Whale Watching and Black Cake
One of the great things about living in a small place is there are two small airlines that serve as the main way to commute between St. Thomas and St. Croix. A few people in the court work on both islands, like the main librarian. So they fly to the other island a few times a week. Most use the Seaplane (Seabourne Airlines0 but one uses Cape Air and he can show up 5 minutes before the flight is scheduled to take off and they save his seat for him and he just walks on the plane, even though check-in is theoretically 30 minutes ahead. The Seaplane workers are a little more strict, but check-in is 45 minutes with them and 30 is usually fine. There is no security to get through either.
About a month ago I went to St. Croix for the day on the Seaplane (for work). I was told that recently passengers had spotted whales migrating through the channel between St. Croix and St. Thomas. Now, on a normal airline, they'd let the passengers know just so you'd have something to look for during the 20 minute flight. On the Seaplane though, it's a group effort. If someone sees a whale, they're supposed to notify the pilots who will then circle around so everyone can see it! Also, they'll even fly lower - at 500 feet - if passengers (or the pilots) want to whale watch. (They also fly low if there is a scuba diver on board, to help her avoid decompression sickness.)
I'm heading to St Croix on Monday for a few days, but it seems like whale watching season is over here. But, they've always got tasty food on St. Croix, so the trip should be exciting even without whales. Speaking of tasty food, one popular item here is Black Cake. It's served for special occasions like weddings. Since my parents had their 35th anniversary while they were here, I picked one up for them when I was on St. Croix the week before. Why St. Croix? Because I asked someone where to get the best black cake, and the answer was from a specific woman on St. Croix. It is a very dense cake, and yes, it's black. It's made with rum and dried fruit (currants, figs, cherries, etc), but there are no fruit chunks in the cake as the fruit is blended. Everything soaks in the rum for awhile - sometimes a day, sometimes a month. The cake is heavy and rich, so just a few bites is plenty, and a glass of milk is helpful too.
About a month ago I went to St. Croix for the day on the Seaplane (for work). I was told that recently passengers had spotted whales migrating through the channel between St. Croix and St. Thomas. Now, on a normal airline, they'd let the passengers know just so you'd have something to look for during the 20 minute flight. On the Seaplane though, it's a group effort. If someone sees a whale, they're supposed to notify the pilots who will then circle around so everyone can see it! Also, they'll even fly lower - at 500 feet - if passengers (or the pilots) want to whale watch. (They also fly low if there is a scuba diver on board, to help her avoid decompression sickness.)
I'm heading to St Croix on Monday for a few days, but it seems like whale watching season is over here. But, they've always got tasty food on St. Croix, so the trip should be exciting even without whales. Speaking of tasty food, one popular item here is Black Cake. It's served for special occasions like weddings. Since my parents had their 35th anniversary while they were here, I picked one up for them when I was on St. Croix the week before. Why St. Croix? Because I asked someone where to get the best black cake, and the answer was from a specific woman on St. Croix. It is a very dense cake, and yes, it's black. It's made with rum and dried fruit (currants, figs, cherries, etc), but there are no fruit chunks in the cake as the fruit is blended. Everything soaks in the rum for awhile - sometimes a day, sometimes a month. The cake is heavy and rich, so just a few bites is plenty, and a glass of milk is helpful too.
posted by Kendra at 8:57 AM
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