The other day I went to Napoleon’s Pizza for a slice. It was a late lunch, so there was only one other car in the lot. There are around 20 spaces in this lot, with lines perpendicular to the buildings, like in any strip mall, USA.

However, this was too much for one woman to handle. Just before I finished my slice (I was looking out the window and could see my parked car), she pulled up behind my car and parked parallel to the building, blocking me in. (!!!!!!!)

I have seen similar antics in other empty parking lots on this island. People just drive right in and park across three or four spots. (!!!!!!)

I’m looking for the right word for this inconsiderate behavior………I can’t come up with anything right now, so I’ll make something up: I’mthebithchwhothinkstheuniverserevolvesaroundmeism.

Anyway, I walked out of Napoleons, calmly entered my car and turned the key, all the while staring at this I’mthebitchwhothinkstheuniverserevolvesaroundmeist.

She fortunately started her vehicle, but with a huffy attitude, and moved it out of my way.

This will not be a restaurant review, even though I have seen this word associated with places to eat twice in the past couple of weeks.

I saw it in the yacht club newsletter in reference to dogs on yc property. “Absolutely NO DOGS allowed in the dinning room.” (Have some of the huffy yc members been complaining about Biggie?) I sure hope not! Because  he’s feeling hungry for some of that “Wild West Catering” grub! Maybe we’ll have to “dinn” out there one of these Wednesday nights. We’d love to take some guests to add to the fun and festivities!

Today I saw it on TWO DIFFERENT SIGNS for the same new “restaurant” at five corners. The signs said something about it being a dinning place.

It makes my blood boil (and you can see why I stopped trying to teach in the schools here - I might have gone postal) for two reasons: 1.) Someone who has started a food related business cannot spell a word related to food; and 2.) A person with a sign making business cannot spell a word properly on a sign.

I do not purport to being an English expert, but this is a basic spelling issue here. And many of the people we hear on the talk shows whine and moan that they can’t get a good job. Well, maybe if they got themselves an education…..

Helllllooo! People in many other countries would die to have access to an education. EVERYONE who lives in the VI has access to an education. There is NO EXCUSE for this inane crap! Except complete and utter LAZINESS!!!

I need a vacation from this place! Big time!

Wreggie and Gigi are here on island, and I’ve been so excited I could bust. But I’ve gotten to spend so little time with them that I’m in a foul mood and have been since their second day here.

I’d been hoping that we could have some nice beach/snorkel time together with Sharon and Rainnie and Hunter, too, so I thought that Friday at the Yacht Club should be perfect for all of us, with them as our guests and we’d take the fugly boat out and come back after snorkeling a bit, and Hunter could play on the bouncy thing just off the beach while we sipped chardonnay. But, for some odd reason, my husband had other off-the- wall ideas and decided that since there was a twelve year old around, all the guys should act more twelve than usual. So they did. And poor Gigi went along with them in the fug tug. And Sharon and Rainnie decide not to come. Okay…..

After three hours of those immature men and Gigi out there (I had swum out and snorkeled and then swum back to shore), I was more than ready for some lunch. And so was Gigi. She was sick on the boat waiting for the boys to decide to become somewhat responsible. I went into the YC to ask about lunch. But alas, it was too late. They were no longer serving lunch. So Gigi and Hunter and I had to wait even longer for the boys to get the boat stuff put away so we could go to Lori’s for lunch…Exasperating!!!

But wait, the next day, Saturday, I thought we might all go out to the beach at Tamarind Reef, where the snorkeling is amazing and there is (again) a nice restaurant and bar right there. Well, the boys decided to go hiking down to Jacks and/or Isaacs beach. I said, “okay, fine” and got ready for the day. But when we got the villa, I found out that the women did not want to go, so I said, “Screw this, I’m not about to spend my day with four twelve year-olds in the middle of nowhere!” And the women invited me to stay at the cottage with them and hang around doing nothing. Wow! What a decision……Hell #1 or Hell #2. I decided to take off by myself and do what I needed and wanted to do.

I went shopping in town for two necessary items and then hit the trail at Tamarind. It was so fabulous that I spent two hours in the water with all of the most incredible sea life. And the visibility was outstanding.

My afternoon appointments had technical difficulties, so I had to reschedule them for today, when every one else is out on a sail boat at Buck Island. That’s okay, Sunday’s way too busy out there anyway. I’ll go back when it’s not so crowded.

But I’m still missing my friends and now the real work week begins….

I found a golf ball in my yard this morning. A few weeks ago, we found some plexiglass balls from some sort of chandelier-lamp in our yard. One of the dogs was chewing on them.

We don’t play golf, and we wouldn’t have a tacky chandelier-lamp in our home.

We do, however, have a fenced-in yard to keep our 11 dogs safely in the yard. In one section, the fence is 6 feet high and across the driveway from another fence, which is 5 feet high.

I’ve always hated fences. I think they’re ugly and they make me feel confined and restricted. And separate. But when I first moved here (and my house didn’t have a fence), I was forced to put a fence around my property, not to keep my dogs in. I didn’t have any dogs at the time. It was to keep the neighbor’s kid from coming over and taking stuff. She was small and she could fit through the gap between the sliding glass door and the door frame. And she’d take stuff. I’m not into stuff, but the person I was with at the time, had stuff he didn’t want taken.

Before the fences went up, I went over to talk to the grandmother about this problem. She told me I should hit the kid to make her stop. I nearly keeled over! I never even hit my own child. There was no way I could do it to someone else’s. So the fence went up. Island people would say, “Good fences make good neighbors”. I hated doing it, though.

As time went by, the neighbors had more kids. Boys now. Dogs came into my life, too, and I moved into the house I’m in now. It had a fence around most of it. But the neighbors would let their boys come close to the fence and harass the dogs. The kids would throw sticks and rocks at the dogs through the fence. The parents would do nothing. They don’t like dogs. So I had to shell out a bunch more cash to build more fences to keep these kids away from my dogs.

But now, the boys are old enough that they can throw farther. So they throw all sorts of things into my yard at the dogs. A few weeks back, when Michael showed the mother the plexiglass balls we’d found in our yard, she beat the kid. Today I found a golf ball in the yard. Apparently the beating didn’t work.

Why can’t people teach their kids right from wrong in a way that will make them behave like civilized people?

