Red Hook Ferry to St. John, US Virgin Island
20 minutes later we arrived.
Vendors selling their wares.
Conch Shells
Cruz Bay Harbor
60% of St. John is a pristine national park.
Coral Bay Corner
Then on to Salt Pond. We hiked down to the beach and enjoyed the warm water. We saw schools of fish and interesting coral. 
Salt Pond
Best Area for Snorkeling at Salt Pond
We had the lobster roll. It was caribbean lobster with celery and a small amount of mayonnaise on a warm hoagie bun. It was very good.
We caught the bus back to Cruz Bay and enjoyed the views of the island.
Coral Bay
Another View of Coral Bay
Once we returned to Cruz Bay, we walked the Lind Point Trail that begins in the parking area of the National Park Service Visitor Center in Cruz Bay. It was a little more than a mile through scrub forest and dry forest to Honeymoon Beach where we snorkeled some more.
We saw sting ray, colorful coral fans, parrot fish, angel fish, trumpetfish, blue tang, and many fish whose names we don't know.
When we returned to town, we enjoyed a serve-yourself yogurt treat at Yogurt in Love.
Then it was back on the ferry to return to St. Thomas.
Another Trip to St. John
We couldn't get enough of St. John, so we returned! We got a safari taxi to Trunk Bay, one of the most popular beaches on St. John. Often considered among the 10 most beautiful beaches in the world, it is the only beach in the U.S. Virgin Islands that charges an admission fee, but we were there before they opened the ticket booth, so there was no charge. They have an underwater snorkeling trail by Trunk Cay, and that was splendid! The coral was very pretty, and tame fish came right up to us, looking for a handout.
Trunk Bay From Above
Trunk Bay Beach
Trunk Cay in the Distance
We walked through the streets of Cruz Bay and had lunch at The Beach Bar, right on the sand of the beach. We eat a lot of fish whenever we stop for a meal.
Grilled Mahi Sandwiches and Crab Dip and Chips
Cruz Bay in Front of The Beach Bar
Before leaving, we had a smoothie. Stan tried the soursop, lemon, and lime combination. Diana had the strawberry, raspberry, and blueberry combination.
Our Market Smoothies
Their Menu
The Flavors
The Ferry back to Red Hook
Third Day to St. John
This was our last chance to take the ferry to St. John so we did. St. John is such a beautiful place! Once we arrived, we got a safari taxi to Leinster Bay Trail.
The driver assured us that safari taxis came by this way all the time, and we would have no problem getting back to town. Mangrove trees line the left side of the bay. The shoreline is fairly pebbly, however, about a 10-15 minute walk from the trail head there is a narrow stretch of sand that can be used to enter the water for a swim. Another 10 minutes down the trail is Waterlemon Bay, a rocky beach. The water is very shallow for a distance and then it quickly drops off and becomes the open ocean. Waterlemon Cay is located a longish swim from shore, but the water was fairly calm the day we were there.
We walked along the rocky coast on an unofficial trail to the tip of the bay and entered at the closer point to the cay for a shorter swim. The coral was truly beautiful. We saw a shark far below us, and Stan saw one very close to him. Below are some of the photos we took.
Waterlemon Cay
From Shore to Waterlemon Cay
Four-eye Butterfly Fish
Shark
After our time snorkeling, we hiked the short distance to the Annaberg Plantation ruins.
This plantation was one of 25 active sugar producing factories on St. john. Molasses and rum were also produced here. Slave labor was used to clear the densely forested hillsides and to terrace the slopes around Annaberg to make farming possible. The slaves planted, harvested, and processed the sugarcane. Now, trees have returned to the hillsides around Annaberg.
Plantation Ruins
A trail leads through the factory ruins, slave quarters, windmill and other remains. Placards along the trails describe how sugar was produced and discuss plantation life and the history behind sugar plantations. Evidence of about 16 slave cabins were found in the Annaberg area. Placards indicate where the cabins were located and describe them. The construction of the cabins consisted of branches woven together with lime and a mud mixture. the roofs were likely made of palm leaves. The cabins deteriorated over time and are not fully standing. The windmill was built between 1810 and 1830, and was one of the largest in the islands.When there was no wind to work the windmill, a horse mill would be used. The horses or mules were plodded in a circular motion; this turned the upright rollers in the center of the platform. In the Boiling Room, slaves passed cane stalks through the rollers and a box at the bottom caught the juice.
Boiling Room
The juice ran by gravity through gutters to the factory for processing. Three to five hundred gallons of juice could be produced in an hour. The cane juice flowed first into a large copper kettle, where a fire was lit beneath.
Boiling Pot
The excess water evaporated and workers would ladle the juice from one kettle to thinnest, down a line of five kettles. The juice eventually became concentrated through various levels of heating and evaporation. The concentrated juice was then placed in a box to crystallize. The crystallized brown sugar was then put in barrels that held up to 1,600 pounds of sugar. If the last heated kettle was removed, it would not crystalize and then it became molasses that was used to make rum.
When it was time to get back to town, we were fortunate to get a safari island tour driver to take us back. He informed us that taxis do NOT usually come out to this part of the island, so we were very fortunate to get back to town. Our cell phone had no reception at this location either. On the return trip to town, the driver pointed out a couple of deer.
Once back to St. Thomas, we stopped at the taco corner hut in Red Hook for $3 tacos. Needless to say, they were not very filling.
