Saint Kitts

Let's start with the name. The official name of this island is Saint Christopher, but no one seems to call it that. Saint Kitts seems to be preferred. You don't mean many people named Kit any more (a shout-out goes to my neighbor in elementary school who used it), but it used to be relatively popular as short for Christopher.

The country actually is two islands. Saint Kitts is one, and Nevis is just across a two-mile channel to the south. That makes the official name the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. The country was generally under British control until 1983, when it was part of the British West Indies. Now it's a checkmark on your list of countries visited. About 40,000 people live there; many are of African descent. 

About 14,000 of the people live in Basseterre, the capital of the country and the spot where our boat docked. The people there aren't stupid; they set up an a shopping area right by the docks for the big ships. It's a nice, little functional area for picking up some souvenirs.

Here's a look at some of the tourist attractions: