Day 8 - Saturday/Sunday,

Saturday we knew would be a long day of travel. Our scheduled flight had us leaving Grenada at 2PM and arriving in Burlington, VT just about midnight.

We had a leisurely breakfast and arranged for a taxi to pick us up around 11:30 AM to take us to the airport, which is about a mile away...literally.  So we arrived at the airport in plenty of time, customs was pretty straight forward and we boarded our flight on schedule.

Bye bye Bishop International Airport... :-(















Everything was lovely, we were about an hour ahead of schedule going into JFK, but then things headed south a bit.  JFK is having one of its runways repaired and this resulted in about an hour holding pattern for us, so we arrived at JFK slightly behind our planned arrival. No worries our flight to BTV was delayed about 2 hours, due to weather in New Orleans. Getting your person and baggage through customs is never fun, but we managed it with only one panic attack when June could not find her boarding pass to BTV,  I thought I was going to have to leave her behind.

Since we had time to kill we had one last group meal at the airport. Ed and I both craved a decent beer, the beer in Grenada is just beer.  After our meal, for the first time in a week, they handed us a bill...we are going to have to get used to that again...ouch.











We arrived in BTV about 01:45 in the morning; it was 19F, a bit of an adjustment required. June and I were dropped at our house about 03:00. Any time you can travel 2500 miles and arrive within 2 hours of your ETA is pretty good.  No complaints from us.

Today is a pretty morning albeit only 20F. There is still snow on the ground here but the sun is out and it is forecast to warm up to the mid 40s this week.

It is not Grenada warm, but we have our ways of enjoying the warmth and it is always nice to be home.








Overall it was a great trip, the weather in Grenada was just amazing and we got a real appreciation for the island and how they live. It is very different from the USA, the country was literally destroyed in 2010 and 2011 by hurricanes with over 90% of the houses being severely damaged, most lost their roofs.  It is clear the country is still recovering from Ivan and Emily, much of the housing has not yet been reconstructed, yet you can see they are trying.  What is most impressive is the friendliness of the people.  When we arrived, the taxi driver could have easily over charged us when we were confused by the EC to US dollar, but he didn't. One morning in the lobby, I dropped a $20 US bill as I got out of the chair and the lady mopping the floor tapped me on the shoulder and said you dropped this. Everywhere we went they seemed genuine in their appreciation for the Americans, October 25th is Grenada's Thanksgiving day when they remember the 1983 invasion by the USA. It is not a big celebration but they remember.

It is a very friendly nation to visit, we had a great time.

Day 7 - Beaching Day

Friday, our last full day.

It started like every morning here in Grenada, beach weather.

We decided that the right thing to do is to Chill-Lax-Laze on the beach.












I went exploring again and climbed the hill northeast of our resort. I was wearing a swimsuit and sandals so did not go too far, but got some nice pictures of the resort from the top of the hill.

From this picture you can see how large the resort really is. The main terrace area has the red roof on the left and the pool house is on the point by the ocean. Sandals is down the beach in the distance.













It is an all inclusive resort, but we still get exercise.  There are three different routes back to our rooms; regardless you will climb at least 50 stair steps and as many as 67 steps, then another flight of stairs because we are on the second floor of the C building.

The complex is about 30 acres, so we got a good bit of walking in even though we spent a lot of time on the beach. I wore my fitbit most of the week, but not all. Of course it comes off for any water activity.





From the morning beach laze, we wandered up to the pool for our second feeding of the day.  We are now like baby birds, every few hours we expect to be fed...and they do a fine job of that here.

Letting our lunch settle by the pool.

















After lunch we got some exercise laid on the beach some more.

We did take the Hobie Cat out for another spin, Jean and Donna this time...Jean got another layer of burn.

We eventually got up the energy to move down the beach.....closer to the ocean side bar Trader's.  The girls and Bob played in the waves a bit more but we were generally pretty lazy.

