islandman1
islandman1
| Forum role | Member since | Last activity | Topics created | Replies created |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Jun 5, 2009 (17 years) |
- | 1 | 0 |
- Forum role
- Member
- Member since
Jun 5, 2009 (17 years)
- Last activity
- -
- Topics created
- 1
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Bio
My wife, Rebecca, and I have a house on St. John and split our time between the islands and our residence in Connecticut. Our long-standing love affair with the Virgin Islands really begins with my first visits as a U.S. Navy officer back in 1965. Having lived in Connecticut for most of my early life, I found New England summers all too short and longed for that "endless summer," which I discovered, much to my wonderment on my tours of duty to tropical ports of call such as St. Croix, Vieques, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and yes, the Virgin Islands. I enjoyed not just being in the sun, but also found myself soaking up the vibrant colors, natural beauty , food, music and culture of these islands. So, upon leaving the Navy, I returned to St. Thomas where I taught school and also worked part time for the local newspaper, The Daily News. The Virgin Islands proved to be a great place to escape the turmoil of Vietnam Era 1960s, and I totally immersed myself in sailing, fishing, and diving. I loved the place so much, that I began introducing my family and friends up north to the islands, and managed to gain a few recruits.During the 1970s, I returned to the states, taking a job at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. The Library is where I discovered an extensive collection of West Indian history books, which broadened my understanding and appreciation of the richness of the Caribbean and led to my publishing a series of historical, points-of-interest guidebooks on several of the British and American Virgin Islands. This is also when I met Rebecca, my wife to be, who, at the time was working at the Watergate Complex in Washington, D.C., site of the now infamous Nixon-era break-in. Our first date was to checkout an old wooden boat built in the 1800s, which had just arrived in nearby Annapolis from the Caribbean and been put up for sale. We didn't buy the boat, which was later purchased by John Ballard and used as a sailing platform for his educational series, The Adventures of the Mimi. However, a few weeks later, we did run off to the Virgin Islands, where we got married at the Lutheran Church in downtown Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas. We returned to D.C. and, two children later, I was again living in the Virgin Islands, this time with my wife and family and working at the Caneel Bay Resort on St. John. In those days, living in St. John was unique. Weekly shopping trips to nearby St. Thomas via the ferry were both enjoyable and necessary. At that time, only limited food supplies were available at Gladys Smith's market in Cruz Bay and occasionally from a man selling produce carried over on a boat from Tortola. We consider ourselves fortunate to have experienced this time period on St. John. People gave rides freely to strangers, got together regularly for fish fries, and the mongooses, goats, donkeys and chickens mingled freely with island residents. Eventually we again returned to the states, this time to Connecticut, but kept returning to the VI. In 2003, we build a home on St. John. We now have three children and make 5-6 visits a year to the Virgin Islands, which, in our heart of hearts, is more like our home than our legal home in Connecticut.
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