little more cultural absorption.

The goat heard was out and about.

This is a fairly typical road and actually not quite as steep as some of them. The pavement is in really good condition so driving is never really bad, just makes you wonder when the vehicle's transmission will explode.

Some construction going on. This lot has a pretty nice location and overlooks a pretty large bay without too many neighbors. I like the solar array on the roof. It's too small (at least what was visible from the road) but the right idea anyway. 

This is where the goat herd ended up later in the day. They had traveled to this sports field to mow for a while.

Another typical road - there are lots of ultra steep switchbacks like this. 

We stopped to check out a windmill ruin. It was perched on top of a hill that was sort of a little peninsula and there was a bay to look at on both sides. 

We spent a little time at Mongoose Junction in Cruz Bay. It is a shopping center which did not simply grow slowly over time, it was clearly purpose-built for tourists to be able to shop for hours in one stop. Many of the stores were just full of crap, but it was still a good place to wonder around. Lunch was cooked in a small shed located at the end of the strip of tables you see below. The food was fantastic!

Here you can see some of the Mongoose Junction buildings. The small white/green one is the kitchen for the restaurant we ate at. 

Bush-pigs!

Down a little level-B road, there is this windmill ruin. I think it had some of the most interesting architecture design that we saw. This was definitely an example of doing things because you could, not due to necessity. 

The center tunnel passage goes to the basement and the others are various rooms.

This is the basement under the mill, directly below the center of the mill's turret tower. Surrounding it is a large circular room with alternating windows and storage cavities. 

The time spent fitting these rocks together is baffling to me. 

Here is a local taxi. This is almost the only use for full-size trucks on the island - they are almost all taxis. We saw several of them full today, perhaps there was a cruise-ship at the port. 

A short stop for some ice-cream on the way back to the house. 

Time to lounge for a while before doing some pre-sunset snorkeling! (will add videos shortly)

USVI Day 6 (added videos)

Sprinkles early as always, and we have a great rainbow this morning. It's still weird to me that the temperature never changes from one day to the next, like the most perfect day in summer but every single day. Today the plan is to check it out the Annaberg ruins, which I've seen on several souvenirs up to this point. I figure that has to mean its either the biggest ruin or just the closest to the road. It turned out to almost be both.

Here we're fitting the GoPro to one of the Jeep's tow hooks.

Annaberg ruins, and this place is huge. I think it was the biggest of all that we saw. This could simply mean that it's been destroyed the least but I'm not sure. Nice buildings and most of it is standing.

The mill is big but not nearly as extravagant as another we saw later.

This was the first time I've seen a sailing cruise ship that is actually the size of a cruise ship.

We headed back to the lot to get ready for some snorkeling. The place to be is Watermelon bay, which is located at the end of a really nice hiking trail that flows along right next to the water.

A mongoose sighting! These are apparently everywhere but I didn't see many. They were brought here to hunt smaller varmints but turned out to be terrestrial when the prey was nocturnal (possibly the other way around, I'm not 100% certain.

We ate dinner at Ms. Lucy's which is always great. I discovered that they serve beer which is home brewed by some guy in his house in the island. It was pretty good and did not make me sick later. Win, win.