Am I Entitled?

As I have mentioned previously, no matter whether you go during the week...Sunday is church (ok..I confess..not me ) then beach day for most people in St. Kitts. So on Sunday we went to what I have marked at Beach #1.. Cockleshell.

Certain beaches become popular for taxi drivers to take cruise ship tourists to, as well as being popular with some locals. This probably has something to do with the owner of the land and the obligatory bar/restaurant Gary Pereira. The Pereiras are a 4th generation Kittian family that have definitely found and mined the secret to running very successful services oriented businesses... from hotels to rainforest tours to any boating related excursion to restaurants and beach bars. I heard that some blurb mentioned that you were greeted upon arrival and that is true. What is not mentioned is that the reason you are greeted is because "tourists" are charged to use the beach chairs, while locals aren't, as well, the person that greets you becomes your waitress for the day so it is a method of controlling and ensuring the chair gets charged. I am not complaining- they are smart people and their formula provides the all crucial "resident" business in the off season. Gary used to own and operate his business at Turtle Bay but it was sold to make way for the new Auberge/Mandarin group hotel.

But that's not why I like going there because I don't really socialize with anyone except those with which I came. No..I like Cockleshell because it is a great people watching beach or to put it bluntly..it allows me to be as nosy as any female can be! Its a trait that I share directly with both my sisters and most definitely with my daughter Kirsty. And now with the camera I am downright in heaven! lol Heather eggs me on but I think that Randy and Scott have a secret bet on when I will get arrested for some sort of paparazzi type harassment. Scott has even taken to diving under a towel to hide his embarrassment. I can't help it though...I am so fascinated by people's behaviour and personalities on a beach. It's downright amazing! Besides he is not above displaying odd beach behaviour himself!

Seriously, I sometimes I wonder if there is something the matter with me. Don't get me wrong, I know that at the beach, with no makeup and the baseball cap on over hair that has been in the ocean, I am definitely no raving beauty but I actually try not to inflict intentional aesthetic pain on other people! And maybe that is the problem because I look at some people and I know that they don't give a damn what others think of them..They cant possibly and in some ways I have to admire that!


In a 2 hour period of time on SundayI saw a woman wearing fur lined boots- it was only 85 degrees after all!


A man who shouldn't have even been included in the same sentence as speedo...



A man who secretly coveted the freedom of a woman's clothing...well maybe not so secretly -! lol





A man who desperately wanted to be a captain in his next life...




A woman with the funkiest diving suit I have ever seen....







A woman who was way past the age of string bikinis, although I have to admit that she looked great for her age from the back...but when she turned around...oh my! I actually heard the men in the group lamenting the fact that it is always the 60 year old women that bare all on the beach. Believe me, there are just as many men that mistakenly think Rod Stewart wrote the "Do You Think I'm Sexy" for them!







I guess maybe it is that "sense of entitlement" that everyone tells me comes with age. I was going to say that I can hardly wait, but now that I think about the brazen way I have been snapping pictures these days...OMG, have I reached it??? Well at least I am still keeping the bathing suit on and loving being nosy while I watch other people being entitled!!!

KISS!!!

With life is hard as it is, why do we add so many complications to it? The thought came up because I have been sitting and listening to my daughter and daughter in law talk about pregnancy and birth. I have given birth to 3 children, albeit as Jamie reminds me constantly, back when the Dead Sea was only sick- lol- but when I hear the new mothers talk...I have absolutely no idea of what they are talking about. Fetal measurements and engagements and pulsing cords and birth plans!! Wayyyyyy too much information for somebody who is already hormonally whacked, to worry about. It was just so much simpler back in my day...you had sex...somewhere after the morning sickness started you could take a test that confirmed what you already knew...you went to the Dr. every month to get weighed and checked...he didnt tell you anything, other than that everything was fine...and then you waited (and waited! lol) until the baby was ready to come. Keep it simple because ignorance is bliss!

Another one of lifes complications came to me this week in the form of an invitation to a birthday party. Now, I know that I am definitely missing a couple female genes...not only because of my insane interest in sports, not only because my husband tells me all the time, not because other women cant get their heads around my lack of interest in jewellery, but because when I go somewhere, I can never get the dress code just right. Over the years, I have learned that people just chalk it up to the "slightly flaky Karen" thing...and that was when dress codes were simple! Black tie..semi formal and casual. 3 simple choices.

