Last weekend marked the end of midterms! After a week of studying nearly nonstop, I needed a break and both of us wanted to not only get far away from the campus study halls, but far away from our side of the island. So Tyler rented a car and we decided that on Saturday we would drive to the other side of our country (our little tiny island of a country) to the north side and see what kind of good stuff was over there.
Tyler, in all of his super awesomeness, found a sweet little resort inn for us to have lunch at. So we loaded up the rental car and braved the Grenadian roads and the left-hand driving to start our adventure to the north side. The little touristy resort “road map” of Grenada is in fact the official driving map and we did our best to follow the yellow road up the Atlantic coastline until we reached our destination – and we managed to do so with remarkable success considering there are maybe 15 road signs in the entire country. Oh, and this was made even more interesting by the fact that we had a left-hand drive car too!
A little view of the northern cities.
Driving was actually really fun! You have to honk your horn when going around corners, which is absurdly hilarious. We got it down after a while. And it is funny how many goats you see walking along the side of the road or when you get to a fork in a road and really have no idea which way to go because there are no signs. But every time we could see the beautiful ocean it was so great. After about 90 minutes of driving up the coast on what was a spectacular Saturday here, we got to the resort. It is owned by a British couple so we had some British cider and some legit British food for lunch while sitting in this super cute little restaurant overlooking a perfectly crystal clear ocean with all of Grenada’s smaller islands visible right off the coast.
After our delicious lunch, we just checked out the area a little and admired the view a little while longer. They had some sweet lounge chairs on their pool deck and we spent some time admiring the view and relaxing and enjoying a whole day in while we did not have to do anything. No schedule, no agenda, just fun and relaxation.
Isn't that view just spectacular?
After lunch we started on our way to Bathway beach, which is a locals beach on the northern Atlantic side of the island that Tyler had read about. So we got back into the car, opened the sun roof and all of the windows, turned up the sweet driving CD we burned (so 90’s right?) and traversed some more roads.
On our way we saw the spot for Carib’s leap, which is a historical site of where the native Caribs committed suicide when the Island was under French control. We had heard about it and really wanted to see it. It was not nearly as impressive as we thought, but there was a sweet memorial and a beautiful lookout. However, it was kinda at the end of the cemetery so we were glad we went in midday because walking through a cemetery at night is just way too weird.
After our little detour at Carib’s leap, we managed to make it to Bathway beach. We were at first confused by the no swimming signs, but soon learned by the help of a passing local that we were just not supposed to swim beyond the rocky ridge that was a little bit off-shore. The waves crashing over the rocks made floating and swimming around here a lot of fun. We certainly enjoyed it. And after our little beach swim we decided to partake in the single most common Grenadian tradition, drinks from a local rum shop. These things are everywhere and are open at any and all times. So, the nice lady who had a little wooden shack right on the sand made us some drinks which we enjoyed while admiring the water and the waves.
To end our night we decided that we would drive down the Caribbean side, thereby effectively driving around the entire island, and watch the sunset and just enjoy our country. We had a few funny experiences, one of which being the funny local Grenadian guy that took us to see the rock carvings at this random fisherman’s beach. The views were breathtaking, even if the rock drawings were less than impressive. But apparently best on the whole island!
After that little stop we pretty much drove straight home. It still takes over an hour to drive from north to south so we got to see the entire sunset along the peaceful seaside road. We even stopped for some roasted corn being sold on the side of the road, which was unexpectedly delicious.
All in all, we had a blast. We have learned that our little made up adventures are always the best. Tyler and I had flashbacks to our first roadtrip together we made last summer where we went border to border along the west coast. Hard to believe that we traversed an entire country in a single day when then we spent 2 weeks going through only 3 states. Makes the sheer size difference of our new home quite real. We look forward to possible getting a car sometime in the spring and then we can take more trips like this and see more that Grenada has to offer. We have quite a few things on our bucket list we want to see and do anyways.
Sheer Perfection!
One of the best things about living on a tiny Caribbean island is the fresh fish. Fish that was swimming probably that morning winds up on your plate and it is so yummy. Tyler and I went to the market last weekend and were fortunate to find that there were a ton of huge red snappers, which has quickly become one of our favorite fish. So for about 15 US dollars we were able to get 6 pounds of freshly caught snapper. We gave the “fish master” a couple bucks to fillet them for us and have since been reveling in the deliciousness.