Michael spent a lot of time over the holidays getting a basketball hoop for the kids to play with. Their ball is flat now. I asked the kid about it yesterday and he said it hit the top of the fence and popped. So they have to start harassing the dogs again. I’m thinking of offering to take the kids to after school camp or boyscouts or something so they have a positive outlet for their energy.

But that would take more of my time and energy and more money probably. These parents work so much to make ends meet (keep a brand new car in the driveway and the hair and nails done, too, oh, while the house continues to fall apart), that they don’t have quality time with their kids. I’m at a loss…..

Who likes telemarketers? Raise your hands out there all you lovers of people who try to sell you things you don’t need or want. Things that you have done fine without for all of your life until right now.

How about those timeshare salespeople? When I see them coming, I want to run away. Fast. Okay, so timeshares work great for a lot of people, and I may even consider one someday, but the hard sell thing drives me crazy.

There is a person I’ve known who comes to St. Croix a few times a year and has been running a business here for a number of years. We’ve had a comfortable mutually beneficial business relationship for a long time. Now she has started an internet advertising business and wants me to give her money for doing something she’s been doing for years….getting me a little business.

At first, I was pretty disappointed because we’ve had a nice easy relationship going on, but now she wants money for doing stuff that, in one breath she says she’s been doing for years, but in another that it is somehow different now. And I understand that this is the way of the world. Everybody wants more money, and I wish her luck with it. But she can really stop trying to sell it to me. I am very happy with my internet advertising, thank you very much….

She has sent us loooong e-mails about how many hits and blah blah blah as compared to the other websites and blah blah blah. And we’ve responded that we are not interested in advertising on her sites. But she keeps at it, trying to explain it in just the right way so we’ll give her money. She’s probably a very good salesperson, but that type of pushy behavior just turns me right off.

Yesterday, I responded to one of her loooong e-mails and said, basically, that all the technical stuff (which looks like blah blah blah to me), really means nothing to me, and that I am happy with the business we get from what we do and that I was disappointed that our long-time association comes down to a few bucks, now.

Then she called. She got Michael first and talked his ear off. He agreed to do some research on the numbers she gave him. Then she talked to me. And she talked and talked some more until I was forced to lie to her and tell her I had an appointment to get to. She kept saying the same stuff over and over. And, although I don’t understand all the intricacies of everything she said, I got the jist of it, but she just went on and on and on (blah blah blah). Finally I hung up. Then I went to the computer and there was another e-mail from her! I couldn’t believe it!

This time, I couldn’t stop myself. I apologized for not being into the hard-sell thing and told her how I react to annoying telemarketers and timeshare sales people. I thought that would be the end. But lo and behold, this morning there was another short (thank goodness!) e-mail refuting some of the wording in my e-mail about her “new” venture. But she promised she would stop bothering me. Well, she got the last word, and I hope it truly is.

Dear Editor,

In response to many criticisms we environmentalists constantly get, and also to enlighten the general public with some FACTS about Paul Golden….

We do not place turtles, birds and lizards above children, we just see the big picture, which includes a clean and healthy environment so we can all be physically and financially healthy. If part of our island suffers from pollution and displacement caused by inappropriate development, we will all suffer in the end.

For one example, golf courses need toxic chemicals to kill weeds that interfere with the perfect green grass. These chemicals leach into the ground making their way to the sea and damaging the things that fish eat. Have you snorkeled off the Buccaneer beach lately? It’s not that wonderful, and the Buccaneer is one of the most environmentally sensitive hotels on St. Croix. Weed killers kill other plants and sea life, too. When the fish have no food because run-off has destroyed it, they die. Then there are no fish for us to enjoy when we snorkel or dive, or eat at the dinner table. Just because we haven’t seen this happen yet, doesn’t mean it won’t happen if we keep on abusing the natural world. We therefore need to be very careful where we put golf courses, among other things. The Great Pond area is not a good place for one because there is abundant sea life in the bay which will be negatively affected by run-off from a development in this area. The Great Pond area has been designated an “Area of Particular Concern” because of the natural resources there. We need to respect this and find a better place for Mr. Golden to build his casino/resort. (I want to say…Like on the moon…)

I applaud William Smith who is resurrecting the former Grapetree Bay Hotel. What a smart move! This is a property which already has proper zoning and a footprint for a beautiful hotel. Easier all around, and less damaging to the environment we all share.

The Fischer family, who’ve recently purchased the former Cormorant and are working with CHANT and SEA from the very beginning to ensure that their planned expansion will be environmentally and culturally appropriate are also to be highly commended.

As far as jobs are concerned, I wonder how many people will be happy working the kinds of jobs another casino/resort will provide. Are the people who work at the other casino/resort happy? Maybe some are, but I think that many would generally rather be doing something else besides working in the “service” industry. And here, I am not saying that service industry jobs are less important than any others. Every job is important. I came here many years ago and worked 7 days a week in various part-time positions (including cleaning toilets, even with my master’s degree) until I decided to start my own business. Now I work for myself and I love my work. In my line of work (which is also in the “service industry”), people are happy to see me. They also usually feel better when we part ways. It is extremely rewarding. Some people think my work is hard, and it often is. But I am doing something I truly love, and the joy of accomplishment and my peace of mind far outweigh the difficulties. My work does not harm the environment or anybody’s health. I believe anyone can look around any community, see what needs to be done, what niches need to be filled in a positive way, and then do what they love to make a good living.

Eco-tourism is being under-explored by Caribbean islands. It seems that each wants to emulate one of the others, especially the ones with big resorts and casinos. But the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence. What someone else has may not be best for the next guy. St. Croix is an incredible place with beautiful people and a rich culture and history. Many people want to learn about our culture and history. Don’t we want to share that with them? How will another casino help preserve this heritage for all of our children? We can educate ourselves and each other so that we do not have to depend on every developer with big ideas who want to exploit our island and our people. Getting involved with CHANT is a good start.

Now for a few of the actual facts about Paul Golden’s project, which have been thus far ignored by most of the news media. I’m trying to make it understandable and not in so much “legalese”, which might just as well be Greek as far as I’m concerned.

