This is a brief description of our (my wife and I) short trip to St. Vincent in June. St. Vincent is largely undiscovered by tourism, which made it interesting. We have been to quite a few of the islands, and were on our way to Grenada, which we know fairly well, and wanted to compare. It is largely agricultural, and has various tours, hikes, etc. available, although we did not intend to take any of them. It is a focus for sailing in the Grenadines, and has just off-shore Young Island, a rather up-scale resort. The trip there from New York could have been better. After boarding our AA flight to Barbados on time, we were told to deplane because of "cleaning and security concerns" and wound up almost 2 hours late, consequently missing our connection to St. Vincent. After some confusion over what airline that they were going to put us on, we were finally booked on an 8 pm LIAT flight, only to be told in the departure lounge that the LIAT flight was overbooked and we were switched to an 8:30 Caribbean Star flight that was running late. Actually, the AA staff at Barbados was helpful. We finally got to our hotel near 10:00; fortunately the restaurant was still open and we had a very nice meal.<br><br>We stayed at the Mariner's hotel, chosen partly because of a recommendation on this board, and were very pleased. Our room overlooked the pool on one side and Young Island on another, with a balcony built around two sides. It had a shower but no bath, and adequate storage space but a bit light on the hangers. Clean, quiet, comfortable and well taken care of, with pleasant staff. It is on the water, but with only a vestigial beach. A nice touch is loaner rain umbrellas, which came in handy. It is located on the south coast in an area called Villa, less than 10 minutes from the airport and another 10 from the main town, Kingstown. This is the most built up part of the island; the rest is very mountainous and agricultural.<br><br>We rented a car from Ben's Auto, only because this was one of the few car rental companies I could find on the web and with a close-by location. We wanted to pick the car up at the airport, but our flight rearrangements prevented this, so we got it next morning. When I got to the office (a private house with cars in the yard), Ben said he does not accept American Express cards. My wife had a Visa at the hotel, but rather than going back for it I was told to just take the car and pay up later. We stopped in to pay the day before we left, and since we had to be at the airport at 6 AM, just left the car in the airport lot with the keys in the ashtray. This is one of the reasons to like the undeveloped Caribbean. The cost was $50 per day for a car in pretty reasonable condition, which seems to be normal for this part of the Caribbean. Driving is on the left, and many cars are right hand drive, so anyone planning to drive here needs to be aware of this. Main roads are in decent condition but fairly narrow; secondary roads are very narrow. There are, of course, no directional signs, but people are happy to give directions. Traffic is light except near Kingstown in rush hours. Other drivers tend to be very polite, but the minibus drivers go very fast. The road up the East (windward) coast is very scenic, especially if you go inland to the Mesopotamia valley, a pretty farming area with crops grown on steep, terraced hillsides. The coast itself is rugged with large waves in spots. The West coast is also scenic but not as interesting; however, the road here is new and quite good. Also, it provides access to more useable beaches.<br><br>Kingstown is larger than I had expected, and very busy. Although it has a number of old buildings it is not especially attractive compared to many other Caribbean towns such as St. George's in Grenada. Streets are only mildly confusing to drive, but parking is next to impossible. Nearby points of interest are Fort Charlotte, nice view and some interesting paintings relating to the slave era. It is being restored to some extent, using concrete instead of stonework. The botanical gardens, oldest in the Caribbean, are worth a visit. You will be approached by a guide, who will expect $30-$40 EC. If ours (Andy) was typical, they are knowledgeable and give an informative tour. Nearby is the Dr. Cecil Cyrus museum, a collection of artifacts, mainly medical but some cultural, put together by a long-time physician on the island. Interesting, but best not visited before lunch.<br><br>We had several meals including all breakfasts and some lunches at the hotel restaurant, now called the French Veranda and run by a couple who used to have the French Restaurant on the island. The owners are charming. A reasonable selection on the menu, with enough of a local flair to be interesting. Also had dinner at the restaurant at the Sunset Shores Hotel; smaller menu, but very good local ingredients. This hotel also seemed very nice. Another dinner spot was the Lime 'n Pub, likewise good with an extensive menu and large portions. These, and several others, are all quite near to one another. We found service in them all to be friendly and efficient by Caribbean standards. Prices of typical dinner main courses were in the $40-60 EC range, which for the quality, service, etc. we felt was reasonable, although perhaps a bit expensive by US standards. We also had lunch once in Kingstown, at the Bounty - a very local cafeteria-style place with typical St Vincent food.<br><br>At this time of year, St. Vincent is entering the rainy season. We had one day with heavy cloud and on-and-off rain, although not enough to prevent our exploring; several showers on another day. Prior to this things had been quite dry. Although St. Vincent was green, Barbados was as brown as any island down there that we have seen. We did not encounter any mosquitos.<br><br>You can get a free ferry to Young Island on demand from the dock near our hotel, so we went over to experience their $3.00 dollar beers. Visitors can use the beach, which would be the main reason to go over, although the floating bar might be fun.<br><br>The St. Vincent airport is small. Carry-on luggage is given a cursory hand search (no x-ray) and there is a $35 EC departure tax. The small departure lounge is comfortably air conditioned.<br><br>All-in-all a satisfactory time. We saw enough to encourage us to return, probably adding the nearby island of Bequia, which several people on St. Vincent encouraged us to visit. People were friendly and helpful, which seems to be the rule on islands with limited tourist development.<br><br>I will post on Grenada when I have the time.