But no....we have to make life more complicated! Now there is Business Casual...whose business??? Julio, our fish cutters business? Or take an invite i received last year that said.."Club Chic" I havent been in a club in about 25 years! Imagine a fashioned challenged person trying to figure that one out!! There is Smart Casual which seems to indicate that the invitation came to me in error because I couldn't figure that one out either. Another one we got said...Funky Elegant..I definitely got that one wrong...I went for the funky side and every other woman there had gone for the elegant side. The "sweet flaky KB" act had to shine that night And now.....Elegantly casual. Ok...what the heck is that?? They dont even go together ..its like saying, Snow White and the 6 foot dwarfs or diet fried chicken or large shrimp or Karen singing!

Do I get out the Bedazzler and decorate a pair of jeans? Is it a night gown? The night part being casual and the gown part being elegant. That one suggest by he who gets to wear pants and a shirt anywhere he goes! But at least I would be comfortable!

Whatever it is, you know that I will have it backwards...so considering it is St. Kitts and taking into consideration past mistakes, it is going to be a dress with flat shoes! Who knew that my 82 year old Auntie Sheila would be the one to provide the footwear for an elegantly casual event?? lol On a trip to New York she made me trade my beloved and it seems now, irreplaceable white cotton Keds for a pair of black ballet flats. They make my semi permanently swollen feet look fatter, but nothing other than flip flops will fit these days and surely flip flops would have fallen under some dress code like Beach Formal or something equally bizarre.

So come on people...life is much too stressful as it is. We dont have to become experts at everything we do and just tell me straight out what you want me to where. Lets just Keep It Simple Stupid!

Venus and Mars

As I mentioned, my mind has been stuck in neutral for a couple of days but there is nothing like a mans actions or inactions to get those juices flowing! The best cure for those type of days is to get busy and stay busy, so that was yesterdays mission.

The frat boys had business to attend to and I took the opportunity to clean the dorm from top to bottom. (See new "dorm" decor addition) As I was going along, I kept getting smacked in the face by the differences between men and women. Now we all know that men have this amazing ability to "shelve" anything that is not directly affecting them at that particular moment...where do I buy some of that??? ...but some things can get ridiculous.

About 2 1/2 weeks ago, the resident geniuses decided to fill the hole where the suspected pooping animal was entering. They purchased some kind of spray gap filler goop and went to work. I was downstairs during this operation so of course, was not there to supervise. I heard a lot of hilarity and hooting going on but didnt really think anything of it. When I went upstairs later, I couldnt believe the mess! They had shot the stuff from the outside to the inside and what ever they thought was going to stop on the inside....hadn't! The stuff was now dripping down the wall and pooled all on the floor in the corner. Just lovely!














But that is not even the part that gets me. That stuff has sat in that corner since then! Everytime I mentioned it, I got the.."I need to get a putty knife to scrape it" line. Now this is a man that is pretty clean, as far as men go...hey, I'll even say that he is cleaner than some of the females in my family! But everyday he looked at that mess and everyday he put that vision on a shelf somewhere in the back of the closet of his brain and didnt give it a second thought. Seriously, how do they do that?? It's not fair! lol

So yesterday when I was on my mission... I got to his side of the bedroom, and I couldnt just ignore it...ok so we didnt have a putty knife... but you are talking to a woman whose favourite tool is a butter knife..small sturdy..able to be anything you want it to be! A little small for this job..what could I use?? Ding ding ding...



Thats right...a spatula! Necessity is the mother of invention lol Job finished in no time..No dithering and no shelving of thoughts. Although, I have to tell you...I am not sure that the original job accomplished its goal...there seems to be evidence of re entry but since I hadnt voluntarily been visiting that side of the room I cant confirm how long it has been at the back of the man's mind closet! :-)


Finishing upstairs, I moved down to the kitchen. Now sometimes you can just tell when something is designed by a man. The installation of the kitchen cupboards in this condo is a fine example. Obviously, at the time, the male brain was focused solely on the task at hand and the practical application of real life was "up on a shelf" somewhere. They are positioned so close to the floor that no mop can fit under them to clean the floor! While I was down on my hands and knees washing the floor, I did have the thought that maybe "they" had actually planned it this way...But then...No way...they arent capable of having 2 thoughts going at the same time :-) Can't live with them, can't live without them or as I said...Venus and Mars!

