April 2019
We docked at the cruise terminal in Charlotte Amalie(population: 10,354), the capital city of U.S. Virgin Islands(population: 107,200) and the island of St. Thomas(population: 51,600), which was named after a Danish queen. There were shared van taxis lined up at the terminal, and it seemed like one could get to a place anywhere on St. Thomas for $10-15 per person. We wanted to go to Red Hook area to see our niece who operates a B&B there, and we were quickly put on one of the vans by the van organizers. 
After driving up and down the hills for 30 minutes or so, we arrived at the B&B and surprised our niece who had no idea we were coming. When we saw her last time, she was a lawyer working in downtown Los Angeles. She and her husband now operate the B&B full time because business is great, according to her. It was a nice place with the view of a bay and tastefully decorated rooms. I still remember her as a toddler who stuffed crayons in the holes on the back of a television set: adults were wondering why the TV stopped working!
She told us to get on the ferry and go to St. John rather than staying in St. Thomas. “More pleasant there” were her words. She knew we were not planning to go buy jewelry.
Red Hook ferry terminal was just a few minutes drive from our niece’s B&B. It was a simple place with the ticket counter, a waiting area, and bathrooms. The 20 minute ferry($7 each way) runs hourly though out the day. The scenery was quite spectacular on the ferry, and the ride was comfortable.
Cruz Bay(population: 2,700) is where the ferry docked in St. John(population: 4,170). It’s the shopping/dining in Cruz Bay and/or visiting the National Park that one can do in St. John. We decided to stay in Cruz Bay thinking there was not enough time for an adventure.
It’s a low-key, laid-back beach town with restaurants by the water and condos on the hills. More pleasant than Charlotte Amalie, we could agree. We were hungry by this time, thus, we walked into a restaurant right on the bay. The service was a bit slow but the food was fine. Not very cheap, but you didn’t expect that.
There were some shops that had interesting artisan creations, but they were not cheap. After a couple of hours, we hopped back on the ferry. At Red Hook terminal, we were able to find a taxi van that took us back to the cruise terminal. We noticed outlet malls and shopping centers that looked like warehouses on the way but were not tempted to stop in. Some people go to St. Thomas just to shop, we were told.
Small Wide World 