12 Reasons To Check out STX

Very nice. The present Director of Tourism is doing a terrific job. A big plus for the DeJongh administration.

Great article.(tu)

I'm a believer!

Linda J - glad you approved.

LOL my last article I posted on the Virgins didn't please you as it wasn't all about STX. Now you should be happy doing the jump up dance.

Tippi

Sorry, but I have no idea what you're talking about.

thank you so much for sharing that article..makes me prouder than ever to love where i live...lily

I was interested in who Carla Jordan is.
Googled her, and came up with about 3 other articles in the last 2 years, which seems a paltry sum for a "freelance writer."
One article was about organizing your pantry, another about a "guide to luxury mattresses."
Knowing how these things sometimes work, I wondered if she wrote this for Divi since they are mentioned twice in the article.

Also, she enthusiastically named STX as a top ten eco destination, syaing, "this place is really green" and then going on about Creque Dam Farm, when the 2008 green award was only for Buck Island National Monument.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0343615920071228

Linda J

5/2/10 You posted:

Very nice article. Too bad - not a mention of STJ or STX.

Of which there was mention in that article about STJ and STX.

I was interested in who Carla Jordan is.
Googled her, and came up with about 3 other articles in the last 2 years, which seems a paltry sum for a "freelance writer."
One article was about organizing your pantry, another about a "guide to luxury mattresses."
Knowing how these things sometimes work, I wondered if she wrote this for Divi since they are mentioned twice in the article.

I know she is the reason that Twila Wilson's house was on the cover of Coastal Living last month. Perhaps she contributes to more than you are finding on google. She was down last year for St. Croix Food and Wine Experience and fell in love with the island.

 

I gotta say, I think she is going to royally piss off a group of people with "A spontaneous traveler's dream come true". Anyone that spontaneously pops down when they hear (in the same paragraph): US dollar, no passport, US electrical, Texas country music on the radio and "feel at home"... is going to get a real Holy Crap moment when they rent that US car from Hertz, drive out of the airport and are suddenly met with honking horns because they're driving on the wrong side of the road!

It's that kind of omission that has me crossing her off the list of "travel reviewers".

I know she is the reason that Twila Wilson's house was on the cover of Coastal Living last month. Perhaps she contributes to more than you are finding on google. She was down last year for St. Croix Food and Wine Experience and fell in love with the island.

Interesting.
Just saying that it's interesting that for a writer, you can't find more than two or three things she's written. Most writers I know have webpages or blogs, and even if they don't post their own material their articles, books, etc are cross-referenced by numerous sources on the web.

It bothered me that the article read like "ad copy," not a review, which is what led me to wonder who she was and/or was writing for.

Overall, great publicity for the island. However, I might say she overplays the beaches a bit. While our beaches are nice, I don't think they qualify as the "powdery white" kind (with the exceptions being Buck and Sandy Point).

Bernie

The article was FABULOUS! I have to say, I'm a little surprised at the criticism here. I've had a lot of experience (in a previous stateside life) relating to travel agents, tour operators, and travel writers, and I've never read an article where every last, single word was gospel. I think she got it nailed, to our advantage. If she makes it sound a bit like all the beaches are the same, well, that's just poetic license, and if she gives The Bucc and Divi a plug, who cares? Maybe they deserve it. And, if, just IF she was actually hired to write for a specific business, then bless them for allowing (and paying for) all the good publicity for the rest of the island. (tu) Kudos to Carla Jordan!

Juanita,

I agree with you that it's great that St Croix is getting some well deserved positive publicity! I don't agree that it's okay to use poetic license to insinuate all the beaches are white powdery sand,though. If I had never been to St Croix, and after reading that article decided to give it a try expecting all white sandy beaches, I know I'd be disappointed in having chosen the island for my vacation. (if white sandy beaches were what I was looking for) And that equals more bad publicity by word of mouth. St. Croix has so much more to offer! Why not tell it like it is and then no one is disappointed?

