Saturday December 29

I’m just going to skip through the day’s activities and get right to the best part. Oh wait, 2 things first. One, we upgraded our moke to a TOT (Tricked-Out Truck – that’s an Erin term, not a local term). I was very sad to have hit the end of the road with the moke but we need a bigger vehicle for the rest of the trip. We’ve now got a great sound system, VERY tinted windows and really hip windshield wipers, in addition to lots of other perks. Its actually harder to drive on these roads than the moke, but I must say I feel pretty darn cool and kind of hip-hop-ish….

Two, I did finally go scuba diving today and there are a few things I wanted to mention about that. I have a new idea for a hand signal: “I’m bored”. Not sure what the proposed signal would be but one is needed. I’m not implying that the diving here isn’t good, it was great, I saw lots of great stuff, but I’m one of those divers who only needs 30 minutes – I like to end everything on a good note. If you dive for 50 minutes, it just gets kind of old and the other divers who sometimes flail their arms, blow bubbles like crazy and kick you in the head get really annoying. Plus I was freezing my butt off. I think that’s where the wetsuit would come in handy as opposed to a t-shirt.

Anyhow, we finished off the evening with an exceptional dinner at Fernando’s Hideaway. And the word “Hideaway” is there for a reason. It’s a little local gem and the homemade food and the atmosphere provided by the luminaries made out of flour bags and the hanging lanterns were both outstanding. After dinner we met Roger (the bartender from the Frangi) at the Gingerbread for a drink (below) and headed home as soon as it started to rain.

Rain is a bit of a problem when you have to drive up steep inclines, especially unpaved ones. We quickly learned this lesson after passing through the Mount Pleasant Christmas Arches and heading up the road to The Compound (my new name for our place). Suddenly the wheels on the TOT started to spin and the TOT turned a little bit sidways. I should also mention that many of the roads here are edged by very steep gutters, so if you get stuck in one, its to the body shop you go. I put the TOT in neutral with the brake on and we began to skid backwards down the hill. Did I mention it is pitch dark? In a panic, we finally got the TOT to stop, but found ourselves in a bit of a predicament. There seemed to be a tree in the car. Not actually the whole tree, but just part of one that came in through my window. At this point we decided to get out and scope out the situation. Of course we didn’t have a flashlight so we used the teeny LCD screen of the old camera that Noel had let us borrow to see where the wheels of the car were and to determine if we could get out and to make sure there were no bulls around. As we were looking, another car came up the road and we gave the universal signal for “We need help”. The driver slowed and rolled down her window and kindly asked “Is there enough room for me to get by?”. Huh? She was clearly a tourist and no one had yet told her that this is the friendliest island on earth. She needs to learn.

We discovered how to put the TOT in 4WD and made it out of our predicament while relieved but laughing hysterically. I know it probably doesn’t seem that funny but trust me, it really was………………….

Friday December 28

Moving Day

Our time in Spring has come to an end, but not a day too soon. At the beginning of my adventures, I didn’t mind the 15 minute drive every time I wanted to go somewhere and loved the scenery on the way, but now that we are preparing for more guests we need to maximize our play time and be closer to the “action” (that word is relative here!). Plus I was wanting some privacy, as I found that renting a place that is actually an apartment attached to where the owners live is not always as charming as one would hope. It just feels funny to know that someone is always there. That, combined with the constant voices in my head telling me never to go home, never quite made me feel like I was all alone here. Below is a picture of Liz and I before Jill and I packed up the moke with our loads of luggage to head to Mount Pleasant.

We were told that we could arrive at the new villa any time after 10 a.m., so we drove up promptly at 10:10, extremely pleased to find that our place is protected by a private electric gate which will hopefully deter the local paparazzi that has been following us around :) The owners Patriece and Ashleigh were here to greet us, provided a wonderful selection of fresh fruit and some homemade Bequia cake, and showed us around the property. The only word that continues to come to my mind to describe this place and this setting is spectacular. View from the patio on this, another GORGEOUS day, is below.

Exhausted from our big move, Jill and I decided to treat ourselves to another tuna melt sandwich at Da Reef. One thing that I learned quickly here but I think I previously failed to mention is that a “menu” at a restaurant is more of a “guideline” – it gives you an idea of what could possibly be available if all of the stars aligned for the owner that morning. Well apparently the tuna stars did not align this morning because they had actually inserted a new page in the menu that didn’t even have tuna on it. Only cheese or ham sandwiches. So, so, so disappointing. Luckily Lower Bay has lots of good beach bars so we just walked 100 feet over to Dawn’s Creole Café and I settled for chicken salad, Jill just had fries because she had her heart set on a tuna melt. We will definitely have to return to see if it makes it back on the menu. At Dawn’s we ran into our friend Emmett who entertained us for a bit. He informed us about the local thief, a charming young man who we saw on the beach scouting out some potential targets (at least that’s the story we are using to keep things interesting). See, that gate does come in handy!

