Iguana

Almost missed today's picture with a very busy weekend away.  This dinosaur-looking iguana was out in front of my apartment this afternoon, so I snapped away while he (maybe she?) was munching on a watermelon rind.

Wide Open Sea

That boat has got a lot of room to maneuver out there.

Sea, Sky, Clouds

It doesn't get much better than being able to look out at that view.  Taken from Water Island.

Water Island Convenience

When you live on an island as small as Water Island getting even the most basic supplies becomes a challenge.  Pirate's Ridge is the one "convenience" store on the island.  While they do have a pizza night every Friday, if you're looking for a half gallon of milk, you'll need to take a boat over to St. Thomas.  According to our bike tour guides, they mostly stock canned goods.

I do love the explanation of their hours (11-7) however:

Open most days about 11 or 12.  Occasionally as early as 9, and sometimes as late as 1 or 2. We close about 6:30 or 7.  Occasionally about 4 or 5, and sometimes as late as midnight, or later.  On some days we're not here at all, but lately we've been here alot, unless we're not.

Water Island Bike Tour

There is a great company that leads bike tours around Water Island (http://www.waterislandadventures.com/).  The ride was about an hour and a half, and considering that the island is only 2 square kilometers I was impressed we could take that much time.  The tour was really informative, everybody learned a lot about the history of Water Island, and only a few people in our group crashed.

Honeymoon Sunset

 A beautiful sunset at Honeymoon Beach on Water Island (just a short hop from downtown St. Thomas).  The conditions were perfect and quite a few people saw the green flash.  If only I had my camera at the ready for that!

Steel Drums

This steel drum band was hammering out the rhythm last weekend at the agricultural fair.

Fresh Produce

Some more delicious produce from the Bordeaux Agricultural Fair.

Looking West

Taken on the west end of St. Thomas where Puerto Rico should be visible if it weren't for the rain that day.

Obama Islands

It is an indisputable fact that the Virgin Islands LOVE Obama.  On St. Thomas there is the "Unofficial Obama Headquarters," or something like that, which is really a bar near downtown (pictures to come I'm sure).  I saw this framed poster at the Bordeaux Agricultural Fair.

Kayak

A kayak takes off into the late afternoon water.

St. Thomas Yacht Club

A view from the beach in front of the St. Thomas Yacht Club.

Bordeaux Agricultural Fair

The Bordeaux Agricultural Fair (no, not that Bordeaux - this one is on the west end of St. Thomas) happened over the weekend.  I managed to get there for about an hour - and during the 1 hour this weekend that wasn't a downpour as well.

The fair was really fun, a lot of farmers selling produce, stalls selling delicious vegan food and fresh juices, and a steel drum band playing as well.  I didn't get to stay too long, but there were a load of other farm-related activities over the 2 day fair.

More Palms

A few more palm trees from the park near STT airport.

Lindquist Beach

Beautiful Lindquist beach again.

They Can't All Be Sunny

A bit of nasty weather since yesterday - although I guess quite a bit better than the rest of the US over the last week.  There should be another island (St. John) in this picture, but the rain has erased it from the view.  The rain pretty much shuts things down on island, as I found out with internet service (it went out a few days ago, they can't send anyone because they're not allowed to drive in "this weather").

Rocky Waters

The water at Lindquist Beach is beautiful, but you can only get into the water at certain spots.  Almost the entire left side of the beach is filled with rocks and coral right up to the beach.

Palm Tree

Okay, so there are a few more palm trees than I originally thought.  This was in a small park right on the water by the airport.  A few people were enjoying the warm weather while waiting for friends to land for a vacation.

Moon Over St. John

Another picture of the moon over St. John, and another one that doesn't do it justice.  I did like the brilliantly lit up boat in the foreground.

Trash Service

It's not a beautiful sunny beach, but I wanted to show a bit more of the "daily life" side of the islands.  The VI's don't have normal garbage collection like you may be used to - so people take their garbage, load it into the car (possibly why Wranglers are so popular) and drive to the nearest dumpster like the one above, and toss it in.  Garbage trucks here are really flat bed tractor trailer-esque vehicles that come around and pick up the entire dumpster and replace it with an empty one.  Getting caught behind one of these on your way around the island can prove frustrating because of the curvy and near vertical roads all around.

Standard Island Vehicle

This is quite a common sight in the islands.  The Jeep Wrangler is definitely the official vehicle down here, and yellow is quite a common color.  I caught these three in a row in Red Hook.

Cluttered Sunset

The sunset a few days ago captured on my way to town from the east end with my point and shoot camera.

Blue Waters

Pie Whole

The Pie Whole restaurant makes some fantastic pizza.  We went there last night and had some spectacular pizza and beer.  (Their beer list is quite impressive as well with about a dozen Belgian beers available.)  Pie Whole is in Frenchtown, right next to Bella Blue (a likely candidate for another night).

Palm Tree

A solitary palm tree on Lindquist Beach.  I'm surprised that there aren't more palm trees all over the place.  I guess I have a Hawaii-esque view of any tropical island.  St. Thomas and St. John are much more forested than I would have thought.  (Can't say about St. Croix since I haven't been down there yet.)

Hotel in Paradise

A view of the Wyndham Sugar Bay Hotel from Lindquist Beach.

Sailing

A sailboat in the distance off of Linquist Beach.

Moon Rising

The moon rising over St. John.  Not as sharp a picture as I would have liked, but the view was great.

Ocean Blues

The water at Lindquist Beach was quite possibly the most perfect color I have ever seen.  Even compared to the brilliantly blue / teal color of Croatia's beaches, this was beautiful.  The bay had a few good waves, but was fairly protected from the ocean.

Lindquist Beach

An absolutely beautiful day today in St. Thomas.  I spent a good portion of the afternoon getting a nice mild sunburn at Lindquist Beach.  Apparently Lindquist is the old name, but the one that everyone uses.  The beach is managed by Meagan's Bay Authority and was nearly empty and gorgeous.  With the exception of the "razor sharp" burrs if you walked into the grasses past the beach, the whole day could not have been better.

Beautiful Start to 2010

What a great way to start of a new year.  Compared to the rather wet and windy end of 2009, today was absolutely gorgeous!  Sunny and warm (which I hear is pretty common) and a great first day of the new decade.

I am very excited about our move and have already started a mental checklist of upcoming photos.  The one above is looking from the balcony of a friend's house over one of the many bays in St. Thomas (that I can't remember the name of).

I expect that USVI Daily Photo will have its fair share of "wow that beach / water / sunset is beautiful" photos, and I can't wait to take them and share them with you.