It was another prefect weather afternoon.











For dinner we decided to try the Asian restaurant at the resort. It requires a reservation and is a bit more formal than Cinnamon's. It was not five star but we had a nice meal topped off by a fantastic dessert, banana something.

We ended the evening as usual on Tamarind Terrace.














It was a great week. We had fun, met a lot of interesting people, all got along quite well and generally had a lovely (our Brit friend David's influence) time.

All good things come to an end, we had our time in the sun while the winter back home was hanging on. Monday we have to return to reality, but with just a bit more of a jump in our step...we will make it to spring now.

Day 6 - Thursday, Seeking Sandals and Snorkling

On Thursday we had booked a snorkel trip for the afternoon so we planned to hang at the beach for the morning. We are at the Grendadian, a modestly priced all inclusive, but just down the beach was the more upscale Sandals resort.  You can't really walk the beach to Sandals since a large rock cleaved off the ledge and blocks the path. We were told by the staff that there was a time when you could walk to Sandals. I was a bit antsy for a hike anyway, so Donna and I  went to the desk and asked if they had hiking trails? This apparently was a strange question to them, why would you want to hike in this heat when you can lay by the ocean? Anyway, we got some general directions on how we might hike over to Sandals.  The directions were general, but we headed in that direction and Jean gave up the beach to join us. We hiked several miles in the sun down a road that went past the airport and eventually did hit the beach but we were south of Sandals and again cut off by rocks. Sandals has a section of beach that is completely closed to pedestrians from both sides and they will not let you walk in from the road, guess that is what people pay for.  So we turned around and started back, and it was hot.

We did go by the entrance but we are told they will not let you walk in.














 About two thirds of the way back we found a path that went in the woods towards the ocean, we had to follow it and it did come out on the beach between Sandals and the Grenadian.

On this road we came to an abandoned house that at one time was clearly an estate, complete with stone pillars and iron gate at the entrance.

We can only speculate that it was destroyed by Ivan and the property purchased by Sandals to further their exclusivity of this part of the ocean front.

We did make it to the Sandals beach, we did not intrude upon their direct water front, but we may just do that Friday.

We tried going north to see if we could find our way back to the Granadian, but were again closed off by rocks.  But it was a very cool beach empty of people.

Since this is a secluded beach it is not picked clean and the girls each found some coral.













We hiked back to the road and back to the Grenadian, a bit scorched but it was a good hike.

We made our way to the pool where lunch is served and on the way over saw this guy hanging on a rock by the small lake.

On our way back from lunch this guy was hanging in the grass.


Theses are not small lizards, both had bodies well over a foot long.











We boarded a shuttle to the snorkel trip we booked with 'First Impressions'.

The boat is a 60ft+ catarmaran sailboat. It has lots of room, we had about 30 people on board and it was not too crowded.













We snorkeled around a small rocky point first and then moved onto the Underwater Sculpture Park.

It has about 80 total concrete sculptures that are placed on the seafloor. Bob had an underwater camera and took some nice pictures. The sculptures range from a guy sitting at his desk to naked women (yeah!), interesting to say the least.

Irish people holding hands...no..I don't know what makes them Irish.

Woman praying.

It took some good swimming skills to do the tour since much of the time you were treading water while the guide spoke, we were all tired when we returned to the boat.












We had a nice time on the boat and as usual met a few interesting people from other parts of the world like Sweden and Nashua, New Hampshire.....

The views of St. George from the boat were spectacular.

A good time was had by all.









Friday is our last full day in Grenada, it goes by quickly. We will likely just Chillax at the beach.

Day 5 - Wednesday, Chillazing

Today was a day of just chillin. We got up late, had breakfast and walked in a light rain, not much but it did rain.  It had cleared by 11ish so we hung on the beach: some swimming, some testing out their new snorkel gear. It was a lazy morning.

