And we’re back! It has been far too long since my last post but how can you blame me? A week of kayaking, beach bumming, camping, relaxing and stuffing yourself with local food and drink from the Caribbean… can sidetrack you. Although my vacation was technically spent in America, the US Virgin Islands felt anything but familiar. I guess I would describe them as a much more cool, relaxed and drunk America. I spent most of my time on the Island of St. Croix, but did hop a sea plane and ferry to St. John, for a 2 day camping excursion. St. John was absolutely beautiful but the 2 day adventure made me realize that I do enjoy the finer things in life, (3 days without a shower can do that). Here are some of the things I saw, enjoyed, contemplated and experience on my island adventure.
10 Things I learned in the Virgin Islands:
- People drive on the left side of the road
- You can walk around with your beverage. Bars give you convenient plastic to-go cups to take to the next bar, or for your ride home.
- When driving home at night, be weary of wild horses standing in the road
- Food is ridiculously expensive. Their supermarkets are like Costco with Whole Foods pricing. I’m talking $6 for a box of Cheerios and $4 for a small bag of Doritos. Their selection is also very limited. We went to 3 different grocery stores to find Buttermilk and still came up empty handed.
- Do not bury your feet deep into the wet sand at night to hide from mosquitos. Though the mosquitos will go hungry, the sand fleas will feast.
- If you are going camping, bring a flashlight… and toilet paper.
- A beer for breakfast is OK.
- If you hear about a tsunami warning do not be alarmed! It is probably a rumor started on twitter earlier that day.
- They do not have official tsunami alarms so you should probably listen to that rumor, just in case.
- The only cheap product is rum, and lots of it.
What I ate and saw in the Virgin Islands:
A local plate lunch of rice and beans, macaroni and cheese, stewed conch, fried sweet plantains, and johnny cakes which are fried cornmeal flatbreads.
A Mango Colada from Glady’s Cafe. Fresh mango, coconut cream, hint of lime and rum. Honestly, the best drink i’ve ever had.
Conch in garlic butter with a side of sweet potato, plantains and fungi- a cornmeal mush
Papayas the size of melons
Trunk Bay on St. John. One of the most beautiful beaches I’ve been to
A local trying to open a coconut from the wrong end
Ginourmous dogs that wanted to eat me
Cool taxis
Guava Paste! A slice of this on a cracker with cream cheese = a slice of heaven
Bull Foot. A popular lunch item
Fancy Police Officers
Bull Foot. A popular lunch item
No dining experience is complete without a Homer Simpson dark chocolate
SPOONDLES 
so curious about that guava paste!
I fell in love with guava paste when I was a little girl and my Cuban grandmother would bring some with her every time she visited. It is very popular as an after dinner treat and If you like guava, you will love this. Guava paste is a combination of guava pulp, sugar, pectin and citric acid which is cooked down slowly until it becomes extremely thick and dense. You can find it in Latin markets by brands like Predilecta and Goya. It's a great and unique addition to a cheese plate or as I said before, a slice of this on a cracker with cream cheese is a simple and delicious treat.