"Caribbean Splash" was the lead story in the Sunday Washington Post travel section, featuring all three Virgin Islands in words and photos that come like a breath of fresh (Caribbean) air.
Following the recent feature in the New York Times travel section, it looks like the territory is getting some sorely needed exposure in the frosty Northeast right where and when it still counts.
Describing the Virgin Islands as an "odd blend of Caribbean culture and domestic familiarity," author Carolyn Spencer Brown zeroes in on the spirit of each island without ignoring obvious problems.
To get to the really good part, though, Brown says, "In the end what really made the V.I. special for me – so special it was wrenching to return home – was the genuine friendliness I encountered. Everywhere."
Brown actually made her way off the beaten tourist path in St. Thomas and did a little exploring. She raves about, in fact, St. Thomas Dairies' Udder Delite's "Udder Delite," (almond crunch and amaretto for the uninitiated), as opposed to Mountain Top's Banana Daiquiris.
She loves Magens Bay, of course, but recommends the beginning or end of the day when the beach is "almost ethereal in its emptiness in the early evening."
Frenchtown doesn't escape her glance — she knows there are fishermen there and that some speak French, that its descendants are mainly from St. Barts, and that it boasts "some of the island's best restaurants."
En route to the other side of the island, both the Kiln Works and Mango Tango get honorable mention, to say nothing of Duffy's Love Shack and its 64-ounce drink, the Shark Tank. She remarks that Duffy's parking lot nighttime scene reminds her of a "Redskin tailgate party."
She does mention some negative elements – burglaries, for instance — but doesn't allow that to obscure her obvious delight with the territory. She says "The U.S. has lumped the islands together for ease of governing and marketing 'America's Paradise,' but it's no utopia."
And St. Thomas's traffic came to her attention: "a bear," she says. Imagine.
In fact, about her only other complaint was the multitude of cruise ship passengers. Though she seems to appreciate their importance to the economy, they "get in the way" on Main Street, at Magens Bay and at Coki Point beach.
However, she manages to skirt the crowds. Back at her hotel on Government Hill, sipping wine with her friends, she sighs as the last ship leaves port and "we feel relieved to have 'our' island back." The St. Thomas story is headed by a panoramic photo of Mahogany Run golf course.
The story is currently on www.msnbc – Living & Travel section.
