Beautiful Barbados

What a trip!

I thought by packing earlier on Friday night I could sleep better.  Not so - I was still awake most of the night thinking, worrying...

At 8:30am I left with Mimi for her sister's house.  Mimi is so lucky - she doesn't even know what a kennel is.

I got back home and waited for Tom to get there.  He rolled in at 10am, just after the taxi got there.

The trip to Regan airport was uneventfull.  We actually got there about 10:30, possibly the earliest we have arrived for any flight.

Checkin, security, no problems.  We decided to have something to eat at this little place by the gate.  No coffee!  AARRGGHH  Tom convinced the manager that they should still have coffee at 10:45am.

Boarded plane.  We had seats D and F.  Tom convinced the woman in E that she'd like to move back a couple rows closer to her husband...and we had no one in E so could stretch out a bit more.

From the beginning this was a bumpy ride, thanks to Hurricane Isaac which was headed to Miami, same as us.  You can see him just over Cuba at 60 miles per hour at the time we were nearing Miami.

We finally landed and found our next gate, only 4 gates away.  Gate 1 was already fairly crowded with people headed to Barbados.

I found a little newsstand with the nut/fruit bars I like. I got 2 at $3.99 each.

Settled in for the 2 hour wait and an announcement came up that we were leaving 30 minutes early.  Ok, great for us, not those running for a connection.

Waited a bit more.  Announcement that our plane had major issues and they would find us a new one

Waited.  New gate.  Now gate 50 which is 2 terminals away by sky train and we had 30 minutes to get there.

We navigated all that and got there to learn they'd found a plane but it needed to be made ready.

Tom went to the newsstand for snacks.  The only thing I'd had so far was that fruit/nut bar at gate 1

He came back with a variety of stuff, including some more fruit/nut bars. But at this gate they were only $2.89. Go figure!

Finally, we got onboard.  We were the last flight out of Miami for a few days.  Another bumpy trip but we made it to Barbados at 11:30.  Naturally, out suitcase was nearly last on the carrousel but it arrived!  Through Immigration and Customs and off to Stoute for our rental car.  Tom's debit card was rejected...we'd forgotten to let them know we were traveling.

We got to The Crane just before midnight and found out that the people who had been in our apartment last week hadn't been able to leave so they were giving us the penthouse for the night, the week or the whole trip.

This place is huge, too big for us.  If Michael can come this weekend, that would be good but otherwise...

We opened up all the doors for a cross breeze, looked around a bit and fell asleep.

Early on Sunday, Tom went to his usual meeting and I poked around. This place didn't seem to have a laundry, a feature we rely on heavily but I found one across the hall.

I do hate the "tower pools" but I haven't actually been in one yet.  Maybe it won't be so bad.

I texted Michael and Alice to let them know we'd gotten here and called my mom.

Did some work and started this blog post.  The wifi up here is very slow and the first picture hasn't even uploaded yet. Maybe I'll add the other to another post...later. 

Tom came back with salt bread so all is well in my world!

Bajan Salt Bread

This traditional bread made in Barbados, is one of the only breads that isn't very sweet. However don't let the name fool you. This bread is definitely not salty. This bread can be used to accommodate almost any filling. This local delicacy is the housing for the popular bread & two which consists of salt bread filled with two fish cakes.

You can find salt breads at bakeries and bread shops throughout the island of Barbados. A pack usually contains six (6) salt breads sold in clear plastic bags.  Bajan Salt Breads are baked daily and would usually be accompanied by a piece of khus grass on the bread, but do not be afraid! This is to preserve the freshness of the bread. Enjoy!

 

 

 

A few more from the Gulf of Maine

Where we're headed. Whales guaranteed. More later - hopefully!

Since I was in bed at 9, I woke up at 6 AM - unheard of! Finally, I stopped trying to get back to sleep and started checking email and message boards. Susan woke up and we started planning our day.

There was an Essex River Cruise leaving a 1 and we decided to get on it.

The captain gave a wonderful narration of the islands, wildlife and the estuary itself.

The word “estuary” is derived from the Latin word aestuarium meaning tidal inlet of the sea, which in itself is derived from the term aestus, meaning tide. There have been many definitions proposed to describe an estuary. The most widely accepted definition is: “a semi-enclosed coastal body of water, which has a free connection with the open sea, and within which sea water is measurably diluted with freshwater derived from drainage.

Check out this video of our trip that someone posted oh YouTube;

See all the pictures here: https://picasaweb.google.com/111010152758124757139/EssexRiver

After the cruise we decided to wander around the little seaside town of Rockport. Lots of neat shops. We went into the candy shop and didn't come out empty handed...

Since I was in bed at 9, I woke up at 6 AM - unheard of! Finally, I stopped trying to get back to sleep and started checking email and message boards. Susan woke up and we started planning our day.

There was an Essex River Cruise leaving a 1 and we decided to get on it.

The captain gave a wonderful narration of the islands, wildlife and the estuary itself.

The word “estuary” is derived from the Latin word aestuarium meaning tidal inlet of the sea, which in itself is derived from the term aestus, meaning tide. There have been many definitions proposed to describe an estuary. The most widely accepted definition is: “a semi-enclosed coastal body of water, which has a free connection with the open sea, and within which sea water is measurably diluted with freshwater derived from drainage.

Check out this video of our trip that someone posted oh YouTube;

See all the pictures here: https://picasaweb.google.com/111010152758124757139/EssexRiver

After the cruise we decided to wander around the little seaside town of Rockport. Lots of neat shops. We went into the candy shop and didn't come out empty handed...

A few starter pictures...

Friday night seems so long ago now but that was when I took our dog to her sister's house - or what we call "summer camp". Mimi is so fortunate that her sister and human family let her visit so often and that she's never had to go to a kennel.

I got back from that about 10 and we had a quick dinner of sandwiches from the grocery. Then to finish up packing.

I got to bed about 12:30... Not too bad but we had to get up at 2:15 to catch our flight.

Our taxi arrived at 3 and we got to the airport by 4. Unfortunately, the flight folks didn't get there until nearly 5 so we couldn't check our baggage.

Finally, that was done, we cleared security, and got to the gate. One interesting thing about this flight was that we had used frequent flier miles on United. They got us the tickets through their partner, Air Canada, so we found ourselves flying from Washington, DC to Toronto before heading south to Barbados. Added a bit to the trip!

We did get some good sunrise pictures from the plane, though. The last few look like the wing is on fire.
Maybe later I'll make up a better story about those pictures :)

All went well and we got to Toronto in about an hour and a half. Cleared customs there but didn't have to get our luggage. Yea!

On to the next gate. The next flight had a bit of turbulence but I was proud of myself and didn't scream although I did clutch the armrests pretty heavily.

We arrived and all was well. Got our luggage, cleared customs and immigration and off to Stoute Rental Car. We have been renting cars (and once, bicycles) from them for about 15 years.

And we're off to The Crane, remembering to drive on the left. Around the roundabouts and up the road.

At last, we are home!

We got unpacked very quickly. We already know where everything goes. Computers set up, stuff put away, furniture moved so that the desk is facing the big doors to the ocean instead of the wall and smaller window to the ocean.

We went to the little grocery store here to tide us over until the real store on Sunday.

Tom did some email checking, I read and napped, then out to dinner at D'Onofrio's (Italian). Yummy food then back home.

When we got to our front door, there were 3 tiny baby frogs. I wished I had my camera. I got lucky when we got in because there was a slightly bigger one in our kitchen sink. I got his picture!

A little TV, a little reading, then fast asleep.

...and we'll be at the airport for our trip to Barbados.