Barbados Trip

Ever since some of our dearest friends (Dave and Cathy Carr) from our Oregon law school days moved to Barbados, Derek and I have planning a trip out to see them.  Our kids finally seem slightly manageable enough that we didn't feel too bad asking to leave them for most of a week with my Mom and George.  And we decided the best time to go to the Caribbean would be smack dab in the middle of February when it's awfully cold and snowy in Utah and we were starting to grow tired of winter.

We flew out Wednesday morning bright and early.  It was a long day of flying with us not arriving in Barbados until about 10 pm.  However, I honestly enjoyed the opportunity to sit and read a book uninterrupted by my kids for hours on end.

Thursday morning, our first day in Barbados, Dave and Cathy took us to their favorite beach near by and Cathy showed me how to work our Barbados style.  It consisted of alternations between running barefoot on the soft sand with waves crashing over your feet occasionally and some swimming in the ocean.  

I could get used to that.  Then, Dave gave us a tour of the embassy building.  Derek and I were so fascinated with his consulate job.  We could have listened to Dave talk about his job for hours.  Next, we had a small lunch at the George Washington House and then toured the George Washington House and some underground tunnels near there.
 We all got a kick out of the slight stretch the Bajans have adopted by feeling that his short stay of a few months in his youth played a critical role in him going on to successfully win the Revolutionary War for us.  While George was in Barbados, he contracted small pox and developed immunity sparing him for certain death of small pox that took the lives of so many Revolutionary war soldiers.  I honestly can somewhat side with the Bajans, and agree that it indeed may  have been the hand of God helping him to develop that immunity while he was young and strong and not starving and freezing and physically fatigued during the Revolutionary War.    Later that afternoon, I convinced the group that they all needed to indulge in afternoon tea at the Sandy Lane resort.  What a beautiful location!  You may think it weird to be sipping tea on Caribbean beach front, but it was actually quite lovely and I think everyone enjoyed it.


Friday morning we drove out to Welschman Hole Gully.  On the way, Dave stopped and let Derek and I illegal pick some sugar cane to chew on.
Welschman Hole Gully was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip.  Barbados is obviously a beachy island in the Caribbean, but it also has all these jungly gully portions.  Welschman Hole is the longest gully.  The guide who took us through was fantastic.   The gully was full of these trees with loads of vines hanging down from them.  She claims that Barbados got it's name from these trees that look like bearded men.

 When we came across a bunch of monkeys swinging in the trees overhead they cut up a whole bunch of bananas and they all came out of the woods to feast right in front of our faces on bananas.  I could have watched them all day; it was so intriguing.

All along our walk through the gully the guide would stop and tell us about the vegetation.  They had noni fruit, bay leaves, nutmeg, bamboo, palm tree, all sorts of tropical flowers, and African snails.  I was in awe to see all this stuff just growing naturally.  I took a million pictures.

This is fresh nutmeg still inside it's fruit.  The bright red stuff is the stuff that pepper spray mace is made from and it smells totally like it.

After that we headed to St. Nicholas Abbey which was a gorgeous sugar plantation at the top of Cherry Tree Hill.

We had lunch there.  I ordered a local favorite of fish cakes which were good.  They had this lovely outdoor patio that backed up to a gully type area.  It was such a pleasant place to eat lunch.

Then, we took a little tour of the plantation house which consisted of three rooms.  We all felt it a slight disappointment especially since the rum distillery and sugar processing mill was closed that day.  However, I still felt it was worth the drive up for the beautiful views and lovely location to eat lunch.

Then we drove down the East Coast which has bigger waves, and more rocky shores.  Not exactly the calm, lay out and swim beaches on the other side of the island has to offer, but still beautiful to walk along.

That night we hit up the famous Oistin's Fish Fry.  I ordered flying fish because I've never had the opportunity to order that anywhere else.  It was good, flavored with a spicy Cajan type spice and served on top of a mound of macaroni pie.

Then, I alone made a fool of myself dancing and we checked out some local craft type stands.

Saturday was a our lay out on the beach day.  And I think we earned it after Dave killed Derek and I with a crossfit workout that am.  We were sore for days after, but I think I enjoyed it...maybe.  Dave and Cathy took us to the Boatyard with their kids.  This beach had the calm turquoise blue Caribbean water that I just couldn't get over the whole time we were there.  
(PS I spent a majority of the time hiding under this big floppy hat, cover-ups, and lots of sunscreen as is evident by all the pictures and the minimal tan I'm sporting now after a week long vacation in the Caribbean).

Additionally, the boat yard had a trampoline out on the water that you could jump on and then off into the ocean, a large inflated iceberg you could climb and then slide down in the water and a rope swing off a boardwalk that you could jump into the ocean.
So fun!  We had lunch at the beach and spent the majority of the day relaxing in the sun.  Then, we went back to Dave and Cathy's where they had arranged for their friend Rita to come over.  She made us homemade Thai food and gave each of us Thai massage.  Thai massage is a deep tissue type massage that also included some assisted stretching.  I loved it.  Dave and Cathy invited some friends from the embassy to join us, and we all had a blast eating and playing games together.

Sunday we went to Cathy's branch.  It was in a teeny building with no air conditioning, but they had fans blowing and all the doors and windows opened.  It was a little cloudy and overcast that day, so it wasn't too hot at all.  In fact, it felt like the perfect quiet little island paradise place to renew the covenants I have made with my Heavenly Father and be spiritually fed.  Derek and I were both impressed with the gospel knowledge of the members, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  Cathy serves in her primary and it was fun to hear the kids singing family primary songs and playing bongo type drums to accompany themselves as we attended gospel doctrine and priesthood/RS.  It was so nice to sit through 3 hours of church without any distractions from my children.  I really savored the adult focused lessons since I too am generally in primary and wrestling children on my lap all Sunday.  After church, Cathy took us to walk around the Crane resort, one of the oldest hotel resorts on the island.  The grounds were beautiful.

Then we drove through Bridgetown and snuck into the Hilton grounds to walk around some old cannons they have on the property and then ended the day boggie boarding as the sunset on Miami beach.  Haven't boogie boarded in forever!  It was fun.

Monday was the Catamaran Cruise with a bunch of Embassy people.  It departed from bridgetown and we were able to walk around the boardwalk and across the bridge a little before we left.  The Catamaran was another highlight of the trip.

They kept us pumped full of food and drink the whole time.  They made a number of stops throughout the day and allowed us to jump out and snorkel.
The first place they stopped to let us swim with a bunch of sea turtles.  They would come right up to us so that we could reach out and touch their shells.  
Then, they took us to a place that had 3 ship wrecks all in fairly shallow water and good visibility.   
Then, we stopped in a beautiful secluded spot for lunch where there was a nice coral reef with a bunch of gorgeous tropical fish.
Then, we sailed back.  I got to drive for a bit.

We had a bit of a dance party and sat on the front of the boat dangling our legs and letting the waves splash up on us.  The whole thing was fantastic except for the fact that I was a little sea sick.  It was actually worse after I got off the boat and everything was still rocking, but no longer rocking with the boat.  Then, Dave took us to to a duty free shop to purchase a bunch of souvenirs for people back home.  That night Derek and I had the most lovely dinner at a beautiful restaurant called Cafe Luna.  It was on the roof of this building at the top of a little hill overlooking the ocean with a lovely ocean breeze blowing on you as you ate your dinner.  I ordered the most amazing barracuda fish served with a curry type sauce, and sadly couldn't thoroughly enjoy it because of my sea sick stomach.  (If anything, it was a lessoned learned from now on... any boat I decide to embark on I will prepared myself ahead of time with meds for motion sickness).

Tuesday morning came too fast, and it was time to say goodbye to Dave and Cathy and the most amazing time in Barbados and the Caribbean.  They were honestly the best hosts ever.  Feeding us and driving us everywhere and letting us keep them up way past bed time.  I'm sure it was exhausting for them, but we loved every minute of it and so nice to renew our friendship with them.  Tuesday was another long day of flying that was just as lovely as the first: read for hours on end and Derek and I had enough time to sit down for lunch and dinner during both layovers.  It was wonderful to eat in a restaurant just the two of us without our kids twice in one day!  Now we are back to the grind of life which is tough after a week in the Caribbean, but the time away from our kids did make me realize how much I love them and am so glad to have them as part of my life.