Completing the inside and to continue my "keep busy" mission, I moved my bucket and scrubbing brush outside. Bordering the front of the entire condo is a white fence. Scott and Heather live at one end and we live at the other end. Being a man..Scott loves his power tools. lol When we moved in, I noticed that he had cleaned the fence at his end and then had stopped. I asked why and he said because after about an hour with the power washer he had got tired. At the time, I didnt question it...what did I know.. I had never used a power washer. But by the end of this exercise, I sure was.

The first "male decision" I came up against was the tap. Ok...who thought of this??? If you look closely at the picture on the left..immediately to the left of the coconut tree, down by the flowers is the facet for the hose.













The picture at the right, is taken from Scott's end of the building. I.. a 51 1/2 year old woman who is going to be a grandmother within a month, had to play mountain goat and scramble down the hill to turn the tap on! By the time I got back up to the top, cursing the ant bites on my feet, went all the way down to the length of the hose.. only to find that the water was only dribbling out. Ok...now I know why it took so long with the power washer! Duhhhh By the time the water travels up hill 60 feet, there is no pressure! Male thinking! So with only a bucket of water, a dribbling hose and a sponge, I played Tom Sawyer and proceeded to "washwhite" the entire fence and the balconies on the way. Well not quite the entire fence. The hose ended just before I got to my own unit! So I am left with a dirty fence, but no worries..while I was scrubbing,.... I analysed my life, I decided what we were having for dinner, thought about what I was doing the next day to keep busy, solved half the worlds problems, delivered 2 healthy babies in my mind, reorganized The Toronto Maple Leafs, figured out how the Giants could beat the Pats and talked on the phone! I am woman! Nothing or nobody left on the shelf in the back of my brain's closet! lol

Cant's live with us..can't live without us! Venus and Mars

And the rains came down

I actually wrote this on Monday Jan 21st but it just seemed like "nothing" so I didnt post it. Then a couple days of what I guess are the "homesick" blues paralyzed the whole thought process. So today I said..ok ..it is what is..post and move on.

I don't know if God was trying to prove that the rain that fell on Jan 20th 2006 wasnt just Kirsty and Lee's attraction to bad weather, although how do you explain the blizzards on both her wedding and baby shower?- but the rain started falling Sunday morning and was still coming down in buckets Monday night. Ark jokes are as prevalent around here as the rain drops.










Notice the extra water hazards on the golf course!






As I have mentioned, St. Kitts is an island with a mountainous center and flat grounds running all the way around the edge.














When it rains, the water pours down the mountain side and through the city center in what are called "ghuts" or basically small gutters in the middle of the roads, emptying into the ocean. If there is a particularly heavy rainfall in a short period of time, the ghuts overflow and flooding occurs, making it impossible for cars to get through. Scott has been known to drive over the pedestrian bridge in the picture below and it is only 8 feet wide! During extreme weather conditions, I have seen household appliances; stoves, fridges etc as well as cars get washed down the ghut into the ocean. Rain is a great friend to St. Kitts providing the source for amazing drinking water, but it can also be a formidable foe.












Monday has become cleaning day in my new routine but because the windows and doors are always open, when it rains this hard there is always a slight covering of moisture on everything. It is an exercise in frustration to mop a floor and then walk across it and see dirty footprints (yes, I still have the dirty feet problem-lol) or clean the glass top tables, only to see a film on them 5 minutes later..so forget that.. it will get done another day..Its not like I am busy or anything! lol

So, with rain topping cleaning and boredom topping rain, out we went. Besides, whats a little rain compared to snow?? Well maybe it is something...after seeing some of the tourists coming off the cruise ship...73 degrees seems to be parka weather! Give me a break! Actually, people watching has become one of my favourite activities- there sure are some strange dudes sharing this planet! This picture is taken at Port Zante, the relatively new harbour built to accommodate cruise ships.

Stonewalls Pics as promised

Here are the pictures I promised of Stonewall's Bistro from Saturdays post.

A VERY HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Today is Kirsty and Lee's 2nd anniversay! So we wish them both a very very happy anniversary. And it is a very special one...it is the last one that they will spend as a couple alone! Enjoy it:-)



I have "stolen" this picture from Kirsty's blog because I not only love the picture, I love how she titled it-- "Still Smiling" and they are!

