I'll give you a piece of my mind: Jan 13 Grenada Spice Gardens, Westerhall Estates and rum tasting

The “Isle of Spice” Grenada is one of the worlds foremost producers of nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and ginger. It’s fertile soil is a product of the island’s volcanic origins.

This island makes its presence known before you arrive. The Isle of Spice is a major producer of spices. On warm Caribbean days when the wind is just right you’ll smell nutmeg, cinnamon and all things fragrant that grow in the hills.

We slept in this morning and didn’t have time for breakfast. We were already docked and so we didn’t have to deal with a crowd situation like yesterday. It was a short walk on a shorter pier than yesterday, through the customs building and conveniently sitting right there was our bus! I was so happy to climb aboard out of the stifling heat and into an air conditioned bus.

So off we went through this very busy city that had lots of interesting shops and up into the hills we drove. Some places were extremely steep hills that we traversed up and down and we saw a fruit stand by the side of the road on a level spot and Sabrina asked the bus driver if he could stop so she could buy one and he did. The vendor chopped or peeled it a bit and then made the hole, added a straw and passed it to her and she was thrilled to drink her first ever coconut milk.

Eventually we arrived at a spice shop.

Basically it was a tourist trap with souvenirs but we liked some of them well enough to purchase. I don’t usually buy souvenirs anymore but none of us could resist a necklace that was made of spices. Now, on the ship we’ve learned that there’s a good chance we’ll lose these necklaces because fresh fruit isn’t allowed to be brought in to Canada and probably neither are spices as they’re fresh and the ginger is actually soft. I suppose it's because they could be a breeding ground for fruit flies and i guess a new species isn't desired here. Meanwhile we’ve hung them in our cabin and the delightful fragrance greets us every time we enter. We then boarded the bus again and hit the hills for a lovely scenic tour of maybe half an hour more to the spice garden.

A nice young guide named Lorraine took us for a walk on a nutmeg shell covered pathway and she stopped at a lot of plants and explained what it was and how it could be used. It was very informative and interesting and although she tried to have us stand in the shade while listening to her lots of times there was no shade and so we stood in the sun. I don’t know what the temperature was there but it was HOT. As you know i'm always cold but here i was really too hot, lol! The path was a circular one that ended up back at their gift shop and after everyone was finished buying spices we proceeded back down the hills to the docks. It was a very nice excursion and my daughter and granddaughter continued shopping in the mall that we had to walk through to get back onto the pier while i just kept on going as i was totally beat from the heat and wanted to get back on the ship and have a nap in our cool room. Actually, i made a small detour when i saw a sign that said Casino in the mall. I opened the door and walked in just to check it out.. It was sort of scary because it was very small and very dark and very crowded with people playing a handful of slots. Some of the machines were the same ones we have here at home but they weren't anything I wanted to play.

Later we went for a late lunch and then the girls went one way and i went another. I checked out the few decks that i hadn’t been on as of yet and i found some interesting things to look at including sitting to rest in the piano bar which wasn’t open but the door was unlocked so I went in and was alone in a sort of night club feeling very privileged enjoying the purple ambiance. There were photos of famous musicians on a wall and i took pics of the pics. I walked out onto decks 3 and 4 and walked a bit past the lifeboats and then went in and sat for awhile in the atrium. Few people hang out there totally unlike my last cruise on Princess where the atrium was the main hub and gathering spot being as it's the heart of the ship. I chatted with a couple of ladies there and they were both from Florida although they hadn’t known that about each other. By the time i departed they had become close friends. I went to the art gallery and seeing nothing artsy going on but there was a cooking demo with the ships head chef and his helpers. I found a seat and watched as they prepared a three course meal and some lucky people were chosen to eat the meal. I wasn’t one of the lucky ones and it was freezing in there so i headed for the casino as the ship had departed and the slots were being powered up. I played my usual with no luck and then wandered around where i found a few different poker machines that looked interesting. They allow you to play up to four hands at once and i’d never seen this before and it turned out to be a lot of fun even though i didn't leave with a profit. It dealt one hand and you saved whatever cards you wanted from it and they showed up in all 4 hands. Then when you push the button different cards were dealt to complete each of the hands. It was pretty cool as sometimes you're dealt a paying hand so you'd save them all and win on all 4 hands.....cha ching! I went to our cabin and the girls returned just moments after me so we got ready and went to dinner. They then went to enjoy the movie on the outdoor screen while I retired to the cabin for the rest of the evening.