First, the US District Court has ordered that our local CZM Committee make a “findings of fact” to determine whether Golden’s plans comply with our VI laws. But, our local CZM staff has already determined that Golden’s plans do not comply in the following areas: Drainage, flooding and erosion control; Impact studies on marine life in the Great Pond Bay; Impact studies on land areas surrounding the pond and bay; Sewage treatment and disposal; Hazardous waste disposal; Fire and Police protection and Public Health, among others.

Second, our local CZM staff has already recommended that the CZM Committee deny Golden a CZM permit because of these failures to comply. But the CZM Committee granted him a permit without a quorum. This means there were not enough voting members present to conduct business, yet they granted him a permit, which is illegal.

This also means that Golden has a lot more work to do. He has not complied with requirements to receive a permit to build anything. Despite these facts, he continues to insist that he is “in full compliance of the CZM permit” and “not in violation of any CZM conditions”. He has also tried to stop the permit from being reviewed by the St. Croix CZM Committee. To me, this indicates he knows the plans will not be approved by CZM.

Third, it will take years for the numerous legal challenges from the many parties interested in the laws of the VI being upheld to be resolved. And the PFA gave him until March 31, 2008 to resolve them.

So now, where will he get the funding for his proposed convention center?

Fourth, he still has not shown the public any real plans for this project. You know, like blueprints (real engineer’s drawings with measurements and stuff.) We always see the “artist’s rendering”, oh, but this time, a lovely aerial photograph has been added.

And finally, Mr. Golden said in a radio interview, that he would be happy to speak with the environmentalists and answer their questions, but he denied us access on his tour of the Great Pond on Friday. What was he afraid of? The truth? I think so, because he did lie when asked about the smell of the area. The natural processes which occur in and around a salt pond will produce gases which may be somewhat unpleasant. However, despite the fact that the wind was blowing from east to west, and there were only a handful of Senepol cattle far to the west of his site, he said that the smell of the Great Pond was actually from manure. Now there’s a bunch of bull! (I want to say…Or, does he just not know sh**?)

Okay, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt here. Maybe he really just doesn’t get it. Fine. But if he truly is that ignorant about the source of the odors on this property, how will he understand any of the more difficult issues involved in beginning, building, completing and managing a project of this magnitude?

(I want to say…I’m starting to think that maybe he’s going for a Guinness Book record for longest time to actually begin a resort/casino project…..) But I’m really trying to be nice :)!

Despite recognition in the OPEN Government Act and rulings by the FEC that “under US law blogs are formally recognized as media organizations“, Paul Golden rejected us as “media” and evicted us from his “Press Conference and Property Tour” this morning.

Yesterday, Golden sent out a “Media Alert” inviting select individuals and “all press” to meet at Ginnie’s store this morning at 10:00 am and ask “any and all questions that you might have”. The last line of the “alert” reads “This tour is for all media representatives and invited persons only.” But apparently its actually like one of those Bush PCs where he’ll answer all questions from a hand-picked audience.

We showed up and circulated a list of important questions that Golden has managed to avoid answering publicly thus far. The list included supporting documentation demonstrating the “factual” responses. But when we tried to hop on the safari bus for the tour, Paul Golden and his henchman, Roy Rogers, refused to let us join. They claimed it was for invited guests and media only. We responded that we write a blog and our readers have unanswered questions about this project. But they refused to let us go unless we were with the Avis, Daily News, or TV 2. Those media outlets did have representatives, and Roger Morgan was invited and included. Here’s to hoping someone asks some of those important questions.

This morning we went down to the Great Pond Mini Mart, where Paul Golden’s media relations agent invited members of the press for a tour of the property where he has wanted to build a resort/casino/convention center. We went with a stack of questions and documentation prepared by the attorneys for the VI Conservation Society.

We handed the questionnaires out to reporters who showed up and attempted to join them on their “tour”. We were told by Golden and his buddy Roy Rogers (yes, that’s his real name) that we could not join them since we didn’t have press passes. According to the law, bloggers are members of the media, and we feel wrongly omitted from this event. Hmmm, why were we singled out and not permitted to attend? Everyone else there was allowed to go and according to his Media Alert, dated April 3, 2008, he would answer “any and all questions that you might have”. Let’s see what the newspapers and radio and television stations report.

The Sunday-Monday edition of our local newspaper listed 29 job openings. Not including those at the Buccaneer Hotel, which is looking for people to fill many vacant positions there. The Wednesday edition listed 28 openings, again, not including the Buccaneer. And at this time of year, we have many transient workers who are here for the high times, but will go to Sarasota or Alaska for the Summer. So there are not as many spots to fill as there are during the months of May through December. It’s still plenty. But people say “there are no jobs…”

We also frequently see “Help Wanted” ads (and we hear them on the radio) by the Divi Hotel and Casino. In fact, a few months ago, the Divi asked the government if they could hire people under 21 to work in the casino, since they could not find enough qualified Cruzans of age to work in the industry. Where are all the people who need jobs? Do they really WANT to work?

The “powers that be” support Paul Golden in his attempts to build a resort/convention center/casino on the South Shore because he’ll bring jobs to the territory. Hmmmm. There aren’t enough qualified people to fill the vacancies we have now, so….

He’ll have to hire more statesiders! And then the people dem will bitch about all “de outsiders dem takin’ all de jobs dem”.

It won’t be pretty.

And then there’s the guy we see at all the Paul Golden hearings. Roy Rogers. He has kids with college degrees. He wants them to work in Golden’s Resort. But he wants them to start out in managerial positions.

Well, I know a guy who’s the president of an oil company in RI. His father owned the company. But his father made him learn the business from the “ground up”. He started out cleaning boilers and working in freezing cold temperatures. He learned every aspect of the job so he could become a good manager. His company is very successful because of this. Why can’t Roy’s kids start out dealing cards at Divi to see what it’s like?

I came from the states a while ago, but I have paid my dues, doing everything (even with a master’s degree) from cleaning other peoples’ toilets to finally running a successful business. I don’t want an influx of Americans here. I left America because I wanted a simpler island-style life. Americans will bring their strip malls and IHOPs. Ugh!

St. Croix has so much potential to become a unique example of responsible development and non-invasive tourism. Why can’t we all just work together to make this happen rather than cow-towing to some big talking Jerseyite with a lot of PR and too little common sense and foresight?

