We arrived in Grenada on January 31 and began anticipating having guests aboard, getting shopping and laundry done, hair appointments scheduled and out of the way, and various other things done to get Nancy Lu ready to host guests.  We love to have people come experience the Caribbean from our sailboat-perspective, not to mention loving to spend time with friends and family! 

 

Amy and Amanda arrived at Maurice Bishop Airport on February 15 and spent 10 days with us, 4 days after they left,

 

my friend, Karen, and her son, Danny, came to give us another 8 days of fun with guests on Nancy Lu!

 

 

I just had to include a picture to show off Mark’s new set of island clothes that he wore to meet Karen and Danny…isn’t he cute?!

 

I wanted my picture taken with that handsome Captain man!  

Okay, back to the subject…We’re big fans of the British Commonwealth country of Grenada.  I would be happy to spend our whole 6 months on Nancy Lu, nestled right outside Whisper Cove Marina.  I have to admit; however, that we would be missing out on a lot of wonderful sights, people, and experiences if we did not venture away from Grenada.  I’m especially aware of this since

 

I’m typing this from Admiralty Bay in Bequia, after a great sail from Carriacou, arriving here on the evening of March 19.  But this post is going to be all about fun in Grenada with our company!

Before Amy and Amanda arrived, we did a hash (a weekly hiking event put on by the club, Hash House Harriers).

During the hash, we scouted out La Sagesse Beach, which we thought would be fun to visit with them.  You can tell from all the footprints that we were leisurely bringing up the rear of the hash (our usual spot)! We ended up not coming back to La Sagesse with either sets of our guests so no more cartwheels were turned there, but on a hash that we did with Amy and Amanda,

 

there were more cartwheels turned and dances danced!  There’s just something about wide open spaces and the feeling of accomplishment that calls for this kind of behavior!

Every hash is different and they are held in different parts of the island.

 

The one we went on before our guests arrived offered cool, sweet watermelon for sale at the end of the trail—so delicious and refreshing!  Some of the unique characteristics of the hash that we did after all of our guests left us were

 

lots of COWS,

 

lots of COCOA,

 

even COWS in the COCOA (Of course, Mark said, “Now we know where chocolate milk comes from.” —he still reigns as king of the dad jokes!), and

 

lots of kites (it’s up there so high you can barely see it.)

 

This young man asked me if I wanted to give it a try myself…”Yes, please!”.  You can see why we always bring up the rear at a hash!

 

Other scoping out that we did before Amy and Amanda arrived was to see if there were any snorkeling spots near where we were moored.

 

None of the places were very promising, but I did get a smurf-like picture of myself of which I am quite fond!

 

Probably, my most important accomplishment before the girls arrived was acquiring some passion fruit (scarce this time of year) and

 

learning how to make passion fruit juice with my Nutri-Bullet!

 

I made up a batch to serve Amy and Amanda when they arrived!  I didn’t have any passion fruit juice with which to greet Karen and Danny onto Nancy Lu,

 

 

but they did have a little towel Jellyfish to welcome them to their cabin!

 

On a tour we took with Karen and Danny, I was lucky to be given another passion fruit by our tour guide, Cutty, so they got to have a taste of my passion fruit juice later on in their visit!

We did many of the same adventures with both of our guests so I thought it would be fun to do a side by side (really, above and below) pictorial diary of their time with us on Nancy Lu!   They are in no particular order…

 

BOTH SETS OF GUESTS HAD A CREW MEMBER THAT WAS EXCITED ABOUT LEARNING ALL THEY COULD OF THE ART OF SAILING, ESPECIALLY KNOTS:

One of our favorite quotes was, “I LOVE boat life; I just want to live in the sun and tie knots!”—Amanda Pisetzner

 

Danny was especially fond of the midshipman’s knot.  He thought it was “brilliant”!

 

WITH NO TELEVISION, GAMES RULE THE EVENINGS ON NANCY LU:

  Colorku is a new addition to Nancy Lu’s collection.

 

With Danny on Nancy Lu, we got to enjoy some of his original worship music on a couple of evenings!

 

WE SAILED TO CARRIACOU WITH BOTH SETS OF GUESTS:

Dealing with seasickness was an issue with which each set of guests dealt.  They were all troopers, and with help from Captain Mark and 1st Mate Kathy, they OVERCAME!

 

The trip back was awesome sailing for both sets!  The girls got to enjoy a sail from the bow, and Danny got to be helmsman!

 

EVERYONE THOUGHT THEIR TIME AT CARRIACOU WAS WORTH THE SAIL TO GET THERE!!:

We moored at Sandy Island with its quintessentially, tropical paradise-ically white-sand beach!

