April 2019
Grenada(population: 112,200) had one of the most commercially developed cruise terminals in the Eastern Caribbean with a tourist information office even before stepping out of the ID checking line and plenty of shops. A free WiFi was available for 30 minutes ($3 for 12 hours.)
French colonized Grenada in 1650, then the Brits took over in 1763. It’s been an independent country since 1974 & a part of British Commonwealth.
Right outside of this terminal is downtown St. George’s(population: 36,800), the capital of Grenada. We decided to turn right and were immediately met by stairs that led to Fort George. From this fort, one can get the best view of the bay.
We had noticed a church on top of a hill as soon as our ship entered the port. Let’s go there, we had said. So we walked up more stairs in order to find the church as we left the Fort and turned toward the town center. This church that we took to be the main church in town turned out to be a ruin. There seemed to be a small museum under there now, but it was not open when we were there.
We decided just to walk around town to get the feel of the place. Grenada is known as the Spice Island, and we could smell the various spices in their markets. It was still before 10 AM by this time, and the city was still slowly waking up. We were a bit disappointed that spices were wrapped up in plastic to be taken back home as souvenirs, thus, we could not see the colors and shapes of the spices.
We could have gone on a $25 tour of the island, but we didn’t. There was a choo choo train tour of the old town, but we did not do it, either. Walking around was easy to do and free.
Like else where in Eastern Caribbean, everyday items were not cheap. Time and again, we were reminded of life of hard work that local people had to lead while visitors vacationed.
Small Wide World 