Exploring Christiansted

Our planned excursion to Buck Island to snorkel all day was canceled due to weather! A bit of a downpour occurred after breakfast, and we received a message that our Buck Island tour was canceled.

We got up early, ate breakfast as soon as they opened, pulled our stuff together to catch our scheduled taxi and got the text. Dang! We decided to take the taxi anyway, changed into normal clothes, and took the half-hour ride into Christiansted, near Gallows Bay where our ferry first landed on St Croix. We had unexpected exploring to do.

Christiansted has a long history, as many Caribbean Islands do. Native people built quite a town around 2000 years ago, including a ball court and ceremonial plaza. Then Columbus visited in 1493, got into the first battle between natives and Europeans and subsequently named the island Santa Cruz. Fortunately, the battle showed only one soldier killed on each side. France took over later, changing the name to St. Croix.

The Danes purchased the island from the French in 1624 and started building sugar plantations and importing slaves from Africa. They also built forts to protect their investments.

The fort and associated buildings
David Hamilton Jackson
Customs House

The statue is of David Hamilton Jackson, known as Black Moses, who was the Martin Luther King Jr. of this island, advocating for civil rights.

One of the three forts built by the Danes in the town is in good repair, and we visited it.

The fort, dating to 1749, was beautifully restored. Also, the Danish guards must have been quite thin!

A tour group from a Viking cruise visited when we were at the fort, so we listened to some of the stories. Many cannons were set up for display.

These cannons, as well as others situated on points of land to protect the harbor, were never fired except ceremoniously.

The fort itself was used in many different ways through the years.

Jail cells

Many other buildings are part of the National Historic Site.

The Scale House was for weighing goods being imported or exported.
This was a Lutheran church built in 1753, but it was deconsecrated in 1831. It is now called the Steeple Building and was restored by the Park Service in 1960.
Some later buildings are styled after the fort..
Lord God of Sabaoth Lutheran Church

After the historic site, we joined the present and walked along the boardwalk looking for lunch.

This old windmill is now a waterfront bar
Chair for catching a big one from the boardwalk!
Advertising the island to those here!

Crabs on the rocks at Rum Runners restaurant

The crabs were hungry, too! The food was excellently prepared, delicious.

High qualification to park here?!

We wondered if a savant was a fortune teller, but the business was not open.

A vendor’s wares on the boardwalk
The harbor

After wandering more, we called a cab and went back to the hotel. We signed up for the Buck Island tour for the next day and needed to get up early again.

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