 

We also dinghied over to Paradise Beach for a different experience, leaving Nancy Lu across the bay moored at Sandy Island…

 

On the girls’ trek down Paradise Beach in search of virgin pina coladas (who wants to ruin the taste of pineapple with rum? duh!), we ran into a group of children enjoying their beach!  I always love to watch children playing in nature!

 

Also, at Paradise Beach, Karen, Danny and I did some souvenir shopping at Fidel’s, my favorite all Grenadian-made craft shop.  We all contributed to the economy there!

 

Karen found sea treasures on the beach,

 

and we saw Mrs. Cow came for a little drink of sea water at Paradise Beach…I hope she didn’t go crazy!

 

Little Sandy Island is in the background (it is just that little sandy strip in front of the higher island much further in the distance).

 

Danny reached out to find some new friends for some Frisbee tossing fun.  He learned and remembered all of their names!

 

On both dinghy visits to Paradise Beach, Captain Mark sacrificed his beach-lounging time (not really a sacrifice for him) in order to take a bus into town for a grocery store run.  On his grocery store trip while Amy and Amanda were here, he brought back a little after-dinner surprise!  They were excited!

 

SNORKELING AT SANDY ISLAND WAS A FAVORITE:

I must note that Karen and I, being the last ones left out snorkeling at Sandy Island, were the only ones to see squid and swim with an unfazed-by-our-presence sea turtle on our swim back to Nancy Lu—sorry, to the rest of you .  I missed getting a picture of the turtle because my camera ran out of batteries, but it REALLY DID happen!

 

WE ALSO ENJOYED SNORKELING AT HALIFAX BAY, THE UNDERWATER STATUE GARDEN,  AND FLAMINGO BAY DURING A PEACEFUL, OVERNIGHT STOP BETWEEN CARRIACOU AND WHISPER COVE:

Amy at Halifax Bay

 

The statue park was actually Danny’s and Karen’s first snorkeling of their trip.

 

Amy and Amanda with the slightly askew, this year, “Circle of Children” –Each year the statue changes a bit.  That’s really part of what this sculpture is supposed to represent.

 

Snorkelers are like magnets to one another.

 

Snorkeling can wear you out, and Nancy Lu will gently rock you to sleep…You can ask Amanda!

 

Aqua man!!

 

TAKING THE BUS AND HIKING UP TO FOUNTAINE BLEU (FURTHEST OF THE CONCORD FALLS) IS ALWAYS A FAVORITE!!:

Amy is wearing my peach Scala hat…

 

Karen is wearing my peach Scala hat

 

The walk from the bus stop up through the rural community of Concord to the first of the Concord Falls is so beautiful.  With Karen and Danny, we stopped for a little picnic on the way up, and Danny made a new friend who asked Danny if he wanted to have his picture taken with him…of course!  As nice as the 2 mile walk is up the road to the first of the Concord Falls,

 

it is always nice to get a lift from someone going that way!  The beautiful walk can always be enjoyed on the way down.  We were given a ride with both sets of guests.

 

The trek up to Fountaine Bleu begins with the first of 4 or 5 crossings of the river.

 

It is a glorious hike that we began with Amy and Amanda without a guide.  Having been here before, we thought we could find the way.

 

It wasn’t long before we ran into Mr. Fitzhugh Sandy, aka Skinny, and he convinced us that we needed a guide for $50.00 EC (about $20.00 USD).

 

Right away, we were glad we had hired him because he showed us a lot of produce from the farmland that we were hiking through to get to the waterfall.

 

Also, we probably would have gotten lost without him…

 

We knew the trail very well by the time we followed it with Danny and Karen, and we didn’t see Skinny until we were on our way back to the bus stop.

 

Skinny was very helpful, and

 

he was definitely not above a good photo bomb!!

 

On the hike with Amy and Amanda, everyone went into the COOOOOLD water except for me…

 

I played with rocks,

 

took pictures of the fun being had in the waterfall pool and

 

little nature surprises.

 

When we got to Fountaine Bleu with Karen and Danny, we took some nice portraits in front of the waterfall before we ventured in for some fun in the COOOOOLD water…

 

YES!  I DID go in the COOOOLD water with Karen, Danny, and Mark, but I have no pictures to prove it.  Karen has some pictures AND video, though!  It was really fun and COOOOOOLD!

 

On the way back down the trail with Amy and Amanda, Skinny showed us more farm treasures such as Sorrell.

 

 

 

You see LOTS of people carrying around machetes because LOTS of people have gardens in which they use them.

 

I left the vicinity of the falls with a few yummy treasures picked for me by Skinny.  It didn’t take much show of appreciation before he invited us to his mother’s  house down the road, where he was headed,

 

for a little “shopping” in the garden he tends there.

The smell of the fresh basil was AMAZING!

