The Beach Bar - Cruz Bay, St. John, USVI

Tables full of visitors, cold drinks and live music fill The Beach Bar, right on the sand at Cruz Bay on St. John in the US Virgin Islands, with the boats and blue water of the bay just behind the crowd.

St. John is the smallest of the three main US Virgin Islands, covering about 19.6 square miles (50.8 sq km). Ferries run from Red Hook on St. Thomas about every hour, landing right beside the beach in Cruz Bay.

In 1733, enslaved Africans working the island's sugar plantations rose up against Danish rule, starting at Fort Frederiksvaern, and held much of the island for about six months.

Did You Know? The United States bought St. John, St. Thomas and St. Croix from Denmark in 1917 for $25 million, mainly to build a naval base during World War I.

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