After another stressful day at the beach, I was craving the chicken BLT from Salty Dog. We also needed to stop by there to check on our rum punch order, which I should have listed as the number one priority of the day. As usual, Andre and everyone there greeted us with a smile and great service. We left with our tummies full and a nice big bottle of punch. How can it get better than this?!

Thursday December 27

I have been here for almost 2 weeks now and had yet to check out what is supposed to be the nicest beach on the island, Princess Margaret Beach. The road down to the beach is not the easiest road to navigate in a moke so we hopped a water taxi from the dock in front of the Gingerbread. Competition for water taxi passengers here is fierce, as it is for regular taxis. Everywhere you walk, if you look like you want to go somewhere other than where you are, the drivers all ask “taxi?”. As for the water taxis though, I wasn’t sure if its like in Chicago and you just raise your arm, and it turns out that works just fine. The drivers want to make the most of their time and keep stopping along the way to pick up other people, but lucky for us the woman on the boat with us told him to stop stopping. It was kind of funny.

Princess Margaret is quite nice, it has a different feel from Lower Bay thanks to the new restaurant/bar/spa called Jack’s. While it creates a beautiful setting, my opinion is that it doesn’t fit in with the culture of the rest of the island. Too L.A./South Beach. And it’s the only place to eat/drink on the beach, unlike Lower Bay where you have lots of choices. I do like, however, that they have quite the impressive spa menu. Everything from massages and facials to waxing and an eyebrow “tidy”, and all at very reasonable prices. While I was tempted to get the 90-minute hot stone massage, I just don’t feel like its possible for me to be any more relaxed. I might end up being a zombie if I treated myself to a relaxing spa treatment, but I may have to suck it up and give it a shot before I go….

After the beach, we jumped on the Dive Bequia boat and went out for a snorkel. There was only one paying diver and 5 stowaways: Jill, me and 3 adorable little girls ages 9 and 10. They had a ball exploring while Jill and I snorkeled and the diver and the dive master dove a wreck. I haven’t had the urge to dive here yet because I am just too lazy to get all geared up, but I think I need to add it to the agenda.

Jill and I had a lovely dinner at Mac’s, it was packed. We ran into John and Sue whom we had met at Christmas dinner, they were setting sail for charter the next morning. I had forgotten already that Thursday nights are the big night at the Frangi for the Thursday night Jump Up. Many people eat there or somewhere close by and then hang out and enjoy the steel drum band. We stopped by for just a bit, then headed home to get some rest in anticipation for our big moving day tomorrow!

Wednesday December 26

** note: pics are now posted from previous days!! **
Paul and Kevin - going diving Saturday :)

Luggage Day

Via the latest technology available on the island (Jill’s cell phone), we received word early in the day that Jill’s luggage had been transferred from Barbados to Bequia and was waiting at the airport. We had committed to be at Da Reef at noon for beach day fun and thought that we had plenty of time to get to the airport and back and then go to the beach by noon. We hopped in the moke and headed to the other end of the island to the airport and were greeted by the same friendly crew from the last time….. Sitting on the sidewalk outside the airport (mind you, there is no wall to the airport, its just an open area the size of my house) were our friends the immigration officer, the customs officer and the security guard/poet/singer. No one at the airline counters. Jill approached the 3 people and explained she was there to get her luggage and the immigration officer told her “Uh, you’ll need to talk to the customs officer”. Even though the customs officer was sitting right next to him, she repeated her story to him and he said “Uh, the airline people will be ‘back in a moment’, you need to wait”. OK, what to you think the over/under is on how long a “moment” is in Bequia? I decided on 15 minutes. The security guard/poet/singer helped us pass those 15 minutes by singing to us and reading poems. Turns out she had written a new Christmas song that she would sing later that night under the almond tree for the all-church Christmas Carol event. Side note: The almond tree is the central meeting place on the island. Come here and you will understand…

15 minutes passed….. no airline people. But then our new friend told us that they were just in the house “over there with the green roof” (imagine me pointing to the house across the hill) and that perhaps they were having lunch. She wanted to call them for us but was directed otherwise by the airport mafia. After many hand signals, covert actions and maybe a phone call, we saw some action occur on the porch of the house with the green roof and shortly thereafter the phone at the airport rang. Jill was then waved over by the most serious wave by a customs officer I have ever seen, she was provided with her luggage, and we were free to go. We both cheered and ran the hell out of there.

We did eventually make it to Da Reef, only less then an hour late. It was another gorgeous day at the beach but we grabbed seats at the bar rather then sitting on the beach. We enjoyed the best tuna melt sandwiches that have ever been made on this earth. Spectacular. Will definitely be back for those. Other than hanging out at the beach, that was kind of it for the day, no crazy night out. We were too exhausted from the airport stress.

