After 12 days back in Grenada, a few parties, and lots of catch up on gossip.  We decided it was time to go so we left for Carriacou to visit a friend (Geoff on Beach House) and prepare to go to Bonaire.  While we were in Grenada, I helped the cruisers with the Mt Airy Young Reader’s Program, Christmas Party.  What a hoot.  There were 45 kids and about 20 adults.  The kids were so excited so instead of their usual very disciplined selves, they were wild.  The picture below is when they first arrived and we made them all sit, sang songs including 3 little girls who got up and preformed.  Then the fun began with games, a lot of food (boy can those local Mom’s cook well) and gift bags.  One bag had an old doll, a toothbrush and paste, a balloon and several barretts in it.  The little girls said: “This is the best bag I have ever had”. The highlight of the day was artificial snow brought by one of the cruisers.  The children had never seen snow so they all got their own cup full.  Wow, what a field day they had making snowballs and throwing snow at each other. Of course it ended up in their hair, clothes, table, floors to clean up etc.  They could not have been happier.  It was a great day but we were all exhausted by the time it was over.

Jeanne if the one of the right who runs the program and Gary on Inspiration has helped coordinate

Children listening to others singing

On another evening we threw a 411 Walnut St block party.  Now most of you are wondering what that means.  Well a ton of cruisers from the US all use Green Cove Springs mailing service for our mail.  We all have boxes with the address of 411 Walnut St.  So for fun we decide to have a block party.  We had about 20 people and would have had more but it was last minute and other events were taking place.  Anyway, it was a lot of fun.

One of the excitements in Grenada is the dinghy raft ups on the big barges.  We had a famous group called Madison Velvet singing.  They have cut several records and do some folk and country type singing.  Really loads of fun as you can see by the pictures:

Then when we left the anchorage we were in we motored around to another part of Grenada to snorkel on the famous statues underwater.  Wow, unbelievable.  You do not know what to expect until all of a sudden you see these people standing in the bottom of the water.  It was really scary at first until you realize these are the statues.  I have attached a picture of them and also a link, if you want to read more about who did this and why they are there.  They were amazing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molinere_Underwater_Sculpture_Park

So today we ended up motoring into the wind, but not bad, up to Tyrell Bay.  It is a beautiful anchorage with crystal clear water.  I could see the anchor land in the sand and bury itself (like in the Bahamas).  We will do boat projects, socialize and prepare for our 4 day sail to Bonaire, hopefully next week.

The difference in Grenada and Carriacou is tremendous.  Grenada is heavily populated with big stores, lots of traffic, buses, sightseeing and a ton of social activities every day.  When you arrive in Carriacou you have arrived at a sleepy little island with a few small store fronts facing the harbor, 2-3 small restaurants that are more like Tiki huts, beautiful crystal clear water and a much more laid back attitude.  It’s a great place to hike and basically just chill out. 

To day is the day so I wanted to get this blog off before we left.  Everyone have a very Merry Christmas.  Next blog will be somewhere in the western Caribbean.