This seems to be my season of Pony Clubbing in exotic locales! Saint Croix Pony Club in the US Virgin Islands invited me to be their clinician for their annual summer camp in June and I jumped at the opportunity. With their enticing promise of lodging, many meals, a car, and various excursions it took very little convincing to get Scott to agree to tag along as well. So, at a ridiculously early morning hour on June 12, my parents, graciously acting as our Uber drivers, shuttled us to the Charlotte airport for the start of our adventure. They hugged and kissed us curbside and then we were off to Cruzan Pony Club Camp!
We booked our flights using credit card points, and as it often goes when booking them that way, were not originally able to get on the same flight from Miami to STX1. Scott would be taking the earlier flight to STX and I would have a two hour layover in Miami and would join him a few hours later. The travel gods were smiling down on us however, and I was able to fly standby on his flight so that we both arrived in STX on the same plane. The travel gods were not smiling favorably upon Scott’s dive bag however, so this meant that while Scott and I were on the same plane, the bag was not. It ended up flying on the later flight and we had to collect it later that evening.
Rosanne Boyan, the DC of the STXPC, picked us up and took us to Sprat Hall so that we could get the car we would be using for our stay. STXPC legend and founder Bettye Skeoch had generously offered her Ford Escape up for our use as she was still stateside convalescing from eye surgery. At Sprat Hall we were met by Steve Scott, fiance to the owner of the STXPC grounds, Becky Merwin2. Becky and Steve owned Hilltop House where we would be staying and Steve escorted us to the house.
We got our first real taste of Cruzan roads on the mile drive from Steve and Becky’s to Hilltop House, encountering pot holes that would eat the Escape for lunch if you weren’t careful. Following Steve, with the Caribbean lapping at the hillside on our left, we dodged and weaved our way through the pothole minefield before turning to head up the mountain. We passed Estate Mount Washington on the way and then began the ascent- both of our ears popping as we climbed the 10% grade. And then we made it to the clearing at the top… and lo and behold, there was the Caribbean way below us. We could see all of the town of Frederiksted laid out beneath us, including the famous cruise ship pier where Scott would be diving. Before even showing us the inside of the house, Steve made sure that we saw the cafe table and chairs that sat under the lone tree in the clearing, suggesting we have our morning coffee from that spot. (We followed his advice and enjoyed morning coffee time each morning of our ten day trip overlooking the turquoise bay.)
Steve showed us around the house, opening up windows and doors as he did to help get a breeze going through the house since there was no air conditioning. Green lizards scurried out of our way as we got the tour and I took a deep breath and forced myself to stay calm despite their presence inside the house. It turns out that they were pretty adept at staying out of our way and I learned to look for them on the inside of the screen doors and door frames so I wouldn’t be startled when opening the door and scream. By the end of our trip I was able to mostly ignore them.
After the tour Steve said goodbye and left. We quickly unpacked and then needed to head back to the airport to collect the scuba bag before the airport closed at 5 PM. Scott bravely got behind the wheel of the Escape, giving me instructions to remind him to stay LEFT, and away we went, ready to tackle left-side-of-the-road driving. We arrived at the airport with just a few minutes to spare and as promised, the scuba bag was waiting for us, riding along the open air luggage carousel. We loaded it up and then ventured into Frederiksted for dinner. We parked near the cruise ship pier and enjoyed looking out over the Caribbean for a bit, marveling at the fact that we would get to explore this area to our heart’s delight for the next week and a half.
Many of the restaurants didn’t open until 6 PM so we found a rooftop bar to have the signature Cruzan cocktail- the Painkiller, made with Cruzan rum and topped with freshly grated nutmeg.
Six Nine, our restaurant choice for the evening, was now open so we headed that way which was located in the same plaza as the bar. We had the best brussel sprouts of our lives (truffle oil was the magic ingredient according to our North Carolina born server) and split an entree. The whole dinner experience was splendid, made even richer by the company of a friendly neighborhood stray cat, Frank, who kept us company throughout the meal.
After dinner we needed to grocery shop to stock up for the week, mostly to get supplies for our breakfasts, and for Scott’s lunches. My lunch each day while I was working would be supplied by the Pony Club and we had several gift cards for dinner at various spots around the island. To say we experienced sticker shock at the grocery store would be a gross understatement- food was stupendously expensive which makes sense when you consider that it all has to come over via ship from either Puerto Rico or the mainland. The farther it travels, the more expensive it becomes.
Being so close to the equator it got dark quickly and Scott did a great job driving us home on the “wrong” side of the road and only messed up a few times- mostly when having to dodge a pothole and forgetting to go back to the left side. He got us safely back to Hilltop House and we put our groceries away and finished unpacking (not hard when we both were one-bagging it- with the exception of the scuba bag). The house’s position atop the mountain meant that it caught the wind and air moved nicely through the building keeping it at a comfortable temperature. We went to sleep with the sounds of the Caribbean wind and crickets as our white noise.
