Sunday began with the Council meeting at 9:00 a.m. There were several item
s of Council business yet to be discussed that morning. They included a report from the Pro Bono Committee, a report on the Trial Advocacy Moot Court Competition, the Dispute Resolution Section Liaison report, a report on our Mid-Winter Meetings, a request to look at a proposed ethics rule and also a discussion around recent ALI work on the Restatement of Employment Law.
I left the meeting before the last two reports because I was going to see Rhonda Williams-Henry. For those of you who don’t know her or haven’t met her, she is an alumna who graduated about six years ago. She and her husband Michael who is a Ph.D. physicist and their two daughters live on St. Croix. I figured since I was so close, I might as well take the time to go see her. I booked a flight on the seaplane which is very interesting. It is actually what it sounds like – a sea plane that takes off and lands on the water. The name of the airline is Sea Borne and all is does is run flights between St. Croix and St. Thomas and St. Thomas and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
My flight was booked for 1:00 p.m. but I had to be there 45 minutes early, so I arrived at about noon and not long afterwards we got in the seaplane and took off. It was an 18-minute flight for 40 miles on a prop plane. There were 15 seats and I took pictures in the plane and I found out I wasn’t supposed to have my purse. But, at least I got some good pictures of the inside of the plane. We landed in St. Croix, the city of Christiansted, of course right on the water. Rhonda and her daughters met me and we walked around the boardwalk and to a historic fort. Then we grabbed a quick lunch because she wanted to have time to make sure I got a feel for the island of St. Croix.
St. Croix is sort of the sleepy cousin to St. Thomas. It’s much more laid back and quiet, although geographically it’s bigger than St. Thomas. Rhonda told me that it’s about 85 square miles. After lunch we drove to
her house and picked up her husband Michael and took off all around the island to see the various sights. We drove all the way up to Frederiksted. We went past the refinery that used to be the Hess Refinery and is now the Hovensa Refinery. According to Michael and Rhonda, it is the largest refinery in the Western Hemisphere. It was really huge! It employs a number of the folks on St. Croix. Many other people work in the government and of course in the tourism business. St. Croix is famous for it’s diving and snorkelin
g, but the hotels on the island of St. Croix are much smaller than those on St. Thomas. If you’re looking for a quieter alternative to St. Thomas, try St. Croix.
We had a very brief visit because my flight landed there at 1:30 p.m. and my return flight was at 5:15 p.m. The very last flight at 6:00 p.m. was full, so I had to catch the 5:15 p.m. (and had to get back there 45 minutes early). Michael told me I didn’t have to be there so early and in fact that was true. But, still it was a whirlwind. I saw many parts of the island and I’m very grateful to them for taking the time out of their Sunday to share the afternoon with me. It was great to see them and know they are doing well. Rhonda is 
working in the U.S. Attorney’s Office on the island and Michael is a math and science tutor. Anyway, no alumna is too far. It was a pleasure. Thanks for lunch and for the visit.
I flew back on the seaplane to St. Thomas where I met Chris Hexter and his wife Nancy and Peter Janis and his wife Nancy. We ate dinner at Hervé on Government Hill in St. Thomas. The five of us shared a fantastic meal with 
a beautiful view of the ocean and the lights of St. Thomas. Chris’ wife had the special venison coated in winter spice and served in a grand marnier sauce, and he ordered the rabbit loin with tomato, mushroom, rosemary and white wine. My meal was lobster scallops and shrimp St. Jacques in a lightly seasoned beurre blanc with shallots, chives, white peppercorns and sweet vermouth. Peter Janis ordered the yellowtail snapper coated with creole spice, topped with mango salsa. His wife Nancy’s meal was the sea bass served with a mango dill beurre blanc.
Nancecy 