(Okay, maybe not forever, but at least for a few weeks!)
Yesterday I stayed at the Crane the entire day. I was still a bit burnt from Monday, so I spent most of the day on the beach under the lovely umbrellas. Took a few dips in the waves with my boogie board was really quite a perfectly boring day in Paradise until I headed to the pool complex.
I grabbed my camera on the way, knowing I intended to possibly get into a little bit of mischief. It took some doing, but eventually I found what I was looking for, neatly tucked away on the cliff side, quite overgrown with the local foliage.
The Horse. Not the whinnying kind (come to think of it, not even the sea-kind), although I’d love it if they had horses here! (On my way there, I stopped at the pool bar to ask the bartender where it was and he - obviously having no idea what I was talking about - replied "Wha, you don' see me pran-cin'?"...)
“The Horse” is the original stone path cut into the cliffs in the 18th century.
"The Horse"
I still don’t understand why it was called “the Horse,” but it was quite fascinating. In the 1700’s it wasn’t proper for people to frolic around in public not fully-dressed, but sea-bathing was incredibly popular. What to do??? At the bottom of the Horse is a discreet little cutout-cove where Sea-Bathers could go and enjoy the ocean without being seen.
The cutway cove for Sea-bathing
Now as much as I can appreciate history and the fact that we have very different standards now, would you really have been satisfied with that cutaway when you could have been laying on this amazing pink-sand beach (below)??? Not me. Not in a freaking million years. Get real.
Bunch of ridiculously demanding pansies, that old-fashioned lot.
Today, as I mentioned, "The Horse" staircase is wildly overgrown and sadly, crumbling to bits in parts. But it remains a fun little part of the Island’s history. The whole expedition made me feel like I should be wearing one of those funny, old-fashioned onesie-swimsuits and carrying a parasol!
"The Horse" in need of some TLC.
...
Today I went on the tour I’ve been waiting for all week. It did not disappoint! It was another little piece of Heaven, I’m happy to report. I went on a Catamaran tour. It was a small group of about 20 people on a lovely Catamaran, The Cool Runnings II (one of the standard boat names here in the islands).
Cool Runnings II in Bridgetown (far).
Great crew, fun and clean ship, great food, music and atmosphere. I’ve never enjoyed a Cruise-ship-type-excursion more! At the front of the Catamaran there are two large sections of nets. I spent most of the tour lying on those nets, watching the sea pass underneath or watching the view from the front. The crew kept asking me if I was okay. I think they thought I was sea-sick or something. Nope, just sprawled out on the nets in a state of sheer, relaxed joy!
One of the two nets, port stern.
I feel most at-home on the ocean, especially in the Caribbean. Its where I'm the most calm, at peace and chilled out. I could sit on the deck of a ship all day long. Its my slice of heaven.
We made three stops. The first we got to swim with Sea-Turtles (very different experience from Hawaii! In Hawaii you aren’t allowed to touch the Turtles, here you are!) The turtles swim right up to you and brush you with their rough shells. One even snapped at my leg! It was really cool. And these turtles were a groovy yellow-orange variation with a hooked beak, opposed to the green sea-turtles in Hawaii, which are, well, green, with soft, rounded faces.
About 15-feet of water. You can see straight to the bottom.
The second stop was at a Coral Reef. And I learned what fire-coral looks like! Luckily I didn’t touch it before I found out what it was. Don’t touch orange coral or you’ll feel like you’re on fire!! We went a little ways out from the reef and there was a shipwreck, which was also really cool, and creepy. I don’t have any underwater pictures because I didn’t bother to buy an underwater camera. Call me a party pooper, but I’ve got tons of underwater pix from other trips, plus having been here before, I knew the reef wasn't all that fantabulous. What I really want to get is an underwater casing for my camera!
The third stop was for lunch. We sailed up to one of the many, many, many beaches along the coast and dropped anchor a ways from shore. Lunch was very tasty (included some of the best gourmet mac & cheese I’ve EVER had, and I don’t like mac & cheese!) The everyone jumped back into the water, there were diving competitions among the passengers – everyone taking turns jumping off the boat, and we all swam to shore and looked for interesting rocks and shells. I found the bottom of a green beer-bottle that had been under the water for a while, its edges are all soft and rounded and its really a pretty piece of glass… probably one of the best things to come out of that beer! I'll add it to my collection of odds and ends back home from my travels... Wow, that made me sound like a crazy, old, cat-lady, didn't it? Hahaha.
An hours’ cruise back up the coast took us back into Bridgetown and back to the waiting hotel shuttle.
I’ve got a peach of a sunburn now. I’d say it measures somewhere between rotisserie and extra crispy. Its even on the tops of my feet (which, luckily, I forgot to put sun block on altogether).
I really want a bagel. Random, I know. I couldn't figure out why for a while, but I know now (I NEVER eat bagels these days): whenever we'd make home port on ships we'd head over to Einstein's for some non-ship food. Toasted chocolate chip bagel with strawberry schmear! Man oh man!
Home Port
=
Bagel Time!
Gotta love those Pavlovian responses!
...
Now back at the Crane. Just finished my evening swim in preparation to do battle with the mosquitoes! They don't bother you as much if you don't smell good, which suits me just fine for evening reading. On my way back up the cliff (to the hotel), a local guy told me I had a "gar-geous full-moon." Figure that one out yourself. Lol.