Tuesday December 25

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

From Santa, Gem and Pepper

day of rest - no blog today : )

Christmas Post Script:

OK there are a couple of things that just couldn’t go unsaid from today, as much as I wanted to declare it a no blog day. First of all, Liz and Greg we gracious enough to have invited us to a traditional Christmas dinner at their place (upstairs), as well as the 6 guests who were staying up the road at Palm Lodge. In addition to us, 8 of their friends joined us and we really hit it off with John and Sue, who own a sailboat that they charter for trips in the Caribbean. Their boat is called the Makayabella and Jill and I have decided that the next time we are ready for a Caribbean vacation we are gathering up our friends and sailing with John and Sue. I’m pretty sure that after this trip my friends will finally believe me that vacationing with Erin can never be dull so get your deposits in now for the sailing trip : ) After dinner, Jill and I shared a cab with John and Sue down to the harbor so we could pick up our repaired go kart that had been parked there since last night. This was actually the first time I rode in a taxi here the way it was meant to be ridden in (pardon my grammar….) – the taxis here are pickup trucks with benches in the back and the passengers sit in the open air in the back. Quite comfy, I must say, in addition to being quite scenic.

Luckily, the moke started up just fine, so we decided to celebrate by walking down the beach to the Frangi to check out the scene. The moment we arrived, we saw our new friend that we had made the night before, lets just call him “The German”. We noticed he was wearing the exact same clothes from the night before, but then again, Jill kind of was too. The major difference, however, was that Jill had showered. Clearly The German did not. The German was staying at a place called the Lower Bay Guest House for a whopping $26/ night, which means there was a community bathroom. Apparently it must have been out of water. But isn’t the ocean only 20 feet away? Anyhow, after 30 minutes of Jill and I talking to each other and him standing between us, I finally discovered (thanks to Noel’s keen observation) that The German was committing the worst Fashion Don’t in the book. Green Capri pants with black socks and Doc Martens. Noel discreetly mentioned it to me and just like Elle Woods I shrieked and said “Oh my gosh! You are committing a major Fashion Don’t” and pointed to his feet. It didn’t go over well. He explained to me why those were the only shoes he owned and that all Germans only wear those shoes, while I argued that lace-up shoes on a beach were totally impractical. He left shortly thereafter, and we shall forever hereafter refer to him as “The Stinky German”. Hope he’s not reading this, he really was a decent guy other than the fashion and soap challenges.

Monday December 24

JILL’S ARRIVAL DAY!

My goal today was to keep myself occupied until 2:30 when it was time to pick up Jill from the airport. Doesn’t seem like a difficult task but after a week and a half by yourself time starts to go by a little slowly. I gave De Bistro another chance for breakfast and splurged on the bacon omelette. I was very pleased to find that I actually received a bacon omelet! I then headed to the famous Doris’ Fresh Food to get some snacks and was very impressed with her selection – I picked up the fixings for my favorite snack/meal: cheese, crackers and summer sausage. I’m all set.

After spending lots of time just walking around and hanging out, it was finally time to head to the airport, which is clear on the other side of the island. I arrived 20 minutes before her arrival time and parked myself in the waiting area. I was the only person there who didn’t work there, and all the people who worked there hung out together chit chatting. This was the first time I felt like an outsider since I have been here and I didn’t like it. In any event, I finally approached the SVG counter after being there for 45 minutes to ask about the flight. The group that was hanging out in the office (which included a toddler, by the way) looked at me funny and someone came out to see if I had a problem. I asked about the direct flight from Barbados and the woman looked at me like I was a nut and told me there was no such thing, but that there was a plane in the Grenadines somewhere that will eventually arrive. I tried to explain that was impossible and took out the map of the flight routes, pointing to the direct flight from Barbados and she laughed at me and said “oh, no, that’s not right, there is no such thing”. I sat down in frustration and just decided to wait. After 30 more minutes I asked again if they knew where the plane was but apparently the idea of knowing where their planes are is a strange one. I decided to take a drive out of boredom and come back in a bit, keeping my eye out for any planes.

As I drove up the road, I saw my friend Don MacDowell, he and Danette had just arrived back from Martinique about an hour earlier. They welcomed me into their home to use the phone and try to figure out where Jill might be, and as we were enjoying a laugh about my airport experience (as well as their experience that day, which resulted in them having to charter their own plane to get back from Martinique), Don saw a plane fly out of the airport. Danette got on the phone and found out that Jill had finally arrived, but there was some major confusion going on because I never gave Jill any information about where she was staying in Bequia. Even more confused, I rushed back to the airport and was waved over by the immigration officer. Apparently Jill was initally denied immigration because she didn’t have a location here on the island, and I was scolded for the second time in 2 weeks by an immigration officer for not having printouts of all of our plans. Are you kidding me? I could have told them we were staying on the Moon and it would have been fine, they just need something to write down. They don’t have addresses here anyway, I don’t understand how the name of a town or the made up name of a villa will help. Whatever. She then spent some more time in customs because she was behind someone who apparently was bringing in too many cigarettes. But once it was her turn, she had no problem since she had no luggage. Lost by American Airlines before she even made it to Barbados. Great.

