Day 2 -- Bridgetown, Barbados
Mostly sunny, warm all day, low 80s
We got up around 7:30 and really eased into the morning. We sat on our balcony a little bit, trying to get the lay of the surrounding neighborhood. We hadn't had the energy to do any food shopping the previous night, which meant we didn't have any coffee in the room. So around 9, we went out to search for coffee and breakfast. Just a couple of minutes from our hotel was The Cake Lady's Coffee Shop. We loved this little shop. We met the owner and had a really nice conversation. Her parents were from Barbados before moving to England. She grew up there, but decided to retire and move back to Barbados to open her shop. I got a slice (it was more like a SLAB) of her lemon/blueberry cake and Kath got a ham croissant twistie. They were both delicious. We took our treats across the street to the public beach and sat in front of the water to enjoy breakfast. It was pretty wonderful.
This was where we sat for our breakfast:
While we sat there, a woman came by to ask if we wanted a drink. We didn't, but it occurred to me that maybe were in a spot reserved for a nearby restaurant. After we finished eating, I found the woman and asked if this area was public, and she said "No, but I didn't want to be rude and ask you to move so early in da morning".
We had wanted this to be a beach day, not a busy day, but we did need a few items from the grocery store, so we did our shopping and headed back to our hotel and put our items back in the room. Then we walked a little further down the street from where we had breakfast and found a public beach, where we rented beach chairs for $15US for the whole day, and the Meridian had provided us with beach towels, so we settled in and stayed until 4pm. The water was warm and gorgeous and it was just so relaxing to sit for a while, then enjoy the water for a bit. I'm not typically a "sit at the beach" kind of guy, but even I had to admit that it was a wonderful way to spend our day.
Mickey goes with me everywhere. . .
At around 4, we headed back to the Meridian to get cleaned up because we were excited to go to the famous Fish Fry. We'd heard and read a little about the big fish fry in Oisten (about a 15 minute drive from St. Lawrence Gap) and were really looking forward to it. We caught the ZR taxi van (the locals call it the "Zed-R" because the license plates on the vans all start with "ZR". There are also Zed-M vans, but we didn't use those.). These vans are a little crazy. There are designated stops for the taxi vans, but those are pretty much irrelevant. The vans stop almost anywhere if they think you're looking for a ride. They stop in the middle of the road to talk to a van driver who is going in the other direction. They're CRAMMED full of people. But they're only $3.50Bar per person, instead of $15Bar for a private taxi.
We met part of our cruising party in Oisten, and had dinner together. The fish fry was not what I was expecting, but it was fun. I was thinking there was one spot, maybe with a big bonfire to cook the fish, and it wasn't like that at all. It was more like a fish marketplace. There were lots of little booths/restaurants, and each one offered a variety of fish dishes. And between the fish vendors, there were little souvenir booths selling hats, shirts, trinkets, etc. I had the Marlin dish, and Kathryn had Kingfish. Both were really good. This was a pretty fun way to spend the evening, especially with friends, as it's right on the beach. Beautiful sunset.
We took the Zed-R back to the neighborhood of our hotel and met the rest of our sailing party, who were staying at a nearby hotel. We made plans to meet up and use a local taxi driver to give us a tour before going to the cruise port. We all talked for a long time, then we headed to the Meridian to turn in for the night. I made one last email check to see if we'd gotten our Covid test results for boarding the ship. They hadn't come in yet, but we didn't need them until 4 pm the next day, so no real reason to worry. Right??
Sunset at the fish fry:
Mostly sunny, warm all day, low 80s
We got up around 7:30 and really eased into the morning. We sat on our balcony a little bit, trying to get the lay of the surrounding neighborhood. We hadn't had the energy to do any food shopping the previous night, which meant we didn't have any coffee in the room. So around 9, we went out to search for coffee and breakfast. Just a couple of minutes from our hotel was The Cake Lady's Coffee Shop. We loved this little shop. We met the owner and had a really nice conversation. Her parents were from Barbados before moving to England. She grew up there, but decided to retire and move back to Barbados to open her shop. I got a slice (it was more like a SLAB) of her lemon/blueberry cake and Kath got a ham croissant twistie. They were both delicious. We took our treats across the street to the public beach and sat in front of the water to enjoy breakfast. It was pretty wonderful.
This was where we sat for our breakfast:
While we sat there, a woman came by to ask if we wanted a drink. We didn't, but it occurred to me that maybe were in a spot reserved for a nearby restaurant. After we finished eating, I found the woman and asked if this area was public, and she said "No, but I didn't want to be rude and ask you to move so early in da morning".
We had wanted this to be a beach day, not a busy day, but we did need a few items from the grocery store, so we did our shopping and headed back to our hotel and put our items back in the room. Then we walked a little further down the street from where we had breakfast and found a public beach, where we rented beach chairs for $15US for the whole day, and the Meridian had provided us with beach towels, so we settled in and stayed until 4pm. The water was warm and gorgeous and it was just so relaxing to sit for a while, then enjoy the water for a bit. I'm not typically a "sit at the beach" kind of guy, but even I had to admit that it was a wonderful way to spend our day.
Mickey goes with me everywhere. . .
At around 4, we headed back to the Meridian to get cleaned up because we were excited to go to the famous Fish Fry. We'd heard and read a little about the big fish fry in Oisten (about a 15 minute drive from St. Lawrence Gap) and were really looking forward to it. We caught the ZR taxi van (the locals call it the "Zed-R" because the license plates on the vans all start with "ZR". There are also Zed-M vans, but we didn't use those.). These vans are a little crazy. There are designated stops for the taxi vans, but those are pretty much irrelevant. The vans stop almost anywhere if they think you're looking for a ride. They stop in the middle of the road to talk to a van driver who is going in the other direction. They're CRAMMED full of people. But they're only $3.50Bar per person, instead of $15Bar for a private taxi.
We met part of our cruising party in Oisten, and had dinner together. The fish fry was not what I was expecting, but it was fun. I was thinking there was one spot, maybe with a big bonfire to cook the fish, and it wasn't like that at all. It was more like a fish marketplace. There were lots of little booths/restaurants, and each one offered a variety of fish dishes. And between the fish vendors, there were little souvenir booths selling hats, shirts, trinkets, etc. I had the Marlin dish, and Kathryn had Kingfish. Both were really good. This was a pretty fun way to spend the evening, especially with friends, as it's right on the beach. Beautiful sunset.
We took the Zed-R back to the neighborhood of our hotel and met the rest of our sailing party, who were staying at a nearby hotel. We made plans to meet up and use a local taxi driver to give us a tour before going to the cruise port. We all talked for a long time, then we headed to the Meridian to turn in for the night. I made one last email check to see if we'd gotten our Covid test results for boarding the ship. They hadn't come in yet, but we didn't need them until 4 pm the next day, so no real reason to worry. Right??
Sunset at the fish fry:
