Blackbeard's Castle

Blackbeard’s Castle

15^th March 2012

Meeting up with Ani in the morning for breakfast, we arranged to meet up and go out somewhere. Maryna didn’t want to come, but we nagged her about getting off the ship. She spends all day sleeping and never see land! Meeting at 10.30, I didn’t expect Maryna to turn up, but glad to see her opting to come out with us rather than spend the entire day sleeping.

Pretty much straight away we were on the tender. Usually we have to keep standing aside and allowing the guests on to pass first. On the island we started wandering around, away from the sea front. Ani guided us to a steep flight of stairs and said we should explore what’s at the top. Maybe there’s a good view of the coast? Huffing and puffing we reached the top to see that the view was obscured by thick black electrical wires.

In front of us was a huge building “The Historical Tower and Manor Houses of Blackbeard”. We popped in to see what we could find out. The tour manager stopped us and started talking about what could be seen inside. While talking fast enough to break a world record, I wondered if his face was going to turn from red to blue or whether he'd finally give in and breath. Mentally nudging myself, I had to smile, I was more intrigued by the manager talking non-stop until beetroot in the face, rather than the history lesson he was giving us.

The tour took about 30 minutes, but could take up to an hour if you wished or walked slowly. It was $14 for the general public. Ani said she’d pay for me until I got paid at 13.00 that day. Maryna was being difficult and didn’t want to go in, or do anything, for that matter. Pulling Maryna aside, we told her we had to do something with our time, as we only had a few hours before going back to the ship.

The manager overheard our conversation and asked if we were crew members with valid ID cards. When we flashed our cards, he gave us some pretty good news. “You guys get to go in for free! On this island, always tell the people you are crew. Many attractions are free or prices reduced for crew. Always ask.” Bingo!

Putting our wrist bands on and stuffing leaflets in our pockets, we started our little walking tour. Our first stop was the Caribbean World Amber Museum. “Discover the amazing world of amber. From the shores of the Baltic, to steaming tropical juncles, this previous natural substance has been found and treasured for centuries. Look for the Amber Wishing Stone, the Rainforest Room, stunning works of art, jewellery and a spectacular two story high Amber Waterfall consisting of 12,000 amber gems.”

 

Amber Waterfall

Walking around the glass cabinets, I always thought amber was, well, amber. I didn’t realize that it varied greatly in colour from cherry red, amber, yellow, green and even a tinted blue. Ever since seeing Jurassic Park, I’ve liked seeing insects in amber. It seems so surreal, insects have been fossilised for millions of years and preserved intact. There were pieces of amber from all over the globe. There was even a full size chess board and pieces made entirely of amber. The detailing was unbelievable, it must have taken years to get everything perfect!

 

Moving upwards, we climbed even more stairs to get to Lavalette House. It was only a small property, known as Hotel 1829. The guide we were provided with states, the building was “built for a French sea captain by an Italian architect using Spanish motifs with Danish and African labour, Alexander Lavalette’s town house, known as Hotel 1829, is one of the largest residences in King’s Quarter. Look for hand painted Moroccan tiles, a stain glass window by William Comfort Tiffany called ‘In the search of the Promised Land’ and two large 18^th Century Italian chess pieces. The historical kitchen, now the hotel bar, is unusual in that it was built inside the main house. Standing in front of the hotel, you can still see the Captain’s ‘AL’ initials in the wrought iron of the upstairs balcony. The house was a private residence until 1900, when it was opened as a hotel.”

Further up, we had to bypass the Magens-Pedersen Property Archaeological Dig and Britannia House as we were running out of time. The place we all really wanted to visit was Blackbeard’s castle. Here’s what we found out about Blackbeard’s Castle “Skytsborgtarn meaning sky tower was built in 1679 to protect Fort Christian against invaders by land from the north and as a vantage point to spor enemy ships approaching the harbour from the south. Though it’s unlikely that Blackbeard himself used the tower, the Danish authorities kept a sharp lookout for Edward Teach and him brethren of pirates who favoured the duty free port of St. Thomas to convert their boot into gold. In the 18^th Century the tower became the centrepiece of a private residence and was owned in turn by an Irish colonist, a French merchant and a Danish harbour captain who used the top of the tower as his private observatory. Skytsborg is one of the five National Historic Landmarks in the U.S. Virgin Islands and one of the few seventeenth-century fortified towers in the Caribbean.”