Lots and lots of love to Kirsty & Lee

A Touching Mother/Son Moment

It started innocently enough. After a glance at my fast expanding butt, I decided that I need to start doing something about it, so I walked down the beach from the Marriott to Half Moon Bay. When I came back, I mentioned to Jamie that the waves were bigger than those at North Frigate Bay or what is called "the wave beach" in our house. A small discussion ensued and then Jamie said, "Come with me." We walked down the beach about a quarter of a mile, noticing as we walked that the current weather patterns had eroded a lot of the sand on the beach and the tide seemed much higher. There is a small area about 20 feet wide where the rocks extend out into the ocean about 10 feet but when the waterline isnt as high, it is easy to walk through on the sand. And when we walked down the beach, it wasnt hard to see the rocks and step through them.We played in the waves for about half an hour and decided it was time to start back.

Well! The waterline had moved all the way up the beach and our path through the rocks was covered with crashing, churning water making it impossible to see and the water was too rough to walk into the ocean to go around them. Being the nurturing mother that I am, I tried to lead my 33 year old son through the danger...but it was impossible. We were stuck!

Jamie started yelling at the waves..a la Moses..."get back...move out..retreat!" Well of course, I started laughing and laughing....so hard that I nearly fell over and then we laughed some more. Everybody that knows me, knows what happened next...the same thing that has happened in a Buffalo mall and Simpsons at Cedarbrae...the same thing that has happened on our way in to a photograph studio in Ottawa (I am being generous there- lol)..well actually, the same thing that has happened everytime someone in my family has made me laugh.. in a million different places...only this time I couldnt cross my legs because I couldnt move my feet without stepping on a rock and being knocked over by the waves! The more Jamie implored the water, the harder we laughed. Finally, I couldnt hold it anymore, but now I was forced to play "water twister"! I had to get my waist under the water without falling over, but I couldnt move my feet out of their precarious position all the while...shaking with laughter!

Oblivious to what was happening behind him..my brave soldier then took one for the team and forged through the rocks further out into the ocean, past the rocks and led us to safety. As we walked about 250 yards up the beach back towards the Marriott we finally took notice that there were people laying on the beach watching us. And when we passed they actually clapped at the spectacle of our daring escape!

Little did they know! lol

What year is this?

Yesterday was a strange day...for some reason I kept running into blatant reminders of my past. One reflective, one I had to laugh at and one of love and longing. So strong that I had to stop for very brief seconds to question where I was.

The weather in St. Kitts was the type of weather that is appreciated according to your raison d'etre here. If you are a tourist and you have a limited amount of days or if you are planning to have a beach wedding, then you definitely want all sunny days, but if you are here for an extended amount of time, you come to love days like yesterday. It was a mixed bag of sun, clouds, 2 min rains, then bright sunshine and round the circle again. But it was the winds that were stunning- a more than gentle breeze that not only blew the clouds past quickly, it also roughed up the ocean just enough to be absolutely beautiful. Most incredible of all, it made temperature just perfect.

We had gone over to Marriott beach for something to do in the afternoon. By the time we got over there it was about 1.30 and of course it was during the cloudy part of the weather pattern...so we went into the pool restaurant to kill time. As I was sitting there, a bride came out to an area near the beach. Now, as everyone knows, I cant resist an opportunity to attend a wedding...heck, I've been to a wedding at St. Pats in New York..dont ask me who they were lol

Anyway, I high tailed it around the buildings and took up my position before the bride got down the "aisle". As I was standing against the wall watching, I was immediately transported to Kirsty & Lee's wedding, 2 years ago tomorrow. (Happy Anniversary!!) It was the same sort of day, but this bride caught a break and the weather allowed her to get married in exactly the spot that my bride was supposed to in 2006. Yesterday, it didnt rain until near the very end of the photo shoot and it certainly never rained nearly as hard as it did that day! lol But a the same time, I was sort of sad for yesterdays couple...they were all alone...not a single sole that they knew shared in their happiness. The bride I knew - although she didnt get the wedding of her dreams - had every single one of her most loved family & friends there together. It was most definitely a celebration with laughter, tears, hugs, disbelief, dancing and drunkeness but most of all there was LOVE. I shook my head to bring me back to today and walked away before the first kiss. Then I reminded myself for the millionth time to stop and appreciate the days as they come...you never know if you will get another one like it.

