January 2017 | Rum Therapy

January 27, 2017June 6, 2019

Virgin Island Food Tours – a Taste of St. Croix & So Much More

When visiting new locations, do you look to find out more about the local cuisine and restaurants? Do you consider yourself a foodie? Are you equally as interested in local culture? If you answered yes to any of those questions and you’re visiting St. Croix, you will love the Virgin Islands Food Tour in downtown Christiansted.

We joined our guide, Anquanette for the Virgin Islands Food Tours – Taste of Twin City tour last week while on St. Croix. This 3 – 3.5 hour food tasting & cultural walking tour meets in Christiansted and winds its way around Christiansted’s historical sites and restaurants.

We enjoyed a good sized taste of local cuisine from 6 very different restaurants that featured food samples with Crucian, Trinidadian, Latin and West Indian influences,

as well as treats from a local bakery, a homemade ice cream shop and a rum drink.

In addition to the delicious food and drink samples, the tour introduced us to Christiansted and St. Croix history – made even more interesting by Anquanette, a personable and knowledgeable Crucian native and by actually stopping to visit some of the sites.

Want to know what Bush Tea is? What does West Indian Food taste like? What are Lentil Balls?

Delicious Lentil Balls

How many flags has St. Croix flown under? What is Armstrong Ice Cream? For answers to these questions and so much more – consider booking yourself on a Virgin Islands Food Tour in Christiansted during your next visit to St. Croix!

To find out more about Virgin Islands Food Tours, visit them on their website, Facebook page and Instagram!

A special thanks to Anquanette and Virgin Islands Food Tours for arranging for us to take this very special tour!

January 26, 2017June 6, 2019

Caravelle Hotel & Casino – Comfort and Convenience in the Heart of Christiansted

During our recent VI adventure, we were given the opportunity to visit Caravelle Hotel & Casino, a newly refurbished waterfront boutique hotel in the heart of Christiansted, St. Croix, and we jumped at the chance. In previous visits we found ourselves wishing for more time to explore this pretty, historic town on the north side of St. Croix and we were excited to have the chance to do so.

Our trip to St Croix from St Thomas was via a Seaborne Airlines sea plane. The short and convenient flight left from Charlotte Amalie and landed in Christiansted Harbor within walking distance of Caravelle Hotel, just down the scenic boardwalk. You can read more about the sea plane flight here.

Caravelle Hotel recently underwent extensive remodeling, re-opening in 2016 and now has a breezy, modern tropical feel on the inside, while the exterior vibrantly retains the Danish architectural charm found in much of Christiansted.

Lobby
In addition to the new décor in all 42 rooms and the lobby, Hotel Caravelle now incudes a new on-site casino with 76 slot machines.

What we loved the most about our stay at Caravelle Hotel & Casino was its close proximity to the many fine amenities found in Christiansted. All within walking distance, (or request a ride on one of their golf carts), you will find fine dining options such as balter, St. Croix, Zion Modern Kitchen and 40 Strand Eatery. BES Craft Cocktail Lounge is just a few blocks from Caravelle Hotel and is an excellent place to relax and enjoy craft cocktails masterfully created by award winning mixologist Frank Robinson. In addition to the many dining and drinking options, we enjoyed shopping at the nearby jewelry stores which offer beautifully handcrafted and original pieces, boutique clothing shops – and exploring the rich history of Christiansted at Fort Christianvaern . We also enjoyed learning about (and tasting!) some of the authentic flavors of St. Croix on the Virgin Islands Food Tour – an excellent guided food tasting and cultural walking tour in Christiansted. Or, if you don’t want to leave the comfort of Caravelle Hotel, you can dine and/or enjoy a cocktail at Rum Runners (downstairs and on the water), or stop in Big Beards Adventure Tours (attached to Caravelle) to set up an excursion to beautiful Buck Island.

In addition to all the wonderful things to explore in Christiansted, we took the two St. Croix rum distillery tours: Captain Morgan and Cruzan Rum. We easily toured both in one afternoon via a taxi so that we could enjoy the rum drinks offered at the end of each distillery tour.

