Shopping and Lunch in Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas, USVI

The best travel writing starts out in the form of letters about what the traveller saw, but ends up further and further from that first impression as it’s polished and buffed by editors. By the time the reader gets it, in many instances it’s hard to get a feel for what the traveler actually saw. So I have decided to present my notes from my latest trip to Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas, USVI. If you haven’t been, this is a duty free shoppers paradise, specializing in fine gold, silver and gemstone jewelry with a backdrop of serene, turquoise blue Caribbean waters. Here is how my day went:

Downtown
Cab arrived at 10 a.m. and dropped us downtown near the post office Basically the shopping district begins at the ocean and extends backwards in blocks from it. First we walked along the water front to the yacht club where the cruise ships come in. There are speakers all over the club grounds playing reggae music. Also the manicured landscaping is very nice. We went to a cafe there called Badass coffee – with a donkey for a logo – hah hah. It is like starbucks but indie and ironically the coffee is Hawaiian Kona instead of Caribbean, but the quality is top notch. I did not see a Starbucks anywhere on the island. The downside is that unlike Starbucks these cafes close at a ridiculously early hour – at 5 p.m. or something like that which is when the cruise ships leave.