A Jeanne in the Kitchen

I know you you are thinking that I was above water for most of our trip since I have been posting about all the other things we did and saw. And we did do a lot too. But, you would be wrong. I am saving the best for later. 🙂

That being said, I do have some more views from above the water level to share with you. The views were spectacular and so many beautifully, brightly colored flowers too.

I’ll start with the flowers and plants. They are a lot of the same tropical flowers we see all over the place, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t still beautiful. There were also some beautiful new flowers too. 🙂

I love bougainvillea. They come in so many different colors.

Look at these gianormous cacti!!!!!

This flower, that has been unofficially named “Pride and Industry” is the national flower of Barbados.

We had bottle brush like this, and many other tropical plants, in my backyard when I was growing up.

I have no idea what this fruit is, but it was too good of a picture to pass up. 🙂

These are sea grapes. Apparently when they are ripe, they are very good to eat.

These avocados were so good. They had a hint of sweetness to them too.

These succulents were growing out of the rocks.

Have a bright, colorful day and color your world beautiful.

My friend, and virtual dive buddy, over at ScubaHankNYC at https://scubahanknyc.com/ just informed me it is world manta day. I LOVE my rays, all of them. It doesn’t matter if they are southern stingrays, eagle rays, bat rays or mantas. They are so graceful and magical. But the BIG, graceful mantas are really special.

Southern Stingrays. I took these in Belize and Grand Cayman. This one, obviously our divemaster took for us.

Eagle Rays. We see so many eagle rays in Cozumel, particularly from November-March. I did not take these other pictures unfortunately. We have killed so many underwater cameras.

Bat Rays. We saw a bunch of these in Cabo San Lucas and we saw one in Barbados too.

Manta Rays. We dived with a whole bunch in Kona, Hawai’i. They are so beautiful, majestic and graceful.

I wish everyday was manta day. 🙂

One of the many pleasures of travel is finding new places to eat. There are always good restaurants and places to eat, everywhere we go Good food is appreciated all over the world, and comes in so many delicious opportunities and styles. be adventurous and dine like the locals do. One of our good restaurant finds was at The Harlequin in St. Lawrence Gap.

We were strolling around, looking for a place to dine, and the bright, colorful lights caught my eye. The food just deliciously spoke to us, and the staff was very friendly and fun. We took the long way to the restaurant, unbeknownst to us at the time. We drove around and found it, but in reality, we could have walked across the grounds of our hotel. We didn’t learn this until after the fact though. 🙂

The food was good Creole style food, just like what we would find in New Orleans. We did what we normally do when trying a new place. We ordered some appetizers and shared a meal between us. We started off with a dark and stormy rum drink. I love these. 🙂

Then came some fish cakes and chicken samosas.

Followed by some blackened kingfish. DELICIOUS!

As we were waiting for our food I was busy taking pictures of some of the nearby signs.

This one had me in stitches.

We loved Harlequin. I wish we had a chance to go back again. Next time.

I dived (yes, that is really the way it is said) almost everyday while in Barbados. Larry did not. I only took 2 days off from diving, and those are the days we did a lot of the driving and sightseeing for things that were further away from where we were staying and needed more time to explore. But I was done diving by about 1:30, then a quick shower and change, and we were off and running again. We did a lot of things after diving too. One of those activities was to visit the Barbados Museum, which ironically is located in the old military prison. We tend to visit a lot of military forts and prisons on our travels.

The museum was filled with interesting history and artifacts about Barbados history. We learned a lot and it was very informative. The only issue we had with it though, was that it was oppressively hot. It was hotter inside than it was outside, and believe me, that is saying a lot.

Life for early Barbadans.

The sea is obviously a very important part of the life for Barbadans, both then and now.

But there are so many other things that are significant to the Barbadans as well, like the wildlife and the birds.

And the lifestyles influenced by the Europeans.

We already know how important rum is to the island.

Rich mahogany is also an important product from the island. It was used to construct a lot of furniture and decorative additions.

Cricket is the national sport of Barbados.

But one of the most important aspects of life in Barbados, is the ongoing fight for their freedom.

This statue was not in the museum, but it is definitely a symbol of their fight for freedom. It was on the main highway going up north.

We signed the wall letting everyone know that we were there too.

The Barbados Museum, like everything else we experienced on the island, was well done, very interesting and very informative.

While we were up at the Mount Gay Rum Distillery, we decided to venture on to the Barbados Wildlife Reserve too. We wanted to go anyway, but they were so close together, that it just made it easy to do them both on the same day.

We saw all kinds of animals, native to the Caribbean islands and Barbados. There were, green monkeys, originally from Africa; tortoises; goats, peacocks, chickens and brocket deer, that all roamed the grounds freely. They also had some caimans penned up in their watering area, along with some large iguanas from Cuba, some guinea fowl, tropical birds of all colors and kinds, and even a couple of snakes, that I quickly bypassed.

