Hello Family & Friends from Barbados, measuring 170 sq. miles, an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, a British colony for over 300 years, gaining independence in the 1960’s and then severing all ties with Britain in late 2021. This dispatch has been cobbled from a handwritten journal recounting travels of 11 years ago in March of 2010. The idea of sharing our adventures with friends and family through email “Dispatches” began a couple of years later with a 42 day adventure in SE Asia and on the island of Borneo.
Early in 2010, our friend Pam asked if we would be interested in joining her in March to celebrate her father Bob’s 90th birthday aboard the Royal Caribbean’s 5-masted sailing vessel, the Royal Clipper. Maggie and I had both graduated from the workforce a few years before and were pursuing our vision of adventurous international travel, so we jumped on this request and immediately said “YES”! We had previously shared time with Pam and Bob, and were honored to recognize this milestone with them. We would also be joined by Mary, Pam’s close friend, whom we had previously met.
We used this opportunity to first fly to visit our son Jordan and his wife Erika on Ponte Vedra Beach in Jacksonville, Florida. While the kids were at their jobs, we entertained their dog, Rio, pulling him in a cart trailing one of our bicycles to the beach where we let him cut loose. During our short stay, we all took the Mayport ferry to Amelia Island after dining at an intercoastal fish house which reminded us of Papa Joe’s in Apalachicola, sporting a funky vibe and great character. Best meal memory of that day, a chocolate chip bread pudding!
Up at 3:45 AM on the day of our departure, to make our 6:30 AM flight to Miami, and on to Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados. Late afternoon found us at our hotel, Peach and Quiet (P & Q), for our 5 night stay in a cubby hole named “Guava”. This dispatch being written 11 years later, I discovered P & Q is no more. We had dinner there around 7:30, a Bajan (a self-referential term locals use) buffet, where we dined on Marlin and lamb. At dusk, one of the locals, Leo, set up his telescope, enthralling all of us, taking turns gazing at Mars, Saturn and a myriad of stars at Latitude 13 North. We were even able to view the Southern Cross.
We began our first full day, after our fruit and pastry breakfast, walking through the neighborhood to the entrance of Long Beach for a shoreline walk that fellow travelers, Ron & Teresa, had highly recommended at dinner the night before. As we were on the windward side of Barbados, we were entertained by the many kite surfers and pounding surf. It turned out to be a 2 hour round trip saunter, the mid-morning heat being mitigated somewhat by the strong winds. We came back via the rocky seawall path to P & Q, entering the naturally formed and rock protected pool to cool off. Ron & Teresa joined us on a 3 mile mini-bus ride to Oistins to partake of more Bajan cooking. It is set in a down-home, funky area, where we settled on Mo’s, billowing smoke from all the grilling. Dining consisted of Mahi Mahi & Flying Fish (the national dish), complemented by rice, beans, plantain, macaroni, beers (Carib & Banks) and white wine. A fine time was had by all.
Waking up the next day, March 3, I realized it was the 6 month anniversary of my open heart surgery and was thankful that I was still around to take in experiences such as this and the adventures, cultures and historical exposures awaiting us over the years ahead. We deeply inhaled the fresh, breezy sea winds, our sunglasses coated with salt, and gazed out at the white-capped waves and the kite surfers. Taking a mini-bus again, we shared a 10 mile ride into Bridgetown with locals, and meandered around the waterfront, finding the Cheapside Market, Waterfront Café and other landmarks. We eventually hailed a taxi to get to the Mount Gay rum distillery where we sniffed 5 & 10 year old aged rum and watched a short film on the process, from the growing of the sugar cane to the bottling of the rum. We walked back to the heart of Bridgetown to avoid paying 20 BDS (the equivalent of $10 USD) for a 1 kilometer taxi ride! Returning to P & Q, we were jammed together with 17 others in a mini-bus, including a madcap driver, already disorienting to us as they drive on the left side of the road! Ended the night at P & Q, eating King Fish, Creole-style, dancing to a duo called “Two Guitars” on the concrete dance floor, topping it off with a swim in P & Q’s own pool.
We continued exploring the southwest portion of the island by mini-bus as we went to the Garrison District to visit the Barbados National Museum, with its flora and fauna exhibits, photos of Barbados’ past, various artifacts and the history of the African slave trade migration, topped off by an amazing exhibition of artistically arranged seashells. Later we wandered the backstreets, taking what we thought would be a shortcut and came to a dead end, blocked by a concrete wall. Noticing a ladder tilted against it, Maggie climbed up and over, successfully landing, finding that there was a ladder on the other side as well! Where there’s a will there’s a way. Years later in our international travels we came to name this activity, “Deambulando”, Spanish for wandering. On our walk we passed by the Garrison horse race track, advertising the March 6 Sandy Lane Gold Cup race and thought it might be fun to check out.
The next day found us up at 6 AM, with a beautiful sunrise, walking the entire Long Beach with Ron and Teresa for a 4 mile round trip, barefoot in the gritty sand, followed by lazing around P & Q’s pool with them, drinking strong rum punches, enjoying our last day at P & Q. We met up at Mo’s Grill in Oistins, with Pam & Co. where a roving band was delighting everyone on this wild Friday night. We shared a platter of Flying Fish, Red Snapper, Mahi Mahi and Marlin with attendant veggies, beans, plantains & beer. Peeling off from our mates until the next day when we all would board the vessel, we took our last nighttime fully-packed and riotously loud music blaring, scary driver, mini-bus ride…a real cultural phenomenon! We found Ron and Teresa at Buffy’s Bar around 9:30, along with 6 other patrons, one a recently retired USPS American. Interesting discovery there, that you cannot purchase a poured drink at these local neighborhood bars; one has to buy a small bottle and pour their own!
Leaving P & Q the next morning, we added some more memories of Barbados, taking a taxi with “Ollie” to the Hilton to hook up with our ship companions. He took the seaside rural route, indicating points of interest, sharing basic island history, telling us he was born and raised in the Parish of St. Thomas. At the hotel, we parked our bags with the concierge, and the 5 of us took a taxi into Bridgetown, where we walked around for a couple of hours to the Cheapside Market again, Pelican Village Craft Centre and Temple Yard (a very hip place), all located along Broad Street. The three of them returned to their hotel, while Maggie and I went to check out the Sandy Lane Gold cup, watching the Kentucky Derby-like goings on, the fancy attire, the pageantry, the stunning horses and all the folks hanging around outside the race track itself. We finally boarded our vessel around 5:30, desperately trying to stay up for the planned 10 PM “under way” ceremony with the raising of all 42 sails, which was delayed due to late-arriving passengers flying in from Europe. I went to bed (as did Bob), while Maggie, Mary and Pam stayed up long enough to see the eventual departure at 11:30 PM. We said our silent good-byes to Barbados the next morning, awaiting the layout of the plans for the remaining islands on this high seas adventure. From Barbados, we would motor SW to the island of Grenada, then NE to Martinique, Bequia, St. Vincent, & lastly, St. Lucia before turning SE back to Barbados to fly home.
Bon Voyage, Stan & Maggie