Video Recipes – DIY's – Island Life – Travel – Natural Living – Minimalism

The Ultimate St. Croix Staycation Experience – East End/Christiansted

The video I’m sharing today is aptly named “The Ultimate St. Croix Staycation Experience” because it lived up to its name.  This was definitely one of the best staycations to date, made even better since it gave us an opportunity to explore Christiansted.

Right around our anniversary, my husband surprised me with an entire weekend of food and fun with our home base at Caravelle Hotel and Casino.  We lucked out with the very last room they had available and even better still was the fact that it featured a great view of the harbor where we even got to watch a dog parade while enjoying the hotel air conditioning {which is a rare luxury on island.}

We kicked off the first night with specialty cocktails at BES.  We caught a ride with the Caravelle golf cart driver to the bar and he told us about all the good spots around town.  When we arrived to BES, we got to chat with the owner, Frank Robinson.  He’s known around town as a master mixologist and “the bartender who cooks.”  J’s favorite was a handcrafted drink called “The Darker the Berry” and it combined plantation rum, grenada, guava berry rum and caramelized spiced orange.

Next, we enjoyed appetizers at Zion Modern Kitchen.  We started with their cheeseboard and mussels rockafeller then shared the veggie pasta with handmade pasta.

To cap the night, we had supper right on the board walk at Rum Runners.  We both indulged with the prime rib and shared the key lime pie.  It was nice since the restaurant is connected to the restaurant, we were able to linger after our meals, check out the tarpon that hang out in the water close by and people watch before eventually walking upstairs to our room.

The next morning, we got to sleep in for what seemed like the first time in a very long time.  We headed out to a late brunch at Baked Cafe and I was immediately charmed by its natural, earthy setting.  They feature local, health inspired dishes with a rotating specials board along side their stationary menu and I gravitated towards their mango-spinach smoothie and veggie breakfast tacos.  After a night of all-out indulgence, it felt nice to nourish and restore.

The last night we were on our staycation, J booked reservations to Galangal.  It’s a restaurant that we had been saving for a special occasion and it did not disappoint.  J started with a seared tuna appetizer and I went with the in-house smoked salmon.  For our entrees, J had the lamb and I had the short ribs and for dessert, we shared the ice cream sampler.  I don’t think I’ve ever had such tender short ribs before.

I was pretty sad to be leaving when we checked out of Caravelle but J had one more surprise up his sleeve.  We were headed to Buck Island for the first time together with Caribbean Sea Adventures.  The boat ride out takes about 30 minutes to and from and the views along the way are breathtaking.  We saw some gorgeous schools of fish and J even had a close encounter with several curious barracuda.  The last part of the trip was spent at the beach and we even got to see dolphins which I posted about on my Facebook and instagram.

All in all, it was a pretty spectacular weekend + progressive date night + staycation.  Though it can’t be like this every weekend, I’m starting to really find the value of having a stay-at-home vacation.  I left it feeling relaxed, reenergized and with a renewed excitement for our little island home in St. Croix…and to imagine, this was only the east end in Christiansted.  There’s still so much more to explore!

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

One thought on “The Ultimate St. Croix Staycation Experience – East End/Christiansted

  • St. Croix Buck Island and Turtle Beach says:

    […] Buck Island was proclaimed a national park by President John F. Kennedy in the 60’s and all 162 acres still remain uninhabited today.  It’s just a 30 minute boat ride from Christiansted and the cruise to your destination is a nice one as you can see St. Croix from a different perspective.  It’s truly beautiful.  So beautiful that National Geographic named Turtle Beach on Buck Island to be one of the most beautiful beaches and you can see why.  You can watch our day excursion to Buck Island here. […]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *