Feb. 1: Off to Grenada
We were scheduled to leave on Wednesday, but there was an emergency in Kim’s family so I stayed a couple days and she will join when circumstances permit. My flight took me by way of BUF-CLT-MIA-GND, only 11 ½ hours total. The flights were all on time, my bag unfortunately hasn’t arrived yet and could be anywhere from Miami to Buffalo. I had the driver stop at an ATM for some local currency and then drop me off at the Grenada Beach Palace Hotel, where I have stayed many times. Sharon met me at the gate and took me up to my room; I’m getting a self catering room for the first time. The room is on the second floor facing the sea, it has a large bathroom with walk-in shower, a full size fridge, and the kitchen and table are on the outside balcony, all less than 25 feet from the surf. On the way from the airport I saw there were some food stands set up at the roundabout by the Spiceland Mall, so after getting settled in I grabbed a bus down the road for something to eat. I wasn’t in the mood for chicken or burgers so I decided on a bowl of goat waters, it’s like a soup with dumplings; it was tasty with chunks of goat, bones and all and kept me full for the night, beers were 5 EC and someone was playing music across the street; there were quite a few people there, it seems to be the local hang out. A couple of guys were running crab racing matches; they lay out a circle with electrical tape and have these hermit crabs with numbers taped to their backs, you pick the one you want and when they turn them loose in the middle of the circle the first one out wins. The odds were 2:1 and the bet went from 5EC to 1EC by midnight. The funniest part had to be the guy running it, he has a microphone and goes through this whole bit “these are all vibrant crabs!” and such, except the mike isn’t hooked up to anything or broadcasting, but it does make him look more official then if he was just standing there shouting. I lost about $6 before I surmised that crab racing wasn’t going to be my ticket to an early retirement. Ley Ley, who we have known for a few years showed up and we walked down, or up rather, to D Coosy Nook, where we could sit down. I never liked the strong rum a lot of the guys drink but he adds bitters to it and it kills the rocket fuel taste, against my better judgment we had a few shots. While sitting at the bar I started talking to a guy my age, Crow, and we were reminiscing about some of the old TV shows when he started singing classic Motown tunes. It was then I recognized him as the guy that came up and started singing when we had a fish roast at the craft market one night when Kim and I were here on Skyelark. Well now we both got going and around 2:00 the bartender brought out these huge locks, the signal it was closing time. Crow and Ley Ley dropped me off at the hotel, which was just a short way up the road, I sat out on the balcony at while listening to the surf before going to bed.
