5/2/11 Saturday
Our first full day in Grenada, we took the bus to St. Georges and went to the market for fresh fruit. It is true that you shouldn’t go shopping on an empty stomach as evidenced by the full backpack and shopping bag we left with. It is a lot of fun to look at all the stalls to see the different fruits, veggies and spices for sale. I always wondered why they don’t grow Mediterranean figs here; I found out after trying my first sapodilla (sp.). They look like kiwis but have the taste and texture of figs, I bought a bag full. We also picked up some French cashews, a type of fruit; and mangos, grapefruit, star fruit, sugar cane, tamarind balls and dessert figs. A woman at one of the spice stalls gave Kim some advice for maintaining a happy relationship; if she takes it I will have to go back and buy a few things from her. We bought a coconut and drank the water, then I ate the jelly; Kim does not like the texture of the jelly, which does leave some doubt if she will take the spice ladies advice. I bought a shirt with the Grenada colors and flag on it so I will be ready for Independence Day on Monday. A young man asked us to come for a drink at his bar, just a small stall in the market. It was a little early for me so I told him we would be back on Monday. He looked at me funny and said Monday is a holiday. I tried to explain to him that bars don’t close for holidays, but I’m afraid my words fell on deaf ears. We took the bus back to the hotel and went down the beach to watch the first day of the Work Boat Regatta. Most of the boats are handmade from plywood and the spars vary from full aluminum to full bamboo, with all combinations between. They start the race with the boats just in the water and when the whistle blows the crews push them into the surf and hop aboard as they jockey for position. Some of the boats are equipped with wooden centerboards, but none of them have any ballast. They are kept upright, most of the time, by the crew leaning out over the side while holding onto a line that runs to the top of the mast. Quite a few capsize and are then towed back to shore and dragged by hand up onto the beach. Some of the bamboo spars were not up to the task and sails could sometimes be seen flopping over like linen on the clothes line.
There were many stalls selling food and drink. I got an order of oil-down, the national dish of Grenada. It is a stew of salt fish, chicken, pigs tails, yams, provisions, figs, callaloo and just about everything else that grows on the island. Kim was going to have a burger, until she found out it was a flying fish burger so she just had some of my lunch. We stayed at the beach all day, Kim out in the full sun; and me splitting my time between swimming, walking on the beach and seeking out shade. After returning to the hotel for showers we took the bus to St. Georges and had dinner at the Creole Shack. I had ox tails with rice, pumpkin and steamed veg, Kim had baked chicken, macaroni pie, rice and garden salad with two soft drinks the bill came to $45.50 EC. After dinner we grabbed a bus and stopped at the Port Louis Marina for a drink, hoping to run into some friends of ours. They weren’t there but we did meet and interesting fellow, Fred from New Jersey. He is retired and is living on his sailboat with his cat Lucy. We then got another bus (the bus system in Grenada is fantastic) and went back to the hotel where I had a nightcap of rum as we looked at the stars and listened to the surf crash against the beach. Ahh life is good!