I just get home and I go upstairs to shower and the phone rings. Jamie yells, "Mommm!!!!! The handlebars on Scott's bike are loose and he needs you to take an allan key to him." What??????????? For a brief second I thought that I was back in the 90's! Nope..just a nightmare...yes..they are all married! :-) "No problem.. I am coming right now"

Then last night we went all went to Stonewall's. It is a restaurant that Jason owns with Neil, the chef that was at Gourmet Galley previously. It is a nice "bistro" type place downtown- built in the stone walled garden area of a building that was a home in the Georgian era and is now a business place- at least on the ground floor. I promise pictures in a future post because it really is a very cute place with good food. Anyway I came out and directly across the street is a store with 2 bumper stickers on the doors.






























The mental computer goes- Holy shit...SKF....hey that's where my Daddy worked! Wait until I tell him...Oh, never mind ...I miss him.... Where am I?? SKF in St. Kitts- who would have thunk it.



As a photojournalist, I sucked today. I forgot the camera until tonight and even then I didnt think about taking pictures until I saw the SKF signs.

A Clear Statement

I want to make something very clear. All "vet student" rants/complaints are jokes made in the fondest of fashions. My very amazing, American daughter in law was one of those "damn vet students" and if she hadnt come to school here, Jamie wouldnt have experienced one of the best days of his life.

I sincerely dont hate them...just get off my groceries! lol

Desperado or Routine #358 or those damn vet students!

Before Randy, I had never known the pleasure of having a TV in the bedroom. In the world I came from, it was just unheard of and it took me some time to learn to go to sleep with background noise. Now, the sound- no matter what is on, is like a lullaby. So much so, that one of the first five questions I ask when we are in a hotel room is, "Does the converter have a "Sleep" setting??

Before we arrived, Scott had arranged to have one converter box set up and waiting for us. Then the first week we were here, we went to The Cable office to register and pick up our 2nd converter box for the bedroom. "Sorry, but we have a shortage of boxes and we are keeping them for first time customers." What????...how does a Cable company have a shortage of boxes?...that is their livelihood!! Dont they plan these things out?? Oh ya..this is St. Kitts. Then comes the kicker...with a new school term starting in January, there are lots of new students needing the boxes. Since when did my St. Kitts include all these kids?? Things are hard enough here, without all of the extra competition!!

So, for the first couple of weeks there has been no TV in the bedroom...no soothing voice to go to sleep by... just dead silence. Not even the sound of the ocean or breezes...because of course after the "poop" incidence, the fear of creatures entering the bedroom overrides everything- much to my chagrin. I am working on that one though! lol

Then this week my husband gets the bright idea that we will connect the T.V. without a box and see what happens- And voila! we get every channel...but just the sound...the picture is still scrambled. So now we go to sleep with the usual lullaby but I am still learning that if something peaks my interest, there is no point in turning over to look... only in St. Kitts!

Sometimes you have to share your cloud

If you have noticed that I havent posted for a couple of days, it isnt because I have lost interest and it sure isnt because I have been busy lol- in fact, I was just thinking that I will have to get some baby powder or something to sooth my ass which is now sore from sitting around so much! No, I have not posted because I couldn't think of anything to say. There is definitely a big difference from being "semi-retired" in Toronto to being "retired" in St. Kitts and now that much of the "settling in" has been done, my days have taken on a certain sameness or routine. When I started this blog, I had visions of writing about all the beautiful things about St. Kitts, taking pictures from all over the island...a wealth of material. And eventually I will, but it hasnt happened yet. Sure I could write and tell you about our visit to the Carib brewing factory to get beer and cigarettes (how white trash sounding- lol) yesterday, but truth is, it was relatively uneventful.
Then Heather and Scott stopped in last night on their way out and when Heather saw that I was mindlessly playing games on the computer, she said.."I dont see you working on your blog..Missy" I told her my problem and she said, "so write about the sameness." Which in turn led me to think about the routines that creep into our lives that as we get older are harder and harder to break without becoming cranky. I came face to face with one yesterday.

