My friend Hanne Rasmussen who, along with her husband Bent, ran the Top Hat Restaurant in Christiansted, has entertained many famous guests over the years. Actresses Maureen O’Hara and Greta Garbo and Denmark’s Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik have all supped here. However, Rasmussen’s favourite memories are of the comedian and part-time St Croix resident Victor Borge. Borge would often slip up the back stairs of their restaurant on his morning jaunts for a Danish-style meatball or Frikadeller. He’d take just one, on a toothpick, tell a few jokes and then be on his way. Today, Christiansted and the whole of St Croix still attracts the rich and famous and is still decidedly Danish, even though the U.S. bought the island and its siblings of St Thomas and St John nearly 100 years ago. It is also a wonderfully friendly destination, well worth a visit...

The PEOPLE:
St Croix residents are ‘Crucians’, not to be confused with ‘Cruzan’, the locally made rum. Over 60 nationalities live here, although who can truly call themselves ‘a native Crucian’ is the subject of a current constitutional debate. Many residents of African heritage can trace their roots to several islands throughout the Caribbean. There is a large Puerto Rican community whose grandparents migrated from Vieques in the 1940s and 1950s to cut cane after the demise of the Puerto Rican sugar industry. You’ll also find Arab Palestinians and East Indians as shop owners, as well as a close-knit group of Danes and ‘Continentals’ or white residents from the U.S. mainland living on the island. San Antonio Spurs basketball player Tim Duncan is one of the most famous local sons.

The Places: For chillin’, head to Cramer’s Park. This east end beach becomes a town unto itself over Easter when everyone camps out, but we like it better during the rest of the year, especially on weekends, when there are enough people for company, but not too many to call it a crowd. On the third Friday of each month, drive to the west end of the island for Sunset Jazz. It is free, and many musicians jam long into the night. I would recommend bringing a blanket to sit on or a couple of folding chairs.

The Agricultural Fair in February is one of the biggest of its kind in the Caribbean. Make sure to try the Crucian Kallaloo. It’s made from ingredients you’ll never find at the supermarket.The best barbecue on the island any time of year is at the Chicken Shack in Villa La Reine. The combination of a special seasoning blend I have yet to figure out, and slow cooking over hot coals makes the chicken, as well as roast pork, an irresistible meal every Saturday.

The SIGHTS:
Try getting up before daylight and driving out to Point Udall, the easternmost point in the United States. While the big sundial built for the millennium looks more abstract art than a modern-day stonehenge, watching the magenta rays of the rising sun shoot up over the horizon and the monument’s stone spires can be an almost a religious experience. 

Much more secular is a trip to Buck Island. We take our own boat over, but there are several day sail operators out of Christiansted and Green Cay Marina. This island is part of the National Park Service and there’s a 300-metre-long underwater snorkel trail here. I’d also recommend putting on some sturdy shoes and hiking the short trail to the highest point (328-feet) on the island. The view is incredible.

The TREASURES:
No one leaves St Croix without a Cruzan hook bracelet. Invented by local artist, Sonya Hough, back in the 60’s, the attraction of this piece of jewelry is not so much what it’s made of – both gold and sterling silver are available – but how it’s worn. The hook open to your palm means that you’re looking for someone special. The hook facing your body means you’re already taken.
 
The FACTS
Population: 60,000
Currency: US Dollar
Language: English is the official language, although Virgin Islands
Creole is the informal dialect with a distinct sentence structure that’s full of ever-changing jargon. Spanish, French patois and Arabic are spoken by pockets of the population.
Location: Located in the northern
Lesser Antilles between Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands, St Croix is the southernmost of the U.S. Virgin Islands and is some 40 miles south of St Thomas.
Area: St Croix is 82.88 square miles (214.7 square kilometres) and the largest of the US Virgin Islands.
Climate and weather: Daytime temperatures average in the mid-80s from December to March and in the low 90s the rest of the year when the humidity is higher as well. Rains pour down throughout the hurricane season from July to November.
Taxes: No sales tax means that you can take advantage of a US$1600 duty-free allowance per family member. There’s an 8% Government hotel tax and 10% to 12% service and energy charge.
Electricity: 110 volts
Telecommunications: The international dialing code for the U.S. Virgin Islands is 340 followed by the seven-digit number.