Once we’d arrived at the top, we were surrounded by pirates - large, full scale pirate statues. All were named and some explained what had happened to them, for example, Captain William Kidd -  “The Unlucky Pirate – Convicted of murdering one of his crew and hanged in 1701. His body was placed in a gibbet at the mouth of the Thames river as an example to other pirates”.

We walked around, I took numerous photos of our surroundings. The view from the top was absolutely amazing. We had a clear view of Disney Magic, Norwegian (NCL) Epic and Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas. In many ways, it's a shame we didn’t have more time to visit the island as, from the view point, we were pointing out places we’d love to visit and go snorkelling.

Finding Blackbeard’s stocks, Ani and I couldn’t resist putting our hands and heads inside for a photo. Looking around there were so many people getting their photos taken next to pirates, smiling happily. Calling Ani to get a photo, I walked over to a pirate who was holding her gun up, ready to shoot. Getting on my knees with the gun close to my head, Ani took the photo. I had to do something different.

There was only one fictional pirate, which was, of course Captain Jack Sparrow. Having said that, a lot of people thought that a replica of Johnny Depp decked out as Jack Sparrow was in fact a real pirate… no comment!

The queue to enter Blackbeard’s Tower was unfortunately, enormous. We just didn’t have the time. In the end, we had to settle for a quick browse around the gift shop. As usual, we all left with something!

It was nearly time to get back to the ship. We headed down to the seafront and towards the bank. Getting to the top seemed like a mission that dragged on and on. Coming down, we realized how little we’d actually walked. Suddenly, we noticed something which has us all in stitches. Everyone was walking down, except the odd few people. All the cruise ship guests were getting taxis to the top, joining their walking tour and then walking down. Cheats! Mind you, I doubt the mobility scooters would have coped with the inclines!

We sat around outside the bank willing 13.00 to come around. That was pay time. At 13.00, I eagerly queued up for the ATM. My fingers, legs, arms, toes and eyes crossed! If I didn’t get paid this time, I’d blow a gasket!

Ten minutes of waiting and I was at the front of the line. Putting in my card and up came a number that surprised me more than I originally thought it would. Not only had I been paid but there were a much larger amount deposited into my account. Fantastic! I was over the moon. Withdrawing nearly all of it, I stuffed it into my pocket and walked out with a Cheshire cat smile on my face!

While getting ready to go to work, I was reading up on St. Thomas. There’s a huge tourism industry here and a lot of it is provided by the cruise liners that constantly dock in the port. There’s also a lot of places advertising water sports, scuba diving and snorkelling excursions.

Of course, St. Thomas is also a great place for duty-free shopping. Many of the guests come back laden with designer label carrier bags filled with clothes. Cookie always said it was a great place to shop for good quality clothes for excellent prices.

Going back in time, here’s a bit of history on the island:

   “Cooled by the trade wind and terraced with idyllic tropical gardens, this area has been a prime residential neighbourhood since colonial times. As you stroll through the old historical district you can easily imagine what life was like in centuries past.

   The Danes took possession of St. Thomas in 1671 and built Fort Christian. The observation tower, Skytsborg, better known as Blackbeard’s Castle was built in 1678, and guaranteed safety for the area’s wealthy residents who could seek refuge there in an attack by man or nature.

   The attacks by man never came, and nature’s destructive forces have failed to put a dent in the Tower. It has withstood Hurricanes and earthquakes and served as a vantage for the deadly fires that swept the town of Charlotte Amalie in the first half of the 1800s.

   The U.S. purchased the Virgin Islands from Denmark in 1917 to protect the Panama Canal. Today, Blackbeard’s Hill has become a living museum of gracious colonial-era manor houses that are open to the public. They peacefully co-exist alongside residential home of private citizens. Those who live in the neighbourhood are among the island’s elite and you’ll find old-family homes of Main Street merchants, architects, church and civic leaders. Until recently, the governor himself resided in a palatial apartment on the top floors of elegant 1867 Government House on Kogens Gade at the base of the hill.”

Maryna

Ani - Amber Wish Stone

Maryna