Photos from St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands
Saturday & Sunday, December 18-19, 2004
St. Thomas for the Weekend
I was supposed to go to St. Thomas via the ferry during the four days that I was originally supposed to be in the US Virgin Islands. The ferry service was not running but was supposed to have started up for the season on Monday. I was then going to go to St. Thomas on Tuesday, do the work I needed to do, and return on the ferry the same day. However, even though this was more than three years after 9/11, Homeland Security decided that the ferry landing on St. Thomas was not secure enough. So the start-up date for the ferry was unknown at this time while work was done in St. Thomas.
This was why my time in the islands got extended, and the new plan was for me (and a couple of other people in the group) to take a seaplane to St. Thomas. This was scheduled for Saturday, but the return flight on Saturday was full. So we would have to return on Sunday. This worked out great because St. Thomas is a much better place to be than St. Croix.
I flew to St. Thomas on Saturday morning, did about ten minutes of work, and had the rest of the weekend to do whatever I wanted to do.
Christiansted Harbor, St. Croix, as seen from the seaplane terminal
The seaplane terminal in Christiansted, St. Croix
The seaplane arriving
On board the seaplane taking off
On board the seaplane
On board the seaplane taking off
On board the seaplane taking off
St. Croix from the air
St. Croix from the air
St. Thomas (one the left) and St. John
The Queen Mary II anchored outside the port of Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
(She was too big to enter the port)
The harbor of Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
The harbor of Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
You can see two other cruise ships tied up to the pier across the harbor
The seaplane terminal in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
A taxi in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
The parking lot of the work site on St. Thomas
You can see the town of Red Hook in the distance and the island of St. John beyond
The Hard Rock Cafe in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
Narrow lanes in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
A view of the harbor of Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas with a seaplane taking off
The Holiday Inn, Windward Passage, in Charlotte Amalie
The courtyard of the Holiday Inn
A fruit stand by the dock, across from the hotel
The harbor with two cruise ships docked
A view of the city of Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, from the boardwalk
Along the boardwalk of Charlotte Amalie
A view of the Hard Rock Cafe from the boardwalk
A view of charlotte Amalie from the boardwalk
A view of charlotte Amalie from the boardwalk
A view of charlotte Amalie from the boardwalk
A view of charlotte Amalie from the boardwalk
A sailing ship in the harbor of Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
A shuttle from the Queen Mary II which was anchored outside the harbor
A fire station in Charlotte Amalie
The Legislature of the Virgin Islands in Charlotte Amalie
More of the waterfront in Charlotte Amalie
Frederick Evangical Lutheran Church in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
Looking up at Hotel 1829 in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
Another taxi
A street with shops in Charlotte Amalie just after 5:00PM — everything is locked up tight
A street market in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
A map on a wall along one of the narrow lanes
Picturesque building in Charlotte Amalie — reminds me of New Orleans
Market Square, a busy slave market in the 1700's, now a produce market on market days
The synagogue in Charlotte Amalie
Established around 1660, the cornerstone of the present St. Thomas Reformed Church was laid September 18, 1844 and completed and consecrated on February 8, 1848. It is the oldest congregation in the Virgin Islands and the longest standing denomination with a continuous ministry in the United States .
99 Steps
Stretching from Government Hill to Lille Tarne Gade (Little Tower Street), it actually has 103 steps.
Fort Christian Charlotte Amalie
Fort Christian Virgin Islands Museum in Charlotte Amalie
Christmas decorations and a man with a donkey
Emancipation Park in Charlotte Amalie
Sugarcane, produced by slave labor, drove the islands' economy during the 18th and early 19th centuries, until the abolition of slavery by Governor Peter von Scholten on July 3, 1848.
Emancipation Park in Charlotte Amalie
A replica of the Liberty Bell in Emancipation Park
A Freedom sculpture in Emancipation Park in Charlotte Amalie
Taking off in the seaplane from Charlotte Amalie harbor
Cooperation between the pilots
Leaving Charlotte Amalie harbor behind
Goodbye St. Thomas
