- In this episode of "Fly Brother," we make a big splash on the isle of Saint Croix, US Virgin Islands.

We start off with a festival of food in Christiansted, led by culture creator Anquanette Gaspard.

Then we go west to the town of Frederiksted for a quick tour of the city with Carnival designer Shamari Haynes.

Finally, we get crustaceous with Crucian Crabber Carmen.

It's blessed be all of we on Saint Croix, USVI.

Let's get fly.

(air whooshing) (gentle music) I'm Ernest White II, storyteller, explorer.

Don't try this at home.

I believe in connecting across backgrounds and boundaries.

(gentle music continues) Join me and my friends.

Just like home.

And discover that no matter the background, no matter the history, the whole world is our tribe.

This is good.

Come with me.

See how my friends do.

Fly Brother.

- [Announcer] Major funding for this program is provided by.

(elegant music) (bright music) (bright music ends) (gentle music) - [Ernest] You don't need an American passport to visit Saint Croix.

This island paradise is 84 square miles of the US, smack dab in the warm waters of the Caribbean sea.

It's a landscape of white sand beaches, lush rainforests, and historic colonial towns.

With a rich culture that blends the native Carib and Taino heritage with African, European, and American influences.

There's a little bit of home for everybody here.

So I'm diving in for history and storytelling.

A dip in hidden tide pools and a whole lot of incredible food.

Woo.

- Alright.

- Right after a sunrise on the leading edge of the United States.

No trip to Saint Croix is complete without first witnessing the beautiful sunrises at Point Udall, the easternmost point of all US territory by direction of travel.

The millennial monument marks the very first sunrise of this century in the United States.

(gentle music) And now that the day is off to a scenic start, it's time to fuel up.

Food is a cornerstone of the culture here in Saint Croix.

A reflection of all the influences that shape the island's identity from the Caribbean to India.

And there's no better guide to all things deliciously crucian than writer, foodie and entrepreneur Anquanette Gaspard.

- All right.

So how we feeling?

- I am super stoked to get my grub on.

- I'm hoping you didn't eat breakfast, or if you did, it was super light.

- It was very, very light.

- Ready?

- Yes.

- All right, let we go.

- [Ernest] Singhs fast food has been serving up a Caribbean take on Roti since 1975, which makes it one of the oldest restaurants in Saint Croix.

Their go-to dish is the doble double version, stuffed with curried chickpeas and potatoes.

Yum.

- A little pepper sauce goes a long way.

That's all you need, and it's going to really enhance the flavor of your doubles.

- All right.

- Right.

- Well let's dig in.

- Dig in.

- Makes me sit up straight.

(Anquanette laughs) - The little dab, right?

Doubles it up.

- Mm hm, I love that.

- So you have chickpeas or chana, which is a chickpea with the skin removed.

Then you have curry potato, and then the bread is made with saffron, flour and curry.

Curry is a really, a huge West Indian seasoning, if you will.

So it's something that we use quite a lot.

And that's the beauty of Saint Croix.

Everybody here is one degree of separation, but everybody's connected in some way.

Whether you go to the bakery or you go to the supermarket or even passing someone on the road.

- [Ernest] Sure.

- You're definitely always going to like, literally, you know, someone in common already.

Meaning that someone's always looking out for you to make sure you're okay.

- Absolutely.

I love it.

After a little fire from the curry, you need the cooling taste of something sweet, right?

Paradise slash- - Yes, yes.

Absolutely.

- You know?

- [Anquanette] It's always- this is what it feels like 98% of the time.

- [Ernest] Mm hm.

- Sorry.

- After you, mademoiselle.

- So, as you can guess, we're at the bakery.

Bakeries are essential to the Crucian and the Virgin Islands way.

- Mm hm.

- It's all about the bakery.

We have just about everything you can think of.

Fruit Tarts, which are our most popular pastry in the Virgin Islands.

- Okay.

- So what we're having today is a coconut drop and then we're pairing it with bush tea.

- Bush tea.

- Yes.

- Okay.

What's that made of?

- Yeah, I know you're like, "What are these people in the Virgin Islands drinking?"

(Anquanette laughs) But bush tea is made from lemongrass.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

We say bush tea cures everything.

Like you have a broken arm, a broken heart, whatever.

