St. John and USVI National Park, Part II

One of the many lovely beaches in the USVI park on St. John – Cinnamon Bay

A while back I did promise you ‘d get back to the fun stuff, so not a single whine about the refrigeration or stories about head rebuilds!

The USVI National park not only has a lot of beaches, there are nature trails all over the island, as well as some nice facilities and some beautiful reefs.  Cinnamon Bay on the North side of island has a camp ground with some interesting looking facilities and programs, though still too expensive for a night of kid camping like we are looking for.  There are also a couple of trail heads there, so we strapped on our hiking shoes and headed for shore.

One of the trails is a short loop that runs past the ruins an old sugar factory.  There are some historical plaques there that describe the process and how this was built.  St. John is dotted with the ruins of a lot of old homes and economic ventures – various starts and false starts to try and exploit the region.  Apparently he collapse of slave labor played no small part in the failure of some of these efforts, but there also was a fair amount of political upheaval as the various European powers swept through the region repeatedly.  The loop trail is an easy shaded hike, surprisingly cool in the morning hours.  Spiders, lizards and termites were what we saw of wildlife.  The termites build large bloated looking nests in trees they are infecting; in truth the idea of kicking one of those open gives me the willies with all those bugs spilling out.  There were also signs about some local large millipedes which could spray something nasty on you if you upset them, but we didn’t see any of them on the loop trail.

One side of the ruins covered with flowers

After the loop, we entered the other nearby trail which heads across the island.  The sign at the trail head read “moderate uphill”, which can be interpreted to mean “climbing gear, ropes, and mountain spikes not required” as it immediately takes off uphill at an angle that would flip you over on your back if you were riding it on a bike.  Halfway across the trail is a fork, with a sign labelled “Ruins on America Hill”.  More uphills, some switchbacks in the path as well as less shade.  But the view from the top is worth it.  The ruins appear to be a house, with some outbuildings near it.

The stunning view

View of the ruins on America Hill from MahoBay

After our hiking we headed back to the boat and moved on to Maho Bay.  One of the recommended stops at Maho Bay is the restaurant at the Maho Bay Campground.  This Campground is a privately run Eco-conscious resort and quite different than the campground at the National Park.  From the small beach at the base of the hillside, a long series of steps and walkways rises up the hillside.  The camping is not in tents, but in screened in cabins.  The walkways and stairs are evocative of some of the tree dwelling scenes from movies (the Ewok Village on Endor, or Lothlorien depending on your Fantasy/SciFi bent), where houses rise out of the trees and walkways disappear under the foliage.  Ok, maybe it’s not that magical but it is a cool setup and looks like a fun place to stay if you weren’t on a boat.  Birds flit through the trees, there are a few chickens in the under brush, the ubiquitous lizards warm themselves on the rocks and there is quite a collection of resort cats lounging around and asserting their ownership of the place.

That’s Evenstar’s anchor light you can see there

The restaurant is on the top of the resort, you walk high up the steps to reach it and when you get there it overlooks the bay below.  Yet another stunning view from a high place…it doesn’t get old though.  This one faces west and it’s a good spot to take in the sunset as you eat.  We’d moved to the bay in front of the resort, you can see Evenstar in this sunset picture.

“Restaurant” is a bit of a misnomer, as it is the resort’s dining facility.  It’s a restaurant in that there is a menu and someone else cooks for you.  But you place your order at the register and pick up your food from the kitchen counter, and you bus your own dishes…not quite cafeteria, not quite restaurant.  That being said, the food is wonderful and reasonably priced – I’m guessing not having wait staff helps with that.  Each night they have a different theme and offer a meat, fish, chicken, and vegetarian dish to choose from as well as a salad bar and iced tea.  We caught Southern Night and feasted on ribs and Southern fried chicken with collard greens and mashed potatoes.  All in all a reasonable dinner in a stunning setting, so I’d have to give a thumbs up to those recommendations so long as you aren’t expecting to be able to speak to a wine steward.

All this hiking and snorkeling is going to do me in, whatever happened to sitting under a palm tree with a cold rum drink in my hand?