A trip to Grenada

	The Trip There The key to a comfortable, stress-free trip is to make sure to do everything in advance and definitely to get a good night's sleep the night before any early morning flight to ensure that you begin your trip with good health and lots of rest. So, of course I put everything off until the last minute, and didn't sleep at all the night before the flight. I finished packing at 4am that morning. Yvonne and Susan arrived at my house at 4:45am. Susan hadn't slept either, and Yvonne had gotten barely a nap. After a brief tour of the place for Susan, we three zombies departed for Dulles International Airport. Or specifically, for my sister Hoorie's house, who was awake and chipper as ever (she's a morning person). She dropped us off at the airport; of course, since we were running late, there was an interminable wait at the ticket counter, but we finally made it aboard the flight and relaxed aboard our American Airlines 727. Two of us were flying first class. Wide seats, enough leg room, better food, attentive service, and being first to board and exit the plane is very easy to get used to... The flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico (where we were to transfer to a smaller plane to Grenada) took 3 ½ hours. I did get a nice view of San Juan on the descent into SJU, but there wasn't much other than that to recommend the short layover there. After a couple of hours sitting around San Juan International, which is quite a dull airport (and even if it weren't dull, we were in no condition to do much at this point), we boarded our American Eagle Super ATR turbo-prop flight to Grenada.
Arrival		American Airlines Super ATR

Another 2 ½ hours in the air, and we arrived in Grenada. The approach to the landing strip at Grenada is amusing, since if you didn't notice the island off to the side before the plane banks to make its approach, it seems that the plane is trying to land in the water (the runway starts almost at ocean's edge). After making our way through customs (who must have thought Yvonne looked suspicious, since they searched her bags) and a throng of taxi drivers eager to hire out to arriving tourists, we took a taxi to our first hotel, the Flamboyant Hotel. It was steep climb from the road to the room, but the view from our suite more than made up for it. In the ensuing day and a half, we would be learn to be irritated by the tiresome climb, but it did give us a lovely view of Grand Anse Bay and the capital city of St. George's. I don't think I've ever stayed in a hotel before where the path to my room has been a series of switchbacks! (there were stairs too)

Being too tired to do much and not yet having a car, we unpacked, enjoyed the view, and had dinner at the Flamboyant's restaurant, appropriate island fare: lobster, lambi (conch), calypso seasoned food, rum punch (flavored with nutmeg of all things), and pina coladas.

Afterwards we used their game room, where I demonstrated that I can't play pool. Yvonne and Susan wanted me to try ping-pong, so after protesting that I hadn't really played before, I played, and was accused by Yvonne of being a ping-pong shark. After which she came back and beat me soundly. :)

The view of Grande Anse Bay from our balcony.	The view down the slope from the room to the road and the beach beyond.
Click images to see full-size versions

Back to Intro

On to Day 2