Best of the West?

Not to side track your question but as an aside I had a telephone interview last week.
The interviewer wanted to know if I really wanted to move to St. Croix and away from all the culture and activities available where I currently live. I got the impression she was leery of hiring someone and they would get so bored that they would move away.

Some other stuff:

Food:
Lost Dog for Pizza - in F'sted
Sunset Grill - north of F'sted
Sand Bar - north edge of F'sted - good food and often live music and reasonable prices
Villa Morales - off Centerline Road in Whim area
St. Tropez - in F'sted
West End Grill - in F'sted

Activities:
St. George Botanical Gardens
Whim Museum
Great beaches!
Plays & art shows at Good Hope School
Lawaetz Museum

lethal,
The tidepools at Annaley Bay, Sandy Point, snorkeling the pier and around cottages by the sea.

Food- Turtles, Villa Morales, Sunset, St Tropez and lunch at Kmart (good local food).

Heepajeep,
It happens all the time, thats why she may have sounded leery that and people dont come when they say they will. Night time activities are very limited and really day time is as well. Its all beautiful and gorgeous but anything is possible to get used to.

I'm trying to figure out whether there are tide pools other than the ones we go to every few months. I know there is another set, but which are the ones you hike to from Carambola, and which are the other ones? I was under the impression the "other ones" might not be hiking accessible as of late. Would love clarification on that! 🙂

Great suggestions. Hadn't thought about Good Hope.

Oh, and if anyone knows of regular evening events at the local bars/restaurants, would love to get that info as well.

Thanks all~

Yes you can hike to them from Carambola, but we just drive to them (must have good 4 wheel drive) fromt he west end.

I can tell you that CLUB 54 in C'sted was incredible, red eye band covering for lots of reggae artists! Was a blast!

To add to the list:
Trivia at aquawest thursday nights.
Armstrong's ice cream (get a Black Stallion = really good:))
Music at rainbow on sunday afternoons
dive sites from cottages up to Hams Bluff--wrecks, armageddon, reefs, pier, cables, sprat hole etc etc...

Have fun out West!

We stayed on the west end, and I really loved it. I can see here that I didn't quite cover everything there 🙂 (didn't expect to in only a week), but I agree with everything I did get to see/do!

What IS a Black Stallion? I wondered when I was at Armstrong's (3 days in a row... LOL), but it was always busy enough that I didn't want to waste time asking, and I wasn't brave enough to just order one anyway.

As far as vegetarian food goes, there are two places I really liked, both on that main street in Fsted (can't remember its name). One is Vegeria... better for lunch takeout than eating in, as they just have a table or two set up outside. The other is a big yellow building on the corner sort of across from the stadium. I can't remember what it's called, but it's "So and So's Kitchen," and there's a big metal grate-looking thing over the door, which is open when they're open. Hours seem to be sporadic. Again, good for lunch take-out. The best thing about these two places was that I never saw any other non-locals in either one.

I guess most people don't consider sunset an evening "event," but I sure started to while we were there! We had a drink at either Sunset Grill or Coconuts every evening. They both have happy hour drink specials (4:30-6:30 or so), so drinks are about $2-3. We always wound up chatting with a good mix of locals and a few tourists at the bar.

Trivia!? Did you say Trivia?! Very exciting. Anyone know what time?

I had some Armstrong's at the agfair. Yum. Didn't know the store was out west. Also exciting!

Will check out the veggie places for sure.

Trivia at 8pm Thursday nights Aquawest. It is very fun and can be quite challenging (especially when you don't know a whole lot about 50's television shows). 🙂

A Black Stallion is some sort of almond/coconut/chocolate/rum/other stuff milkshake from what I can tell. I just order and drink. Very tasty.

I forgot to mention hiking options. Bruce Wilson, owner of Mt. Victory Camp, where we stayed, recommended a hike down to Annaly Bay. The trailhead (more like a dirt road -- accessible by jeep, but where's the fun in that?) was less than 2 miles from the camp. I'd have to ask a local again how to get there, exactly, but we managed to do it with Bruce's directions. The hike goes down a very steep hill to the bay, and there are tidepools you can get to by climbing over some low rocks. The hike back up is, of course, also steep, but it only took us about 45 minutes.

Also, the road that goes to Mt. Victory makes for a pretty nice rain forest hike. I ran up and down the road every morning, and I usually saw no more than 5 cars.

Around the lighthouse, it appears that there are other trails going off into the hills. Gorgeous views from up there!

Yeah, I hadn't thought of exploring those trails past the lighthouse. Good thinking!

Noticed roadrunner's vegetarian restaurant last night -- Uta's Kitchen. It was open, but I was on my way elsewhere. And you weren't kidding about trivia being difficult. A couple of times that we did it at Chicken Charlies we called our team "Last Place" just so it'd be funny at least if we ended up there!

It's pretty cool to live out west so far. One of the nice things is that there aren't a lot of lame-o people that would do something like post to a message board just to spread negativity about an area of the island they aren't keen on. Everyone seems pretty positive and content and happy about their lives, and I've observed none of the "let's point out all the problems of St. Croix" vibe that I've noticed in other areas.

Thanks for all the awesome feedback! I would add walking around the harbor area to a list of nice things to do.

Domino Club on Mahogany Road in the rain forest, especially the last Sunday night of every month, when Kurt Schindler plays.

The smoothie stand just north of the Domino Club. It's the little green snack stand with fresh fruit for sale, a little zoo (yes, really, a zoo) and the best fruit smoothies ever. The owner, Hazel, grows all the local fruit for the smoothies. There's nothing else in them. Delicious!

how do you get to the lighthouse? and what is it called?

Ham's Bluff Lighthouse. Head North out of F'sted to the end of the road (keep left at the quarry north of Sunset grille). At the end, park outside the military building (Army Corp? I can't remember). Walk around the fence either way, and the path goes off into the woods around back. Very easy. I put a photo of the lighthouse on Google Earth if you ever use that, it'll help you get an idea of where it is. Gorgeous views!

I should try that smoothie stand, you're right. If you have a favorite, let me know.

I am looking for a weekday breakfast place in F'sted as well. Like Shenanigans of the west. Any suggestions??

LA Cafe in town is doing a good breakfast now. It is a couple buildings down from Scotiabank opposite the rasta building/restaurant. Bert is doing a very nice job there after his big renovation. Also, I've gone to F'sted Hotel in the past for breakfast but they tend to stay pretty basic.

If you havent met Bert at LA Cafe it is a real treat. He will keep you laughing throughout your meal. A truely pleasant gentleman. I think he's doing most of the cooking now and has someone for front of house, but he is a real stx character in the best possible way.

Hm... I will have to check that place out then! Thanks~

Hi letahl.
If you were asking if I have a favorite smoothie...well, there isn't a choice. Everything, about 10 different fruits, go into THE smoothie. It's one of my favorite things. You can almost feel the vitamins and antioxidants oozing through you, in the most delicious way!

Ooh, I forgot all about the smoothie place. That was our first stop after setting up our tent. Yes, there's only one "flavor," but it's perfectly delicious. I never did check out the funny little zoo. 🙂

We tried Happy Hour at Coconuts and were, shall we say, happy. 🙂 Two dollar beers or frozen margaritas, and we tried the jalapeno poppers to tide us over until dinner. Basic menu and place, but the sunset was beautiful, and it was a nice evening diversion.

Working our way down your list -- thanks all!

We stopped by to try THE smoothie. Good stuff and cute place! Good call guys, thanks.