- Let's try it.

All right.

- All right.

- Coconut drop.

(Ernest laughs) - So you just try the tea and let me know what you think, your thoughts.

- It's tasty.

- Yeah.

What are you tasting in there?

- Honey?

- So let's try the coconut drop.

- Okay, yeah.

- No, no, no, no dip.

Just bite.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

Now take a sip.

Yep.

A match made in heaven.

- Mm hm.

I love it.

It's delicious.

You know, I love kind of like that cornbread feel of it.

And with the tea it brought out a lot of the coconut flavor.

(gentle music) - [Anquanette] What we're really known for our bakery is our butter bread.

- Okay.

And that's the beautiful delectable, dangerous, attractive thing that's right there.

Because I love me some bread.

- Yes, so- - But that's not on the diet.

- Butter bread is like a heavy and dense stick to your ribs kind of bread, if you will.

This is what we would start our day with.

- Sure.

- Because we are starting-- Our day would start as early as three o'clock in the morning.

So they would have this butter bread and then they would wash it down with a cup of hot bush tea.

- Got it.

- So that's what we'd call like a typical crucian breakfast.

- Sure.

You know, it's funny you mention about starting the day at three o'clock.

Where I'm from we have the saying, working cain't to cain't from cain't see in the morning to cain't see at night.

- To cain't see at night.

Oh wow.

I love that.

- So, yes.

I think I love these cultural connections that we have, you know?

- Yeah, yeah.

- Appreciate it.

- I love it.

- And food is a great unifier.

- Absolutely.

I tell people that food is a universal language.

It's something that regardless of where you're from, race, color, creed, you got to eat.

- You got to eat.

Yes (Anquanette laughs) Alright, let's do it.

- Let we go.

- All right.

Oh- - Oh.

(Ernest laughs) You remembered.

- Thank you.

- Off we go.

(gentle music) - [Ernest] Fortunately I can always eat, but between meals, Anquanette is also giving me a taste of Christiansted's history and the role enslaved people played in building the city.

- We are here, this is the official entrance to downtown Christiansted.

- Okay.

- This area is called Sunday Market Square.

It's always important for us to recognize our history and bring it back.

'Cause this place was where the enslaved people, free blacks would come to, you know, exchange goods.

You know, they had a market basically.

This was where they were able to have that exchange.

Something for themselves, right?

Now here's where you can see quite a lot of our Danish colonial architecture.

And it was implemented from the 17 hundreds under the original Danish governor that was here, the first Danish governor.

But they all have these shutters.

Remember back then there was no air conditioning.

- Ah, sure.

- There was no fans.

We had to take advantage of this breeze that we have.

And this was so that it would mimic and look very much like towns that you would see in Norway and in Denmark with promenades, boulevards and impressive buildings.

So that's what this Danish colonial architecture really represents.

Yeah and I always tell people it was the enslaved Africans that built this.

Yes, it's Danish colonial architecture.

But the hands that built these, they were the hands of our people and our ancestors.

So that's important to always know here with these, yeah.

- I got shivers when you said that.

- Yeah, it's true.

And 'cause we always think of slavery, slavery, slavery, slavery.

Like our history didn't start with that- - Or end with that.

- Or end with it.

Right.

But we were still quite powerful in being enslaved in that way.

- Yes.

- Yeah.

Being enslaved, there's still essence of something to be proud of that what they were able to accomplish after that.

- [Ernest] All the people who built Saint Croix brought their home cooking to the island.

And one of Anquanette's favorite spots has been serving up comfort food with Latin flair for more than 30 years.

- Zeny has been feeding me all my life.

Now, what you have here is, I would consider this to be probably one of our most local dishes, or one of the most known anyway.

Because if you go to any local restaurant, you're guaranteed to find this on the menu.

And this is stew chicken.

- Mm.

- So you have seasoned rice, you have red beans, you have some plantine.

Some people call it plantine, we call it plantain.

- Plantine?

- It's all the same.

And then you have stew chicken.

So stew chicken is like, this is a hearty stick to your ribs, like your auntie's cooking type of thing.

So that I have that for my welcome home meal.

- Mm.

- Yeah.

- Oh my goddess.

