December 19, 2016. Shibui in St. Thomas?

LOCATION:  Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands

WEATHER:  Sunny with periods of tropical downpours.  High about 90

 

Our homeowners are a couple from Colorado who moved here about 1.5 years ago.  They bought this condo in a complex that used to be a resort that catered to Japanese.  The complex is called "Shibui".

"Shibui" in Japanese means nostalgia, sort of a longing of long-ago architecture, life-style, simplicity and beauty.  The complex has about 25 units, all built to look Japanese.  

This is our condo....

This is a neighbor's....

 

There is even a Japanese tori for decoration....

And Japanese lanterns hide the security lights...

We strolled around the complex.  Even though about 50 people live here, it is very quiet.  

 

We went into town to a "cabana bar" for lunch.  It is one of the few restaurants that sell the island's local beer.  We had IPAs and split some fish nuggets.  We asked what kind of fish it was.  It is called "ole wife" which is a local abundant fish.  We drove around a different part of town, stopping in one of the marinas.  There were hundreds of huge mega-yachts docked there.  I always wonder where these people get all their money.  A cruise ship had just arrived so there were lots of tourists walking around.  

 

We try to be frugal with the A/C since it is so expensive to run, so we turn it off while we are out.  When we returned from lunch, the condo was a bit hot, so we chilled out at the complex's pool.

 

We had it all to ourselves.  It is up high and overlooks the town below.

DINNER:  Beans and rice, and a salad.