Paradise Found - Virgin Islands, - Brief Article

All Hands, April, 2001 by Bob Houlihan

AS USS Oscar Austin (DDG 79) PULLS INTO THE HARBOR AT CHARLOTTE AMALIE, ST. THOMAS, ONE THING IS IMMEDIATELY CLEAR - THIS IS NOT YOUR AVERAGE LIBERTY PORT.

The sun shines down on crystal surf as strains of calypso music drift across the water, children laugh and frolic close to shore and shoppers bustle amid the busy bluestone shops clustered around the waterfront. Welcome to the islands, "mon."

The island of St. Thomas includes some of the most incredible stretches of coast on earth. This tiny addition to the stars and stripes was a well-earned respite for Sailors of USS Oscar Austin after their long underway period.

This laid-back, tropical oasis has a slightly shady past involving the exploits of pirates. You'd think the stomping ground of Blackbeard and the mythical Bluebeard would be the last place to find a beach party, but a fine port is a fine port whether you're unloading plundered booty or looking for a little R & R.

St. Thomas is strikingly beautiful, thanks to a spine of hills whose green ridges form headlands separating bays and coves filled with turquoise-blue water; each has it's own distinct character and feeling.

Charlotte Amalie, the capital of the Virgin Islands, is a busy port, and she wears her Old World heritage with style, Sailors walking past the neat, pastel-painted warehouses and the dual Danish-English street signs have no doubt that this isn't an American shopping mall.

After long weeks at sea, what better way to relax than basking in the sun on some of the best white-sand beaches in the Caribbean? Magens Bay, probably the best beach on the island, is a large silver of bright sand and vibrant palm trees that shows up on lists of the top 10 beaches of the world.

"This place is absolutely beautiful, it's really our first good liberty port, said Yeoman 1st Class Ginamarie Doherty, "I got to do some shopping for souvenirs for my husband and son and went on a Tiki raft ride."

The earliest settlers in the Virgin Islands were the Indian tribes of the Ciboneys, the Arawaks and the Caribs. Columbus arrived in 1493, and maybe feeling the lack of female company ship board, called the islands Las Virgenes.

The United States first recognized the strategic importance of the islands' fortresses and deep-water harbors during the American Civil War. At the outbreak of World War I, these islands became critical to control the Caribbean basin and the Panama Canal, so the United States purchased them from Denmark for $25 million in gold, the highest price ever paid for a U.S. territory until that time.

Today $25 million wouldn't even buy you the smallest of the many beautiful beachfront hotels on St. Thomas, much less the island itself, but a few hours spent scouring the many markets is sure to bring a bargain-hunting Sailor some personal treasures.

After a few days spent lounging beneath swaying palms and swimming through these transparent waters, the Sailors of Oscar Austin had no doubt as to why St. Thomas is known as "America's Paradise."

Houlihan is a photojournalist asssigned to All Hands.