Condé Nast Traveler announced in October the results of its annual Reader’s Choice Awards with the U.S. Virgin Islands recognized as a top island in the Caribbean.
The USVI has been recognized by other publications this year. Here are a sample:
Condé Nast Traveler as a ‘Best Places to Go in 2023
Travel + Leisure has ranked USVI as one of its 50 best 2023 destinations in its For Beach Vibes
Yahoo! Life listed the USVI as one of the top 10 tropical islands to get to in under three hours from the U.S. mainland
Travel Magazine voted USVI as the Best Caribbean Cruise Destination for 2023
Frommer’s gave the territory top billing in its annual Best Places to Go in 2023
Condé Nast Traveler editors voted USVI as having the Best Airbnb in the Caribbean
There is no better time than now to visit St. Croix! If you’re still considering what homeownership in the Caribbean can look like for you, let us help you navigate this process. Our current listings include several exceptional properties sure to have you envisioning life’s next chapter living in America’s Paradise. Give us a call to discuss your options and schedule a showing or two; we’d love to hear from you!
On St. Croix, breadfruit is something very familiar to us. We see beautiful breadfruit trees on island, and breadfruit used in restaurant menus, snacks, and cocktails. We love breadfruit and all of its uses. According to a recent Forbes article, “With its immense potential for food resilience and security, breadfruit or Artocarpus altilis is being celebrated as a staple crop with the opportunity to boost global climate smart sustainable development.” This article highlights examples of how breadfruit is being used in products and menus (such as in an episode of the National Geographic series, Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted). St. Croix’s Mutiny Island Vodka which is made of a combination of breadfruit and Caribbean rainwater is also featured. Read the full article here.
Nutritionally, breadfruit is an energy-rich food and a good source of complex carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Here on St. Croix, USVI, it is an ingredient common in West Indian and Latin cuisine. It has potato-like consistency when cooked, and a good source for gluten-free and vegetarian recipes.
According to The National Tropical Botanical Garden, breadfruit is an important component in traditional agroforestry systems and can be grown with a wide range of plants. Trees begin to bear fruit in three to five years, producing for many decades. The trees require little attention or care, producing an abundance of food with minimal input of labor or materials, and thrive under a wide range of ecological conditions. The ethnobotanist Diane Ragone from the NTBG said in a NPR interview, “compared to other food staples, these fast-growing perennial trees require far less labor, fertilizer and pesticides than crops like rice and wheat. They’re also more productive. A single tree yields an average of 250 fruits a year and can feed a family for generations.
For some ways to use breadfruit in your meals, take a look at the Cruzan Foodie’s blog article about how she uses breadfruit!
Art studio & boutique meets after school program that strives to help the children of the St. Croix community discover how unique they truly are! Unique by Maria Banwaree Art Studio & Boutique was founded in October 2019 with a primary goal to provide children with the help and encouragement needed to learn about who they are. Owner Maria Banwaree used to work with the children at her church in various capacities like art and reading and wanted to reach children beyond the holy sanctuary.
The first phase of the business was to build out the artist studio. In doing so, Banwaree helped students focus on mental health through the arts. “When you embrace who you are, that you are a unique and particular creation, everything works better in life,” said Banwaree. A secondary need became apparent through this first phase — the homework and task room. According to Banwaree, students would often need assistance with their homework when they participated in the artist studio. “Creating this room helped to fill the gap for a much-needed service, and it all went hand in hand.” The six-week summer camp is full of fun and learning where children can develop their artistic sides in the following areas: arts and crafts, painting, jewelry, beading, reading and writing, Spanish classes, agriculture, and much more. “At the end of the six weeks, the kids are completely transformed with more confidence and stronger belief that they are capable of accomplishing whatever they put their minds to.”
The global pandemic resulted in a shift in the business. With schools closed and everyone sheltering in place, Banwaree started a boutique selling name-brand items like Michael Kors, Guess, Calvin Klein, and Coach. The boutique offers an array of items including handbags, luggage, jewelry, women’s clothing, perfumes, candles, and books in English and Spanish. The boutique’s inviting atmosphere and top-notch customer service allow for a pleasant shopping experience for anyone who walks through its doors. Banwaree is quick to point out that the boutique is a complement to what she offers, with the studio being the true core of the business.
