#677 a day in Barbados (vacation flashback!)

I was thinking about one of my favorite days, a vacation memory of a day we spent in Barbados.

 We arrived in Barbados late at night. After going through customs, we went out to the waiting area to find our ride to the hotel. There was a man standing there with our name on a sign. Has that ever happened to you? A person waiting at the airport with your name on a sign? It's awesome. MT and I absolutely loved it. I knew it would be a great trip because it started out so cool :)

We made arrangements with the driver, Barnes, to pick us up the next day and drive us around the island. He took us to our hotel and told us he would be back in the morning. The hotel, the Allamanda, was a little older than I expected. It was late at night and the lady at the front desk didn't seem very friendly or nice. I was kind of put off by her. We were led to our room. It was on the third floor up these steep steps. It didn't seem very welcoming. The room was big, and it was clean, but it wasn't very nice. I really wondered what the heck kind of place our travel agent had sent us to. Our travel agent, Marcie, did tell me ahead of time that the Allamanda would be fine for a couple of nights, but that it wasn't what we were used to. I remember that we were really tired and we fell into the bed. Unfortunately, right next door was a disco that was playing extremely loud music well into the morning. It wasn't a very good night's sleep. At that point, I was pretty disenchanted with my Barbados experience but hopeful that it would get better.

 In the morning, we woke up to the sound of a back-up alarm on a piece of machinery that was working on the beach. That didn't make us feel happy. We got up and went out on the balcony to get a look at our surroundings. The hotel wasn't that wonderful, but it was right on the beach. There was a big pool, too. In the room, the toilet didn't work well until I discovered there was rhythm to flushing it. You had to kind of prime it first: two pumps and then a final flush. MT wasn't amused AT ALL. He really wanted to go to another hotel. We did try to get into a resort down the road, a sister property to the place we were staying, but it didn't work out. We were going to have to stay at the Allamanda another night.

 I know what what you're thinking...so far, this doesn't sound like it will lead to a favorite vacation memory, right? Wait for it!

Barnes showed up as he promised and he did a great job of taking us all around the island. I had a few places that I really wanted to see and Barnes took us to those places and to a few other surprises as well. On the Atlantic side of the island we went to Bathsheba where we bought a couple of beach towels (still have them; still love them. Mine is the flag of Barbados!) Bathsheba is a cool place. Since it is on the Atlantic side, sometimes there are big waves there and people surf or windsurf. The day we were there, it was pretty calm.

Barnes dropped us off in the afternoon at a place called Weiser's. They were just finishing up their lunch buffet, and since we hadn't eaten yet, we were glad they still had food. We ordered a couple of Banks beers - it's the local Barbados beer; all the islands have their own beer - and got some food.

I'll tell you: the food was good but the beer was GREAT! I'm pretty sure I could have sat there all afternoon and drank beer. Too soon, though, Barnes came back to take us to our hotel. Back at the hotel, we chatted with the lady at the front desk. She was much nicer than she'd been the night before. She told us about some things that she liked to do in the evening in the area. She asked where we were from and I enjoyed talking with her. I remember that MT and I went across the road to a gas station/convenience store and bought a couple of sodas and some snacks. Back at the hotel, MT took a nap and I sat out on the balcony and read until the sun started to set.

For me, when the sun sets in the Caribbean, it means one thing: cocktail time! We headed down to the little bar at the hotel and I think we started right in on the pina coladas. The bar was owned and operated by a cute couple. They were foreign, not from Barbados, maybe from Europe. I only remember that the man's name was Gideon and he made a damn good pina colada. I remember that he made one and said that he didn't think it was just right. He told me to try it and if it wasn't perfect, he'd make me another. I tasted it and it did taste a little off. He said, "I knew it! Let me try again." The second one was truly one of the best pina coladas I've ever had. It was exactly the right blend of pineapple juice and rum and coconut and ice. There is nothing like drinking a lovely pina colada in the evening by the Caribbean Sea. Magic.

 The lady of the bar asked us if we were staying in Barbados or going on to another island. We told her we were on our way to Palm Island. She said that she knew of it and told me that she was going to give me a drink that they always had on Palm Island, coconut water and rum. She said it was a perfect sipping drink so you didn't drink too much. Boy was she right. I didn't like it at all, so I definitely didn't drink too much. (We did have that drink on Palm Island, right out of the coconut. I didn't like it there, either.) It's just not sweet enough for me.

 We were starting to get hungry, so Gideon seated us at a table by the water and brought us the special of the day: fish caught that day (I can't remember what it was) with salad and maybe some potatoes. It was delicious. Very simply prepared fish, and the salad was simply dressed with a really delicious vinaigrette dressing. To this day, it is one of the best meals I've had on vacation. Maybe it's because I was under the influence of pina coladas; maybe it was the sound of the sea right behind me; maybe it was the beautiful evening; maybe it was all of the above but it was wonderful. I remember that after dinner we took a stroll down the boardwalk along the beach and we were thankful for the amazing day we'd had in Barbados.

 That night we had a wonderful night's sleep because the disco wasn't open and it was quiet and peaceful. I was glad we hadn't changed hotels after all.

 The next day we were off the Palm Island which has been one of the best vacations as a whole that we've ever had. The trip started out nicely with our time in Barbados. :)