Yesterday I stayed at the Crane the entire day. I was still a bit burnt from Monday, so I spent most of the day on the beach under the lovely umbrellas. Took a few dips in the waves with my boogie board was really quite a perfectly boring day in Paradise until I headed to the pool complex.
I grabbed my camera on the way, knowing I intended to possibly get into a little bit of mischief. It took some doing, but eventually I found what I was looking for, neatly tucked away on the cliff side, quite overgrown with the local foliage.
The Horse. Not the whinnying kind (come to think of it, not even the sea-kind), although I’d love it if they had horses here! (On my way there, I stopped at the pool bar to ask the bartender where it was and he - obviously having no idea what I was talking about - replied "Wha, you don' see me pran-cin'?"...)
“The Horse” is the original stone path cut into the cliffs in the 18th century.
"The Horse"
I still don’t understand why it was called “the Horse,” but it was quite fascinating. In the 1700’s it wasn’t proper for people to frolic around in public not fully-dressed, but sea-bathing was incredibly popular. What to do??? At the bottom of the Horse is a discreet little cutout-cove where Sea-Bathers could go and enjoy the ocean without being seen.
The cutway cove for Sea-bathing
Now as much as I can appreciate history and the fact that we have very different standards now, would you really have been satisfied with that cutaway when you could have been laying on this amazing pink-sand beach (below)??? Not me. Not in a freaking million years. Get real.
Bunch of ridiculously demanding pansies, that old-fashioned lot.
Today, as I mentioned, "The Horse" staircase is wildly overgrown and sadly, crumbling to bits in parts. But it remains a fun little part of the Island’s history. The whole expedition made me feel like I should be wearing one of those funny, old-fashioned onesie-swimsuits and carrying a parasol!
"The Horse" in need of some TLC.
...
Today I went on the tour I’ve been waiting for all week. It did not disappoint! It was another little piece of Heaven, I’m happy to report. I went on a Catamaran tour. It was a small group of about 20 people on a lovely Catamaran, The Cool Runnings II (one of the standard boat names here in the islands).
Cool Runnings II in Bridgetown (far).
Great crew, fun and clean ship, great food, music and atmosphere. I’ve never enjoyed a Cruise-ship-type-excursion more! At the front of the Catamaran there are two large sections of nets. I spent most of the tour lying on those nets, watching the sea pass underneath or watching the view from the front. The crew kept asking me if I was okay. I think they thought I was sea-sick or something. Nope, just sprawled out on the nets in a state of sheer, relaxed joy!
One of the two nets, port stern.
I feel most at-home on the ocean, especially in the Caribbean. Its where I'm the most calm, at peace and chilled out. I could sit on the deck of a ship all day long. Its my slice of heaven.
We made three stops. The first we got to swim with Sea-Turtles (very different experience from Hawaii! In Hawaii you aren’t allowed to touch the Turtles, here you are!) The turtles swim right up to you and brush you with their rough shells. One even snapped at my leg! It was really cool. And these turtles were a groovy yellow-orange variation with a hooked beak, opposed to the green sea-turtles in Hawaii, which are, well, green, with soft, rounded faces.
About 15-feet of water. You can see straight to the bottom.
The second stop was at a Coral Reef. And I learned what fire-coral looks like! Luckily I didn’t touch it before I found out what it was. Don’t touch orange coral or you’ll feel like you’re on fire!! We went a little ways out from the reef and there was a shipwreck, which was also really cool, and creepy. I don’t have any underwater pictures because I didn’t bother to buy an underwater camera. Call me a party pooper, but I’ve got tons of underwater pix from other trips, plus having been here before, I knew the reef wasn't all that fantabulous. What I really want to get is an underwater casing for my camera!
The third stop was for lunch. We sailed up to one of the many, many, many beaches along the coast and dropped anchor a ways from shore. Lunch was very tasty (included some of the best gourmet mac & cheese I’ve EVER had, and I don’t like mac & cheese!) The everyone jumped back into the water, there were diving competitions among the passengers – everyone taking turns jumping off the boat, and we all swam to shore and looked for interesting rocks and shells. I found the bottom of a green beer-bottle that had been under the water for a while, its edges are all soft and rounded and its really a pretty piece of glass… probably one of the best things to come out of that beer! I'll add it to my collection of odds and ends back home from my travels... Wow, that made me sound like a crazy, old, cat-lady, didn't it? Hahaha.
An hours’ cruise back up the coast took us back into Bridgetown and back to the waiting hotel shuttle.
I’ve got a peach of a sunburn now. I’d say it measures somewhere between rotisserie and extra crispy. Its even on the tops of my feet (which, luckily, I forgot to put sun block on altogether).
I really want a bagel. Random, I know. I couldn't figure out why for a while, but I know now (I NEVER eat bagels these days): whenever we'd make home port on ships we'd head over to Einstein's for some non-ship food. Toasted chocolate chip bagel with strawberry schmear! Man oh man!
Home Port
=
Bagel Time!
Gotta love those Pavlovian responses!
...
Now back at the Crane. Just finished my evening swim in preparation to do battle with the mosquitoes! They don't bother you as much if you don't smell good, which suits me just fine for evening reading. On my way back up the cliff (to the hotel), a local guy told me I had a "gar-geous full-moon." Figure that one out yourself. Lol.
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