(Anquanette laughs) - So this is going to be your hearty, kind of your auntie cooking, your grandmother cooking that really just sticks to your bones, you know?

- Yes.

- And you might take a nap after.

- Sure.

(Anquanette laughs) - We have one of the longest standing relationships with our neighboring island, Puerto Rico.

And so the biggest influences you're going to see is in our food, taking the Crucian flavors and the Puerto Rican flavors and marrying them together to create a cuisine that is unique to the Virgin Islands.

I mean, even as close as St. Thomas, St. John, the BVI, the food you're going to experience over there tastes different than what you'll have here in Saint Croix.

We sometimes like to call it the Crucian-rican cuisine.

- The Crucian-rican.

- Yeah.

So that's what you're having today, right here.

- Well, I'm enjoying it thoroughly.

- I'm loving it.

I love that you are loving it.

And this is what it's about.

Like coming to St. Croix and missing out on our food.

It's like- - A sin and a shame.

- You just can't, you can't come here and not experience our food culture 'cause it's such a crucial part of who we are.

- So if you want the full Saint Croix experience, you got to fill up in Saint Croix.

- You got to get this food.

(gentle music) (bright music) - [Ernest] In the Caribbean Sea, just east of Puerto Rico, lie the US Virgin Islands an archipelago that's a territory of the United States.

The biggest island is Saint Croix, called the Storyland by its indigenous carib people.

Columbus landed in 1493, and over the next few centuries, Saint Croix flew six flags as control of the island passed from the Spanish to the English, to the Dutch, the French, the Knights of Malta, and the Danes.

After Denmark bought Saint Croix in 1733, it established sugar and cotton plantations that made this the Garden of the West Indies.

Built by the labor of enslaved Africans and native people.

The US bought the Virgin Islands for $25 million in 1917 to secure the Caribbean during World War I.

Today you can meet fellow US citizens and spend US dollars when you visit.

Just remember to drive on the left.

(energetic music) After a tasty tour of Christiansted, it's time to hit the road for a rugged ride to some of Saint Croix natural wonders.

And I do mean rugged.

Parts of Saint Croix are so remote that the only way to get there is by Jeep.

Saint Croix représente But a few bumps are a small price to pay for a little adventure.

We're heading across the island and up into the rainforest before we drop down to a remote spot on the northwest coast.

(energetic music continues) But there's a reward for making the trek, the Annaly Bay tide pools.

Caribbean waves and tides push seawater into natural rock basins where you can float in peace- I have salt water in my eye.

Or practice your backstroke.

(bright music) My next stop is Freedom City: Historic Frederiksted.

(bright music) This is where slavery and what was then the Danish West Indies was abolished after an uprising in 1848.

Today, Frederiksted's restored pier is a gathering place for tourists and locals.

And my good friend, carnival designer, Shamari Haynes, loves playing host.

Shamari, what do you love most about being from Frederiksted?

- I absolutely love the tranquility and serene energy of Frederiksted.

There's just a vibe really laid back, really relaxed, really chill.

Just, I love it.

- [Ernest] We've got all these colors.

We've got the blue of the water, we've got the beautiful pastels of the buildings.

We've also got a lot of history down here.

- [Shamari] Yes, we do.

- Why is this one of your favorite parts of town?

- There was a fire burn that took place on island.

You know, the plantations were burned from Christiansted over to Frederiksted town.

And the slaves at the time, you know, the laborers at the time, basically forced Peter von Scholten at the time, who was governor, to basically free them.

Right?

So sometimes you, me, I feel the energy in the air, the vibe in the air.

Fourth of July, you know, everyone comes to the Western end of the island.

- Okay.

- To view the fireworks.

Right, so Emancipation day for us would be July 3rd.

So there's just a lot of history.

A lot of history just intertwined in the town of Frederiksted.

- But that was completely dissociated from what ended up being- - Yes.

- US Independence Day.

- Correct.

- Way before this became a US territory.

- Correct.

So, you know, we celebrate the third and then we celebrate the fourth.

It's all a part of the history of Frederiksted town.

(bright music) - [Ernest] And celebration kicks into high gear at Carnival, called the Crucian Christmas Festival with dancing, parades, horse races, and surprise, amazing food.

(bright music) Now you work down here, don't you?

- Yes, I do.

