Grenada first week

Grenada
The Spice of the Caribbean

Spring 2008

Jonathan displays his new haircut...and the wonder of epoxy - as applied to footwear.

I won't say whom suggested heading out to the particular establishment whose dessert offerings have gone from outstanding to...well...inexplicable. Nor will I mention the establishment. Suffice it to say that their desserts over the past year and a half have evolved from sweet gastric sensations to disappointments to a point where taste expectations have been entirely eclipsed by the pure entertainment value that the desserts provide.

Heather and Josh; Jonathan and Britney.
Peter is behind the camera.

Josh cleverly designs an insurance policy into his dessert experience. He orders two desserts: the old standby, a banana split (nearly impossible to totally screw up,) and, with extreme optimism, the crème brûlée. The crème brûlée is a particularly sore spot. This delight has gone from uniquely superb to sub-edible petri dish. Not only that, but Ave in particular went to great lengths to get the establishment to go back to their old wonderful ways - to no avail. It has now been a nearly year-long struggle between hope and disappointment. Despite all of this history, Josh forges ahead with a twinkle of longing in his eyes.

Round One: The banana split. Delicious as usual...only...Josh resorts to consuming it with his drink stirrer, as we wait a good long time for any utensils. Britney, Peter, and I, in a very even handed and open mined gesture, decided to give the warm brownie and ice cream a try. Not too tall an order. Or so we thought. Britney and I consumed soupy ice cream and cool, brick-hard "brownies" as Peter waited. Peter's brownie chose to hold back on it's grand entrance until everyone else was finished. It seemed worth the wait, as his confection initially appeared to be served at more appropriate temperatures, and he started out on a good footing as he had a spoon. However, the comedy of errors continued, as Peter soon discovered that his brownie was just as hard as ours was, only it was literally like a hard, dry brick just out of the oven - a nuclear oven perhaps. His taste buds are only now recovering from the scorching.

Round Two: The pièce de résistance was the unveiling of Josh's much anticipated crème brûlée. It looked like it might be the coveted dessert: hard and crusty on top (burned, really) with the promise of sublime custard underneath. Much to Josh's dismay, however, and rather to the humorous reception of everyone else, the kitchen had not made any improvements since our last visit when we were assured that the confection had been restored to its former glory. It hadn't then, and it wasn't now. The custard wasn't cooked - it never set...and not just the center mind you: most of the dessert was liquid. Just like the last time we tried it. Utterly inedible, if not a vector for food-borne pathogens.

His lower lip starts to pout and quiver as Josh realizes he has been had. Again. There are only two options: to cry or to laugh. Or both. We all felt for him.

The State of Affairs...and The Verdict.

The SOSes have been meeting more often for breakfast. More recently, breakfast has moved to an apartment, and Jonathan has been the tireless chef! You name it: french toast, pancakes, omelettes...this pirate can do it!

Noga, Anna, Jonathan, and Britney...with blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes...topped with nutmeg syrup and whipped cream!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Peter and I enjoyed a lovely Valentine's Day dinner at True Blue Bay Resort after Peter surprises me with flowers (traditional flowers are ironically hard to come by around here.) Happily, we made the bus and strolled to the restaurant.

We had a super dinner, followed by a scrumptious parfait.
On the way home, we decided to walk to campus to find the next bus, and stop at a coffee shop on the way home. Britney happened upon us meandering around and saved us from our transport plight by driving us all the way home. :)

Awwww!

Britney, Noga, and I head up to Belmont Estate for a leisurely lunch and a stroll around the grounds.

On the way to Belmont, we took a detour to check out the Cabier Ocean Lodge, another cute off-the-beaten-path accommodation.

Cabier Ocean Lodge:
very inviting!

They even have a "Loo with a View!"

Belmont Estate
Always a treat

What a difference high season makes! It was amazing to see all of the cocoa drying racks and fermentation booths full to the brim, and to watch as the ladies shuffled through the beans to dry them all day long. Tourist season is also in swing, so there were plenty of folks milling about taking tours.

This trip, we had lunch first, followed, of course, by some scrumptious chocolate tea. After lunch, we strolled around the grounds.

I was most excited to see that many of the gardens were going strong as well. On previous trips, I was left to wonder if ever there were more than a handful of orchids in the "orchid garden," but this time we were treated to a nice variety of plants and blooms.

Weeding the orchid gardens. Most garden hand work here is done with one all-purpose tool: the cutlass (or machete.) If you thought weeding in temperate zones was a chore, just imagine what it's like in a tropical climate...oh my!

Soursop: a large and imposing fruit. A little sweet, a little sour.

Even the "Blue" garden was in bloom.

Britney and Noga make friends with the female Mona monkey by offering her a few raw peanuts supplied by a worker who noted our interest in the monkeys.

The familiar...and the less so.

After we departed from Belmont, Noga showed me where the Grenada Chocolate Company is located. We found out from the source, once and for all, that they are actually closed for tours permanently. I guess I missed out on quite a highlight. Evidently, loud new equipment make touring the facility a challenge.

Oh well. I did, on the other hand, find a great "shrimp" plant - a huge bush - in bloom on the property.

River rocks, all gussied up from independence day.

That evening, Peter and I went to the Aquarium for an early dinner of sandwiches at the Aquarium.

After an entire day of culinary delights, my belly really starts to show...!

Some of the large corals in quite shallow waters

We had a pretty exciting shallow-water encounter with a rather unpredictable free-swimming moray.

Above: what we see. Below: what he sees. Who's scarier??

The excitement continued as Peter wrassled one of the dangerous, local lobsters in the open ocean! (Just kidding, this is just a lobster exoskeleton, shed by it's former owner.)

Yep. I still can't get enough of the cowfish...especially the little baby butterballs like this one.

Peter had a nice find with this large puffer.

Long-haired corals and lined reef fish.

It was a lovely jaunt into the sea.
On the way back to the car, we came upon one of this year's baby goats, a twin grazing near Mom.

Before I left, Peter and I had a lovely meal at La Belle Creole.

Which was followed by wonderful desserts at Allemande.

Peter, Heather, Josh, Ave, and Noga