Steve and I went to St. Thomas and St. John this past May! I must have said 97 times during our weeks stay "Oh this is soooo not Aruba".

1. The people (who are US citizens by the way)...make you feel like you are evading their space. They live off tourism and WE shouldn't be there? Something's wrong with that picture! I got off the shuttle at K-mart while going to pick up booze and ciggs (LOL) and I swear I thought we were gonna get jumped in broad daylight! And those who were not going to jump me gave the nastiest looks towards us. Same thing happened getting out of a cab in Red Hook (ferry to St. John). I felt sooooo uneasy. These boys were circling us on their bikes!

2. The beaches! Rated top in the world? Obviously these people have never been to Eagle Beach...enough said!

3. Food: We had one absoluately incredible meal in Red Hook one night! Otherwise food was mediocure!

4. Scenery was incredible. Had a condo built in a hill so I could see all the outer islands and at night it was especially beautiful! Don't like the hills and curves, very glad we did not rent a car, I would have been a mess by the time we left (nerves). Plus driving on the wrong side of the street made it even trickier.

5. Shopping, OK duty free was great but that's all we ever buy anywhere anyway!

6. RUM...well gotta say, we fell in love with the Cruzan Rum and the prices are unbelievable. We were buying it for 5 something a bottle and its 16.99 here in NJ. Only wish we brought home more than 1 box (6 bottles).

7. St. John is a beautiful island. BUT if your not going to hike or snorkle all day...there's nothing else to do. But its is lovely (much nicer than St. Thomas).

8. Taxi's...they charge PER PERSON, not per ride and are regulated by the government. VERY EXPENSIVE! Took the Safari shuttle ($1.00) alot, which is mainly a local thing (got bad looks there too) and saved a bundle but it only goes one way around the island, so you shuttle there and cab it back.

One thing really really bothered me. They said that 85% of the island of St. Thomas is living off the government! That's statistic is incredible. I've been working since I'm 12, never went on unemployment, disability or anything and these folk are living off my hard earned money on a tropical island.

P.S. We actually had a good time (I know it doesn't sound like it) but anywhere I go with my husband is always fun just because of us!!!

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"These are a few of my favorite things"
...Elisa

Thanks for the update.
It has been a long time since we went to St Thomas and St John but it doesnt seem to have changed much. I will say that the snorkeling on St John is hard to beat, especialy at trunk bay. They have an underwater park there with signs that tell you what you are looking at and park rangers that look like lifeguards. Their job is to protect the coral from you and you second.
The problem with St Thomas and unemployment is that there is basicly no industry there so the only jobs available are in tourism and there arnt very many of those available.

St Thomas and St John are beautiful islands but Charlotte Amalie is a tourist trap! My brother owned a condo on St. Croix for a number of years but had to give it up. The expense was too much for the amount of time he spent there. His son lives on the island and is in construction, his wife teaches in the refinery school. They went there about 15 years ago for a year to try it out and are still there!!

When we go to St Thomas, mostly on cruises, we take the ferry to St John and snorkel. We haven't found much else to do there.

Aruba still remains our favorite island. We've stayed at the Divi or Tam many times and will return until either the money or the body runs out!!

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John...

"Don't look back, What ever is chasing you may be catching up!"

Satchel Paige

My parents also had a condo in St Croix. Have been there MANY times during my youth and college years. The attitude of the natives is horrible towards americans. They really resent them and even at resturants would get an feeling of "I have to serve YOU???". They had their rental manager take off w/ all the money from the condo units and finally got rid of it.

Also there is a big drug problem in all the USVI - youth with nothing to do and drugs are there and cheap. The biggest thing I found on my last trip - a woman's retreat - was a woman in the group was walking down the street in daylight and a man came in back of her and pulled to get her purse. Her jerk reaction was to hold onto her purse and he literally pulled her down the street before finally getting the strap to snap. She had to go to the hospital and when she talked to the police - they said that because they abide by US law - there is the "right to confront your accuser" which would mean that she had to come back when the trial was going on in order for them to procecute. They had the guy - but she wasn't going to fly back just for the case. So the guy walked - and everybody knows that's how it works.

Also know for a fact that LOTS of crimes are hushed up - and because of the above their crime stats are low.

My 2 cents.....

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Aruba Kitten Rescue
www.arubakitten.org

and your 2 cents are right on target Liz!

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"These are a few of my favorite things"
...Elisa

A friend's daughter and husband lived in St. Croix for years running a restaurant. They moved back and now own a restauarant here.

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I thought when I was there that St John was beautiful, but boring and St Thomas was filthy....litter everywhere...and full of weird people. We went once and never returned. St Croix was nice, but again, kind of dirty for my taste in vacation spots and the people were all unfriendly and seemed very put out.

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