St. John On Foot And By Car: A Walking and Motor Guide to the History and Natural Beauty of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands FROM THE PUBLISHER
About the Author
Randy Koladis and his wife, Becky, are long-time lovers of St. John and the
Virgin Islands. The couple was married on nearby St. Thomas and lived for a
number of years on St. Thomas and St. John. Randy was a former teacher at All
Saints School on St. Thomas, and he also worked at Caneel Bay Resort on St.
John. Although the couple now resides in Hartford, Connecticut with their
three children, they are, nevertheless, frequent visitors to the Virgin
Islands and St. John - the island of their dreams.
SYNOPSIS
St. John On Foot And By Car is an informative and entertaining guidebook
featuring 4 self-guided walking and motor tours of the history, culture and
natural beauty of St. John, US Virgin Islands. There is information on hiking
trails and popular (as well as some not so well-known) swimming and
snorkeling beaches. Handy field guides help visitors learn firsthand about
the exotic fauna and flora of this tropical paradise. Included are guides to
local fauna and flora and the exciting array of tropical fish and other
marine inhabitants that populate the crystal-clear waters surrounding St.
John.
The guidebook is designed to make St. John sightseeing a learning experience
that is both adventuresome and fun. The authors, Randall and Rebecca Koladis,
have spent many years researching and compiling information in this extremely
attractive and easy-to-read book. Their self-guided tours provide a virtual
road map of this unspoiled paradise, where nearly three-fifths of the island
has been thoughtfully preserved as the Virgin Islands National Park. St. John
On Foot And By Car is divided into several parts. It begins with an overview
of this tiny Caribbean jewel, which measures only 21 square miles! There are
only about 3,000 permanent residents, but each year the island attracts many
hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world. There are no
shopping malls, no high-rise resorts, no casinos and no traffic lights. But
the scenery is breathtaking, the people are friendly and there are plenty of
activities and attractions for everyone. The beaches are some of the most
spectacular in the world! Thisis a picture-postcard island on which to escape
and relax, and St. John On Foot And By Car is your own personal tour guide to
a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
Following the book's introduction, the authors include a brief history of the
island beginning with the discovery of St. John by Columbus in 1493. Taino
Indians, we learn, were in residence at the time of the Admiral's arrival.
Tainos were a nation of peaceful Indians who supported themselves by fishing,
gathering food from the land, and growing produce. The Tainos could not
survive the onslaught of European settlers that were soon to follow. By the
16th century, the Tainos were completely extinguished from the Eastern
Caribbean.
The book is structured around the 4 self-guided tours, which are arranged and
briefly described as follows:
1) WALKING TOUR OF THE CRUZ BAY VILLAGE (2.5 Hours). This tour begins with a
visit to the National Park Visitor Center followed by a brief hike out to
Lind Battery, where visitors can enjoy the panoramic view of Cruz Bay
Village. Other highlights of the tour include visits to the Administration
Building (a former 18-century fortress) and the Ivan Jadan Museum, which
houses over 5,000 letters, documents, artifacts and photos related to the
life and singing career of Ivan Jadan, a former Soviet dissident and one of
the great Russian tenors of the 20th-century, who made St. John his adopted
home.
2) NORTH SIDE TOUR (4.5 Hours). Takes visitors to some of the most stunning
beaches on St. John. The tour begins at the historic Caneel Bay Plantation
Resort, which played a key role in St. John's slave revolt of 1733. Also
included are visits to the restored ruins of the Annaberg sugar factory and
Cinnamon Bay, where artifacts of Pre-Colombian Indians have been recently
unearthed.
3) CENTERLINE ROAD (4.5 Hours). Includes visits to the ruins of the
Cathrineburg sugar plantation and Coral Bay Village, the site of St. John's
original Danish settlement. Visitors are also guided to the isolated East End
community, whose self-reliant residents are known for their skills as stone
masons, boat builders and basket makers. This tour also includes stops at
popular Salt Pond and Lameshur Bay beaches.
4) REEF BAY HIKE (5 Hours). A full-day hike into St. John's fascinating world
of fauna and flora. Hikers visit ancient Indian rock carvings and the
abandoned ruins of one of the last operating sugar factories on St. John.
FROM THE CRITICS
Presents [adventurous] readers with the prospect of exploring anddiscovering St. John without professional guidesﾽ.Choose...toursﾽof beaches, historical sites, underwater worlds... hiking trails...culture, flora and fauna. —Claudette Jones
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