The goats were outside the gates. I think they were privately owned, but they all looked very happy, and loved the camera.

Lots of babies too.

The green monkeys were everywhere. We have seen these green monkeys in St. Kitts, Nevis and Gibraltar too.

There were quite a few babies, sticking close to their mommies.

They are not afraid of people at all. But DON’T touch them, particularly at feeding time. They go crazy during feeding time, and can and do bite.

We caught the tortoises in some awkward situations more than a few times. They used to roam freely around the island, but now are only found in the Wildlife Reserve or are privately owned.

This rooster and peacock were close friends.

Larry and his flock of peacocks.

At first we didn’t see any of the brocket deer, but then they started to come out, especially at feeding time.

Feeding time was a hoot. The staff dumped a whole bunch of fruit and vegetables into a couple of locations and ALL the animals came out and dined together. The monkeys were hilarious. A few of them even sat on top of the tortoises.

Caimans and turtles.

The Iguana.

And of course, lots of tropical birds. The caimans, birds, iguanas, and snakes were all caged or penned, but they all had plenty of room to move around freely.

The animals were all well fed and well loved. I loved seeing how all the friendly animals had free reign of the park. It made it seem like they were truly in their natural environments. It did not seem invasive at all. I definitely recommend a trip to the Wildlife Reserve. It is fun and enjoyable, plus it helps the preservation and care of some of these endangered species.

We did two rum tours on our trip. The first was the self-guided tour at Foursquare Distillery Barbados – Part 6 – The Rum – Foursquare Distillery and the second was a guided tour at Mount Gay. The Foursquare tour was interesting, but the tour at Mount Gay was much better. It should be at $55 per person vs. free though. We learned so much about rum and rum production, and our guide, Ramal was a wealth of knowledge. He was a lot of fun too.

Mount Gay has a very long history, and is the oldest rum distillery in the world. It has been producing world class rums since 1705.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, the rum distilleries were originally on private plantations, where the people actually lived. Mount Gay was no different. This used to the be the family’s private residence. Today, it is used as the meeting rooms for tours and parties.

Ramal preparing our welcome rum cocktail before starting the tour.

Different flavors often found in rums.

After giving us the history of Mount Gay Distillery, Ramal led us into the actual factory, where the rum is made, and gave us a very thorough rum lesson. Before entering the rum factory, we all had to don our hard hats.

If you can see the no smoking sign behind me, there is a story for that too. Rum, is alcohol, and alcohol is highly volatile. There are NO SMOKING signs all over the premises and Ramal clearly stated there is NO SMOKING allowed anywhere on the premises. Fire hazards are very real at a rum factory.

This is the meeting place in case of a fire.

However, there is always going to be that one stupid person that thinks the rules don’t apply to them. Sure enough, there was one stupid man that left for a cigarette or two. By so doing, he endangered all of us, the employees and the rum factory itself. Fortunately, he was caught and escorted out. At first he said he had been arrested, but then he rejoined the group towards the end of the tour. I have no idea what his punishment was, but I hope it was a strong one. I just hate stupid people like this.

Anyway. Back to the tour.

These are all the ingredients actually used to make the rum. The main ingredient is molasses. They use molasses from Barbados itself and from other Caribbean countries. There is a very distinct difference in the tastes. Ramal let us all taste both kinds of molasses.

This is the mixing room. We could not get any other pictures of the blending itself. That is a trademark secret and no photos were allowed.

The processing room. These tanks are in operation 24/7, around the clock.

The aging rooms.

Each of these buildings is filled with rum aging in barrels until it is ready to bottle.

After touring the grounds, we all went back to the meeting rooms to do some sampling. These are the rums we all sampled.

All of the rums were very good. Again, I liked the higher end rums. Surprise, surprise! The picture behind Ramal is a picture of the current rum blender. He told us that there is only one blender at a time, and each blender adds their own personal styles and techniques to the rums.

Ramal showing off his fun personality along with an expensive, top shelf bottle of rum. We didn’t get to try this one though. Darn. It only sells for about $400 per bottle. 🙂

Taking this tour is a definite must-do while in Barbados, even if you are not a rum drinker. It is very interesting and informative, giving lots of history about rum and the island itself.

While in the area, after the tour, we went to the Wildlife Animal Reserve too, but more on that later.

The Caribbean Islands are all known for their rum. Rum has been a major industry since the 1600’s. Barbados’ rum, in particular, is known as some of the best rum in the world by rum connoisseurs. Sugar cane was introduced to the island in 1627, and in 1647 rum was one of Barbados’ major industries, and has been ever since.

