Caribbean Cruise: St. Kitts (2.13.25)

Plantation houses and more forts.  St. Kitts, an island we visited on February 13, 2025, grew sugar cane in the 1600s through 1800s and participated in the "triangular trade"--Britain sending ships to Africa to pick up slaves to sell in the Americas, and then bringing sugar back to Britain. 

We visited Wingfield Estate, a sugar plantation home dating to 1625.  

"The Brits make themselves comfortable," my mom and dad used to say about the British colonists in Burma (Myanmar), where we lived for three years.  Wingfield Estate seemed very comfortable, and very British, even on this obscure island.

It had a formal European garden, filled with palm trees and tropical flowers.

I remembered the fragrant white gardenias, from when I was a little girl in tropical Burma.

Inside, the living room floor and furniture were made from dark, stained mahogany.

The plantation china featured the plantation owners and the Union Jack.

There was a "smoking room" for the gents and a tea room for the ladies, as well as an office for the plantation manager.

There was even a British wig propped on a desk.

The family took baths every week in this stone tub. No running water yet.

I was fascinated with the plantation museum, which showed the people who had lived at Wingate Estate for many generations.

We next visited Brimstone Mill Fortress, the best preserved fort we saw on our trip. 

Back in Basse-Terre, the capital of St. Kitts, we wandered the downtown.  We stopped at a grocery store, where taro roots and raw coconuts were piled high.

"Valentines Day is big on St. Kitts," our guide told us, and we saw stalls around the city, selling stuffed animals and candy, wrapped with red bows.

We stopped at a local bakery for a slice of guava cheesecake.

Two girls in their school uniforms stopped by the bakery for an after school treat.

On our walk back to the ship, we passed a menu advertising a nearby cafe.  The soups included "Red beans and pigtail," "Turkey neck," and "Conch water."  We were glad to be eating on the Emperor of the Seas.