Let me start this one by saying that I love my children more than anything in the world. Good, bad and everything in between and they have all been that. Both Kirsty and Scott will be experiencing the beginning of this unwavering love very very soon. But I have not always been the very best parent. I will be the first to admit that I have a small, teeny tiny, little, minuscule selfish streak (ok..some people might argue with the descriptives) and as we all know, parenting and selfish can not be put in the same sentence and have it make any sense. Furthermore, I absolutely love it when my adult children come to visit. It is fun, entertaining, loving and always educational.

Anyway, back to the routine thing. When I am at home, I LOVE to be in a nightie. Some people like sweat suits, some people have napping gear, boxer shorts, gentleman's pants, whatever..mine is a nightie. Over the years, I have learned to switch up the nighties because the people you live with get tired of seeing the same outfit, day in and day out. When I was living with my kids and my sisters on Sir Raymond, I wore the same nightie everyday for about 2 years..so much so that one time when I went away some where, I came home and of course the first thing that I did was run upstairs to put on the nightgown (it was actually a cream coloured sleeveless beach cover up type thing with one big flower on it- not to be confused with the green night shirt thing that Sue wore or the long sleeve Seoul Olympics t-shirt that Cath wore for a lot more years lol) and after struggling a to get into it, discovered that my loving family had sown up the neck!

On Sunday Jamie arrived for a visit and on Monday afternoon I went upstairs to put the current night gown on and looked down. Oh my... there is something about a 51 1/2 year woman in a tank top nightie that just doesnt look so right, not that I can now imagine how it looked so right for the past 20 years! Back on went the bra and underwear. Later that night, when I went to take the garbage out, my son says, "you are going out in that?" Hello??? I have chased dogs, picked up ride less teenagers, gone to stores and done recognizance missions for suspicious girlfriends of my sister in these outfits and you were there. Now you are questioning my taking out the garbage?

Somebody is stepping on my routine and I am not taking it well! Where did these kids come from anyway?

I'm coming, I'm coming

I started writing a Seinfeld type blog this morning - a lot about nothing- and it is taking longer than I expected.

Now I have to run to the grocery store. It is Thursday and this is the day that the shelves are stocked with new product because containers arrive on Tuesday and Wednesdays. I learned in the last week that there is a new twist to shopping in St. Kitts - not only is the produce in short supply to begin with, but I am now competing with an entire university of rich white students looking for the same things.

On Tuesday I had decided to make stuffed zucchini...but 4 supermarkets, 2 street vendors and 1 market later, I came up empty on the main ingredient. So I guess that there will be no more spur of the minute...what are we having for dinner?- let me run to the store, thing.

But fore warned is fore armed and besides the enemy are mere kids!

Beaches-Part 2

If you are looking for a little more wave action on your beach..North Frigate Bay (beach 3) is the closest answer. It is the beach that runs along the Marriott property, south to Timothy Hill but the Marriott has built a break wall to try to limit drownings leading to law suits and although it is still much rougher than the Caribbean, their part of the beach is not as rough as the southern part. When there is a cruise ship in or when the hotel is busy the Marriott area can be busy but generally this is also a very quiet beach.













It is a beach that holds fond memories for me...my children loved to body surf on this beach when they were little and it is also where I took them when they had runny noses and I wanted to hold their heads under the water to clear out the nasal passages (I promise..no children were harmed in the making of that video! lol)! One time I brought a boogie board back from Puerto Rico for Jamie for Christmas and I had to carry it on a small LIAT plane without a seat of its own. That board and this beach provided hours and years of entertainment. When anyone comes to St. Kitts and professes an interest in surfing..this is the beach that they will receive their initiation!

Lee, Adam & Josh practice for the beach side wedding

It is also a beach just generally fulfills that elusive feeling of "belong here" in my heart and there is something about the wildness of the setting that hs always drawn me to it. I do believe that if you took a poll in our family...there has been more than 1 romance carried out on this beach..it has that allure ;_) Kirsty and Lee were going to seal that romance with a wedding on the Marriott part of the beach, then it was moved on to the property just off the beach and then it was moved inside. The unpredictability of January weather and the Atlantic Ocean!


Unfortunately progress is also taking its toll in this area with a group of developers from NFLD Canada building condos on the north side of Timothy Hill. 100's of years of vegetation is being trampled but I guess the view will be spectacular. If you look at the hill in the "pre-wedding" picture, you will see the hill before or maybe just as it started.


St. Kitts version of walruses!



