Island Visitor
Senior Insider
Ahoy St Croix!
The novembre edition of Caribbean Travel And Leisure has an article entitled "St Croix: The Next Hot Place". This title is on the cover, just below a title "St Barts, Party Like A Rock Star". LOL.
In truth, the St Croix article makes a lot of good points. In my three trips there over the last five years (interlaced with nine trips to St Barth and a trip to Anguilla) I have felt a lot of potential.
As a larger island with infrastructure, St Croix could have handled a lot more tourists than it has. The Trifecta of Fountain Valley, Hugo and the scandalous behaviour of one of the cruise lines doomed St Croix to stew in its own juices.
But what they have produced is a slowly developing island that has begun to lure people wanting a Miker Experience. That is, casual authenticity.
When a cruise ship disgorges three thousand people into a port, the merchants know they have a limitted time to make their sales and put dinner on their table. No time for sentimentality, no time for getting to know people. Move the merchandise. It isn't evil. It isn't bad. It is a mutually agreed transaction. It is what it is.
On the other hand, St Croix does not have cruise ship and some of the locals dont want them although many do. The many times I have cruised the stores in Christiansted have been a very different experience than what you will get on some islands. Yes the merchants are trying to make a sale. That is how they eat. But there is no hustle because they have a different clientele. They know that most people who walk through their stores are locals, Continentals (people from the US who moved there, at least part of the year) or folks who actually meant to come to St Croix as opposed to just popping in on a ship. In other words, they know that any customer could be a repeat customer or even a lifelong customer. And they treat you as such, even to the point of saying "Stop in again next time you are here".
When you are in St Croix, you really get a sense of "Club". You see it at a bar when the rastafarian guy with the white girlfriend hugs the White Biker Dude and they both gladhand the Seen It All Seaport Waitress. These people KNOW each other.
But The Club is not exclusive. Even though they dont know YOU, they do know that you are not there by accident, that you chose to be there. And so they are happy to treat you like a member. It is just a very nice vibe.
Now, can you get into mischief if you walk into the wrong sections of the island? No doubt. Indeed, I type this epistle barely 100 yards away from Mischief in my little town. So Mischief is everywhere.
St Croix has interesting topography, decent beaches (though not to the level of AXA or St John), interesting history, culture, a diverse economy and friendly people. The East End particularly looks to be poised for Primetime real estate. A fellow would be very clever to buy a lot there
One of our favorite rants in this site is how many places are "over" - past their prime and merely waiting for the Snow Santa shakeup trinkets, the Bobblehead Native Dolls and the I Got Mine In t-shirts.
St Croix is most definitly not over. Andy and Miker witnessed the painful slippage of this island into a tourism coma a couple of decades ago. Well, it is poised to break out of that slumber in a big way.
Those of you looking to buy something affordable, a little slice of a caribbean rock, may want to check this place out before the prices go up.
BTW: Congrats to me. With this post, I join Miker's Ten Thousand Club. We now await our good friend Andynap, who will be the next to learn The Secret Handshake.
The novembre edition of Caribbean Travel And Leisure has an article entitled "St Croix: The Next Hot Place". This title is on the cover, just below a title "St Barts, Party Like A Rock Star". LOL.
In truth, the St Croix article makes a lot of good points. In my three trips there over the last five years (interlaced with nine trips to St Barth and a trip to Anguilla) I have felt a lot of potential.
As a larger island with infrastructure, St Croix could have handled a lot more tourists than it has. The Trifecta of Fountain Valley, Hugo and the scandalous behaviour of one of the cruise lines doomed St Croix to stew in its own juices.
But what they have produced is a slowly developing island that has begun to lure people wanting a Miker Experience. That is, casual authenticity.
When a cruise ship disgorges three thousand people into a port, the merchants know they have a limitted time to make their sales and put dinner on their table. No time for sentimentality, no time for getting to know people. Move the merchandise. It isn't evil. It isn't bad. It is a mutually agreed transaction. It is what it is.
On the other hand, St Croix does not have cruise ship and some of the locals dont want them although many do. The many times I have cruised the stores in Christiansted have been a very different experience than what you will get on some islands. Yes the merchants are trying to make a sale. That is how they eat. But there is no hustle because they have a different clientele. They know that most people who walk through their stores are locals, Continentals (people from the US who moved there, at least part of the year) or folks who actually meant to come to St Croix as opposed to just popping in on a ship. In other words, they know that any customer could be a repeat customer or even a lifelong customer. And they treat you as such, even to the point of saying "Stop in again next time you are here".
When you are in St Croix, you really get a sense of "Club". You see it at a bar when the rastafarian guy with the white girlfriend hugs the White Biker Dude and they both gladhand the Seen It All Seaport Waitress. These people KNOW each other.
But The Club is not exclusive. Even though they dont know YOU, they do know that you are not there by accident, that you chose to be there. And so they are happy to treat you like a member. It is just a very nice vibe.
Now, can you get into mischief if you walk into the wrong sections of the island? No doubt. Indeed, I type this epistle barely 100 yards away from Mischief in my little town. So Mischief is everywhere.
St Croix has interesting topography, decent beaches (though not to the level of AXA or St John), interesting history, culture, a diverse economy and friendly people. The East End particularly looks to be poised for Primetime real estate. A fellow would be very clever to buy a lot there
One of our favorite rants in this site is how many places are "over" - past their prime and merely waiting for the Snow Santa shakeup trinkets, the Bobblehead Native Dolls and the I Got Mine In t-shirts.
St Croix is most definitly not over. Andy and Miker witnessed the painful slippage of this island into a tourism coma a couple of decades ago. Well, it is poised to break out of that slumber in a big way.
Those of you looking to buy something affordable, a little slice of a caribbean rock, may want to check this place out before the prices go up.
BTW: Congrats to me. With this post, I join Miker's Ten Thousand Club. We now await our good friend Andynap, who will be the next to learn The Secret Handshake.