Turns out Jill had a nice tour of the Grenadines, having stopped in Union, Canouan and Mustique to pick up and drop off passengers and to get gas. Sounds like the plane is more like the bus, and if you stay on long enough you will eventually get to your destination. Interesting.

We had to go to town to get her a bathing suit and on our way back up the road to Spring in our “glorified go-kart” as Jill calls it, we saw someone standing in the middle of the road. I explained to her that lots of people walk everywhere here and she said “no, that’s not a person”. It was dark, but I did see the 2 eyes glowing and staring at us, and as we approached we realized that it was a bull. Yes, a bull. Standing smack in the middle of the road staring right at us. Thankfully we aren’t driving a red moke. I’m not sure why but I slowed down to pass it and was reminded by Jill that we are in a go-kart and that we needed to get the hell out of there. It never moved and we had a good laugh.

We had a great Christmas Eve Dinner at the Frangi and as usual enjoyed the company of our new island friends at the bar after dinner. When it was time to head home, the moke woudn’t start. Given the luck of the day, we just decided to leave it there and get a ride home. I had forgotten my flashlight and I didn’t want to be telling the story the next day about how the car died as we were going up a hill and it fell off of the bluff, then we were attacked by a bull in the pitch dark. Better to be safe than sorry :)

Sunday December 23

Another GORGEOUS day today! If this keeps up my tanorexia is going to require professional help. After another relaxing morning at the pool I headed to Lower Bay, and today it really WAS the place to be. The key is to go on Sunday, now I know that. There were lots of families and kids playing on the beach and Da Reef was the center of the universe. I parked myself at the bar and looked around and saw pretty much everyone I have met on the island in the past week in one place. I chatted it up with Noel and some of his buddies and found out that Sondra left the island today and did make mention of the fact that I may have stood her up at the gym. Oh well, she isn’t the first person I ever stood up at the gym….. After a while I noticed my San Fran friends John and Paula sitting just a few seats down from me so we had a couple of drinks together. Too bad they are leaving tomorrow, I really had a good time with them.

Although I had originally intended to go home after the beach, another one of my new friends Emmett invited us to his place in Industry for pre-dinner drinks. I felt a little scummy in my bathing suit and yucky clothes but no one cares. It was quite the shindig out on his beautiful, huge patio, complete with my favorite h’ors d’oeuvres – oreos, pocpcorn and cheese and crackers. I was in heaven! And to top it off, all the kidlets were walking around having a great time serving it to us on trays. So cute. I met so many nice and very friendly people, most of whom I had run into at least once or twice before. I also learned, much to my surprise, that not just my friends back home are reading this blog!! I think I may have offended a couple of people with my comments about the furniture store and the furniture but I come from the land of Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel so I can’t help it. Hopefully I haven’t offended anyone else, and if I did just tell me and the next rum punch is on me :)

From there it was to the Crescent Beach Inn for the Full Moon BBQ Buffet. You would think by now I would stop being so impressed and amazed by the culture here but that’s not true. The band was playing, people were dancing and everyone in the place was having a great time. We ate at picnic tables on the beach under the full moon – my ticket was for the fish (you get a little paper ticket saying whether you get meat or fish) and it was another great meal. And I usually don’t even like fish. My favorite was the macaroni/potato bake thing. So very yummy, I could have eaten the whole pan of it.

Another great evening, totally unplanned. I really wish my camera wasn’t broken so I could share pictures ….

Saturday December 22

The weather was GORGEOUS today, absolutely perfect for doing nothing but lay by the pool. I had told Sondra last night that I would meet her at the gym this morning at 9 a.m. Who wants to take a guess at whether that happened?? My intentions were all good last night but this morning it was just too much effort. This was truly the laziest day I have had here thus far. I ventured out only once, which was for dinner at the Gingerbread. I’ve only had curry once before in my life and remembered that I actually liked it (very strange concept due the fact that I usually like bland and boring food) so I ordered the chicken curry. It was quite yummy! Highly recommend. I resisted at stopping at the Frangi for a drink on my way back and went home and watched my favorite movie – Legally Blonde. Elle Woods is my idol :)

Friday December 21

I think the weather is finally cooperating, it was another beautiful day today, even with the short, light rain that came through at about 4:00. Since I had such a rough day yesterday (ha ha), I decided that a leisurely morning by the pool and an afternoon at the beach would be perfect. I tried snorkeling in Lower Bay but the current was too much for a little weakling like me with no fins so I just settled for hanging out in the water enjoying the scenery. I brought my new digital waterproof camera with me in the water to take some pics and when I got back to the beach it was totally on the fritz. Waterproof schmaterproof. Another $300 camera down the drain. My last one got ruined in Bonaire in August because of water, but that one wasn’t actually supposed to get wet. You know what this means now? No pictures. I'll have to refer you to websites. Below are the 2 last pictures I took before the sad event.

