(The covid zombies evidently are rampant in Grenada this weekend and next from 5pm Friday to 6am Monday but not during the week when you can go about your business as usual….pure logic once again) As we sit locked down on the boat in Grenada for the Stupid, we began to look back on our adventure over the past year and discussing all the highlights and wonders we have seen. Sometimes, counting blessings is the best way to counteract wanting to go on a rant so I have chosen blessings instead of ranting this weekend. It is hard to believe that we bought the boat two years ago. The learning curve has been steep and I am very proud of us for our resilience through all the adventures, setbacks and challenges. We calculated that in the year we have been out of the US, we have had about ten days that could be defined as “rough days”. We learned lessons from those days and definitely credit the “good days” to those lessons learned. The most important lessons we have learned are to always listen to your gut, do not challenge Mother Nature because she will always win and be sure to tie everything down on the boat or it will go flying at the most inopportune times. We know now that if we follow those three simple rules, life onboard usually goes pretty smoothly. As we were reminiscing about our past year, I began to categorize our adventures into “The Best of….” classifications. So, here we have the winners for the Best of Galt awards for 2020-2021. Best Welcome: West End, Bahamas. Pull up to the Immigration and Customs dock where a bartender is waiting with a cool drink and there is a hut where you can buy the “Best conch salad in the Caribbean”. We have yet to find a salad that can beat it so we are going with it definitely lived up to its claim! Most Expensive: This award also goes to the Bahamas. While you would love to stay longer for the bluest waters in the world, the $65.00 a case of beer cost as well as the exorbitant fuel and food prices definitely makes you think twice! Friendliest People: A tight race for this win because so many of the islands are friendly but we gave the award to the people of the Dominican Republic. Not only were they always smiling, they also were very patient with our attempts at Spanish. Best Airbnb: Tropical Casa Laguna located in Cabarete, Dominican Republic. While we have stayed at many beautiful places, this condo in Cabarete took the award because it was located directly across the street from a multitude of beach restaurants and also had a pool with a swim up bar. Hard to beat that combination! Best Food: Hands down this award goes to St. Maarten. With an amazing array of restaurants ranging from pizza to high end eats, St. Maarten is a dining delight. Where else on an island can you find Creole, Italian, French, Indian, Middle Eastern and classic American all on the same street? St. Maarten also wins for best bars and best happy hours! Dumbest Covid Restriction: This award was a tough one because there were so many to choose. Was it the beaches in Grenada that were only Covid-free from 6am to 10am daily or the multitude of islands that Covid only emerged nightly at 7:01pm? We finally had to give this prestigious award to the US Virgin Islands’ Honeymoon Beach. Where else could Covid live on the beach bar tables that were on the beach but not on the beach bar tables that were one step away on the gravel path? Little did we know that sand was such a Covid magnet! Best Tour: We had a tie for Best Tour because we just could not make a choice between the Belmont Estates Chocolate Plantation in Grenada and the Indian River tour in Dominica. At Belmont we gorged ourselves with chocolate all day and on the Indian River we gorged ourselves with Pirates of the Caribbean. Just too close to call! Most Unique Attraction: Beer swilling pigs on St. Croix. No explanation needed. It just speaks for itself. Best Rum Experience: Toppers Rum tour in St. Maarten. Thirty samples of rum in two hours. Also no explanation needed. Best Beer: Without any competition, the Dominican Republic wins for its 22 ounce bottles of Presidente for $1.00. A far cry from the 10 ounce beers for twice as much found in most of the other islands. Most Beautiful Anchorage: Los Haitises National Park in Samana, Dominican Republic. Who doesn’t want to spend a few days in Jurassic Park minus the man-eating dinosaurs? Beautiful! Most Beautiful Remote Island: Big Sand Key in Turks and Caicos. It saddens me that most people in the world will never experience this tiny slip of island. It felt like the edge of the world and is one place I will never forget. Those places are the best of 2020-2021. We can’t wait to see what next sailing season brings! Since I am sure you can’t survive the week without a fuel tank update, I will leave you with the comfort of knowing that the starboard side tanks are in place! Testing will commence this week so fingers crossed that the fuel flows happily into the engine! Until next week….take a moment this week to count blessings and give a few awards of your own.
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AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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