Historical/Background Info:
Unlike the other Caribbean islands, Grenada is an island country consisting of Grenada itself and six smaller islands to its northeast. It is only a little over 100 miles from Venezuela in northern South America. The French established a colony there from 1649 to 1763 by chasing the indigenous islanders off the island. They established Fort Royal (now St George where we are docked today) which was a natural harbor which protected it from hurricanes and invaders. In 1763 Grenada was ceded to the English by the Treaty of Paris and was a British colony until it was granted it’s independence in 1974. There was a civil war there until 1983. President Reagan became worried that a strongly pro-communist party would take power there. He was particularly worried as the Cubans were building a 10,000 runway there. He was worried that both Cuba and Russia would use the airstrip to refuel military planes carrying weapons to insurgents in Central America. So on October 25, 1983, the US invaded Grenada with 7600 troops, not all of which were Americans. A US victory only took weeks with the loss of 19 American lives. Our troops were withdrawn in December of that same year. Elections were held in 1984 and the Grenada National Party restored democracy and the Cubans left.
Grenada is know as “the Island of Spice” because of the production of nutmeg and mace. They both come from the nutmeg fruit. Nutmeg comes from the inner seeds and mace from the outer fleshy husk. The English introduced nutmeg trees there in 1843 as they were not indigenous to the island. Grenada is also a leading producer of cinnamon, ginger, and allspice. Organic cocoa is also grown and processed here. The islands are volcanic in origin with very rich soil. The interior of Granada is very mountainous with several small rivers and beautiful waterfalls. The climate is tropical hot & humid during rainy season and cooled by trade winds during the dry season. It is at the southern edge of the hurricane zone so has only experienced 3 hurricanes in 50 years.
Tourism is Grenada’s main economy driver due to beautiful beaches, water sports, and waterfalls. They built a large cruise ship pier so now during cruise season up to four large cruise ships visit here each day. Of the 110,000 people here, 82% are descendants of African slaves brought here by the English and French.
Last Night:
First let me go back to last evening. We met our friend, Susanne Peters, in the Horizon Lounge for a cocktail prior to dinner. I introduced her to a Cosmopolitan. They make it differently on Regent ships as they do not have cranberry juice cocktail on board. So, I brought some on with us and took to the bar last night. I then told Dora, the bartender, how I wanted it mixed. She did a good job but still not as good as mine. I think Susanne liked it as she drank it all. We then went to Compass Rose for dinner. The French fried soft shell crabs were served for our appetizer.
After dinner we went to the theater for the second production show, "Cirque Rock & Roll", featuring the wonderful Jean Ann Ryan singers and dancers.
We got up at 7:15 this morning as I was going on a 8:00 tour. There were rain showers this morning when I left the ship.
This card is in the bus showing tour name and bus number.
My tour was 7 1/2 hours long so did not get back to the ship until 3:30 pm. Sailing time was at 4:00. It is now 5:00. The internet is slow now as lots of people are on it after getting back from their tours. We have a sea day tomorrow so I will tell you about today's tour and post those photos tomorrow when I have more time to do a good job.
We have dinner reservations this evening at 7:30 for Signatures restaurant. It is a French restaurant. We really do not care for French food so have been debating all day whether to cancel it or give it another try. There is a cabaret showtime tonight featuring Mikah Horn, the Jean Ann Ryan female singer.
No comments:
Post a Comment