Finding the Forgotten Virgin
What makes St. Croix so obscure? Could it be history, or space aliens - or a touch of climatic schizophrenia?

Her white-sand beaches that fade into a green ocean are among the most postcard-perfect in the Caribbean. Her history, from the crumbling windmills to the old sugar-cane plantations, is among the most fascinating. Her people, accomplished in the West Indian art of island hospitality, are among the friendliest.

So why is St. Croix the lost Virgin Island, at least when compared with her two showy sisters, St. Thomas and St. John?

When we landed on the island, we couldn't tell. There was a blast of warm, humid air, the smell of jet fuel and Frangipani blossoms that greeting us as we stepped off the plane. There were rum drinks offered to us in plastic cups - and fruit punch for the kiddies - a trademark of this region. There were green hills and sheer cliffs plunging toward rocky shoals.

From all outward appearances, St Croix certainly looked like the other virgins. But something about this one was different. This island was quirkier, more eccentric - and a little bipolar, as we soon discovered.

Take the space aliens, for instance. As we toured the island the next day, familiarizing ourselves with the roads between the capital of Christiansted and the second city of Frederiksted, we noticed what looked like an enormous satellite dish on a mountain.

"That's the eye," our cab driver explained in a heavy Creole accent. "That's where they listen."

The Eye to the Sky, as folks here call it, is a $5 million antenna built by the National Science Foundation in order to eavesdrop on the cosmos. That's right, just like in the movie "Contact". The radio telescope is 82 feet in diameter, weighs 260 tons, and is identical to nine other telescopes in the United States. Together, they form one large telescope capable of listening into the farthest reaches of the galaxy.

We had toured one of the other radio telescopes in West Virginia a few years earlier, and we remembered one thing: Don't try to use your cell phone near one. It won't work.

Having that giant dish in you backyard can change your perspective. In rural West Virginia, the result is a backcountry laid-backness; on St. Croix, a similar attitude seemed infused with a Rastafarian sensibility. Hard to explain, exactly, but it's most likely the possibility that we're not alone in the universe - something the telescope reminds them of every day.

St. Croix is different in other ways, too. At 28 miles long by 7 miles wide, it's the largest of the Virgin Islands. We found plenty of opportunities to move around and explore, starting with a short walk from our villa to the Carambola Beach Resort club house for breakfast. The trail curved away from the rustling palm trees toward a shoreline that trembled with each crashing wave. These are industrial-strength waves, to be sure, but beyond the swells you can find numerous shore dives with pristine coral reefs. St. Croix may well have some of the best scuba diving in the Caribbean.

The island's Heritage Trail, which connects historic attractions, landmarks and scenic overlooks, took us to some of St. Croix's hidden treasures. We visited the Estate Whim Plantation Museum, a recently restored plantation with a still-functioning windmill once used to process sugar cane. And we toured the St. Georges Village Botanical Gardens, where bromeliads, cacti and orchids grew over the old 19th century plantation.

"After a while, the plants cover everything," our guide, Michael, said. He was speaking both literally and figuratively. The vines quickly overwhelm the ruins, growing rapidly because of the tropical climate. In the process, they also cover this island's past, a lively but often tragic history of colonization, war and slavery.

Still, the Crucians are easily among the most hospitable of the Caribbean people. They greet you with a smile, not the scowl reserved for visitors on some of the other islands. And that, despite - or maybe because of - the bipolar nature of their island. The topography of St. Croix changes from one end to the other, going from tropical rainforest on the Western side to desert on the Eastern side. None of the other Virgin Islands have this conflicting climate, where arid and rainforest exist side-by-side.

And then there's the food. Nothing says "welcome to the islands" better than a plate of roast pork or a bowl of spicy conch chowder. And let's not forget the rum, either. We wrapped up our visit to the island with a fascinating tour of the Cruzan Rum distillery, where rum is made according to exacting standards. The spirit is so pure that Cruzan exports it to other distillers, which in turn create their own rums from it.

After a few days on St. Croix, it's obvious to us why this destination is so obscure. People here like it that way. There's no spring break crowd, no overpriced beach hotels, and the locals still outnumber the tourists every day of the year. Getting here is difficult, and that's just fine with the Crucians.

Being the forgotten Virgin, really, isn't so bad.

Christopher Elliott and Kari Haugeto are writers based in Key Largo, Fla. This article was written in March 2004. Last update March 2004.

Top photo: Vacant beaches are a real treat at St. Croix. [Photo credit: Kari Haugeto, Not2far]

Second photo: Windmill at the Estate Whim Plantation Museum. [Photo credit: Christopher Elliott, not2far]

Third photo: A prickly tour through the cactus garden at the St. George Village Botanical Garden. [Photo credit: Christopher Elliott, Not2far]

Bottom photo: The shoreline at the Carambola Beach Resort. [Photo credit: Kari Haugeto, Not2far]

Publication-quality high-resolution digital images are available upon request.

Interested in publishing this story? Here's information on getting exclusive regional rights in your newspaper, magazine or online publication.