The Spice Island
May 15th, 2013. Filed under: Reruns.
First posted July 3, 2008
One of the ships I worked on had a cook everyone called Spice. One day I got a chance to ask him how he ended up as Spice. He told me that he was nicknamed Spice because he’s from the Spice Island. Well, I had never heard of that particular island except for the brand name of herbs and spices that my father liked best. I had never heard of it because that’s not really it’s name. He was from the island of Grenada in the West Indies.
Eventually, I signed on a ship that had St George, Grenada as one of it’s regular ports of call. The ship was too large to dock in St. George’s horseshoe shaped harbor, so we were tendered in by the Rhum Runner boats. Once on the island, I would walk around the harbor into the downtown shopping district, nearly always stopping on the way for a delicious island breakfast and coffee. Then I would proceed on around and up the hill through town. Often I would just keep walking up that hill until I got to the top where there was a mental health facility and a terrific view of the harbor and of my ship farther out at anchor. After enjoying the view for awhile, it was time to head back into town. I stopped by the bank, changed dollars into EC and then stopped by the shops. Sometimes I would need a spool of thread or just want to browse a bit. Then I would stop by the market for provisions before heading back towards the Rhum Runners.
My last stop was the little place that sold Ting. Actually, it was my first stop before going on into town, as well. I would be returning my Ting bottles from the previous week’s purchases. I have to tell you that Ting is a great drink on it’s own, but when you live on a ship, someone will find a way to put alcohol in just about anything. One night during an illegal popcorn party (popcorn poppers were not allowed because of safety issues), someone came up with the idea of putting vodka in Ting. That was Ting with a zing! Everyone knew I wasn’t very good at the drinking thing, but that I was good for one zingy Ting.
After awhile I got to know all the crew on the Rhum Runners and got invited on one of their outings for snorkelers. I wasn’t prepared to snorkel, or even swim for that matter, but got the opportunity to enjoy a nice little beach away from the tourist crowd downtown. That was the day I met my good friend, George. You can meet him, too. Just go to Grenada Broadcast.
There’s so much to say about this island that it really isn’t going to fit in one post. I’ll take you back again next week. While you’re waiting, spend a little time with George. I’ll be there, too.