Karen holding a coconut at Bathsheba Beach .
Old plantation servant's house, can be disassembled and moved on a truck.
"What a long tail! "
A scenic drive in Barbados along the beach.
Bathsheba beach is as beautiful as the song says it is.
Alan standing in front of a very expensive piece of jewelry at the Barbados terminal.
Showtime! Papparazi!
"Come on, can't you go any faster?"
There's Lucy dancing with Ricky!
Karen waiting for the show to begin.
A simple home in Barbados.
A beautiful home in Barbados.
King Wilhelm IV of the Netherlands.
A church flea market without the fleas.
Alan watching Ratatouli on TV before going to dinner.
Day Seven
We woke up to another beautiful day on vacation, after all aren’t all days beautiful when you’re not at work? The forecast was for mostly cloudy and 75’. After passing through the Dominica Channel our course was set on a southeasterly one towards Bridgetown, Barbados. Barbados is the easternmost of the Caribbean islands, bordered on the east by the Atlantic Ocean. Barbados was a British colony for more than 300 years, until it gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1966. We picked up a local Pilot around 7am to help us dock.
Barbados’ capital, Bridgetown, is homeport for many commercial vessels. The city was founded in 1629 and was the chief residential area during the island’s settlement. The exuberance of its people and customs blend with a Victorian austerity typified by the Public Buildings that house Parliament. The Careenage, in central Bridgetown alongside Wharf Street, is a picturesque harbor where pleasure craft are docked. The Chamberlain Bridge, one of two bridges that span the Careenage, contains the Independence Arch, erected in 1987 to commemorate the island’s 21st anniversary as a self-governing nation. Next to the arch is an area of shops and restaurants that overlook the water including an outdoor café. Among the many natural attractions are the Harrison’s Caves, Barbados Nature Reserve with the unique green monkeys, Sunbury Plantation, Tyrol Cot Heritage Village, Gunhill, and the St. John’s Parish Church. Guests are advised that local authorities prohibit the wearing of any type of camouflage clothing. Guests wearing camouflage would be sent back to the ship and not allowed to proceed ashore.
Os Barbados is a Portuguese phrase that means “those with beards” and is likely a reference to beard-like roots that hang from the island’s native Bearded Fig Tree. There are also suggestions os Barbados is a physical reference to indigenous people who welcomed 16th century Portuguese explorers. In any case, the name was adopted and anglicized when British explorers arrived and took possession of the territory nearly a century later. The year was 1625, Captain Henry Powell was the commander, and two years later, Barbados became one of Britain’s first overseas possessions. Even as the British Empire grew and later waned, the island continued as a colony until the second half of the 20th century. The earlier Europeans had bypassed the island. They were searching for gold and were deeply disappointed to find only a tropical paradise with a few resident tribes.
The first settlers imported tobacco and cotton from neighboring islands, but local conditions did not exactly favor the crops, so sugar cane was chosen as an alternative. Sugar profits were huge, and prosperous descendents built the plantation homes and rich public buildings that still remain as relics of British colonial island life. Among the relics, Parliament House is the third oldest of its kind in the British Commonwealth. Among Barbados’ finest colonial sites, Francia Plantation House is known for its graceful architectural lines. Like all colonial mansions, several styles are woven into the design. It is still a family home, and a lot of the antique furniture inside has been in the family for generations. Furnishings are original. Fortifications had to be installed against would-be Spanish, French, and Dutch invaders. Pirates also threatened the region (never mind that some of the most notorious among them lived on Barbados!) Some of the old forts remain, but there are other fine antiques on the island as well.
Shrewd 20th century entrepreneurs supplemented wealthy 19th century farmers and Barbados continued to thrive. Not all the planters left—sugar and dark rum are still exported. Modern growing techniques made Sea Island cotton a viable crop.
Historic Footprints:
620BC Arawaks from the Orinoco Basin reach Barbados
1200 Caribs overwhelm the region
1536 Portuguese explorer Pedro a Campos names Os Barbados
1596 French explorers land, but are evidently eaten
1628 Henry Powell claims the island. Bridgetown is founded
1630 Imported sugar can thrives
1644 “Triangle of Trade” Sephardic immigrants (ex Brazil) follow shipping routes to Barbados
1663 Locust devastates the crop. Barbados declared British territory
1751 George Washington visits Barbados, in his only known official visit abroad
1785 British naval base at Barbados
1816 Salve revolt
1834 Slavery abolished
1876 Britain proposes single administration for Barbados and the Windward Islands
1937 Poor economic conditions linger from the Great Depression
1950 Farming economy is lost, but tourists begin to arrive
1958 Barbados is a member of the British-sponsored West Indies Federation. Adams is first Prime Minister
1961 Barbados wins self-rule
1966 Barbados is independent
1983 Barbados supports and supplies a base for the US invasion of Grenada
What’s Ashore?
The Careenage: Tall masted schooners line the quay and harbor police dress like Nelson’s fleetsmen. You may spot a sailing ship keeled over, or careened. Ships are purposely rolled over so barnacles can be scraped from their hulls and seams can be caulked or painted.
Heroes Square: This is the very center of island commerce and social life. It’s a perfect place to people-watch and admire the surrounding colorfully shuttered neo-Gothic public buildings.
True Blue Synagogue: Jewish residents reached Barbados in 1628, although permission to worship in public was not granted until 1654—3 years sooner than in England. True Blue, originally a private home is a working synagogue.
St. Michael’s Cathedral: Was built in 1651 to replace an old wooden structure lost to a devastating hurricane. George Washington worshipped in the cathedral during his only trip abroad.
Government House: The Governor’s of Barbados first leased the old mansion from a Pilgrim family as an official residence in 1702. The two wooded triangular plots outside the walled compound are the burial sites for many members of the original family and friends. Because of the Quaker proviso that only God should know one’s final resting place, the graves are unmarked.
Gun Hill Signal Station: Gun Hill was one of the island’s most important signal stations because it occupies the only high point in the southern part of the island. The station served as a military command post and convalescent station. Not surprisingly, there is a spectacular view of St. George Parish.
Flower Forest: More than just a simple garden, environmentally correct. Flower Forest is more than 50 acres of flowers and plants thriving in a natural state and it is an open-air museum of living things. Touching is encouraged, and labels as well as informative guides can give ou the names of familiar (and not-so-familiar) species.
Barbados enjoys a rich colonial heritage. By the 17th century, 26 forts guarded almost the entire coastline. Many remain in ruin. Farley Hill National Park’s ruined great house still overlooks its still well tended gardens and expansive lawns. The grounds and excellent views of the eastern shore lend themselves nicely to photography as well as to picnicking. Near the park are the remains of an old windmill.
Beaches: Rockley, Worthing, Hastings, Crane, and Bathsheba.
Our shore excursion wasn’t until 12:45 so we had plenty of time before leaving so we enjoyed going to the Thermal Spa. We met an older woman there who was interested in Alan’s job when she found that he was in the auto-transport business. She apparently was moving from somewhere in West Virginia to Carolina and questioned him on who would be good to contact. It’s kind of funny whenever people find out that Alan delivers new vehicles to dealerships. Usually, they make a remark like, “you can drop one off at my address’. I was able to go to the morning craft class where I learned all about Iris Folding. This was a neat craft where scraps of wrapping paper are used and with following a pattern a pretty design appears. These can then be put on cards.
We were able to catch a bus to the terminal where we ended up waiting for about an hour but it was a nice terminal with all kinds of stores. I went in one and bought a nice big rum cake to take back to my boss. In another store I found a doll that I bought for Emily’s collection. While waiting I enjoyed listening to some nice music and when Alan returned from having a smoke I went in and bought a copy of the CD that had been playing recorded by a local group by the name of Merrymen. I was beginning to get thirsty and noticed some folks who were sitting next to me drinking a nice orange drink and they directed Alan to where they bought it. It was a mango-passion fruit ice drink and we shared one. Alan and I found some hats that matched. Soon it was time to board the bus so we went outside to wait to be boarded. There were all kinds of venders outside selling dresses and shirts but I passed.