This is where I am staying now - http://www.hwcn.org/~aq606/ -the first big picture is the view that I am looking at right now from the pool. As suspected, the picture does not do it justice.

Sorry for the digression. Back to the story. When I finally felt like I was going to pass out from lack of nutrition I headed across the road to Can’t Remember the Name for a late lunch and learned another strange food lesson. I ordered a turkey baguette (you all know how much I LOVE turkey sandwiches) and I think that here, turkey means O-S-C-A-R M-E-Y-E-R. It was a slab of bologna, I swear. Yuk. I swear I saw a turkey running around this island the other day, surely they exist here. Then it started to rain so I headed home. Well, I tried to head home. The moke wouldn’t turn over. Great, huh? Had that happened at home I would panic but here I just laughed. I asked the guys from CRTN to help me out and I caused quite the chain of events while we tried to get a hold of Raleigh and they searched for their car starter. This must happen often if they keep a car starter at the bar. Turns out there was just a loose battery connection and I was all set to go. I told the guy who helped me to keep an eye out for Jump In Taxi in case he came down to help and he said “Oh don’t worry! Raleigh is my good friend, I will tell him not to come” and got on the phone to call Raleigh’s brother to get the phone tree going. I continue to be amazed at how small of an island this is!

After coming home to clean up and catch some TV, I drove to my usual spot to grab some dinner and track down my friends from San Fran. As I was driving in, I saw them walking down the street with another woman who didn’t seem like someone they would be traveling with, turns out they had just met her on the street. Her name was Sondra and she just arrived a few hours earlier from Connecticut to go on a one- week charter through her timeshare trade. John and Paula were exhausted from a rough week of sailing so they went back to their room to rest and my new friend Sondra said she would join me for drinks and dinner. I wasn’t sure about her at first, she was quite bold and I thought she might play for the other team. When she touched my arm and said “you’ve got a great tan girlfriend!” I got really nervous but shortly after that she mentioned a man back home. Whew.

We were at the bar at the Frangi and saw the usual suspects. There are a lot of single retired men here and they are pretty f-ing funny (I’m trying to keep it clean). Any Anna Nicole Smith types out there might want to consider coming down here for a look-see. Noel and another nice gentleman entertained Sondra and I for a bit and introduced us to Sir James Mitchell, the owner of the Frangi and the former Prime Minister. The Frangi has been in his family for over 100 years, its quite the institution. When I told him I was from Chicago, he told me about the wedding he attended there recently of a local girl to one of the producers of Wicked. He told me their great love story and said that they want to make the love story into a musical. So 10 years from now when its out you can say you heard it here first. We then talked about the plans for the great fireworks display on New Year’s (called Old Year’s here) at midnight. Apparently Noel is in charge and is looking for volunteers to go out on the barge with him and light all the fireworks. I was tempted to volunteer all my guests but thought that may not go over very well. Although it would make for a good story.

Thursday December 20

Friendship Rose sailing trip to the Tobago Cays (“Keys” for those of you unfamiliar with island speak)

Funny how I can’t get my lazy ass to work before 9 a.m. but was able to be up and at ‘em at 6:30 this morning ready to head down to the dock to go sailing for the day…. I was even my unusual chipper self!

I was one of about 30 people on the boat and the crew and the guests were all quite friendly. I met a bankruptcy lawyer from Hawaii who was here buying land, contrary to the advice of all of his logical friends. Buying land here is kind of like opening a restaurant in NJ in Tony Soprano’s hood. Can’t trust anyone and if you hire someone who isn’t politically connected in St. Vincent you can get really screwed. The government requires an alien landholders permit which is basically like an FBI application. It is the unanimous opinion of the locals that Bequia is in its last days of being a sleepy, quaint and unknown paradise as they watch the government put uninhabited parcels of land up for sale at prices that only affluent foreigners can afford. Many blame the Firefly (http://www.fireflybequia.com/) for speeding up the process. The Firefly is one of only 2 hotels in Mustique, and it recently opened a hotel and restaurant here. It is not far from where I am staying and goes for around $600/night, while rooms at the world-famous (but rustic) Frangiapani start at $50/night (although you have to share a bathroom and may not always have water……………). So if any of you were thinking of buying a part of paradise, do it now. You can hire me to scout out the place for you :)

I slept on a cushion on the deck on the 3-hour sail down to the Cays, and when I woke up I was thrilled to see the beautiful turquoise water and white sand on the teeny little islands that make up the Cays. There isn’t much to do other then enjoy the beauty, swim and snorkel but that was just fine by me. We were served an incredible lunch with wine, followed (as usual) by too many rum punches which made for a very relaxing sail home. It was an uneventful day but I was exhausted and spent the evening on the couch and had a great night’s sleep – finally.