The Department of Tourism office is right across the street.

- So I always tell other employees, government employees, you guys don't even have the slightest idea of what I get to see on a day-to-day basis.

So sometimes when the office gets a little too busy, sometimes I just step outside and I'm fortunate enough to actually have this as my view every day.

- Spectacular.

- Yes.

- But now, as a carnival designer, I mean, that's a government job here?

- No, so I'm the assistant director for festivals.

- Okay.

- I'm responsible for organizing and executing all of the festival events for the District of Saint Croix.

But I own two carnival troops and I owned the carnival troops before actually being appointed in this position.

So as long as I know myself, I've been a part of the culture, a part of the festival, carnival culture here.

- When is Carnival here in Saint Croix?

- Carnival here in Saint Croix, well, we celebrate Carnival really and truly from Thanksgiving weekend.

So once Thanksgiving weekend is here, everybody gets into Carnival mood.

But officially we celebrate it the last two weeks of the year.

December into January.

- [Ernest] So everything's right down here?

- [Shamari] Everything's right down here.

- Central Frederiksted.

- Yes, correct.

- The Carnival Village, the food fair, all of the main festival events happen here in Frederiksted.

(bright music) - So even though it's pretty chill right now, there are times when it is on and popping.

- Oh indeed.

- Okay.

- Indeed.

Once Carnival is in full swing, the town of Frederiksted really do not sleep.

(bright music) Freedom City, Frederiksted, as we call it.

- Freedom City?

- Yes.

Because of its founder.

- Sure.

And also your ability to kind of just be who you are.

- Correct.

Indeed.

Indeed.

- Both at one led to the other.

- Yes.

Correct.

- I love it.

(gentle music) - So we're literally in the middle of Buddhoe Park.

Behind of us, we have the Eliza McBean Clock Tower.

Most people gather at the clock tower for like weddings, ceremonies, photo shoots.

To the left of us, we have the Fort Frederick Museum.

Which, you know, definitely is a tourist attraction.

- [Ernest] Fort Frederick was built to protect the original Danish settlement, but now it's a museum and learning center with art and exhibits, exploring the history of colonizers and enslaved people on Saint Croix.

- And to the right of us, we have The Scale House.

When ships came in, all of the weighing of whatever goods were brought to the island was done here at The Scale House.

Here in Buddhoe Park, this is where the slave revolt took place.

- Mm.

- Lots of history.

Again, a big part of our culture here in St. Croix.

I absolutely love it.

I think a lot of folks too, you know, we were owned by seven different countries.

The US being the last owner.

So there's so much history, so much customs here.

You know, we drive on the left, folks don't even know that.

- Yes.

- Right, and it's just like that British Danish thing that we kept.

You know, that makes us different from many other places in many ways.

- There's little elements that are reminding me of the familiarity of growing up, let's say Caribbean adjacent, if you will.

- Right.

- You know, and a lot of the same history obviously as well.

So to see, for me, it's about seeing the similarities more than the differences.

And that's what I love about travel.

- So I want folks to be able to just come here.

Come with open mind, number one.

There's a lot of history here, a lot of culture.

But I also want folks to be able to obtain, learn a little bit of that, and then of course, go back with it.

You know, there's no place like Saint Croix.

There's no place like the Virgin Islands.

And it's just a lot of different things that make us special as Virgin Islanders, specifically Crucians.

- Mm hm.

Listen, I'm learning all about it as much as I can while I'm here and I feel better for it.

And I'm about to feel even better.

Thanks to a hands-on or tongues on experience, cooking crabs, crucian style with Chef Carmen McAlpin Clarke.

She's continuing an island tradition of catching crabs on the beach at night and serving them up to family and friends.

- Hi, Ernest.

- Hey.

- Welcome to Crabs with Carmen.

- Aw, Miss Carmen, thank you so much for having me.

I'm super excited.

- We're going to have a good time today.

- Yes.

I know it.

- Just like how the locals do it.

- Okay, let's do it.

- Let's do it.

- All right.

As a Florida native, I know firsthand the power of the crab pot to bring people together.

And as a fellow alum of Florida A and M University, Carmen speaks my language when it comes to celebrating food and culture.

But while I've eaten a lot of crab, this is my first time handling the clingy crustaceans myself.