We were on the beach maybe two hours total and in the shade when not in the water, yet the girls picked up another layer of burn. You just can't appreciate how hot the sun is down here.

After the beach and lunch, were were hanging at the pool when June and Donna actually asked to go out in the Hobie Cat they have for guests on the beach. At the time the winds were blowing a good 25mph. When I asked the kid running the shop if they were too strong, he laughed at me. Well now I had to go.  I had not been on a Hobie in about 40 years, but told the kid..no worries...I got this.

By the time we got on the Cat, the winds had come down by about one half and were inconsistent. We struggled between going no where and going too fast, but eventually I managed to figure out how to make it go where we wanted.  It was a fun time.

















We have wanted to check out the Aquarium, a restaurant down the beach, so decided to walk down there for a before dinner drink.

The place is pretty close to a perfect beach setting, nestled into the palm trees right on the beach.  We may come back for dinner before the week is out.



















After our before dinner drink we went to another before dinner drink event put on at the resort by the management. Basically they set up a reception with drinks and hors d'oeuvres where they greet their guests and thank them for staying with them. It was nice.

At the reception we hung out with a couple from Canada we met on our island tour. They later joined us for dinner and sat with us on the terrace until we retired.  She is a nurse and he retired from the power company. They were very nice and it is always fascinating to hear how people from other places live. Same problems, it's life..but very interesting.

Thursday we have booked a snorkel excursion for the afternoon.....back to playing.

Day 4 - Tuesday, The Dragon tour

Today was a full day to say the least. We signed up for the all day island tour and it was all day. We boarded a bus that seats 30 but had only 12 of us on it and expected the usual somewhat boring but educational tour of the island. Our driver/tour guide, Peter Dragon, made sure it was not boring. From his jokes, to the interesting history about every part of the island and every plant, to his driving 'magic', he kept us completely entertained.

He started by taking us through the St. George streets, that one would think the small bus we were in would just not fit, including 'little San Francisco' which speaks for itself.

Our first stop was the Concord Water Falls where we dipped our toes in the cool water (never say cold in Grenada) and watched the jumpers.

The ride through the island was quite fascinating, everything here is on the side of a steep hill so houses are built on legs. You look at them and wonder how they stay on the side of the hill. 

Overall the people in Grenada live by modest means but as Dragon explained, people in Grenada never go hungry. There is always plenty of food. They like their rum and like to party.  

Dragon was a born in Grenada and is clearly proud of his country. He took us through his home town and the town in which he was born. As we passed through, his sister and 89 year old mom were on the porch waving and just a bit down the road we passed one of his brothers....it was cool. 

From the falls we drove to lunch, along the way Dragon pointed out the egg trees..yes real eggs.

Lunch was at a private residence over looking the ocean where the Caribbean and Atlantic intersect and you can see the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique which are part of Grenada. 

Our group was a mix of Canadians and American's and got along very well.











Lunch was a home cooked meal and was sumptuous. After lunch we moved onto the Rivers Rum distillery.

The distillery is 300 years old and is basically run like it was then. It is powered by a water wheel and fired by wood and cane stocks.

They run two distillery systems and consume all they make on the island.

What they make is 150 proof, 75% alcohol and can not be exported due to the high alcohol content.  They sell a version cut with distilled water for those that want to take some home.

Of course we sampled the rum, it was not as harsh as one would expect for 75% alcohol.

On the tour we even drove onto the runway of the old airport that was in use when the Americans invaded in 1983. A Russian and Cuban plane did not make it out and are still sitting there.

On the return we stopped at Grand Etang Lake, this is a lake formed by an extinct volcano. It has fish in it and Dragon even caught one using only bread and his hand.











From the lake we stopped at a place in the rain forest where you can often view monkeys but there were none to be found, so we moved on towards home base.

The day was long but if you come to Grenada, it is a must do. It gives you a good appreciation for the island and how the people live here.

Before dinner we took in the sunset at the beach, again poolside.