(Also sent to the Source, the Avis and The Daily News)

As a person who fell in love with St. Croix the first time I landed at the Alexander Hamilton Airport in 1987, has lived here, raised my daughter here, worked myriad jobs (menial, professional and managerial), has done countless hours of volunteer work, and continues to try to promote the beauty and uniqueness of our island home, I must speak, yet again, about the potential damage that Paul Golden’s casino, convention center, golf course and “resort” will do to this amazing place.

There are a group of swimmers who get together every Saturday morning to swim from one point to another at various beaches around St. Croix. I have swum with them for over 10 years. One of the swims takes the participants from Robin Bay (east of Mt. Fancy) to the Boy Scout Camp. It can be a fabulous swim. The patch reefs in the Great Pond Bay, as well as the barrier reef, harbor innumerable species of colorful sea life. The waters are fresh and clear, until you get to the beach where Paul Golden wants to build this abomination. The beach may look nice from land, but it is murky and full of smelly seaweed once you get to the spot where this “resort” is proposed. The current takes a lot of yucky stuff to that particular beach.

During certain times of the year, the place smells like septic. The aroma of decaying vegetation in the area as part of the natural processes of a wetland/saltpond, aka swamp is prevalent. My belief is that Paul Golden was sold the proverbial, “Prime swampland in St. Croix that my buddies and I have been holding onto for just someone like you…” And that may be why we see former Senator David Jones’ face at every Golden hearing trying to dissuade naysayers like me, who actually know what the area is like and have had many years of contact with stateside tourists.

My business depends largely on tourism and I know the typical “golf resort/casino tourist” will definitely not enjoy their stay at this resort. But Golden does not want to look like an idiot who’s been sold a bill of goods, which is why he perseveres.

I can only imagine the pampered American tourist holding her nose walking from the beach to the golf course (or more likely being chauffeured in a fancy golf cart) to complain to her husband about the “awful smell of St. Croix” and wanting to go to Aruba or St. Martin.

St. Croix is a breathtakingly unspoiled gem with so much more potential than to be just another overdeveloped Caribbean island who has sold out to some (or a few) scam artist(s).
Let’s take better care of her and not let this happen.

Terry told me before that my posts were too political, so I’ve cut back, but I had to share this.

I just had an enlightening conversation with former senator David Jones. We were at the press conference where Paul Golden finally announced his partnership with Wyndham Worldwide to manage and operate the Wyndham St. Croix Golf Resort and Casino (formerly called Golden Gaming/Golden Resorts, LLC). Oddly, no one from Wyndham bothered to show up, or they kept quiet, they certainly weren’t introduced. How’s that for a resounding endorsement?

Anyway, I was discussing with Mr. Jones the fact that Mr. Golden’s checkered past includes episodes that would prevent him from employment in a casino, let alone running one, according to the Virgin Islands Casino Control Act. “We’re not here to judge anyone”, Mr. Jones said. He went on to say Paul Golden hasn’t murdered or raped anyone, as far as we know, so we should move forward. Right in our community, he told me, we have people who have raped and murdered and they’re flourishing, so why shouldn’t Mr. Golden. He seemed to be saying that, since we haven’t been able to enforce all our laws against more heinous crimes, we shouldn’t bother to enforce lowly laws like the Casino Control Act. It struck me as particularly odd, since our police commissioner was on a radio talk show this morning saying he and the force are committed to enforcing all the laws, from seat belt requirements, window tinting, cell phone use, noise ordinances and traffic rules on up. Yet here was a former senator, who used to be charged with making the laws, saying we should just ignore some of them, since we can’t enforce all of them.

I really wish someone from Wyndham had shown up at the press conference. I’ve heard all of Paul’s answers before, but I had a question for them. I’m wondering, given Mr. Golden’s history, in previous ventures, of ignoring municipal rules and regulations that he’s been unable to have changed to suit his purpose, how much consideration Wyndham has given to their liability should this practice continue on this resort project? I’d also like to know why they jumped the gun on his announcement by a few hours, sending a press release out to Marketwire, but failed to note it on their own Wyndham Worldwide website? (as of 4:00 pm AST 2/27/08)

Note: This editorial comment was also submitted to the St. Croix Source, The St. Croix Avis, and the VI Daily News

That’s right, someone has to take the brunt of it. Fortunately, it’s no one who reads my blog. But she may hear about this from those who do. Oh, well. See, this site is here to enable people to read about life on the island of St. Croix. And I will relate to you something upsetting to me that happened here on St. Croix. Not recently, but it festers, and since I’m grouchy today, I need to re-open this wound and let the pus out.

It must have been March 25th (interesting). Since it was the last Sunday of the month, our friend, Kurt Schindler, must have been playing at “the pig bar”. Michael’s parents were visiting. We went to “norma’s” to listen to Kurt. Goliath came with us, as he usually does, since he is a Registered Service Animal. We have cards to prove Goliath’s value in this area. Just as people have “Seeing Eye Dogs” (Service Animals), we have Goliath. And, according to the “Americans with Disabilities Act”, he may accompany me anywhere I go in public. It does NOT matter whether my “disability” is visible or not. Also, people really, according to the “Americans with Disabilities Act” do NOT have the right to question my disability. Or to stop Goliath from being with me in any public place.

Unfortunately, norma decided to not allow Goliath in her bar that night. Her large employee (funny how everyone calls it the “pig bar”) looked at his registration card and said to norma (who also has this look about her), “Oh, it’s another ’service animal’”. They proceeded to tell us that Goliath was still not welcome. Since the place was packed and my in-laws were there, I decided not to make a scene (I guess I should have had more to drink, then I probably would have. But I was not about to enrich her bar any more. Like she needs my money anyway). To add insult to injury, we were told, that after we’d left, she let another dog in. Just a regular dog! Can you say, “Discrimination“?! Goliath and I were discriminated against because norma and her employee did not feel like dealing with this issue.

So I fumed. And did nothing at the time. It was still our busy season, we were dealing with Michael’s parents, and right after they left, we discovered I was pregnant, and it was a “high risk pregnancy”, and so on….But now I do really need to contact the federal authorities about this major breach. I never liked the place anyway. What a rip-off tourist trap! When you take the “island tour”, the taxi drivers automatically take you here. norma then sells you a non-alcoholic beer that you also pay to feed to her pigs. It’s a triple rip-off. And if you look at the horrible conditions these pigs are forced to live in…..

We’ve been away for a while on vacation. I’d hoped to return and blog about what a great time we had on Tortola and Anegada, but instead I feel the need to address the ludicrous decision made by the Coastal Zone Mismanagement Committee last week.

CZM denied a permit application to develop the Southgate Coastal Reserve submitted by the St. Croix Environmental Association (SEA). The CZM Committee voted to accept the CZM staff recommendation to deny the permit because it was “not consistent” with CZM regulations and policy. One has to wonder what is consistent with CZM’s regulations and policies. A study of previously approved permits would indicate that a complete lack of consideration for the environment and traditional uses of beachfront land is what CZM favors. SEA’s carefully considered plan to protect the rare wetland environment while allowing traditional family camping and other day uses of the property is clearly inconsistent with the CZM’s record.

Below is a copy of a letter I sent to CZM Commissioners after the public meeting in April, but prior to last weeks decision. Clearly, they couldn’t grasp the concepts, hopefully the general public will fair better.

Dear CZM Commissioners,

I attended the public meeting on Wednesday evening, May 2, regarding the development of Southgate Coastal Reserve proposed by the St. Croix Environmental Association (SEA). I was surprised by some of the testimony and questions. The objections to the proposed plan centered around three issues: not accommodating campers to their (the campers) satisfaction, controlling vehicle access, and the distance from the proposed parking lot to the beach.

SEA has spent the last six years studying the land donated to them in 2000 and 2001 and consulting, not only with experts, but with the public and recreational users of the land. They have not been working to circumvent, or change, Virgin Islands law to suit their needs and maximize profits for off-island investors, as have some would-be developers. Instead, they have been carefully crafting a plan to protect the natural environment and endangered wildlife on the property, as mandated by the Conservation Easement attached to the deeds of the land, while accommodating the widest possible use of the land for the enjoyment of all recreational users.

To my knowledge, the plan proposed by SEA is the first development of a major beach-front property in the history of the Virgin Islands to expressly accommodate, even encourage, the continuation of traditional public beach-side camping on the private property of the developing entity. There are only two projects that come close to the allowances SEA is proposing: The National Park campground at Cinnamon Bay and Maho Bay Camps on St. John. However, these campgrounds do not allow traditional camping “on the beach”, you must rent a tent site, tent, or cabin up the hillside from the beach. And guess what? You can’t drive up to your tent or park there. You have to park in a lot, often more than 600 feet from your cabin or tent, and haul your gear in.

On St. Croix there is no history of accommodating campers in development plans- not a single resort, hotel, condo or residential development has allowed camping on their property - nor have any current projects on the horizon have plans to accommodate campers, as far as I am aware. Had the condo development, planned for the Southgate property in the past, been built to completion, there is no doubt that camping would have been prohibited. But at the meeting Wednesday, some individuals would have had you believe that beach-side camping is now the sacred cow, and absolutely no restrictions should be placed on “traditional”camping.

The Environmental Assessment Report prepared by SEA, section 7.07 Recreational Use, states clearly, “At Southgate Coastal Reserve, SEA will endeavor to balance protection of wildlife, for whom this reserve was designated, with the need for natural recreation areas for the people of St. Croix. Camping will be accommodated to the extent that it is compatible with critical wildlife activity…SEA will provide fire rings, sanitary facilities and receptacles for trash disposal for those who wish to enjoy primitive camping.” Again, in accordance with its mandate to protect the wetlands area and wildlife of Southgate Coastal Reserve and to accommodate recreational use for all the people of St. Croix, SEA proposes to restrict some of the more recent, less “traditional” trends in beach-side camping that have a negative impact on the wetlands environment and the enjoyment of other recreational users.

To mandate that one group of users, campers, not be inconvenienced in ANY way, to the detriment of the wetlands, wildlife, and other users’ experience, is not only unfair and counter to the Conservation Easement of the deeds, but a violation of SEA’s rights as a property owner. The CZM committee made it clear that the decision of reasonable access is up to their sole discretion, but one would hope that discretion will be guided by the rule of law, precedence, and reason, not whim.

SEA has at no time to this date blocked access to the beach at Southgate (such as the VI Government did at Lindquist Beach on St. Thomas for more than a year) to either day users or campers and has no plans to do so. It has proposed to control vehicle access to the beach through its property. There will be a road available for emergency vehicles, handicap access, loading and unloading of equipment for special events, and maintenance. For the general public, there will be a parking lot and open unrestricted access to foot traffic 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. The Open Shorelines Act, Title 12, Section 402, declares the public, individually and collectively, has the right to use and enjoy the shorelines of the Virgin Islands. Nowhere does it guarantee the right of the public to “drive up to” and “park on” the shoreline, and the history of permitting by CZM bears this out. Where established access routes preceded development, developers of shoreline areas have been required to allow “dedicated access” and “reasonable parking”.

Let’s take a look at some of those developments. At Turner Hole in Grapetree Bay the Divi Carina Bay Resort provides a parking lot a couple hundred feet from the beach, across a street that vehicles have been known to use at excessive speeds. You can not drive down to the beach, park there, nor pitch a tent to camp on their property. At Davis Bay, the Carambola Beach Resort built a public parking area, the initial entrance to which is now closed due to driveway deterioration and petty crime in the lot, several hundred feet, up multiple stairways, from the beach. The lot now allocated to the public is over 1000 feet from the beach, all uphill, the last couple hundred feet of which are at a steep grade exceeding 10%. This is to the nearest point of the beach, to reach a place to safely enter the water is approximately 700 feet further. You can not drive up to, park on, or camp on the beach. The Buccaneer Resort controls all access to the beaches on their property, public access to the beach may be rented for $6 per day per person. No camping is allowed on the beaches. The beach at Tamarind Reef may be reached from a parking lot a couple hundred feet away, there is no camping allowed. I could go on, but these examples should suffice, to my knowledge, no shoreline development has ever been required to provide public parking directly on the beach.

And the developments on the horizon? Seasonal camping takes place at both Robin Bay and the beach running south of Sprat Hole on the West End. Have the developers of the Robin Bay or William and Punch projects allowed for the continuation of traditional (or modern) beach-side camping at those locations? Does the CZM intend to mandate unrestricted vehicle access, beach-side parking, and camping on those properties?