Rum has gone by many names. First, it was known as “kill-devil”, because of its early, hot, strong, hellish and terrible flavor. But it has come a long way since those early days. It was also known as rumbullion, which is an old English term referring to the riots and uproars created by large, crowds of noisy disruptive people. HMMMMM! I wonder how it got that name???? From the name rumbullion, it was shortened to just rum, which is the name the world knows it by today.

In the early days of rum, the water was so bad, that people were told to drink rum or spirits instead of the water. It was cleaner and less harmful than the water. Rum was also part of the daily rations for sailors. The term “proofed”, used for alcohols of all kinds, originally came from the days when the sailors would pour a little rum over gunpowder and ignite it. If the rum was too diluted, the gunpowder would not ignite. If it ignited, it was considered “proofed” to be strong.

There are three large rum factories and distilleries in Barbados – 1) Mount Gay, the oldest continuous distillery in the world, operating since 1705; 2) St. Nicolas Abbey; and 3) Foursquare. We toured both Foursquare Distillery and Mount Gay. We tried to go to St. Nicolas, but it was closed on the one day we went there. Next time.

The Foursquare Distillery was a self-guided tour, that was free.

In the early days of rum making, the distilleries were on people’s personal plantations, and they lived on the premises.

There was even an old outside museum of old rum machinery parts.

The sugar cane fields. The cane is stripped and burned down to make molasses, which is in turn used as one of the major ingredients for the rum production.

After the tour, we had to sample the rums of course. Our rum guide was very knowledgeable and walked us through the different stages of rum and rum processing.

We tried small amounts of 6 different rums this day. I liked the upper end, smoother sipping rums. I know. You’re all shocked. Surprise, surprise! 🙂

Tapas was a restaurant we passed many times. It is a restaurant that specializes in ….. you guessed it, tapas. I love tapas, and I thoroughly enjoyed the restaurant Tapas as well. It was located right on the beach and the food was delicious! Our server, Jessie, was great too. She was so full of personality and was very attentive to every detail.

After we ordered, we were started off with some warm bread and a garlic aioli.

Then we tried a variety of tapas including some calamari, peppered shrimp and Thai fish cakes.

Next came some lamb curry.

We were very full and very satisfied after.

I totally recommend a dinner or two at Tapas when visiting Christ Church or just Barbados in general.

When we travel to someplace new, we love to tour around and see as much as we can. This trip to Barbados was no different. We toured around the whole island and took it all in. We saw most of the island from on top and quite a bit from below the water’s surface as well. It was beautiful from both perspectives. I will talk more about the diving later, but here are some more views from above the water.

In the evenings, this is a happening spot for people to go eat and hang out. It is the Worthing Court Food Court. It offers a wide variety of different local foods.

Larry was checking everything out.

The Barbados Garrison, largest in the British Colonies during the 18th and 19th centuries, is of great historic interest and offers many features, other than military, for those so inclined.  It was established in 1780 as the military headquarters for the Imperial Forces stationed here until 1905/6.  However, it began with St. Ann’s Fort, on its present site, in 1705.

Today it is the home of the Barbados Defense Force including the Barbados Coast Guard Force. Headquarters of the Barbados Cadet Corps is at Cherry Tree Cottage on Garrison Road, overlooking the Savannah.

There is also horse racing on the Garrison fields. We saw a couple of horses training for a race, but we didn’t get to see an actual race. Once again, we did not have the time nor did we bring appropriate clothes to watch a race. I wish we knew before leaving that we should have packed at least one nice outfit to wear for certain occasions. The Barbadans tend to dress up for certain events, whereas we are much more casual.

The Barbados flag was proudly flying above the race course.

The Barbados crest.

While driving around, we saw a fun display of souvenirs waiting to be noticed and purchased. We stopped, looked and bought a couple of items.

But this was the real view, overlooking Cherry Hill.

We continued driving north and stumbled across this old windmill. Definitely a throwback from the old Dutch settlers. It is called the Morgan Lewis windmill. Morgan Lewis Windmill, St. Andrew, Barbados is the biggest and only fully functional sugar windmill in the Caribbean. The mill stopped operating in 1947. In 1962 the mill was given to the Barbados National Trust by its owner Egbert L. Bannister for preservation as a museum.

We saw lighthouses.

And some local art, signs and murals too.

The art in the airport was beautiful too.

There is so much more to see too. I have so many pictures of the beaches, flowers and birds too, but I will showcase those on a different blog post. All are beautiful, and deserve to be recognized on their own. Hang tight. I have so much more to share. 🙂

Dolphins are one of my spirit animals. And I just found out it is world dolphin day today. So thank you Nancy, from Our World https://nackpets.wordpress.com/ for letting me know. 🙂

WORLD DOLPHIN DAY 2024

This is Larry and I swimming with Maya, in Roatan, quite a few years ago.