the long and winding road...

Saturday, April 02, 2011

St Vincent Not many ships sail to St Vincent which means it’s not quite as well set up for excursions and the like. One of the members of cruise critic organized a trip which we joined quite early. It sounded great! As a result I did basically no research on other options. So, we arrive in St Vincent, get off the ship and are greeted by the guy who says that because of some weather issue which had occurred the night before, we were only going to be able to do part of the trip and for the inconvenience the price had dropped $20. Hmm, I guess that was ok. So then 24 of us walked over to the boat that we were supposed to spend the next 6-8 hrs on. Tiny. Seriously, there was only enough room for all of us to squish in and there was only cover for about 1/3 of the boat. Oh, and because this is a speedboat, no bathroom! Not!!! This was absolutely not what I had in mind at all. Regroup. I started talking to the guys on the dock and Bobby ventured out of the gates (which is where all the non cruise approved vendors congregate) to see what we could find. We finally ended up taking the Pirate “water taxi” to another part of the island for a beach day.

Now, if I heard the words “water taxi” I might envision a small ferry or something like that. Uh, no. This was a small boat (maybe 25 feet long) with a single outboard motor. It looked relatively safe, I guess. Although a few people did get on then decided to get off. I was assured there were life jackets for all and it was only a 10 min ride. Let’s go!!!

They took us over to Villa Beach about 10 mins away. It was a small beach which became more crowded as they day progressed. We rented a couple chairs, let G splash and at a $40 lunch that consisted of 2 cheeseburgers, fries and a grilled cheese for G. Ehh. It wasn’t a great day but, let’s face it, the worst day on the beach in the Caribbean is probably better than they very best day I have at work so, it’s all good!!!

Dinner was the best yet! Bobby and I both started with the spinach pastry, Bobby had baked potato soup, I had a green salad and then we both had the filet mignon. The steak was cooked perfectly! It was served with a small amount of mashed potatoes and a sweet potato and carrot thing. The veggie was gross. It was green goop. I think it must be the new thing to have these foamy veggie concoctions but the appearance and texture leave a lot to be desired in my book. Dessert was chocolate cake with a berry ganache (I think that’s how its spelled). It was to die for!

Arriving in St Vincent! This picture completely cracks me up! G's version of a salute

Up on her raft. G loves that raft!

As we were walking to lunch, G saw this big rock and decided it would be a great place for a photo. I had to promise her that we would go back and take her picture there later. She did not forget.

The coastline of St Vincent, at least the part we saw, is very rugged. There's a lot of wildlife and beautiful deep blue water. We were also lucky to see some brown boobies (don't laugh!!!) which is a caribbean bird. Super cool!