Finally, I’d like to put the issue of distance to “reasonable parking” in perspective.
Six hundred feet…….. SIX…..…HUNDRED…….FEET… Whew! Sounds like a lot. For comparison, the public meeting Wednesday, May 2, took place in the conference room, upstairs, at the Henry E. Rohlsen International Airport. Anyone who has been to the airport lately knows that all the closest spaces in the parking lot are reserved for TSA, other airport offices, and rental car agencies. The public must park in the furthest spaces. Therefore, nearly every one of the dozens of people at that meeting had to walk more than 600 feet, and up a flight of stairs, from their parked car to the conference room. I didn’t hear a single complaint from those in attendance regarding their walk to the meeting.

The Government parking lot in Christiansted is, to my knowledge, further than 600 feet from all VI Government offices located in Christiansted. So, if you work for a government office, or have business to attend to at a VI Government office in Christiansted and park in the government lot, you have to walk more than 600 feet to conduct said business.

SEA’s proposal of a parking lot 600 feet from the beach with dedicated unrestricted wheel-chair friendly level access falls somewhere in the middle, distance-wise, and on the easy end of the difficulty scale, of what has been considered “reasonable access” at all other beach-front developments in the Virgin Islands. It meets the requirements of the Conservation Easement on the deeds, helps to preserve and protect the wetlands and wildlife of the Southgate Coastal Reserve, and does not impose an undue hardship on any recreational users, nor interfere with “traditional” beach-side camping. If anything, it enhances the “traditional” aspects of camping by restricting the modern non-traditional trends. If beach-side camping is at risk in the Virgin Islands, the camping crusaders would be wise to focus on developments planned for Robin Bay and Sprat Hole Beach. With the persistent pro-development climate, Southgate beach may well become the last place to experience traditional family beach-side camping on St. Croix, thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, the stewardship of the St. Croix Environmental Association, and the consideration and forethought of the St. Croix CZM committee in allowing SEA to manage the property in a way that will benefit ALL the people of St. Croix for generations to come.

Sincerely,

Michael Dance
Sally’s Fancy, St. Croix

If there’s one thing that irritates me (OK, there are a few things that irk me, but this is near the top of the list), its when I hear “There’s nothing to do on St. Croix”. Whether its Cruise Industry excuses, St. Thomians dissin’ the Big Island, or travel writing whiners repeating schlock without ever having visited, it drives me nuts.

For the naysayers, here’s our social report for the last two weeks. In my renewed blogging zeal I’ve already posted about a few of these tings and intended to write up all of them (and still might), but I just keep getting farther behind - too busy doing to write! So here’s the abridged version:

Monday, April 30 Dinner at [tag]Tuttu Bene[/tag] with Peter and Heike before Heike left for Germany visit.

Wednesday, May 2 Coastal Zone Management public meeting regarding [tag]St. Croix Environmental Association[/tag]’s proposed development of the [tag]Southgate Coastal Reserve[/tag] at Southgate beach and wetland area. Check back here for my letter to CZM regarding questions raised at this meeting.

Thursday, May 3 Sushi at the [tag]Deck Bar[/tag] - outdoors, overlooking [tag]Christiansted[/tag] harbor, Maggie serves up great sashimi and rolls. You can’t find fresher fish anywhere, the boats are docked right in front of you. Art Thursday - Christiansted Gallery Walk.

A Mocko Jumbie greets
revelers at Christiansted Jump Up.
Mocko Jumbie dem are
“false spirits”, people dressed up
as gods or spirits that “bless” events
by scaring away evil spirits.

Friday, May 4 Triathlon [tag]Jump-Up[/tag], Christiansted. A downtown block party covering about six square blocks (nearly all of C’sted). Music, dancing, [tag]Mocko Jumbies[/tag], steel pan, lobster kabobs, and limin’ in the streets. Meet new friends or catch up with ones you haven’t seen in months - young, old, residents, visitors - everybody is out at Jump Up. Served four times a year: February Valentines (or Terry’s Birthday, May Triathlon, July 4th, and December (sometimes late November) Pre-Christmas.

Lately, island favorite [tag]Kurt Schindler[/tag] has been performing his music magic in the Caravelle Arcade courtyard outside Caravelle Cafe (formerly Cafe Society, formerly de Bean Mon). He was there rockin’ away to a large and appreciative crowd Friday night.

Cinco de Mayo, Saturday, May 5 Finfolk [tag]Ocean Swim[/tag]. I think the scheduled swim was from one west end beach to another, but a small group of renegade non-triathlon participants met for a Cane Bay to Carambola beach route. The conditions were too perfect, so we opted to swim west from Carambola to [tag]Annaly Bay[/tag] and back. Visibility was great, I’ve never seen such calm waters at the western Davis Bay entry. Not too many spectacularly exotic species this trip, but we did see one small hawksbill turtle and a huge school of good sized bait fish of some type and the coral is this area is some of the healthiest around the island.

Dinner at [tag]Cafe Kaleidoscope[/tag] (at the former Southshore cafe location) before cross-island trek to see [tag]From Page to Stage[/tag] production of Hate Mail at the Good Hope School’s Savage Theater.

There were various Cinco de Mayo events around the island, but we didn’t get to any, just too much to do!

Sunday, May 6 [tag]St. Croix Ironman 70.3[/tag] (formerly St. Croix Half Ironman formerly St. Croix International Triathlon). Beginning in 1988 as an alternative off-season tourist attraction, the “little triathlon that could” has grown into a major international sporting event. Pros and challengers come from all over the world in an attempt to conquer “[tag]Beauty and the Beast[/tag]”. The triathlon is now a qualifying event for the Ironman World Championship (Kona, Hawaii), the Ironman USA (Lake Placid, NY) and Ironman Canada. We didn’t go this year, it came to us! Nearly every year, for the past six or more, Terry, myself, or both of us, have volunteered our massage skills to suffering triathletes down in the massage tent in the transition area. This year we took a break, took our dogs for walks and watched the competitors bike past once… twice… three times - the 56 mile bike loop(s) covers nearly the entire island and passes our little road 3 times, twice one way, once the other.

Monday and Tuesday, May 7-8 We caught our breathe and caught up on domestic things (riiiiiggggghhhht… well we tried, a little)

Wednesday, May 9 Dinner at the Deep End - Farewell to Peter, he’s headed for Germany and Paris vacation early next morning.

