St. Croix Christmas Boat Parade
We interrupt this vacation….to write about the boat parade.
This was the first time we’d been invited to be ON a boat in the boat parade. What a blast!
Peter of the Pickled Greek decided, that since the theme of this year’s parade concerned the “mix of cultures” on St. Croix, he’d like to have a Pickled Greek boat. So he got some boat people to agree, and invited a bunch of friends.
The festivities started at the Galleon Restaurant, with cocktails at 4 pm. I wasn’t feeling like drinking, but it was nice to hang out there with Lesley and the gang, while the boat was being decorated.
The boat is called Nirvana, and it’s a big sailboat. Most of the boats in the boat parade are motor boats. They’re so much easier to maneuver at night in the harbor. This 60 foot ketch, is long and heavy and not overly responsive.
Rich Rowe, her owner was at the helm and did a fantastic job getting her through the harbor in the dark made darker by the lights all over the vessel. Another large sailboat ahead of us, Parrot Head got stuck in shallow water a few times. But Rich had help from the bow with mates Catherine and Joe shouting back directions. Too many people, as far as I was concerned, about 30 or so, were all over the place, in the way, smoking cigarettes and spilling drinks. I tried to stay in one spot, right behind the main mast, so as not to interfere with vision and movement by necessary crew. I would NEVER have allowed that many people for something like that if it had been my boat. (Call me Mrs. Scrooge, if you wish).
But it was a great time for us, enjoying the water at night and looking at Christiansted’s crowds from “out there”. We did not bring Goliath for a couple of reasons: He hates boats and the water, and there would be fireworks, which he also hates. I could just picture him catapulting himself into the abyss at the first explosion.
The parade began around 6 pm, and after the boats went around a few times to raucous cheering from those along the waterfront, around 7 pm, the fireworks began. The boats all (sort of) stopped to watch the display, and as far as we could tell, there were no accidents. It was a wonderful fireworks display, and about half-way through, the huge full moon appeared behind the clouds to the east. Awesome!
Motoring back to Green Cay marina, with the bright moon reflected over the dark sea, alongside other beautifully decorated boats was amazing! Lady Jasmyne looked stunning, Intuition, adorable and I just felt like the luckiest person on earth to be livin’ on St. Croix, among so many truly special people.
Rich was able to move the behemoth into the tiny marina in the black night, and onto the dock with very little trouble, and the masses spilled out like ants from a disturbed nest. The party was to continue at the Deep End Bar, but Meredith mentioned that she felt like pizza, and I had been thinking that very same thing, just minutes before. So we decided to reconvene with Cindy and Meredith at the Divi’s new pizza restaurant, across the street from the miniature golf course.
We got a white pizza (they were out of spinach, so we had it with broccoli), a pepperoni, and a Jamaican jerk chicken pizza. The white pie was yummy, and the others enjoyed the rest of them. This pizza bar had no Amstel light beer, so I tried a Heineken light, which was just as good.
What a marvelous night for a moon dance!
December 14th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
What a grand evening for all! Last year, Walt and I watched the parade and fireworks, and then ended the evening with a nice meal at my old buddy, Tom Miller’s place, Savant. It was our first evening back on St. Croix and was just so special. A great way to kick off the holidays, you guys all looked so happy!
December 15th, 2008 at 7:40 am
And you so casually toss out ‘the Divi’s new pizza restaurant’ ….this is huge news unreported until now. I’ve been dying for a reliable east end pizza source for years.
December 15th, 2008 at 8:42 am
Lori’s has advertised pizza for years….. where’ve you been?
But none of us had ever tried it, and she closes earlier than Divi, but Divi opens later, too.
We would have written about it sooner if we’d had a chance to eat there. We went by one Friday afternoon at 3:15, but they weren’t opening until 4…..
December 15th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
I have had Lori’s Pizza and it is very good however it is not “on demand” pizza. I had to give her notice earlier in the day, tell her when I needed it and then pick it up. They were very good, huge, and expensive.
December 15th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
….huge and expensive, like everything Lori sells. Look for her in other places all over the island, since she’s never actually at Lori’s any more, and is looking to get her hands in all the cookie jars. Not that we miss her attitude, but the replacement is not much better and may even be worse!
Oh, Trudi, we missed you last year (Bummer!). So when will your return trip to STX commence, and will it coincide with Wreggie’s return? If so, we must all be in the same place at the same time at some point. We’ll call it something that defies the laws of physics (or something like that).