- I want you to pick up the biggest crab.

- Okay.

- Okay.

Ernest, yeah.

Big crab right here with your name on it.

- [Ernest] Alright.

- [Carmen] I want you to catch the biggest one.

- [Ernest] Okay.

- So just click on his gundy.

- Okay.

- And then put it in the bucket.

Okay?

- Alright.

- Alright.

- Okay.

Let me get over here for a second.

I got his gundy.

- [Carmen] All right.

That's the way, Ernest.

Hold it Good.

Hold it good.

- Okay.

- [Carmen] Alright.

Put it in the bucket.

- [Ernest] Alright.

- [Carmen] So that's a male or a female?

- It's a male.

- That's a male.

That's good.

- It is Charlie.

- Yeah.

So put him in- - Put him in the bucket.

- Put it in the bucket.

- All right, dude.

Sorry, my brother.

- So as a little girl, we used to go torching, that was one of our activities.

- Torching?

- Torching crabs.

So the family will go in a truck, you got a little cooler, everybody in the back and we go torching from like 10 to three o'clock in the morning.

- Oh wow.

- Okay, 'cause remember now, the crabs sleep in the day.

So at night they out moving around, trying to get food.

So we will go torching and it's so fun because when you see a crab, everybody will say "Crab!"

and then everybody jump out, start running a crab.

(bright music) You got a bucket of crab, don't drop it or you'll have to catch all of them.

So once you get bite once, you won't get bite again.

- I know that's right.

- So this is just warm water and I call it the jacuzzi.

- Jacuzzi.

- The jacuzzi.

(bright music) - [Ernest] Where do I hold it?

Hold it from the back.

Just like this.

Alright.

Yeah, I'm squeamish around animals.

Okay.

- Don't drop my crab, you know.

- I'm not going to drop- I'm going to drop him right here in this bowl here.

(bright music continues) - So this is seasoning, just a combination of all kind of season that I put my hands to.

So all I need you to do is just sprinkle the crab.

Okay?

Sprinkle in it, turn it around and sprinkle it.

- Okay.

- Okay?

So I'm going to put all the crabs in there.

Your job is to season it.

Depending how the crab sauce tastes, it's your fault if it ain't taste good.

And sprinkle it.

- Okay.

- You didn't buy the seasoning.

Season it, season it.

Choke on it.

You didn't pay for it.

Just- (Carmen laughs) Season the crabs.

- I'm being too- - Yeah.

- Too judicious with the seasoning.

- [Carmen] Yeah.

Season up the crab.

- That's right.

He don't cook.

- You're learning, you're learning.

(Ernest laughs) I admire you.

- Thank you.

- For at least trying.

- Thank you, thank you.

Because I'm sure going to eat them.

We're bringing the crab over to the fire.

(bright music) - [Carmen] Set them right here.

(bright music continues) Mind you don't get burned, it goes straight in.

Alright.

- [Ernest] No matter where you're from, it doesn't take long before St. Croix really does feel like home.

A place where the welcome is warm, the food nourishes body and soul, and someone's always looking out for you.

Blessed be.

(laughing) Definitely a lot of responsibility.

- No man, but you did a good job.

- Okay, thank you.

- So when I'm eating a crab, I usually take all the legs off first.

- Okay.

(crabs cracking) (light munching) And I never had the experience of cooking it myself or preparing it myself or you know, engaging with the live version of the animal.

- Well the good thing is that you're in Saint Croix.

- Mm hm.

- Okay.

And this is what the locals are doing.

- That's right.

- Okay.

The locals will cook it different way.

But this is common way.

So anytime you come to Saint Croix, crabs are common.

This is the sauce you're going to taste.

- What is so special about this place for you?

- This is home.

I've traveled different places and it never feel the same.

And you know the culture, we are just warm people.

You know, we're never in a hurry.

So you could say you're kind of a Virgin Islander because you eat land crab.

You sound like you know what you're doing, you know, you're cracking crabs.

(laughing) - Just like home.

(bright music) (bright music continues) (bright music ends) - [Announcer] Major funding for this program is provided by.

(elegant music) (adventurous music) (adventurous music ends) To join the Fly Brother Travel community or to order your own copy of this episode, visit flybrother.com.

(gentle music)