When we were at this beach this day, an Englishman walked by and said.."I hope he can swim well because we have lost a few people here!" The only thing Scott seems to be losing, are his shorts!

Beaches not Restaurants-Part 1

Note..I have been trying to write this post for more than a week..so lets see if we can get through it!

The other night I was talking to Cath & Kirsty on the telephone (you have to love VOIP) when Scott & Heather called to ask if we wanted to go try out the new Bahamian restaurant that has just opened at Port Zante (the deep water harbour built for cruise ships and named after a Greek Island). I promised to write a review of the restaurant the next day...but.. when we arrived, the restaurant was closed and so we ate at another local restaurant- Circus Grill.

I found out the next day that the Bahamian restaurant- Goombay Hut- was only open for breakfast and lunch. We walked in around noon yesterday, looked at the menu and walked out. It is nothing more than salad/sandwich shop selling North American items with Bahamian names. Tuna in salad and sandwiches, chicken in Caesar salad and sandwiches, turkey sandwiches & pasta salads and that ever delectable- steamed bologna! Small portions..big prices and not a conch (which the Bahamas is known for) in sight! I give it less than 6 months.

So instead of restaurants reviews, lets start with beaches. They arent going anywhere!

St. Kitts is not generally known for its great beaches because it is a volcanic island which produces "black sand" as opposed to coral islands which produce "white sand" beaches. What you give up in sand, you gain in mountainous terrain, overall lushness and amazing views- a fair trade any day! All of the beaches I will probably ever talk about are contained on the southern most portion of the "chicken leg" (in the green shape thing) that makes up St. Kitts.


When I lived in St. Kitts before there was no road over Timothy Hill and so any beach on what is called the South East Peninsula was only accessible by boat. Beach 4 on the map-Frigate Bay was the beach back then. It is the closest beach on the Caribbean to any of the hotels.Below is the picture of Timothy Hill and you can see the road which now cuts through.

The picture below was taken from the top of Timothy Hill. All the beaches to the left of the hill are on the Atlantic side, while the beaches to the right are on the Caribbean.


If we have some spare time in the afternoon during the week we have been going to South Friars Bay (beach 2). It is almost always a very quiet beach anchored at one end by beach bar called Shipwreck- Food- lousy except for the french fries..homemade & delicious! and if you get take out, they wrap them in a banana leaf. Patrons- drunk and Beach-stony. Watching the mongeese and the monkeys play is the activity of choice. BTW St. Kitts has no snakes thanks to a history of having the mongoose!

At the other end, they are in the process of building what is billed as a 5 star open air restaurant with a giant tropical fish pool built into the ocean, in front of it. It was supposed to open sometime this month but in typical St. Kitts fashion...I am having my doubts! lol















Progress of Carambola Restaurant. I have to tell you that my heart breaks a little bit when I see the destruction of nature taking place in the name of progress. I understand that an economy that relies on tourism needs to move forward but if the attractive thing about St. Kitts is that it is not too touristy..where's the middle ground?

In between the sublime and the ridiculous is a lovely stretch of quiet beach. The water is generally clear and the sand, although not white, still feels great between the toes! It is beach for reading a good book, walking, lazing and dreaming. As well as seeing an occasional star fish!
















Your guess.




Next time..an Atlantic Beach

Betty or the Beast

I was going to get my hair trimmed before I left Canada but with time being tight and the hair not quite in my eyes, it just seemed better to leave it. Two weeks later I had no choice. There are a few options for hair dressers here but I figured that with my gorgeous (ha!) "white peoples" hair I would bite the bullet and pay the price for a trim at the Marriott.

Well... Jacqueline was very very nice and she gave a good wash but not since my father stopped taking me to Bruno's barber shop and my mother pulled out the yellow bowl have I had such "round" hair! You know me... even though I was the paying customer...I felt bad for her and couldnt say anything to have her correct it. Heck, I even tipped her for the pleasure!

The first thing Scott said was...she cut your hair like a "black chick's" and yes she had spent an inordinate amount of time, pulling and straightening like I had started with a full head of tight curls....but she was an older lady, well about my age) and did I mention very nice???

One look in the mirror and I knew that further Bettification had taken place! Please no Rosie O'Donnell jokes here. How did she get that role anyway??

















All I need is the bone for the back of my hair and the cave woman dress and I am there!

But at least my ankles are back!...Eat your hearts out girls! :-)