Charlotte Amalie in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
photo composite by ragu.

I first moved to St. Thomas in May of '97, after my good buddy Kenny made it abundantly clear that if i didn't suck it up and get the hell out of Fayetteville i would be missing the opportunity of a lifetime.

Ken was already living there and made it all too easy to show up, live in his apartment, get a job on his boat, and generally just make myself at home in the Virgin Islands. It was a convincing argument, he spoke words of iron and i still owe him one. That move changed my life forever.

Since '97, i have been back and forth to the Vi about 4 or 5 times, have actually lived there twice, and consider it a second home. I have many good friends there and one of my best clients, Billy D's Special Tees. There are even some other Arkansan transplants down there to commiserate with, like John Powers who works at Caneel Bay and Dan Sheffey, owner of the Grateful Deli and all around "good ol' fucker".
 

Recently a friend of mine emailed me and asked for the inside scoop on the Vi, where to stay, what to see, what to avoid, that kind of thing. So i wrote him a whole schpeel of stuff, and afterwards realized it was a good primer for any one headed down to St. Thomas/St. John. So if you're planning a trip, click here to know what i know.