Wednesday December 19

Today was another good, although short, day due to the fact that I had to spend a few extra hours in bed sleeping off my hangover and the fact that I have to get up super early tomorrow to sail to the Tobago Cays. I had such a great time last night that when I got home I decided I needed to enjoy some pineapple surprise and a bag of pretzels while watching the exciting local news from New Jersey. My actions seemed relatively harmless but when I woke up this morning to find pretzels scattered about my villa I was convinced someone else must have been here. But I guess it could have been me. Luckily I didn’t leave out any pineapple surprise because otherwise my place may have been overrun by bugs while I slept.

I was getting ready to head out to have my only meal of the day at 2pm when Greg asked if I wanted him to take me to another villa that my sister could rent so we did that. It was much nicer than the first. This island is far from luxurious so linoleum floors, a boombox and Golden Girls – type furniture is considered nice. You come for the views and the serenity, this is not the place to come and be pampered. That’s Mustique, just a stone’s throw away.

I was craving a burger so I headed down to the Salty Dog. I felt pretty cool when I walked in and Andre said “Hey Erin!” and cleared a spot for me at the bar. People here are so friendly. And he remembered all the stuff I told him the last time I was there, unlike my memory of several of my conversations from last night. He said he was going to go to the party last night too but the weather deterred him. Instead of a burger, I opted for the flying fish sandwich, the local version of the Filet-O-Fish, and it was YUMMY! I finished off their pitcher of rum punch and convinced them to provide a supply for us when we move to the other villa. Its pays to know the bartender!

I met Andre’s brother and his family from Barbados, as well as another visitor who is here until March. He trains racehorses in France and this is the off-season. Can’t remember his name, but when I later saw him walking down Belmont Walkway, he remembered mine and yelled another (I am so cool) “Hey Erin!” as he walked by me and while enjoying an ice cream cone from the Gingerbread. It inspired me to get one too so I did, and sat at the beach eating some mango frozen yogurt. That’s when the sun finally came out, which is a good sign for tomorrow’s trip.

When I got back, I decided to learn yoga from Rodney Yee and practiced out on my private patio overlooking the lush gardens. I did pretty well, I must say, but Rodney’s speedo with a sock in it kind of creeps me out.

That’s it, a pretty boring but good day. I’m feeling very welcome and comfortable here, it really is a special place. Before I got here I kept reading that it was “special” but now I know what it means.

Tuesday December 18

Holy raining cats and dogs! The day started out just fine, I headed to town early to tour a villa that my sister is considering renting, to buy a fan and to have some breakfast. The villa was a disappointment, it’s a good thing I checked it out before they rented it. The girl who showed it to me offered to go with me to Courts to see if they had a fan. It’s a good thing she went with me because I never otherwise would have walked into that store thinking it was the right place. For those of you in Chicago, you know those furniture stores on Milwaukee Ave? Picture one of those, but primitive island style. I’m not sure if the bad taste is cultural or that it is inevitable because by the time anything makes it to this island it is outdated. Anyhow, we asked for a fan and thankfully they had one in the back room. 99EC (about $40). If it was 100 EC I could have gotten a free ham. I considered buying something else just because I love a bargain but decided against it.

I hear that the Bistro has good breakfast (I heard that about the Gingerbread too, remember?) so I tried it and ordered the French toast and some fresh passion fruit juice. When I ordered, the waitress responded with something that sounded like Charlie Brown’s teacher saying something so I just nodded and smiled. Apparently she was telling me that they were out of French toast because when my food came, it was a plate of 2 very large hash browns. I asked her what happened to the French toast and again I got the Charlie Brown teacher thing so I just ate it. But I was charged for the French toast. Is it possible that in Bequia “French Toast” means “Greasy Crusty Hash Brown”? Huh. I’ll order it somewhere else and report back.

Then the rain started. And it never stopped. I did nothing all day and headed to the MacDowell’s for the party in the evening. Thank god I asked Raleigh to drive me because I was somewhat overserved. Don’t let the fact that they serve Heineken in small bottles here trick you into thinking that you can drink more of them. When Raleigh picked me up to drive me home he said “If you smell me, I just want to let you know that I had a drink, I was just at the lighting ceremony. But its OK”. Hey, even so, better him driving than me.

The lighting ceremonies are a big deal here, the villages compete every year for the best Christmas display and last night the judges from St. Vincent were here to see all the displays. We drove through 3 of them and they were all very impressive. The locals take so much pride in it and work so hard for weeks to make it perfect. For those of you who are coming we will definitely have to check them out. One of the best ones is in Mount Pleasant where we are staying. Can’t wait for you guys to get here!

Monday December 17

Today was a good day, I learned and was reminded of a few important facts. Learned: (1) if you do not seal an envelope here before you mail it from the Grenadines, stamps are half price, (2) lots of people here are up and about before 9 a.m. and (3) Oprah is on at 5pm on channel 3.
Reminded of: (1) sunscreen only works where applied, (2) as painful as it might be, it is important to read the basic manual of very complex electronics, such as a camcorder, before actually trying to effectively use it and (3) mosquitoes LOVE me.

