January 25 - “Christiansted”

We had to walk through the rain to our tour bus that was taking us to our walking tour. Wet. We then transferred to a somewhat larger bus - that was open air. Still no cover from the rain.  Go figure. 

The rain did eventually stop, and our little bus ride lasted a harrowing 30 or 45 minutes - the driver was Wild and Crazy. It was fun! And I learned a new word - Cruzans. I know. It sounds like a curse straight out of Harry Potter. But that’s what the people of St. Croix call themselves. Like … Galvestonians. 

The tour guide was a little old lady. Don’t let her fool you though. She was a retired teacher of Spanish and French who spoke perfect English. She gave us the lowdown on the key buildings and the fort in Christiansted. I got a kick out of her trivia. Did you know why everything on the island had “Christian” or “Frederick” in the name?  Because the kings of Denmark are perpetually named either Christian or Frederick. Weird. 

She also revealed a little known fact. The entire city of Christiansted was built using yellow bricks. That’s right, folks. We were on a tour of the actual city of Oz! Spoiler alert. It was nothing like the movie. 

There were also a lot of mahogany trees on the island. My all-time favorite wood. You can’t cut any down, though, without a permit. And they don’t issue permits. 

Perhaps the most interesting story  was about some local artifacts. It seems china (the kind you eat off of) was being imported from Holland and Denmark back in the 1600’s - early 1700’s. Unfortunately, much of the china cargo (Chaney, in Dutch) was destroyed in the passage over, so they threw the pieces overboard. Those discarded pieces still wash up on shore, especially after hurricanes. For many years they were considered a nuisance.  Then some crafty entrepreneur came up with an idea (as crafty entrepreneurs do). Jewelry. Now the people make gorgeous jewelry out of the broken pieces of china - Chaney. 

‭‭Lamentations‬ ‭3‬:‭25‬ says, The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him.

Father, bless that little lady who guided us around. She’s a sweetheart. A scary one, but sweet, indeed. Amen.