We checked out of the Mariner’s and headed over to Kingstown to catch the 11am ferry and buy some souvenirs first at the cruise ship terminal. It was market day, so there was a nice little traffic jam heading towards Kingstown. Most of the shop signs stated they opened at 9am. You know what that means on the islands. Only 4 of the shops slowly opened-one at 9am and others later. This left little selection for souvenirs. We bought two t-shirts and boarded the ferry. The ride over to Bequia on the Admiral (not sure which one-it was the larger of the two) was a bit rough. We saw lots of flying fish. The ferry ride $12 for the three of us, was certainly cheaper than the $295 we were quoted to fly. They did not charge our 10 year old for the trip. What a beautiful sight entering Admirality Bay. It was a bit cloudy, but the scenery was so much different than St. Vincent. We had no problem getting a cab and we were off to check into Kingsville Apartments. I had corresponded with Kay King, the owner for the past 6 months. I was unsure of whether or not we would really like the apartment. I had checked out their website, and it looked fine, but that is not always the case. Upon arrival, we were shown our apartment and I was so pleased. I did not care that we arrived about 1pm, in the heat of the day and that the apartment was scorching. I was so impressed with the grounds, the furnishings and overall appearance of the apartment, that I forgot about the heat. My boyfriend on the other hand was fuming. There were no smiles, he had arrived in hell, or so he thought. The apartment had window a/c units in each bedroom. There were plenty of windows and sliding glass doors to get the air circulating. The living area and bedrooms also had ceiling fans. It did not cool things off our first night. The other problem, they ask that you not use the a/c while you are out and to keep the bedroom doors shut while a/c is in use. I would highly recommend Kingsville and would stay there again if ever on Bequia. It certainly was well worth the rate of $620 a week for a 2 bedroom apartment. The two bedroom had a large living area/dining kitchen combo with brand new condition wicker furnishings (sofa, loveseat, chair, ottoman and coffee table), 19 “ color tv with satellite, large L-shaped Corian countertop with double sink, stove, microwave and refrigerator. Resin round table and four chairs for dining. Outdoor patio furniture with lushly landscaped grounds. Bathroom was pretty large with blowdryer-tub/shower combo.
One bedroom with queen bed and other with two twin beds. Outdoor shower to get rid of beach sand, clothesline to hang wet clothes and foot bath at front door. No phone in room, but one at the office that was in a locked box, which we were given key -to use after office hours.
After quickly getting situated we changed into swim suits and went to Lower Bay for lunch and beach. Had heard lots about DeReef, so decided to head there. Very small menu, slow service and edible food. Would not return there again to eat. From this moment on, we had a follower. A little dog we named Buddy followed us back to Kingsville and hung out with us for most of our stay. We hung out on the beach for about 2 hours. The water was a bit cool, a few sprinkles and the wind started to pick up making small waves. We decided to head back to our hot apartment to shower and unpack. The first shower had great water pressure and was hot. After showering, I headed to the phone box to phone for a dinner cab. I tried about 6 numbers before I got someone to answer. Roland (Fummy) picked us up and would be our cab driver for the rest of the trip. We had him drop us off at the Belmont Walkway and he gave us his card to call him when we were ready to return. We looked at a few menus and confirmed our Sunday boat trip at the Frangipani aboard the Pelangi to Mustique. We went to the Whaleboner and asked to see a menu. The place was empty with the exception of a woman eating a meal at one of the tables. She acted as if we were bothering her and she said the choices were conch/fish/chicken. She was not very welcoming, so we thanked her and walked on. That made up my mind that I would not give the Whaleboner my business. After that night, we never saw anyone there. Perhaps it was the off season for them--but there were no crowds, never anyone there. We ended up going to Mac’s and were very pleased with the service and prices. I got conch fritters with a salad (extremely greasy with tempura batter again), daughter got cheese pizza which she liked and he got a curried chicken special that was very good. We also got a double frosted brownie, loaf of white bread and two beverages to go for the price of $67 including tip. The atmosphere was nice, very good service, attentive staff and great prices.
Our first full day on Bequia and it rained all day. We had our cab driver pick us up to go into town to buy some groceries and bought a few souvenirs My daughter and I got excited around 1pm when it looked like the skies were clearing and the sun made a very brief appearance. We changed into our bathing suits and looked out the window and the wind was bringing more rain our way. We walked up to Dawn’s Creole and Coco’s to see the menus there. There was not anything impressive on either of the menus. The walk was a bit steep to both of them, but great views from Coco’s. Our little dog friend followed us to Coco’s. We found out that he was a she and had a name, Ebony. We headed back to the apartment and watched tv. For dinner, we took a cab once again to the walkway and chose the Gingerbread. Everywhere for dinner was dead. We were the first people at the Gingerbread. The service was good. No basket of bread on the table or water glasses filled here. Every place on St. Vincent served a bread basket and water. We ordered the shrimp sautéed in garlic and wine sauce with pasta-the pasta arrived cold and had to be sent back to be reheated., curried shrimp which was good and chicken in a chili sweet sauce which was okay. We also ordered three desserts, one soda, one Pina Colada and 2 Hairouns for a total with tip of $97. The food here was okay, atmosphere lacking (no music) and service was good. Decided we would not return here either.