We ended the day on the big terrace once again, but were joined by a couple that was on our driving tour, both Canadians, but he from Chile and her from Quebec. They invited their friends from the UK and we had a great time getting to know them. We closed the place after midnight, it was a very long but fun filled day.

Day 3 - Monday, St. George

Monday after breakfast we met with the activities guide for the resort and sort of planned out the rest of our week. We decided to go downtown for a few hours just to see the city a bit. The hotel runs a shuttle that leaves around 10:00 and picks up around 13:00, only 3 hours but it is hot in the city. It is obvious that St. George is old, the city was in the path of hurricane Ivan in 2004.  Over 90% of the homes were damaged by Ivan, so there is a lot of construction in the city still going on.

We were dropped off in the center of the city and decided to hike up to Fort St. George.

It is a climb up to the fort but the views were spectacular.













The fort like most buildings in Grenada was severely damaged by hurricane Ivan but surprisingly, the fort is still occupied by a shoe shop, that does all the boot repair for the local police.

The fort is historic, being built in the early 1700's and played a part in nearly every conflict in this region since. At this fort in 1983 Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and his supporters were executed by the more Marxist wing of their party, as were many ordinary citizens.  We also ran into a group of walking guides, that appeared to be in training, getting schooled on the fort's history. They were also having debates about political subjects, it was interesting to hear the banter. One of the guides explained to the girls the proper pronunciation of Grenada.  It is not Gre-nodda, that is a place in Spain, here it is Gre-nay-da.  He further explained that they love Americans because President Regan liberated them in 1983 when the Communists were trying to make Grenada another Cuba.

From the fort the views are just spectacular of the city and harbor.

The fort itself is in decline and it does not appear that there is any money to restore it.

Parts of the fort without roofs are going fast.

You also get a great view of St George's Presbyterian church which was destroyed by Ivan.

We saw several tall ships coming to port, they are majestic to say the least.














After the fort we took a different path back to the city and wandered around the city lost for a bit, but found our way to the spice market.  The smells were awesome, but the vendors were a bit predatory for us, so we did not spend much time.

We wanted to sit and take a break, so asked people where to go and were given pseudo directions to a restaurant called Nut Meg. The directions were basically go thru the tunnel and ask someone.

To get there you have to share the tunnel with the cars, it is a bit nerve racking but everyone survived.

Barely enough room for people and cars.













Once through the tunnel, I asked a man for directions, he said "I will take you". The people are amazingly nice. It was good that he took us because it was a zig zag path through the city.
We had a nice time at Nut Meg's, we each shared Nut Meg ice cream.  We eventually made our way back to the pickup point and shuttled back to the resort.

At one point yesterday while exploring I followed a trail up a ridge trying to find my way to the next resort, I didn't..but I found goats and a coconut. The next challenge was how to husk and crack it.

It is amazing what you can do with a butter knife.

The coconut was very sweet and tasty.


















After resting a bit we planned to go to the end of the beach and check out a restaurant called the Aquarium.  On the way is Trader's beach bar, part of our resort. It is on the beach under the shade of palm trees. We were only going to check it out, but once we sat on the deck in the nice breeze, it was hard to leave. The only thing that got us out was that they close the bar at 5PM.  So we moved down the beach to the Aquarium, it is closed on Monday...doh, but we checked it out. It appears to be high end but a very cool place. We may check it out again later in the week.

While at the Aquarium, I tried to scale the rocks to get to the next resort "Sandals", again I failed. Climbing the big rocks was fun, until I lost a flipflop down into the rocks.  I crawled down into a bit of a cave to retrieve it, as I reached for it a crab about the size of my hand decided to defend his new find.  I banged my head, swore and thew a rock at the crab....but I got my flipflop and got out before I met anyone else.

We ended the evening on the main Terrace listening to the DJ, it was the end of another fun day.

Tuesday, we are taking a driving tour of the island.