We went to the Barbados Wildlife Reserve to see the famous Green Monkeys. On the way, we stopped at a beautiful beach called Bathsheba for photo shoots and it's truly a beautiful beach! The CD by The Merrymen had one of their songs called Bathsheba about that beach. The CD is easy island listening so I got it to listen to at work. The ride to the reserve took about an hour. Once we got there it wasn’t long before we began spotting the monkeys. I got a lot of great shots of a family of them up in the trees as well as on the ground. They seemed as curious about all of us as we were about them. We took a nice drive up to the reserve and once there we were greeted by a lot of monkeys, guess our timing was just right too as it had started to rain prior to arriving but then stopped. The baby monkeys were so adorable as they stayed close to their mother and it was fun watching them dash here and there with their extremely long tails. There was one monkey that hopped right on top of someone’s parked car so I quickly snapped a picture of him or her as evidence. We entered the reserve but I was hurting too much to walk through it so I stayed back with an elderly man who was watching a certain turtle racing (if you want to call it that) down the path. The man had clocked him at 12 minutes and the old turtle hadn’t gone very far in that time. It seemed that everywhere I looked there were turtles and I had to make sure where I put my foot down as to not step on one as I wasn’t sure if they might try biting me if I did.
I walked down the path a little and saw a few strange looking animals, one looked kind of like a hare but it wasn’t and another looked like some kind of a deer. I’m not sure what kind of animals they were but maybe I can find them in a book somewhere. Alan went on down the path with our group and upon returning said I didn’t really miss all that much. He probably said that to make me feel better about not being able to walk through it. I was able to get a lot of neat photos though including one of a small little lizard on a wall and a couple of turtles that were taking a stroll together. At one point it looked like they were trying to race each other. That made for an interesting picture. The green monkeys became famous for being used in the polio vaccine as well as the AIDS vaccines. At the end of the tour we all enjoyed a refreshing drink before boarding our bus back to the ship. We got back to the ship just in time as we were suppose to be back on the ship by 4:30. At least we were on a ship-sponsored tour so they wouldn’t be leaving until we returned.
It was another formal night so we hustled to our rooms for showers and arrived at our table on time. I wore my red dress this time. I had bought some Jackie Kennedy earrings and they looked nice with my dress. Stuart brought his bagpipes and played for us. Cash and Helen ate at the Pinnacle Grill as they had won a dinner there so they missed hearing Stuart play. He was quite the entertainer. How nice that he enjoyed sharing his talents with others. Nancy was telling me about him having tumors on his head and that he’d had surgery that had been botched.
She apparently has had some serious health issues in the past too. Guess that’s why they are taking advantage in traveling and enjoying life while they can. Alan and I agree that one must take that attitude in life. Throughout the cruise all of us at the table have switched seats sometimes sitting next to our spouses and at other times sitting across from them. It appears that the two retired schoolteachers ladies must not have brought anything to wear for formal evenings, as they never come to the table on those nights. Rudy and Josephine sat next to the window across from each other on the first evening but the rest of the evenings they sat at the other end of the table. I think it was so due to the fact it was easier for them to get in and out. They seemed to enjoy playing the slot machines. One night they won quite a bundle but they ended up losing it all the next day. Guess since they were given the cruise from their nephew at the last minute they could afford to gamble like that. For dinner I had chilled cherry soup, Caesar salad, Beef Tenderloin with vegetables and mashed potatoes and ice cream with fruit and nuts along with a cappuccino for dessert.
The Showtime was called Paparazzi and we were encouraged to take pictures during the show, which was forbidden during all the other shows. I got some pretty good shots even though it was dark.
Activities on the ship included: the morning stretch, aerobics, Walk-a-Mile, Pictionary Game Volleyball, Card Players, Afternoon Tea, Ping-pong, Know Your Fashion seminar, Team Trivia, BINGO, basketball, Sail-a-way Party, mass, Hanukkah, Elvis Classics with Ian (which we attended). There was a Black and White ball but that was later in the evening.
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