Thursday, May 10 Up at the crack of dawn, or a little before, to get Peter out to the airport for a 6:45 am flight - Incredibly, there are actually American Eagle employees behind the counter and a long line of travelers already checking in at 5:30 am, I didn’t figure they’d even open the airport before 6:00! I mean, nobody comes here right?

Thursday [tag]Luncheria[/tag] Night! We’ve become Thursday night regulars meeting our Land Rover Guru, Dave, his wife Michele, and their assorted (or is that sordid) friends.

Friday, May 11 After giving a couples massage on the beach in front of Sand Castle on the Beach in Frederiksted, we’ve got a few hours before next appointment. We enjoyed a snorkel/swim from Sand Castle south past Cottages by the Sea and the condo complex toward the public pool. A big barracuda passed us at a good clip, which can be a little worrisome. Usually they drift lazily along near schools of lunch. What was he after, or what was behind him?? Nothing scary turned up. Terry saw a small sea snake or eel, but I missed it.

Having worked up an appetite, we lunched at the [tag]Beachside Cafe[/tag] at Sand Castle. Terry started with french onion soup and followed up with a hummus platter. I had a cuban sandwich. The soup broth was thicker than usual and a little sweet. The hummus was “boring”, according to Terry. The cuban was alright, but pickle was on the side, not in it (carmelized onions in it instead) and though warm, it wasn’t press grilled the way I’m used to. I popped the pickle inside, and it was pretty good. All in all, not much to “blog about”. However, service was decent and the view is to die for.

Finished the day at [tag]Caribbean Community Theater[/tag]’s opening night performance of Niel Simon’s The Odd Couple. This is the final show of the regular season. All the cast were great, but Michael Armendariz and Lionel Downer were terrific as Felix and Oscar. And we enjoyed opening night champagne and cake with the cast after the show.

Photo © Dive Experience

Saturday, May 12 Now that the waters have warmed up and our season is slowing down we were able to join the finfolk for a second week in a row. The scheduled swim, from Robin Bay (Lobsta’ Shack) beach across Great Pond Bay to Howard Wall Boyscout Camp, was aborted again, this time due to Portuguese Man-o-War jellyfish sightings on the south shore during the previous week. Getting stung by jellyfish half-way through a 2 mile swim - Not Fun. We relocated to [tag]Tamarind Reef Beach[/tag] for a ’round Green Cay swim on the north east shore instead. Like last weeks swim at Davis Bay, this was the calmest water most of these veteran swimmers had seen for this swim. Ray Lutz spotted a couple [tag]Spotted Eagle Ray[/tag]s on the way over and again on the way back - it was a see Ray see sea rays kinda swim. No turtles this time.

Since we were right there, we stayed for breakfast at the [tag]Deep End Bar and Grille[/tag]. Its hard to screw up simple breakfasts, but special orders can be a different thing. Our dining companion eschews all foods yellow (or at least yellow dairy items) and ordered an egg-white only veggie omelette with white cheese. The Deep End kitchen came through with flying colors (or would that be flying colorless) and served up the omlette as ordered. We were also able to pick up a cube (4-5 gallons) of used veggie fryer oil for our Veggie Rover Biofuel Project. For the record, we’ve collected Waste Vegetable Oil from several area restaurants and the oil from The Deep End is consistently the cleanest oil we’ve collected. That can really tell you something about how a place keeps its kitchen.

We’re making a good attempt to get back on our massage-a-week (or every other week) program. I got a massage from Terry last week, so she got one today.

Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 13 We had a lazy morning, then joined Terry’s daughter, Nicole, her boyfriend, Ian, and our friend Meredith for Brunch at [tag]Duggan’s Reef[/tag] out at Teague Bay. Our server started off a little scattered and nervous, but made a strong finish offering Meredith extra chocolate muffins to go. BTW, Meredith treated us all to brunch, so she deserved them. Thanks Meredith!

I got another massage from Terry - only a week apart, we’re on a roll. Though she readily admits it was only to speed up the queue to her next massage
Finished up Mother’s Day at [tag]The Terrace Restaurant[/tag] at The Buccaneer. I haven’t dined here since I used to manage their spa and was hosting a spa journalist. The view from the Terrace toward Christiansted and the harbor is unbelievable, hands down the best evening dining panorama on island. The sunset tonight wasn’t impressive, but the view still rocked. The food was fantastic, the service less consistent.

So there’s our two week round up. Keep in mind, this is after Easter, almost half-way through May, season is well into the downhill slide, but there is still too much to do. When season is in full swing every week-end (Wednesday through Sunday) is so chock full of events you have to really pick your favorites and abandon 2 or 3 per night. There’s no way to keep up with everything that’s going on.

Photo ©
Anchor Dive Center
Courtesy of
GotoStCroix.com

I’ve been in the islands for eight years, five on St. Croix. With all there is to do here, there’s still a list of things I haven’t gotten to. I haven’t dived “The Wall” off the north shore (I’ve snorkeled over it, but not dived. Come to think of it, I haven’t scuba dived yet - neither wall nor wreck, nothing. I haven’t learned to wind-surf ( I did take a lesson one day when camping at Maho Bay in St. John before moving here). I haven’t learned to kite surf ( again, took one lesson on St. Thomas one day, but there are folks here that can teach you to do it right from the beach, rather than take you out to the middle of a bay in a dinghy and try to drown you for an hour). I haven’t hiked even a fraction of the ruins on island with the St. Croix Landmarks Society Ruins Rambles. I haven’t gone horseback riding.

Photo © St. Croix
Landmarks Society

I haven’t been to the Lawaetz Family Museum at Little La Grange. I haven’t toured Fort Christiansvaern in the [tag]Christiansted National Historic Site[/tag], (I’ve been in Fort Frederik, in Frederiksted, volunteering for an art charity function, and had a chance to look around). I hadn’t even heard of the Estate Mt. Washington self-guided tour until just now (I chanced upon the listing in St. Croix This Week while looking up how to spell Lawaetz), so I’m sure there is plenty more to do that I’m not even aware of.

I invite those who claim there is nothing to do on St. Croix to come see for themselves and tell me that again… just as soon as they’ve finished doing all there is to do. See you next century!