Be sure to check out the various events hosted at the studio. Embroidery and crystal candle-making classes are a few of the options available regularly, along with paint and sip classes and kid’s art classes. The studio’s first women’s retreat, I Am A Woman, was held on September 16, 2023. In collaboration with 506 Scents & Co., the retreat was geared towards helping women overcome their daily struggles, insecurities, and challenges by focusing on their mental and emotional well-being.
Unique by Maria Banwaree is located at 6 Company Street in downtown Christiansted and is open Monday through Friday from 10am to 6pm and Saturday from 10am to 7pm. Find out about their specialty classes and programs on their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ uniquebyMB or by calling 340.473.1104.
Pleasant temperatures and low rainfall make December through May a great time to go to St. Croix especially if you are trying to escape the cold temperatures and precipitation that comes with living in states that have harsher winters. If you are planning to visit St. Croix in the winter, this is a great time to be on the look out for flight deals. We recently saw The Points Guy (TPG) mention winter flight deals to St. Croix for less than $400 (depending on when and were you fly from). You can read the article here.
Travel deal articles, industry-related newsletters, etc. that report flight sales are helpful in alerting consumers on certain deals, but often the deals are for very specific routes and dates, and often may not meet your requirements. That is why we recommend trying search engines like Google Flights to find cheap flights (note, Google Flights does not track Southwest Airlines flights) for more personalized deals. We have used it before and have read about it on The Points Guy and Thrifty Traveler. Enter your flight preferences, and the search engine shows flight options along with a historical price guide, which indicates whether the fare you found is low, high or near the average price for flights on this route. We find this very helpful when trying to book a flight that is best priced for our requirements.
“It can help you quickly find the best flights for your travel, but it can also track prices and let you know if you are getting a good deal.”
The Points Guy, 9/8/23
Want to learn more about Google Flights? These two articles will be helpful:
The V.I. Department of Education recently celebrated a significant construction milestone at the new Arthur A. Richards PreK-8 School site according to the VI Consortium. The recent concrete pour signifies a significant construction milestone for the new school development project. Read more about the 3 planned phases of construction in this article here.
The Virgin Islands Department of Education held a groundbreaking ceremony in February 23 to announce the start of the $163 million construction of the new Arthur A. Richards PreK-8 School, marking the first time in nearly three decades a school has been built in the Territory. The school, which will feature state-of-the-art learning spaces, will be located at the site of the former Evelyn M. Williams Elementary School. More information on the school’s plans can be found here.
The previous Arthur A. Richards Jr. High School was severely damaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. According to the US Virgin Island Department of Education, the new school campus is designed to be net zero energy ready and is purposefully sited in an E-W orientation to maximize opportunities for passive cooling. The project will use the existing ecology and systems on the site and the culture and heritage of the islands in the design of the seven-building campus. 3D visualizations from the Department of Education below.
Congratulations to St. George Village Botanical Garden and the V. I. Trail Alliance for each receiving a $2.5M 4-year grant from the USDA Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry Grant Program! The botanical garden and the trail alliance were 2 of 385 grant proposals selected from thousands of entries nationwide.
The St. Croix Source reported that the grant, “Strength of Our R.O.O.T.S.: The Community’s Reclamation of Our Trees & Soil in the St. George Village Botanical Garden, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands,” is a conservation project that will plant trees in the St. George Village Botanical Garden and on school properties. The garden specifically hopes to increase the number and diversity of garden trees by 220% percent by planting 1,100 new tropical trees with associated labeling and signage. Read the full article here.
According the the VI Consortium, The Virgin Islands Trail Alliance Inc. plans to harness volunteer efforts to remove invasive species on St. Croix and replace them with native species and fruit trees, in an effort to “heal” the Big Island’s forests. “Healthier forests will provide tools for resilience to face daily and future environmental stresses,” according to the Trail Alliance. Read the full article here.
More about the Urban and Community Forestry Grant Program:
