U.S. Virgin Islands authorities say a blaze has gutted a popular tourist attraction touted as the home of the banana daiquiri.
Fire Chief Glen Francis says the 60-year-old Mountain Top souvenir shop and tavern was reduced to rubble early Tuesday on the island of St. Thomas.
Francis says the Mountain Top was already engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived and it took crews four hours to douse the wind-whipped blaze.
The tavern 1,547 feet (471 meters) above sea level is recommended in Caribbean guide books as a place to buy knickknacks and down banana cocktails while taking in views of outlying islands.
Investigators would not speculate on what caused the fire.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Filed under: "Man-Made" Creations, News to Me | Tagged: banana, caribbean, daiquiri, fire, mountain top, virgin islands
This is truly devestating for St Thomas. My husband and I always looked forward to going to Mountain Top on our visits to St Thomas. I surely hope they will rebuild. That was a great attraction, having the best banana daiquris in the whole world!!