St. Vincent & A Return to Fort-de-France and Bridgetown

April 3-8

The Odyssey pulled into port by 7 a m.

Kingstown is the capital of St. Vincent. It remains a small capital city on a small island. Most people who visit are taking tours to visit the beaches or climb to the volcano peak.

Of course, Angela, Steve, Scott, and I decided to walk around town first. We had two days, so he decided to see what we could see and wait for people’s reviews to figure out day two.

At the cruise terminal are several shops and cafes.

Once we left the terminal area, we headed into downtown, which is about a 10-minute walk. We passed by a few other couples already heading back to the Odyssey, saying that there was nothing here. This very well could be true, but we need to see that for ourselves.

Central Market -Steve and Angela wanted to check it out, but it was mostly vegetables and flea market or small household goods here.

On the first main street, we went into several grocery stores, hardware stores, and a few local markets. Everything seemed to be grouped together, and many vendors were selling goods on the street or from their vehicles.

Another vegetable market across the road.

Just like it seemed all the grocery stores and hardware stores were together, so were the government buildings. So, the police were near the courts and other municipal buildings.

The Carnegie Old Public Library, 1909, is also a protected national heritage site.

The town also seemed to have a religious section, with three churches next to each other. Several schools were also in the same area. One was part of the cathedral.

Assumption Cathedral or St. Mary’s Cathedral (1823)

Directly across from the cathedral, Kingstown Anglican Church.

Across the road on either side were the Methodist Church, the New Testament Church, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They take their religion seriously here.

Fort de France, Martinique

After leaving St. Vincent, the Odyssey made her way back to Martinique. We had spent two days here last November.

Main shopping street is just a 5 minute walk from our berth.

I honestly had nothing I really wanted to do here, so Steve, Angela, Scott, and I just headed out for a little wander. I did suggest a taxi tour, which was met with resounding disinterest. The island has 4 suggested itineraries that take anywhere from 1-6 hours, but they are not cheap. It costs about $50/hour for up to 4 people.

Bored with the aimless walk-about, I decided to go to a close rum distillery, and Scott joined me. It was a 20-minute taxi ride for 25 euros.

Part of the building is like a little museum. I thought all the black was from a fire, but it isn’t.

La Favorite Distillery is free to enter and offers free taste testing, but it is small, so the wait time for tasting can be a while. Scott and I were there for 40 minutes before we got to belly up to a table. It is also a French-speaking island, so we needed to wait for the 1 girl who spoke English.

The six rums that we tried. The crowd favorite was the Exploration, but at 50 euros a bottle, people usually got the 4 years at 24 euros a bottle. The most expensive one was 104 euros. I walked away with nothing.

After the tasting, we made our way back into town and stopped for lunch at Bepizz, a pizza joint. Our ship was having a powering down from 2-4:30, so there would be nothing to do onboard. Instead we hung out with fellow shipmates eating pizza and drinking wine and beer.

Bridgetown, Barbados

Our next port is also a repeat. Bridgetown is a necessary stop as well to pick up crew, residents, provisions, and two delayed shipments. It’s a little like Christmas in April for the Odssey. We haven’t had any new provisions for two weeks and desperately needed new fruit and vegetables. Our salad bar and breakfasts were getting severely limited.

Many residents had also shipped themselves a lot of their household goods way back when we started, and the cargo missed us in Panama due to storms, so that crate and the next finally made it to the ship. I see a huge garage sale in the ship’s future as people realize all that they packed and now don’t need.

This is also the port where the ship is getting some of the parts that it has been waiting for just as long. Parts for the swimming pool and the theatre are here. For several sections, critical pieces for the AC and water heaters are coming on board.

For Angela, Steve, Scott, and I, this meant a beach day. Again, we’ve done the town itself and it is very expensive price wise in Barbados so shopping is definitely out.

The boardwalk/beach goes a long way around the island.

To finish off our time in Barbados, a Barbados Forklore group came on board and did a half hour show of music and dancing. It was lively and a wonderful way to end our time on a rainy afternoon.

One of the things I most appreciate about the local folklore groups we have seen is that they are body-inclusive. There are always some plumper girls, skinny girls, and just regular body types dancing away.

Chasing Summer –