Touristing In Charlotte Amalie

Our spot in Long Bay

We covered the distance between our anchorage in Honeymoon Bay, Water Island in no time.  We followed our tracks through Haulover Cut and barely escaped being run down by a sea plane… all in a day’s work.  We settled in near the NE shore in about 17 ft. depths in preparation for some winds forecasted to be ferocious later in the week.

N18°20.244
W064°55.596

Adventure US 2 Coming through Haulover Cut

Suddenly I heard a sound from behind us and had to hurry to Starboard....

Safely landed and motoring back to dock somewhere

Heading for the dinghy dock at Yacht Haven Grande

We were ready to go ashore for a much-needed provisioning run by mid-afternoon.  Last time we were here we didn’t know there was a K-Mart right up the road from the Pueblo grocery store.  We headed there first to check prices and availability for some of the things we wanted to buy here, then backtracked to Pueblo for groceries.  

The prices here are a mix.  We have been spoiled by the low cost of provisioning in Puerto Rico and wish we had stocked up on some things like canned goods that are more expensive here… But we are trying to really “live off the land” as we transition into living life where we are as opposed to being on our way to somewhere…  But it still makes sense to know where to find the bargains and if you buy “local” brands instead of sticking to American name brands, you can usually do alright.

What is beneath that deck???

We found the meat and produce prices to be very reasonable here and will buy all we can before we move on to the BVI, where everything is expensive.  If we purchase canned and paper goods on sale it’s not too bad as long as we don’t buy US brands.  All in all, we made a pretty good grocery haul for less than we expected.  And liquor is CHEAP!!

Being in the “big city” is fun.  We get to see the Cruise Ships come and go, there are lots of BABs docked at Yacht Haven Grande… were we are allowed to dock our dinghy freely for access to shore… and although there is some traffic noise from being as close as we are to shore, we chose it so can’t complain.  

Docked the dinks at YHG and walked to town

Our first full day in Charlotte Amalie we joined AU2 and went ashore for some exercise and exploration.  Bruce and I had not fully explored the town and I wanted to get off the main streets and see more of the architecture.  History is alive here in these old buildings and it’s nice to see so many of them still used.

The old fort

The Tourist Market

We had a nice lunch, little pricey but its a Tourist Town and the food was good…  Then we took off up the back streets and found exactly what I had hoped.  The streets let up the hillside with homes built as best as could be on the uneven terrain.

New Orleans-esque!

Crazy power lines... no lawyers here!

Reserved since 1830!!!!

I imagine that this is what it must be like in Greece and just love looking at these homes, trying to put myself here back in colonial times.  You can just feel the history here.

  

Hotel 1829... no these are not the steps...!

We hiked and climbed and gawked our way to the bottom of the 99 Steps.  It was here that JL and Bruce refused to continue on.  Michael and I hoofed it up all 99 Plus to the top and checked out the grounds for Blackbeard’s Castle.  We didn’t go inside, leaving that for another day perhaps…perhaps not.

Old Mossy Steps

Looking down from the top of the 99 steps

View from the top of the 99 steps

Statues in front of BlackBeard's Castle. 

Halfway back down...

We found our mates back at the bottom of the Steps… and they had drawn a crowd of other like-minded tourists.  Sweaty and smelly but happy for the exercise, we backtracked to the shops to see if we could find a new hat for Bruce…  None fit his needs so it was back to the boat for us.

The market

Pop-Up art.  Look at the pipes coming out of the wall...

We found a shortcut on the return… why hadn’t we found this before?  A boardwalk ran along the water’s edge and through the Cruise Ship Shoppes and back through the Marina.  We shopped briefly and found some treasures in the small chandlery there, then retired to our boats to recuperate…

Oh... NOW I see BlackBeard's Castle!!!

Cruise Ship!

Tomorrow… we tackle Hassel Island!