December 29

#2 Son Mark’s birthday!  #29.  Happy birthday, Mark.

Grenada is said to be one of the most picturesque ports in the Caribbean.  And we agree. The harbor is shaped like a horseshoe.It is rainy season here and everything is lush and green, the towns have some beautiful colonial architecture and the island is filled with spice trees.

As we came into port and then as we ate our breakfast, we had some brief showers and a beautiful double rainbow occurred.  Unfortunately neither of us had our phones or cameras with us!  But we took it as a birthday tribute to Mark. We had a couple of brief showers before we left but the day turned out to be beautiful.

Our excursion today was a clear bottom kayak trip.  Our driver, Peter, picked us up at the pier and drove us to the Grand Mal Bay next to the Sunset View restaurant on the island’s west coast.  We had a safety briefing and then we kayaked over the Grand Mal coral reefs and down to Cherry Hill, then we turned around to Molinere Bay.  There is an underwater sculpture garden and many divers and snorkelers come from around the world to see it. We could look right down through the clear bottom of the kayaks!

We saw a lot of varieties of coral, fish and the incredible sculptures. And we saw a young girl snorkeler who had on a mermaid tail instead of the flippers.  Unfortunately we didn’t get that picture!

Here are some shots of the adventure. When you see us looking down, we are gazing at the underwater magic through the clear bottom of the kayak. Great idea and we really enjoyed this view.  We love snorkeling too, but this was unique for us.

When we came back to the beach we had to paddle around a big tanker and the winds and waves made it a good workout.  Luckily, there was a delicious rum punch with fresh island nutmeg grated on top of it, and fresh island fruits waiting for us.

We collected lots of sea glass on the beach, and I met a man who was swimming with his wife and daughter.  He asked where I was from and I told him, he said he was from NJ.  I asked him where, and he said Toms River, which is just north of where our beach house is.  I mentioned that, and what a surprise when he said he went to the police academy with our new chief of police in Harvey Cedars.  You can’t make this stuff up – the world is THAT SMALL!

Peter picked us up and we went on a tour of the island before coming back to the ship.

Yes, they have Shop Rite here too!

Riviera is here in port with us again!

Fishing boat

Market Square

St. George’s Anglican Church

Saying welcome, but for us it is goodbye to Grenada

And, here is our view before we left.  A beautiful place and a fun day.