Beach at Sapphire Resort.

                                                        At Sapphire Resort.

Beach at Sapphire Resort.

At Sapphire Resort.

Were staying at Beard Castle, but it was too early in the morning and our room was not ready.  Started driving to know the island better.  Stopped at Sapphire Resort.

U.S. Virgin Islands: America's Caribbean

                                                  Cyril E. King Airport

                                     Rental car counters in Cyril E. King Airport

Cyril E. King Airport in Charlotte Amalie 

Reaching Cyril King Airport in Charlotte Amalie (USVI)

Flying from San Juan to St. Thomas (Charlotte Amalie)

Flying from San Juan to St. Thomas (Charlotte Amalie)—Is it Culebra that we see?

San Juan, Puerto Rico to St Thomas (USVI)

Long time ago I took a boat from Gdnask to Helsinki.  I had traveled cheap in Eastern Europe—the iron curtain had lifted not too before my trip.  I had expected Scandinavia to be much more expensive than Eastern Europe.  But Finland, Sweden, and Norway proved to be more expensive than what I had expected.  Last summer (2012) we visited Virgin Islands—USVI (United States Virgin Islands) and BVI (British Virgin Islands).  Traveling in Virgin Islands is as expensive as traveling in Scandinavia.  We got a good deal on Delta, flying from San Francisco to San Juan, Puerto Rico, with a short stop in Atlanta.  Flying from San Juan to St. Thomas (USVI) was also not that expensive.  But hotels and meals were very expensive on Virgin Islands.  This blog is primarily a photo blog of our Virgin Islands trip.  Photo above--showing Puerto Rico's northern coast--was taken shortly after leaving San Juan for St. Thomas.