Today I turned over a new leaf and got out of bed at 8:30, determined to have a full day at the beach. For the first morning here, the sky was cloud-free so I was quite excited. I packed up and headed to the Gingerbread for what was supposed to be a “great” breakfast. If a mangled egg with mangled bacon and 2 slices of cucumber is a “great” breakfast on this island I’m in trouble AND I might actually be able to get a job as a cook here! I took a stroll to Port Elizabeth to mail my Christmas cards and get some cash and to my surprise actually ran into the retired couple I met on the ferry. I met their kids and grandkids as they headed off to Mustique for the day. Very nice people but very hard to understand with that crazy English accent.

I headed to Lower Bay, which is supposed to be a very popular beach, and found that I was one of 10 people who was in-the-know. Let’s keep that secret between us, I don’t want it to get too overcrowded. I enjoyed a very nice day there, taking frequent swims in the Carribean Sea to cool off, followed by exfoliating treatments as I tried to apply suntan lotion while covered with sand and salt. That’s when I gave up on the sunscreen.

Spent the rest of my day at my private pool laying in the pool lounger, then retired to the living room to learn the most important lesson of the day which is that I must be home at 5 to watch Oprah.

After a napper, I headed down to the Whaleboner (no immature laughing) for the Monday night BBQ and steel drum band. To my surprise, no one was there, so I dined at the Frangiapani instead, which is right next door. Too chicken to try any of the local fish dishes I stuck with the chicken dish, which was yummy, followed by some really rich key lime pie and a really awful glass of white wine. Since then I had a rum punch (20 parts rum, ½ part punch) and am now enjoying the reggae twist on pop music that is being played at the Whaleboner next door – the band finally showed up - and a pina colada. I’m sitting about 10 feet from the water with my feet in the sand on an Adirondack chair staring at the sailboats in the habor. Jealous yet?

Post Script: I thought I was done for the evening when I headed to the bar to pay my tab but then I ran into that couple from Florida – remember them? Don and Danette MacDowell. I type that so I don’t forget. Danette and I chatted it up for a while and she introduced me to some island characters, including Noel the Vikings fan and Roger the bartender. Those of you coming to see me will appreciate the latter of those two. Had lots of fun and Danette invited me to their party in Paget Farm tomorrow night for the christmas light festival thing. I predict tomorrow night’s story to be a good one.

Sunday, December 16

After having finished a fabulous breakfast on my private terrace consisting of some low-end carribean apple jacks (note that I didn’t splurge for the Cocoa Pebbles), yogurt and fresh, unbelievably good mango, Liz called and asked if I wanted them to take me for an island tour. Although I was dead set on finally heading to the beach, I decided to go in hopes that it would prevent another incident like Friday night. For those of you who don’t know how big Bequia is, here is a clue: we toured the entire island in 3 hours. And that included a stop at the store so I could pick up some rum and beer. I believe we covered all 20+ miles of main road on the island plus a whole lot of unpaved roads. The tour gave me some good ideas of places to go when my guests arrive but also unfortunately gave me a migraine headache. Rest of the day was spent on the couch watching football (nice snowstorm in Cleveland BTW), eating leftover lobster pizza and trying out a new recipe of pineapple surprise (MV girls know what that is!) – this time it is made with Guava/Pineapple juice. Love it. Then of course when it came time to go to bed I could NOT fall asleep, despite the choir of bug and bird humming noises and dogs barking that can be heard all over the island. Thankfully I am not near any roosters. I spent about an hour watching a firefly mating dance occur above my bed through my mosquito net. I’m not sure if I fell asleep before the dude firefly got his action or not but finally I dozed off.

Saturday

Saturday

I got quite a late start on Saturday but decided to head to Port Elizabeth to get some groceries and run some other errands since all the stores are closed on Sundays and this girl needs some snacks. I was a little surprised at 2 things: (1) a box of Cocoa Pebbles was 22 EC (about $10) and (2) milk comes in a box and is not refrigerated. I guess I heard about that crazy milk before but have never seen it in person. I can now check that off my lifetime to-do list. After stocking up on peanut butter, jelly, bread, ruffles and lots of fresh fruit, I gave myself another unintentional self-guided tour of the island and happened upon a very cute area called Mount Pleasant, which is where our next villa is located. I caught a glimpse of the villa up at the very top of the island and I must say the view from up there must be amazing. Can’t wait to see the sunrise and sunset from there given that it has a 360 degree view. Just thought I would rub it in for those of you who couldn’t make the trip J

Anyhow, the rest of Saturday was pretty hum-drum so I decided to nap, then head out for dinner. I parked by the Salty Dog and waved to my friend Andre then found the Frangiapani on my first try. I was so excited at my accomplishment that I quickly bellied up to the bar for an ice cold Carib as a hard-earned reward. The place was so darn cute with all the Christmas decorations yet it felt so wrong looking at them and listening to holiday music while on the beach. I’ll get over it I guess. I met a great couple (someone my age, finally) from San Fran, John and Paula, who are bareboating down the Grenadines. Given that the kitchen was already closed at the late hour of 8:15, we had to head elsewhere for dinner. We tried 2 other places and they were like “you better hurry, its getting late and the kitchen is closing!!” Are you kidding me?! We begged the staff at Mac’s to make us a lobster pizza, which they did, and we enjoyed some more Caribs and rum punch. They are returning to Bequia on Friday and we made a date for drinks. See, I already have a social life!

