The Best - Gentle Winds
Paradise Found - 4th Time!!!
Lightning never strikes the same place twice? You can never go back? No time is ever as good as the first?
All wrong…
My wife and I have just returned from our 4th trip to St Croix in as many years, staying each time at the Gentle Winds Condominiums in unit C-6. Gentle Winds is situated on the sparsely populated north shore, about 5 miles outside of Christiansted, the main city on the island.
Our initial visit to St Croix was in 1976 when we celebrated our honeymoon at the Buccaneer Hotel. She is a grand old lady (the hotel, not my wife) and we revisited her several times over the next 20 years or so. Eventually we felt the need for a change in location and after an exhaustive Internet and island search, we found the Gentle Winds and unit C-6. The property is owned by Patrick O’Neill and he has a great website at www.gentlewinds.com -check it out. Patrick was extremely cooperative, answered questions truthfully, and made himself very available for follow-up questions and issues.
After a short trip up Route 80, (one of the most scenic roads on the island) and just past the Salt River National Historic Park (which is where Christopher Columbus’s crew, in 1493, was engaged in the very first lethal contact between Europeans and the Carib Indians, the indigenous people of the island) you will find Gentle Winds, located on your right. Entering the property, you drive down a palm-lined driveway. After you pass the tennis courts on your right, you crest the hill and are rewarded with a magnificent vista comprised of the cobalt blue/emerald green Caribbean and the Gentle Winds Resort.
Our unit (C-6) is a 3 bedroom, 3 bath, 2 level condo with a fantastic view of the ocean, pool, and manicured grounds out the front and the lush mountains and large vacation homes and villas out the back. The first floor is comprised of an entrance area breakfast nook, a fully equipped kitchen, a Great Room with comfortable Island rattan furniture and works of art by local artists, a Master bedroom with queen size bed and full bath, and a second bedroom that has access to its own bathroom with shower. All the rooms are equipped with ceiling fans and there is also a screened porch off the great room with the afore mentioned views.
Ascend the spiral staircase to the second floor and you enter into an open loft sleeping area with sleep sofa and its own mountain view balcony, complete with lounge chairs. Turn to the left, and you enter into the 2nd Master Bedroom Suite with full bath, king-size bed, and a balcony from which, on clear nights, you can see the lights of St Thomas, St Johns, and Tortola.
The entire unit is air-conditioned and equipped with ceiling fans, cable TV, VCR, and WiFi connection. There is also a washer and dryer, which comes in very handy and allows you to cut back on the amount of clothes that you need to pack.
We would usually spend our mornings exploring the many venues the island has to offer. Most Caribbean islands would love to have a small town that smacks of the early days of buccaneers and pirates. St Croix as two of them – Christiansted and Frederiksted. Christiansted has block after block of old brick buildings in the colonial style, which now house a large variety of restaurants, bars, clubs, dive shops, etc. There is a fantastic waterfront boardwalk that extends the length of the harbor from the Seaplane port to Fort Christiansvaern (1738). Many of the local restaurants and bars are located here and they offer waterfront dining and schmoozing There has been a large amount of revitalization in Christensted over the last several years and the residents are responding with a renewed sense of pride in their town and what it has to offer. There are several old churches, government offices and small museums to explore and most are located in the older colonial style buildings.
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Federiksted and Condo Lowdown
On the far western end of the island, you will find the second scenic town, Frederiksted. Frederiksted has just finished a total refurbishment of their lengthy pier and it is now accommodating cruise ships. Though smaller than Christiansted, it also has its share of old buildings, shops, Fort Frederik (1750), and lots of energy. There are several waterfront bars and restaurants just north of the town and they are a great place to celebrate the glorious sunsets that grace St Croix.
Other island destinations are The Cruzan Rum Distillery (take the tour and then “sample” some of the many different rums they produce), the St George Botanical Gardens, the Nature Conservancy’s property at Estate Princess, historic Whim Plantation, the ruins of Estate Mount Washington and Judith’s Fancy, the Divi Resort & Casino, and Point Udell, which is the most easterly point of the U.S. A scenic drive around the island reveals the ruins of 100 plantations here and there on St Croix’s 84 sq miles. Their windmills, greathouses, and factories are all that is left of the 224 plantations that once grew sugarcane, tobacco, and other agricultural products
We reserved our afternoons for relaxing at Gentle Winds. After returning from our tours, we do a quick change and hit the beach. Gentle Winds has a soft sandy beach, complete with chaise lounges, chairs, and enough shade providing palapas (thatched grass huts) to accommodate everyone. Many days we would avail ourselves of lunch and drinks served at the “beach shack”. Good food, good drinks and good company -what else do you need from a place that serves up the best burgers in St Croix? When you visit the shack be sure to ask Karen what the Special of the Day is. The beach is about 40 yards wide by 250 yards long with lovely stands of palm trees and sea grapes. Excellent snorkeling is available about 20 yards off shore. The coral reef starts there and has abundant coral formations and multitudes of tropical fish. On our last visit, I saw a group of 20-30 brilliantly blue groupers feeding in the currents, protected by a coral overhang. It was mesmerizing to just float and watch the symphony of motion being presented by the fish and coral structures undulating in the currents.
When we tired of the beach and ocean, we retired to the pool area. The pool measures about 20 ft by 60 ft with depths from 2-10 feet. Chairs, tables, and umbrellas are provided and it is a great place to enjoy one of the greatest attributes of Gentle Winds – the other guests, owners, and renters. They are a diverse, happy group and they welcome everyone with as much or as little camaraderie as they prefer. Group trips are loosely arranged to the various nearby restaurants for special occasions such as “Lobster Night at Bogie’s” on the North Shore or dinner and drinks at Off the Wall.
We have already planned our next trip to Gentle Winds and this time it is going to be for two weeks. As a said, Patrick O’Neill is the owner of the unit and is the ultimate landlord. He has an infrastructure in place that can provide not only additional cleaning services if desired but also unbelievably quick maintenance repairs. One evening the AC went out about 8pm and after a few calls it was promptly fixed the next day by 11am. Not what you usually find in the Caribbean.
All told, Gentle Winds is a wonderful place to unwind, relax, kickback, and be as busy or lazy as you want and enjoy every moment of you have in Paradise found.
Please feel free to contact me for additional information on St Croix.
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Photos..Photos...Photos...
I had a heck of a time uploaded photos of our wonderful trip. If you would like to seem so, just contact me and I will send them out to you.
Thanks for reading my post
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