 

There was a yummy food associated with both sets of guests’ visits to Concord Falls.  With Amy and Amanda, it was the awesome Pasta Pomodoro that I made with the fresh basil from Skinny’s garden.  I was able to tell him about it when we saw him on the road walking back down after visiting the waterfalls with Danny and Karen.

 

For Karen and Danny, the Doubles we got at the downtown market before we took the bus up to Concord were a big hit!

 

We enjoyed the sights on the way back down with Danny and Karen, too.

 

Are they goats or sheep (not Biblically speaking)?

 

“The Tree of Life”

 

“Stairs to Nowhere”

 

With both sets of our guests, there were encounters with cute dogs on the way down from the waterfalls.  Amanda took photos of two adorable puppies while I was getting my fresh produce from Skinny.

 

I was afraid that the dog-friend Danny made was going to follow us all the way to the bus stop!

 

We began to hurry with Danny and Karen when we noticed the ominous beauty of the dark clouds in the sky near the end of the walk to the bus, but there was no need since they quickly blew over.  The picture above reminds me that I noticed, for the first time this year, just how big Mango trees actually are!

 

NO TRIP TO GRENADA IS COMPLETE WITHOUT A CUTTY TOUR!:

I think that our guests would agree!  Mark and I seem to learn something new every time we go on a tour guided by Cuthbert McMeo, more commonly known as Cutty.  We’ve been on 4!  Every tour is basically the same: Driving all over the island as Cutty stops to point out sites of interest or history and flora and fauna, about which he is very knowledgeable!

  

He often gets out of the bus to bring back Grenadian treasures of which he lets you smell taste or feel.  He usually includes a stop at a nutmeg processing plant, the Rivers Antoine Rum Factory, a nice place for lunch, a chocolate factory, and a waterfall, but there are always experiences unique to the particular tour you are on…

 

Rainbow Eucalyptus Tree

 

Our birthday girl with the Rainbow Eucalyptus Tree

 

Amy turned 33 on the day we took the Cutty Tour with her and Amanda—February 21!

 

How would you like an encounter with a Mona Monkey for your birthday, Amy?

 

Amanda and  the monkey were very comfortable with each other—so cute!

 

Gotta get pictures!

 

One last turn for Amy!

 

 

We only saw one woman getting her payment for the nutmegs that she brought in the day we were there with Amy and Amanda.

 

There were more farmers bringing their nutmegs in the day we were  there with Karen and Danny.

 

The birthday girl got some chocolate truffles from her mom and dad and even one from Cutty!

 

Pomegranates

 

With Amy and Amanda, we met a former Prime Minister of Grenada who lives across the street from the chocolate factory.

 

The lunch site offered a gorgeous view!

 

A tour of the River Antoine Rum Distillery is like visiting a working museum.  They have been making rum in the same way, with some of the same equipment,

 

including the water wheel, since 1785!

 

While experiencing the Cutty Tour with a little French girl and her family, I couldn’t help but think about when I carried little Amy Kathryn around as she experienced the world around her at an early age!

 

 

It’s fun to try and get the best photo of the beautiful bougainvillea at River Rum Distillery!  If you have a daughter celebrating her birthday handy, she makes a beautiful addition to the composition!

 

One of the first things you learn on a Cutty Tour is that the flowers of a bougainvillea plant are always WHITE!

 

Danny was the only one of our guests to taste the rum at the end of the tour!

 

The last big adventure on the Cutty tour with both sets of our guests was a visit to Mt. Carmel Falls…

 

Mark and I liked it better than Annandale Falls, the one to which we’ve previously gone with him!  We all stayed out of the water when we went with Amy and Amanda, but we all ventured in when it was Karen and Danny’s turn!

 

I guess to some, Grenada and all its natural wonders can become commonplace, but not to us!

 

Amy got crème brulee for her birthday at Whisper Cove Marina when we got home from the Cutty Tour!

 

AMY AND AMANDA EXPERIENCED A HASH WHILE THEY WERE HERE:

4 thumbs up so far!

 

What to do when you come to a circle of paper?  It’s all part of the hash experience…

 

A little encouragement is always nice to have on a hash!

 

It’s not all rainbows and sunshine in Grenada, but a lot of it is!

 

On a dinghy drive to another bay we found that Amanda has a pretty boat named for her…

 

just like Grandmom Nancy Rae and Grandma Lu!

 

We’re always sad to see our guests leave, but we look forward to the next time!

 

Mark and I went to a beach party on the the day Amy and Amanda flew home.  I waved to their airplane as they zoomed away!

 

With all of our guests back home in their spots, we continue to have great adventures in the Eastern Caribbean, but I have to say having guests is one of our favorite experiences on Nancy Lu!