James arranged a "surprise" for T today. Some local boys were to show him how to crab down at the beach. We head down after breakfast. But, I go to the villa to grab sunblock and learn now, for the second time, we are locked out of the villa! This time is far worse! The deadbolt on the bottom of the door has engaged, therefore even a spare key will not allow us entry. We head to the beach sans sunscreen to find no locals and hope that sometime in the near future we can have access to the villa, again.
While sitting down on the grass by the beach, I am approached by a local. He sits and talks to me for quite some time. I have a hard time understanding his dialect, despite the English, as well as his soft-spoken tone. I think he's flirting with me and yet I don't know what he's saying, nor am I interested. I do understand that he has five children, the eldest recently finished school, that live with their mother. He wants me to go swimming with him and to trust him to go to Grand Anse beach, 12 miles away. He inquires about our stay and asks if he can come calling. Other than that, I'm not sure what he said and I could have easily nodded my head in agreement to some bizarre questions since I was quickly tiring of saying, "What?". Fortunately, I never found myself betrothed to him and he never came calling to our villa. We did see him two other times at the beach but just said hello in passing.
The local boys did arrive and showed us the stick and string method for catching crabs. T and I did see several come out, but the boys were all drawing in the sand that when they went back to look they were gone. So we never actually saw them being trapped. T also couldn't understand anything that the boys told him so we were pretty much like fish out of water.
Fortunately from the beach, I could tell that our villa had been opened. The bolt had been cut from the outside, under the door, and subsequently removed. Maybe I would manage to not lock us out, again.
Lunch was actually delicious today. Vicky had made a wonderful tomato soup, that T said made canned soup taste "NASTY"! Then she served us chicken curry and cheese slices. The amounts of food are vastly different and I was still longing for fresh fruits and vegetables and even dessert. Somethings I guess I need to learn to live without.
After lunch, James took
us on our first tour. We went to Mt. Caramel Waterfall, a 10-minute trek through the trees 
and brush. We saw goats, and mango and bamboo trees. Mom wasn't a huge fan of the walk, as physical hiking isn't her thing.We went on a tour of the nutmeg factory. Pictures weren't allowed. It was actually a pretty desolate sad site. Prior to Hurricane Ivan in 2004, the factory employed 140 people. They currently employ 10. We observed the nutmeg process, which can take two months to dry a nutmeg.
After the nutmeg tour we went to the bank to exchange currency and walked around the market. To James' dismay we took too long speaking with the locals and "shopping" the local street vendors. We tried some local treats which were horrible, but entertaining nonetheless.
Next we went to the rum distillery. The distillery was closed because we took too long, but James gave us a personal tour. It was rather interesting to see the process of making rum over an 8-day period with sugar cane and the boiling process. Mom was able to try a sample, but I steered clear. The vats were rather disgusting and the thought that anything clear could result is truly amazing.
Our next stop was Crater Lake Antoine. The view was OK. Thinking that there was more to see, T and I almost followed James behind a building where he decided to "water" some brush! Despite James using the bathroom, he didn't bother to stop for us during out 7 hour tour. He also packed "snacks", bottled water and a bag of chips which he offered shortly before we stopped at Fish Friday for dinner.After Lake Antoine he took us to another lake where the turtles mate and lay their eggs. It wasn't turtle season, so we didn't see any. I felt that we stayed here far too long as by this point the pressure on the bladder and the grumbling of the stomach were getting ever insistent. We did try to pass the time by finding more crabs under the tree shrubs.
James also took us by the old airport. Which one of the planes remained and a cow. James tried to see if his 4x4 could fly, but mom wasn't too thrilled with the idea. James claimed by the end of the day we had traveled 150 miles. I didn't think Grenada was that big, so we must have been back tracking a lot. Some places were beginning to look familiar but I also think he was big on boasting about gas prices and money he was spending to make us think he was earning the fees. Gas was $13.28 per gallon!We also stopped at a beach where I was entertained by the "stuck dogs" and T enjoyed the clear water. Since we didn't grab towels since James said we wouldn't be swimming, we bought a towel. I was also on a mission to purchase a key chain or two - since TS had given me crap for not getting her one in Europe!
Fish Friday was fun. But, by this time I really had to use the bathroom and was starving! The bottle of water and handful of nacho chips just weren't cutting it. Fish Friday is in Gouyave where local fish merchants gather to sell their catch, play music and it's a fun gala affair. James stopped off at a local bar to grab a drink and eventually when the bathroom was open and had toilet paper I was able to use it! James took forever to finish his beer and despite my eagerness to see the festivities and my pacing, he continued with his stories to mom. Even though it's only approaching the end of day two, I've heard about enough of James' stories, dreams and boasted accomplishments!We did have some good food and ice cream too. We ate with a great group of university students and a mom. Mom enjoyed entertaining them with stories while T and I enjoyed walking around and watching people and trying foods.
The drive back was long. It was almost 11p.m. when we got back to the resort. 10 hours later and one bathroom break, I was in need of a nice long shower and bed!
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