VI National Park Meeting on St. John Jan. 27

Cinnamon Bay Campground on St. John, USVI

This Sunday, January 27 at 2:00 pm is your chance to learn all you wanted to know about the Virgin Islands National Park.  The Friends of the VI National Park will be holding their annual meeting at the Cinnamon Bay Campground restaurant, so you could even get a swim in before going to this interesting get together.

As a special feature, the meeting will have as is keynote speaker the director of the park system for all of the United States, Jon Jarvis, Director of the National Park Service.  The Friends of the VINP have done an incredible job in fundraising and watching out for the park's interests on St. John over the years, so it will be informative to hear Joe Kessler, the president of the Friends, update us on accomplishment of this last year and plans for the future.

Whether you are an island resident or a visitor, you may want to check out the Friends website http://friendsvinp.org/ for information about St. John and upcoming seminars.  For more information call 340-779-4940.

St. John Hiking to Annaberg Sugar Mill

It's not only the white-sand beaches that make St. John such a great place to explore, but it's the history you find as you venture out on your St. John vacation.

Established in 1718, Annaberg Sugar Plantation is one of twenty-five sugar plantations that were once active on St. John. The plantation produced molasses and rum in addition to sugar and for the majority of its life the plantation was run by slave labor. In July 1848 freedom was declared for the Danish West Indies Slaves.

You can tour the historic ruins any time and read about the difficult lives of the slaves at that time. More photos and info are available at http://preservationinpink.wordpress.com/2012/03/09/annaberg-sugar-mill-plantation-ruins/.