St. George's

Downtown St. George's

Grenada may be a small island but so often it feels huge. It's all a matter of perspective, really. Driving a few kilometres back home never felt like a hassle. Here the 7 kilometre bus ride into "town" can seem so inconvenient. However, Justin and I decided to make time this past weekend. We made a day of it as he had never walked leisurely through town. "Town" is the capital city of St. George's. The city is beautiful in an Anne of Green Gables sort of way. Anne outwardly is pretty but her true charm is found in her wit and perspective. Driving towards town leads you along two lovely waterfronts: Port Louis and The Carenage. Upon arrival at the bus port, sounds and smells assault you from all sides. People rush up and down the streets while vendors line every unoccupied space on the sidewalk with watermelons, onions, papayas, and tomatoes. Further up the street both the fish and meat markets conduct business with harried old women and businessmen alike. Our visit began deeper in town with a stroll to the market. A street block in the centre of town is dedicated to the selling of produce and goods but Saturday is market day. A giant open building bursting with stalls of souvenirs of all types is Saturday's market day attraction. I had never been into town on the weekend so I was delighted right along with Justin. Believe me, delighted is the correct word to describe how much fun the market was to peruse. Unfortunately, I forgot to whip out my camera. (I'll be back to town in a few weeks so no worries) Vanilla, nutmeg, candles, necklaces, dolls, towels, baskets crammed on tiny display tables were loudly accompanied by the vendors vying for my attention and dollar. I'm sure my huge grin only encouraged them. We also walked through the neighbouring veggie market vowing to return at the end of the day.

Tummy rumblies sent us to our lunch destination, BB's Crabbacks (a Tripadvisor recommendation). Our date was quickly changed when we had no option of a lunch special. Neither of us was prepared to pay $140EC for lunch but we recovered our disappointment by evolving lunch into a dessert date. Fruit pancakes and sweet potato pudding tasted divine at our waterfront table. We later found a little Chinese joint and indulged in some chicken chow mein to soothe the remaining hunger.

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Quick return to the market for tomatoes and onions then on to our final stop: Fish Market. Honestly, we just wanted to check the market out. You never know what they'll have. They had red snapper. My husband loves red snapper. Fish isn't as inexpensive in Grenada as you would expect from a Caribbean island but at $7.50EC per pound, he wasn't going to pass on the opportunity.

Freshly caught Red Snapper

Filleting the Fish

A loud and hot reggae bus returned us home with our treasures and adventures. Both of us were quite satisfied with the day and plan to repeat it after school lets out. I plan on repeating this trip on a regular basis. Veggies proved to be more abundant and delicious than supermarket wares...and the city comes with its own special life. Besides, it's good to get out and experience true living in Grenada.