After all of the exploring, we had a hard decision to make; pull up a lounge chair at the pool overlooking Christiansted Harbor, or take a short water taxi from the boardwalk to the pretty beach on Protestant Cay. We ended up doing (and enjoying) both!

And – at the end of each day, this was a really great place to land…

View of Christiansted Harbor from our room

Caravelle Hotel & Casino – comfort and convenience in the heart of Christiansted.

Are you ready to enjoy some time exploring Christiansted, St. Croix? Get more information on Caravelle Hotel & Casino on their website and follow them on Facebook and on Instagram.

A special thank you to Caravelle Hotel & Casino for arranging our wonderful stay. Stay tuned in the next couple of days as we post more about some of the fun things we experienced in Christiansted!

All information is correct to our knowledge at the time of writing, but be sure to verify current information before your visit.
Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC

January 25, 2017June 6, 2019

Taking the Sea Plane from St. Thomas to St. Croix

“Port to port with no airport” is the phrase used by Seaborne Airlines representative Angelia when spoke to her about the short flight on a sea plane from Charlotte Amalie in St. Thomas to Christiansted Harbor in St. Croix.

And sure enough, we conveniently boarded the sea plane from a dock in Charlotte Amalie, received our flight safety information from the pilot while in the cockpit, then skimmed over the water of the harbor, passing boats and buoys, taking off on our way to St. Croix.

20 minutes later, after a smooth and scenic flight, we descended into Christiansted Harbor, gently touching down on the water and then pulling up to the dock to de-plane.

No airports – no fuss and there we were, just feet from the boardwalk in Christiansted! How convenient is that?

From there, we were able to walk right down the boardwalk to our hotel in Christiansted without having to rent a car or get a taxi – although both are available right at the Seaborne Terminal as well, if needed!

Check out the Seaborne Airlines website for more information on the Sea Plane flight from St. Thomas to St Croix and other flights available.

A special thanks to Seaborne Airlines for providing our flight from St. Thomas to St. Croix!

To see more posts on St. Croix and other islands, check out our Island Blog Directory

January 2, 2017June 6, 2019

Dos Maderas Luxus. A Rum Too Good to Share?

During a rum tasting at The Breadfruit & Rum Bar in Phoenix, our host, rum expert, Dwayne Allen, prefaced the tasting of a premium rum with these words; “There are some rums you buy to serve in a cocktail at a party. There are some rums you buy to share only with the closest of friends & family, and there are some rums, well, that are so rare and special, that you save them just for yourself.”

Those words have remained etched in our brain as we have ventured into the world of fine rums – something we knew nothing about a few years ago.

Enter Dos Maderas 5+5. Also first experienced during a rum tasting, we immediately fell for it. Made by Williams & Humbert – a sherry maker, this rum is aged for 5 years in the Caribbean in bourbon casks and then taken to Jerez, Spain, where it’s aged for an additional 5 years in sherry casks. Unfortunately Dos Maderas 5+5 was not easily found, and we ended up ordering a couple of bottles from Hi Times Wine Cellars.

Sometime last summer, we noticed a post on the Dos Maderas Instagram page with a photo of Dos Maderas Luxus. Luxus, a blend of rums produced on the islands of Barbados and Guyana, is aged for 10 years in the Caribbean, then shipped to the Williams and Humbert facilities in Spain, where is rests for an additional 5 years in oak-wood sherry casks. Due to the age and intricate process, this luxurious rum costs a bit to procure – $125-150+ a bottle.

Since we’re quite fond of the 5+5, we immediately we began a search for the Luxus and mentioned it to our fellow rum aficionado, Dan. A few weeks later, we got a call from Dan, asking if we’d like to do a rum tasting of Luxus – he’d found a bottle and had it shipped to his home.

The exquisite elixir did not disappoint; very smooth, rich and complex, slightly sweet, with a subtle hint of sherry. One glass led to another until the bottle was half empty.

Luxus is a limited edition and Dos Maderas releases only 5,000 bottles of it a year. Although we feel Luxus might fall in the “rums so rare and special, that you save them just for yourself” category, it was definitely nice to share notes and thoughts with a friend. Thank you Dan, for letting us in on the Luxus experience!