November 3, 2010 Grenada, West Indies

Well we had decided to take the Spice Island tour because Kay and Judy were doing it and it turned out they forgot to book it and the tour was sold out. They swore they were going to follow our bus in a taxi but then they backed out since it was changed to an earlier time since our schedule had changed and we had to be on the pier at 8:50 AM. It was tough but we drug ourselves out of bed and got ready to go. There were 4 bus loads of people doing this tour. The Celebrity Summit is here today as well and that is a lot of people filtering into this small island. We wait in line about 15 minutes and were on the last bus. It feels like 100 degree in the shade. We head off up the hill to go to the Rum factory first and he stops for a few scenic photos from the top of the mountain. It is quite the drop off the mountain side if you are not a careful driver. By the time we arrived at the “former” rum factory the sun was really beginning to scorch everything. The grounds and plantation were beautiful but it was a been there-done that in other aspects as tasting their aged rums that I wasn’t going to do at 9:45 AM. Of course they want you to do it so you will buy it. No thanks. Debbie got a taste and brought it to me..I put it to my lips and immediately had to wash it off with water. Yuck. Next we went to the Spice Garden so it took about 30 minutes for us to get up there. By the time we are required to vacate the bus again and join the narrated tour of the garden, it was now at least 150 degrees in the shade and the humidity was rapidly catching up to the temperature. I was cussing Kay pretty good by then. It was another hour of pure torture walking up and down paths and smelling and tasting leaves and guessing what they were…damned that Kay. By the time we were headed back up the hill for the big sales pitch I was exceptionally thirsty and Debbie and I had about polished off the one bottle of water we brought when the girl tour guide handed us something she said we should chew or suck on…..it was so hot and nasty I spit it out while choking and had to drink the rest of the water to stop choking. Dammit Kay! I have yet to see her today but she will pay…it was ginger root and was so nasty. We also tasted cocoa which looked less than appealing but we popped it in our mouths and spit it back into nature for another tree to grow. The next stop was a jelly-syrup shop? Dammit Kay! We left there and then went to a flea market type place and then back to the ship. We had to wait in a line for about ½ hour to get through security to get back to the ship so while I waited in line Debbie went and got us two Caribe beers that we downed in seconds. It was so hot that we drank two glasses each of iced tea and two more of ice water and are still dehydrated….dammit Kay! Debbie says she lost her ankles somewhere in Grenada and I told her that we should make Kay and Judy go find them. We are having dinner with Kay and Judy tonight at Sabatini’s which is the Italian specialty restaurant. I will catch you up on the rest of the today in the morning before we arrive in Bonaire at noon. 

Karen...we have been ordering things for you at dinner and moving your photo from table to table...we miss you.  We are arriving in Bonaire as I write this and it it raining.  It appears that Tomas is affecting everything.  We will take our umbrellas and head to shore soon.  I tried to upload photos but the storm must be interfering since it gives me an error so will try again tonight.