Tina, Ian, and Malcolm Guest Blog #1

According to Jill, we are overdue for our first guest blog. That might be because we left the task to Malcolm (age 1) and he only came up with the following: "Da, da, da, da, DA! Doey, doey doey! Ah, Da! DA!! Mmmmmm MaMaMaMa, doey, doey, doey!" Malcolm repeated this enthusiastically during our drive around the island yesterday (much to the distress of Dean who was seated next to him in the cramped back seat of the Toyota Rava we'd rented). For some reason Dean seemed in better spirits after the tour of the Westerhall Rum Distillery. I am not sure if it had anything to do with the large portions of rum (including the notorious Jack Iron of Carriacou (70% alcohol, 140 proof) bottled there) poured by our enthusiastic guide as he shrugged off Ian's protests of having to drive after the tour. As Jill said, "Now that's a guy who loves his job!" Nonetheless, Ian did admirably driving on the left side of the narrow, winding, hilly roads. By the end of the day he was even picking up some of the Grenadian driving habits (e.g., using his horn to say, "I'm passing you", "Go ahead", "Me first", "Good afternoon" and "I have a horn"). Maybe the rum tour actually helped his driving...

On Sunday, we took Delilah out for a short sail and joined the weekly cookout with locals and cruisers at Rogers bamboo-hut (literally) beach-side bar on (uninhabited, other than Roger) Hog Island. It was a perfect location and as we stood knee-deep in the water drinking Carib beer and Ting (grapefruit-flavored soda), chatting with Jill and Dean's cruiser friends as the kids played around us waiting for more empty bottles to use as beach toys (who needs Toys"R"us?), I must confess I did turn and whisper to Ian, "Ok, I could do this for a year..."

Malcolm, Ian and I (Tina) have been having an amazing time down here with Jill, Dean, Delilah and Digby. We have been staying at True Blue Bay Resort with Delilah anchored in the beautiful turquoise water right out front. If anyone is considering going to medical school, I HIGHLY recommend looking into St. George's University. The campus is located directly across the bay from the resort. I am certain there is not a medical school (or perhaps ANY school) out there with a more beautiful campus. We are pretty sure we saw a medical student studying (with his bikini-clad girlfriend and adorable yellow lab puppy) on the gorgeous beach where we went snorkeling yesterday (not a bad life for a guy who couldn't get into a U.S. medical school...). The water was absolutely crystal clear and we saw many interesting fish, some new coral and (we think) a sea snake. After the afternoon of swimming, snorkeling, collecting sea glass, eating sand (Malcolm) and napping (Dean), we enjoyed drinks and an appetizer of callaloo (a spinach-like vegetable... without the e. coli!) canneloni on the deck of the beach-side restaurant. As our afternoon ended, we watched a storm cloud in the distance over the water and then the largest rainbow I have ever seen appeared... It was an amazing day.

Our stay here has been made that much better thanks to Dean who spotted a mouse in our original room (during a late night dominoes game - we are hooked thanks to Jill and Dean!) on our second night here. A mere mention of the mouse-spotting to the front desk led to an immediate offer of a room change. Since our original room had the set-up of a small one bedroom apartment (with A/C only in the bedroom, much to my distress) to accommodate Malcolm's twice daily naps and 6:30pm bedtime, we were upgraded (and I mean UP!!!!!-graded) to one of the "Villa" rooms. This is not really a room, but a 2-story, 2-bedroom, 2-bath, air-conditioned house. The "room" has a gourmet kitchen, jacuzzi tub, absolutely breathtaking views of the bay from the second floor balcony and a pool IN the room. Really, there is a pool INSIDE our hotel room! Dean refers to it as "The Palace" and, I have to admit, finding a mouse in your hotel room is really kind of a wonderful thing...