Tag Archives: nutmeg

The Carenage, Grenada

Grenada, Travel, , , ,

Feb 18 – As nice as it is to swim and sit on the beach, there’s something to be said for exploring. We hopped a van to travel a few miles up the coast to the Carenage, the busy downtown area where the cruise ships dock.

Last week we were in St Andrew’s parish, now we are in St George’s.
Very hilly streets – see the cruise ship out in the harbor? There is a different ship every day.
You know we like cathedrals, so we stopped by the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception at the top of the hill…
…but they were celebrating noon mass, so we just peeked in and moved on.
Lots of the same baggies of spices at the tourist market. See the cinnamon sticks?
Plenty of hot sauces, nutmeg jam and rum
Ginger and tomatoes
Red papaya and soursop
TJ’s sounds like a good place for lunch
Jim’s chicken curry pie was huge, and contained four thighs, complete with bones. Don’t bite down hard!
We spoke with a German couple from the cruise ship. They stop at a new island every day.
Plenty of wall art!
Here’s the Grenada sign, partially obstructed by taxi drivers waiting for a fare.
The Sendell Tunnel connects the two sides of town. We thought it was for pedestrians…
…but it’s for car traffic too. A tight squeeze!
On the other side of the tunnel was the harbor…
…where the rich folks dock their yachts
A fine day!

St. George’s, Grenada

Grenada, Travel, , , , ,

Feb 16 – A 45 minute ride down from the hills in a packed van, followed by a 20 minute ride in a local van, got us to our next abode. The Bouganvillea apartments in bustling St. George’s, are just a block from beautiful Grand Anse Beach.

We have a kitchen here, and are near a grocery store, so we can be more in control of what we eat. I think we both gained 10 pounds eating Ingrid’s cooking! We’ll be here for our last week in Grenada.

The weather is exactly the same here on the coast as it was up in the hills; low of 78 and high of 82 degrees F every day. Ideal!

Our new home, complete with veranda
Grand Anse beach – white sand, warm crystal clear water
The beach is about a mile and a half long
All beaches should have shady trees right near the shore – no umbrellas required!
Our favorite street vendor made us some fresh Trinidadian doubles for lunch – curried chickpeas in a spicy pepper sauce wrapped in two flour tortillas.
Yummy doubles!
We checked out the local market
Grenada is known as the Spice Isle, so lots of spices are packed in little baggies for tourists – cinnamon, red pepper, turmeric, mace and ginger
The main export is nutmeg, here in its whole form
Local wildlife
Pink clouds in the afternoon
The swimmers go home as the sun goes down
We could get used to this!

Grenada

Grenada, Travel,

February 9, 2026 – This winter has been especially cold in Virginia, so it’s time for a little relaxation in the sun. Want to come along?

Our destination is the Caribbean island of Grenada (pronounced Gre NAY da, not like the city in Spain), just north of Trinidad/Tobago and Venezuela.

The island was first spied by Christopher Columbus in 1498, colonized by the French in 1649, then ceded to the British in 1763. It is currently a realm of the Commonwealth, independent for 50 years but still acknowledging the British king. The official language is English. UK electrical adapters are needed.

Grenada is also known as the Island of Spice, as its main crop and export is nutmeg. The local time is one hour ahead of EST, so jet lag won’t be a problem. The weather is tropical with temps between 77 and 82 every day. Are you ready? Let’s go!

We rolled out of bed at 3:15 am, grabbed a cup of coffee and were ready when our Uber pulled up at 3:45. 6am flights are not my favorite! The first leg to Miami went off without a hitch, but we sat on the ground for two hours before the technicians gave up on all the problems with our second plane (mechanical, computer, and then plumbing!) and sent us back into the airport to a distant gate in another terminal with the promise of a better plane. Another hour and we were on our way.

A handsome young Queen Elizabeth graces the currency here
Waiting to pass through Customs, we spied some interesting airport personnel… this figure reminded us of the Semana Santa penitents we encountered in Spain. We understand they are JabJab costumes for a festival celebrated here in August.
Can’t wait to start our adventure!