Paula

Maybe to the writer they were white. We do have a lot of nice beaches. If you were say the beaches are not white powdery sand, do you need to say don't lock your car because some thief will break the windows. How honest should they be?
Just like the weather, what is hot or cold? Everyone has their own concept.
Overall I thought it was a very good article.

White is in the eye of the beholder!:@)

If a person has never been to an area with really white sand beaches the ones on STX do look pretty white compared to many other places.
I have been to White Sands, NM, the coral pink sand dunes in Utah and the black sand beach in Hawaii.

I liked the article...good publicity is good in whatever form.........poor white beaches..... can't even catch a break from the beach racists ........damn G,, what's a beach gotta to do to be white..:-o.

poorthang, you gave me a good laugh first thing this morning! 😀

Oh no! 😮 I'm not a beach racist --- I LOVE the beaches on St Croix! My family moved there when I was 16 and after I got married and had to live away from the island for years I missed it terribly. Especially the beaches-- I LOVE the sand there. My poor husband was so sick of hearing me moan about wishing I could go back to St Croix that after both kids were grown and gone he took me back for a vacation (29 yrs after I'd been there) I think he thought he would finally 'knock the St Croix outta my head!' Funny thing is that HE fell in love with it! So we've been coming back every year for a month, sometimes twice a year since 2004. Now we both dream about being on a beach on St Croix! In fact, we've got an appointment next month to talk to our financial advisor about retiring next year (fingers crossed) and hopefully splitting our year between here and there. So, I'm TERRIBLY sorry if I gave the impression I was cutting the sandy beaches on St Croix! (I actually have a ziploc baggie of sand from Pelican Cove, and another one I got at Cottages by the Sea beach--- I didn't think I'd get them past customs, but got lucky both times. I know I was bad taking it,but now I can run my fingers through my beautiful St Croix sand whenever I need to and dream of being there*-))

All I really meant was for someone to spend money for a vacation and expect the sand to be like it is on some islands-- very large areas of very white sand that goes out in shallow water where you can see your feet forever, you know what I mean! I know it's like that at Buck Island and Sandy Point, but unfortunately Sandy Point isn't open year round and you have to travel to get to Buck Island. I'm probably getting myself in deeper! But I wanted to explain what I meant and that I wasn't cutting the sandy beaches on our Beloved St Croix! Sorry!

Paula

People who are THAT picky about white sand beaches probably won't be happy anywhere they go. If it's not the imperfect sand, it's the service. If it's not the service, it's the accommodations. If it's not the accommodations, it's the food. I wish that people who have never had a vacation outside an all-inclusive resort would broaden their horizons and really get out and see the world. On the other hand, the really fun places would be more crowded for the rest of us!

I know just what you mean, Roadrunner. My cousin and his wife always go to all inclusives. They, especially the wife, expect everything to be perfect. Last year they started asking us about St Croix. Immediately I knew it wouldn't be their type place because she's too picky, she would have been expecting the 'Disneyworld' version of St Croix. When looking at a couple of my pictures of downtown Christiansted she innocently asked,'' Oh is this the slum area?" While I explained the history of the buildings in C'sted and how picturesque everything is down there, I could see her mentally crossing St Croix off her list. It didn't matter to me, but what a shame that they (or she really) couldn't be broad minded enough to get out of the all inclusive mentality! Ah well, to each his own. I would be bored in an all inclusive I'm afraid.

I agree.

If you expect long stretches of "Florida-like" beaches (no rocks, no reefs, no sea grass, no sea life, no trees), then don't come to St Croix.

One of the things I love about Caribbean beaches is the wide variety to suit your mood and needs.

I ocean kayak, and enjoy how varied and beautiful the beaches are, how quickly they can change from one section to another, and how many nice "hidden" beaches you can see from the water, and pull ashore to enjoy.

Speaking of hidden beaches... anybody have info on where/how to access a nice beach by Jeep at Great Pond on the southshore of StX? I'd like to launch my kayak there. Is there a decent launching beach at the BoyScout Camp there and do they allow public access?

You should not be taking a vehicle onto the beach as that is where the turtles nest. Especially on the South shore.