St. Croix -

Naysayers -

Note: I’m back. To get things rolling again, I’ve included a reprint of a letter I wrote to the editor of the St. Croix Avis. It appeared in the Sunday-Monday, September 24-25 edition:

All that glitters is not gold. In response to the editorial, “Silver lining”, published in the St. Croix Avis Wednesday, September 13, I’d like to discuss the myriad problems with the Golden Gaming project. The roadblocks encountered by Golden Resorts are not so much a testament to the difficulty of development on the big island as they are a testament to the disregard and contempt that Paul Golden and Golden Resorts has shown for Virgin Islands law, residents and environment.

The original CZM permit was granted because of a misunderstanding by the CZM board, then upheld on a technicality, despite glaring faults and against the recommendation of the CZM staff. It’s contrary to a covenant and restriction for the land in question, limiting development to 4 stories or less, that has been included in the VI code, so until the law is changed, the current permit is illegal. The new permit request is asking to allow buildings up to 8 stories, exceeding the limits set forth by the covenants and restrictions by 4 stories, as well as the limit of 6 stories set forth in the Casino Control Act. So the new permit, if granted, would violate two different sets of VI Code. Golden Resorts response to this is that they will deal with the various illegalities later. First they just want to get the permit for the height increase. If it is illegal for a blind man to operate a motor vehicle, would it make sense to grant him a license to drive today, based on the possibility he may succeed in changing the law in the future? I don’t think so.

Supporters of the project always bring up the same two issues, jobs and tourist development. Like most critics of this project, I agree St. Croix could use more jobs, more economic development and more tourists. However, Great Pond is not the place for it. Has Mr. Golden ever gone swimming at the Great Pond Bay beach? Has he ever seen anyone swimming at the beach nearest to where he wants to build this monstrosity? Does anyone who lives on St. Croix ever go down to the west end of the Great Pond beach to go swimming? No. Why? Because it’s a terrible beach for swimming or bathing, arguably one of the worst on St. Croix.

I have been swimming in that bay and up to that beach. Far out in the bay it’s beautiful. The water is clear. There is sand and sea grass. You can see sea turtles, spotted eagle rays, sting rays, queen conch, on occasion, a shark. As you get closer to the beach you get bogged down with seaweed, silt, and muck. It is the messiest, smelliest beach to exit from a swim. In short, it’s fantastic for marine wildlife, terrible for tourists. Golden Resorts never mentions this. What are they going to do after they’ve built this massive casino hotel complex and no one wants to stay there? The beach will be muddy and mucky and covered with smelly seaweed. Wonderful southeast sea breezes will be blowing the sulfurous smell of the salt pond through the resort day and night – a Tropical Paradise! Where will the tourists be then? And where will the jobs be? Of course, by then, the VI Government will have spent $30 million from the taxpayers pockets to build a convention center no one want to use and Paul Golden will have spent all those millions of his investors dollars. Those will be the arguments used to justify dredging Great Pond Bay, trucking in sand, and further destroying this fragile ecosystem. What hasn’t yet been ruined by the silt run-off, noise and pollution of construction, choked from the algal bloom resulting from golf course pesticide and fertilizer run-off, will be dredged up or covered over, in the name of progress. By then, all that is now beautiful about the Great Pond will be gone. Our inheritance will be a carbon copy resort on an empty smelly beach and another casino that draws more local dollars out of the community that it does tourists to the territory.

There are some worthy development projects on the drawing boards for St. Croix. This is not one of them. I think Golden should be given a hearty slap on the behind and sent packing. It’s time to pull the plug on the Golden Resorts project. The re-zoning permit should be denied, the convention center should be partnered with another project, or with one of our existing resorts that already provide jobs in the community. The only silver lining here is that others might learn to take better care in choosing a location and planning their developments.

Don’t be Golden’s fool – protect Great Pond Bay.

Sportswear giant Nautica continues to harass local St. Croix sailor and entrepreneur Jeannie Sylvester regarding her line of Nauti-gal apparel. Sylvester has received several threatening “cease and desist” letters from Nautica’s legal department.

Jean decided to design her own line of sailing garb for gals after suffering years wearing what the “big boys” thought she should wear. Tired of the same ole same ole, she set out to design sailing apparel for women that would fit, function and “appeal to her feminine sense of style”.

Despite no similarities in products, designs, or logos, Nautica thinks her brand name Nauti-Gal is too similar to theirs, claiming a right to the prefix “nauti”. Even Microsoft, famous for throwing its weight around, hasn’t been so bold as to claim trademark rights to “Micro” and bully Microcom,Microdyne, Microlab, Microprose, Microtech, Microtek, et al.

We think that if Nautica put as much effort into designing comfortable competition-quality sailing apparel for women as it does in trying to intimidate possible competitors, Nauti-Gal would never have come about and Jeannie could have spent more time sailing and less designing clothes.

If you agree, you can tell Nautica to leave her alone by:

Calling: (212) 541-5757;    Faxing: (212) 887-8136

or writing: Nautica, 40 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019

Nauti-Gal -

Nautica -

If you want to get a massage while staying at the Divi Carina Bay Resort in St. Croix, you MUST patronize their new spa, or hide in your room.

My wife, Terry, and I have been providing quality professional therapeutic massage and spa services to Virgin Islands visitors and residents for over eight years. Terry has been enhancing the experience of guests at the Divi since the hotel opened its doors. Back in the early days, she set up a tent by the pool, at their request. She would sit out there, hour after hour, at no cost to the hotel, giving massages to guests, upon request, and paying a commission to Divi for every massage. As her business grew, she no longer had the time to sit out there for free, but would go to the resort to provide massages by appointment.

Now the hotel has built a spa and no longer wants us to provide massage to guests. They don’t call us, we don’t leave brochures, but business goes on. We advertise, as other businesses do, and we have many satisfied customers that call on us year after year. We do not seek out guests at the Divi hotel, but we do have guests who know us by personal experience or reputation that seek us out. We do not take any business from the hotel’s spa. We do not leave brochures or cards on property. We do not solicit patrons directly, in their rooms, on the beach, or in the hotel’s public areas. When a guest, familiar with our quality work, calls on us, we provide professional therapeutic massage, or other out-call spa services, per their request, in their room, on the beach, or in one of the hotels open public spaces, outside, where it does not negatively impact any other patrons or hotel operations.

In fact, the hotel still benefits from the value added service as well as collateral promotion for the spa. We post no signs, logos or other business identification. Guests