A Drive Around St. Croix

Stop 4 - Mid-Islands Sights

As we drive out of Frederiksted headed east on the Queen Mary Highway, we soon arrive at Estate Whim Planation, which is one of the few 17th Century sugar cane plantations that has been restored. Guides show visitors around the grounds, through the plantation greathouse, and a small museum while recounting stories about life on the plantations. Estate Whim was one of the larger plantations on St. Croix and had, not only a Dutch-style windmill, but also a oxen-powered mill and (much later) a steam-powered mill. The oval-shaped, 100-foot long greathouse houses exhibits about 17th Century island life.

The chimney tower of Estate Whim's steam mill

Estate Whim's Dutch-style windmill

The Whim Greathouse

A mile or two further east, we stop at the St. George Village Botanical Gardens, a 16-acre wonderland for anyone interested in the rich variety of tropical flowers and plants that are found in the Virgin Islands. Visitors will also find the restored greathouse, rum factory, baker's shop, and dam of the St. George Village plantation.

St. George Village Botanical Gardens

A short distance from St. George Village, along the airport access road, we arrive at the Cruzan Rum Distillery. This is an active distillery that produces different varieties of rum for export to the United States. The distillery not only provides employment for Virgin Islands residents, but generates revenues for the local government in the form of rebates from the U.S. Government of excise taxes collected when the rum is sold to consumers in the states. The distillery conducts tours on weekdays.

Main entrance to the Cruzan Rum Distillery

Rack upon rack of aging Cruzan Rum

As we take the Melvin Evans Expressway to the eastern end of St. Croix, we pass the large Hess Oil refinery, which is located on the island's south shore. Hess Oil's next door industrial neighbor is a bauxite processing plant owned by the Alcoa Aluminum Company. St. Croix is also home to several light industries, including five watch assembly plants that produce hundreds of thousands of watches each year for export to the United States.

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Last Updated: January 1, 2003