Friday Night

Friday night I ventured out for dinner, and Liz and Greg offered to lead the way since they were headed to Port Elizabeth for dinner anyway. The one problem with following someone when it is pitch black outside is that you don’t really pay attention to where you are going and focus only on following the car in front of you. I learned that lesson later….

We headed down to Port Elizabeth and I had dinner at the Salty Dog. I met a very interesting “retired” couple from England who bought land here many years ago while on a 3-year around-the-world sailing trip and have lived here for 10 years. Their now-teenage kids live here and they all spit their time between the home in Mount Pleasant, the 3 new villas they are building on the same land for the kids and their yacht. I really wanted to ask them what they did for a living but I refrained. I also befriended the Salty Dog owner, Andre, who gave me lots of good scoop about things to do. I’m sure I will see him many times in the coming weeks.

I was pretty tired from my travels so I headed home early, probably around 8:45. This is when the lack of paying attention to where you are going bit me in the ass. After about 30 minutes of unintentionally exploring the winding roads in the pitch dark in my little mini moke, I knew I had little hope of finding my villa and headed back to Port Elizabeth to start over. I made it back to the starting point, but how was I supposed to know that the red faded sign near the main road in Port Elizabeth meant “no entry” and I was going down a one-way street? After getting in trouble for that, I saw a police officer next to the church so I stopped to ask him how to get to Spring. Instead of giving me directions, he asked me if I was busy because there was a big party going on at the bar and they were getting ready to light up part of the island with Christmas lights and wanted me to come and have a drink. While intriguing, I just wanted to go home and he pointed me in the right direction. Unfortunately, I wasn’t so good at following them. After backing up into one ditch, almost running over the biggest crab I have ever seen, about 10 dogs, and 1 cat and freaking out everyone who lives in Spring, I made it home around 10. Thank God.

Arrival Day

Before I begin, I must thank Bank of America for sponsoring this wonderful trip........................

One thing I knew before I arrived here is that island folk do not live on the same hurried schedules as we do, but it is easy to forget. Case in point: my 1130 flight to St. Vincent took off “on time” at 1150, and the 1pm ferry left “on time” at 130. I waited longer in the line at the airport in Barbados for a 30-passenger flight than I did in Chicago for a 300-passenger flight. At least in Barbados the line was outside and I was able to enjoy the warm weather. While the customs officer in Barbados quickly stamped my passport and told me to have a nice trip, the customs officer in St. Vincent wanted my life history and reprimanded me for not having a printout of my full itinerary for the next month. Perhaps the former incident was not normal because of the fact that it was at 130 in the morning and the guy just really wanted to go home.


What I love about the smaller and more distant islands in the Caribbean is experiencing the local cultures, but I was quite surprised to be one of very few white american tourists on the flight from Barbados and on the ferry to Bequia. I spoke with the other two tourists on my flight, a retired couple from England, who were coming to Bequia to surprise their grandchildren. Let me tell you, those kids sure were surprised when they got off the boat! Then I thought I was doing really well with my social skills when I met another couple frantically running for a taxi to catch the 100 ferry like myself and asked if I could share with them. Turns out they are my age and have a house here and come down every month from Florida. Nice.

The ferry is very much for commerce and the passengers are kind of incidental. I watched them load building supplies, truckloads of gravel, food and lots and lots of mysterious boxes. I also watched a local merchant hack up a bunch of some sort of really big green/orange/yellow fruit at the dock with a machete so that people could drink from it. As much as I wanted to run down and try some I figured I will save the food adventures for later. While on the ferry I saw some people with beers so I decided to get one, not realizing that you have to venture down to the very depths of the boat where all the locals hang out. I had gone too far to turn back but a word to the wise - do not go to the depths of a ferry without your sea legs. I almost fell over about 10 times.

When I arrived, Koko the dog greeted me and Liz showed me around this charming villa. I have my own pool with an incredible view and a great private outdoor lounge area for reading and relaxing. My driver Raleigh set me up with a mini moke which he just delivered and I will quickly have to adjust to driving on the right side of the car and the left side of the super skinny roads. Be very afraid for me!

Until I locate a USB cord, you all are going to just have to imagine how beautiful it is here. Words and pictures can’t do it justice.