8/2/11 Tuesday
We heard there were going to be two cruise ships in town today so we left the hotel at 8:00 in order to beat the crowds. We took a bus to St. Georges and ad breakfast at Denya’s on the main road. I had a cheese sandwich on a fresh roll with coffee and a piece of cake. Kim had a cheese bun, it was still warm from the oven, the bill was $12.50 EC. I had never been to the north side of the island and one goal this trip was to visit there to see if we would like to spend a couple days in that area next year. The bus was crowded, as the morning buses always are. I took the last seat in the back row, the conductor directed Kim to the second last row. She looked down at the gap between the bench seat and the fold down one and wondered where she was supposed to sit. Then he passed back a cushion that fits over the gap and she was all set. The ride up the west coast was lovely; we passed many mall bays on the way. We arrived in Sauters and walked towards the center of town. We were soon met by a man who asked if we were looking for Caribs Leap, or Leapers Hill as it is called here. I thought he was going to try to “guide” us there for some coins, but rather he just pointed out the way and wished us a good day. We went past a school where the children were on morning recess, one young boy, about 7 or so, stopped to talk to us. I asked him if he enjoyed his holiday yesterday and what he wanted to be when he grew up, a policeman he said. The children all looked so lovely in their uniforms. We passed through a cemetery; many of the people were born in the early 1900’s and lived well past 80, to the monument commemorating the event of Leapers Hill. There is a lookout platform and some small building there but they seemed to have been lacking in maintenance and use. The path to the platform was overgrown with vines. We spent time relaxing and looking at the rugged coast line and the islands in the distance.

The view of the coast from Leapers Hill
After a walk through town we boarded another bus for Grenville, on the west coast. Sauteurs was a quaint little town, the kind we like, but we probably wouldn’t stay there as the sea is too rough for Kim to swim in. We will visit again though. As we rode the bus people were getting on and off through the countryside, there were 21 on it at one time counting school children. One young man, had two sacks of nutmeg that he took to the nutmeg processing plant in Hermitage, I regret we didn’t get off there for a look around as the town seems to be nothing more than a crossroads; we can do that next time. We arrived in Grenville and went to a local bar along the water for beers. Caribs were 3 for $10 EC so enjoyed a few while talking to a local man who was interested in how we liked Grenada. He was an architect, admired the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, who designed many buildings in Buffalo. He asked our opinion of President Obama, as many do in the Caribbean, and we discussed politics in America for a while. We wandered through town and stopped at a wonderful place for lunch, B&G’s Restaurant and Bar. It is right near where the cross island buses to St. Georges park. The owner had lived on Miami and the interior of the bar was much nicer than we would have though looking at the outside. He lead us to the courtyard he had setup out back and we dined under one of the palapas. I had an amazing chicken roti, the dough was as flaky as pastry dough, even Kim liked it and she does not eat curry. Kim had the chicken and chips, two whole chicken wings breaded and deep fried with some nice fries. With three Caribs the bill was $30 EC (that’s less than $12 US).

The courtyard at B&G's Bar and Restaurant, that isn't the sea, just a mural behind us.
We grabbed another bus to go back to St. Georges; we opted for the #2 bus which goes along the east coast. The ride was nice with great views of the Atlantic Ocean on one side and mountains on the other. Once we got to St. Georges we went to the spice market where I bought two large calabash bowls filled with spices form the very lovely lady who had given Kim some great advice when we were there the other day. I’ll tell you. You don’t get that kind of customer care in the states. After leaving the market we took the bus back to Grand Anse beach and stopped off at the Lexus for a drink. We had been contemplating staying there and wanted to check out the area. There had been intermittent showers during the day and they were getting heavier so we decided to just stay at the hotel for the evening. The skies cleared for just in time to get some beautiful sunset photos while enjoying a couple glasses of rum.

Sunset as seen from the balcony of our $96 US a night hotel room on Grand Anse Beach.