4 Best Sights in Mid Island, St. Croix

A tour of this distillery, established in 1760, culminates in a rum tasting, all of which are sold here at good prices—including more than a dozen flavored rums you'll find in popular St. Croix cocktails like the Cruzan Confusion. The distillery is also the best place to pick up a bottle or two of Cruzan's premium single-barrel and Estate Diamond rums. It's worth a stop to look at the charming old buildings and learn about the distillation process, even if you're not a rum connoisseur.

At this 17-acre estate, fragrant flora grows amid the ruins of a 19th-century sugarcane plantation (the former overseer's house has been left open to the elements as a habitat for native fruit bats). There are miniature versions of each ecosystem on St. Croix, from a semiarid cactus grove to a verdant rain forest, along with hiking trails, a small museum, and a collection of seashells. The garden's orchid and bromeliad blooms are impressive. 

The base for Captain Morgan–brand rum is made from molasses at this massive, industrial-scale distillery. The tour includes exhibits on island and rum history, a movie about the process, and a tram ride through the distillery. An extensive gift shop features a wide variety of branded clothing and keepsakes as well as rum for purchase. The tour ends with tastings of the many varieties of Captain Morgan rum (the original spiced, white, aged, dark, and fruit-flavored) plus two cocktails.

The restored estate, with a windmill, cookhouse, and other buildings, gives a sense of what life was like on St. Croix's sugar plantations in the 1800s. The oval-shape greathouse has high ceilings and antique furniture and utensils. Notice its fresh, airy atmosphere—the waterless stone moat around the greathouse was used not for defense, but for circulating cooling air. The estate produced sugar and molasses from 1767 to 1934, first with animal power, then wind, and finally with a steam engine to crush the cane. If you have kids, the grounds are the perfect place for them to run around, perhaps while you browse in the museum gift shop or attend a food demonstration using the still-functioning ovens in the cookhouse. It's just outside of Frederiksted.