A Lighthouse and A Light Ship - 8 December 2015

I had five navigational lighthouse type places on my list to visit.

What is a lighthouse? A lighthouse is a light beacon that is, in some sense, a substantial building.The guideline is that a lighthouse should have a height of at least 4 meters and a cross-section, at the base, of at least 4 square meters. This simple guideline does not require that a lighthouse have any particular form or appearance.

We started out in quest of the two lighthouses - passing the pipe cactus that grow around where our hotel was located

Today, I managed to take a photo of this sign - I wondered what it was for. I associated the Lollipop kids with the Wizard of Oz. But apparently in this case a lollipop refers to the shape of the sign that the crossing guards use. In this case it wasn't for children, but for senior citizens

Lollipop crossing

There is a round-about at the end of the road to the airport and our hotel. we have to remember to go around clockwise. and that people on the right the right-of-way

Construction zone

We went to the first lighthouse which was at a place called Prickly Point. It was beautiful out there.


This lighthouse on the southern tip of Grenada is active (privately maintained on private property)

It is on the Google maps as the 360 degree house. It is lime green. It is a private house. So we parked outside the wall and Bob went in and took photos

and shows a continuous red light. It is a light green 10 meter round tower with an observation room, topped by a mast

One of Grenada's Lighthouses

Then we started for the next one

I took some photos of the road signs. On the left it says "Pedestrians Drive Slow". On the right is a speed bumps sign..

Speed Bump Ahead

We were heading for the Swedish Lightship 23 Västra Banken The directions on my phone said: Take L'anse Aux Epines Main Rd and Grand Anse Valley Rd to Egmont 17 min (9.0 km)
We took two wrong turns, including going up a driveway which was so steep that Bob put the car into 4WD.

end of the driveway

Map of where we should have gone
Top of the driveway

Island belonging to a millionaire - pricey accommodations

But eventually we got to the marina, parked and Bob got the scooter out. They had floating concrete docks.

Entrance to La Phare Bleu Marina docks - Grenada

water lilies at the marina office

Customs office at La Phare Bleu - Grenada

The lightship was at the other end of the dock. On the way down we talked to a guy whose boat was there at the marina - 60ish foot Sea Ray kind of boat.

I took photos of the light ship

What is a Swedish lightship doing in Grenada? You may well ask. From 1923 to 1970 the lightship served on the Västra Banken station in the Baltic Sea off Gävle, Sweden, north of Stockholm. After deactivation, the lightship was sold as a restaurant. In 1999 it was sold again and moved to Stockholm as a houseboat. In November 2005 it was sold a third time, to developers of a marina and resort in Grenada. The ship was towed to Rostock, Germany, to be restored and re-equipped. It was then loaded on the MV Schippersgracht and carried to the West Indies, arriving at the new marina in December 2006. It opened as a restaurant in 2016 at Le Phare Bleu Marina on the south coast of Grenada, 5.5 km southeast of St. George's.

It was hard to get a good photo from the docks, so I tried by going around to other docks

Getting back to the Spiceland Mall was fairly easy -

Bob got out the scooter and we found the bank.

Bank

Bob stood in line a long time, and while he was waiting, I chatted with a lady with a walker who had thought about buying a Luggie (the kind of scooter I have). She is Canadian and married to a Grenadian and lives down here. The security guard was standing next to us impassive - but I know he was listening because when I described the overturning of the scooter in Cornwall, I could see he was suppressing a smile. Anyway eventually Bob got money changed, and there was a bathroom for him to use opposite the bank.

Restroom sign by Native Fruits

fruit menu

Grill-to-Go

Take-out

I scootered around the food court

menu

Roti & Bus-up

and picked a place called Yum Yum Cafe which had hot dishes, sandwiches and cold drinks in addition to Rotis and something called a Buss UP. Roti is meat etc in a thing like a soft taco. I don't know what a Buss Up is. I have found out that Lambie which I see advertised everyplace is conch.

I ordered a cheese melt and a coconut mocha and Bob ordered a tuna melt and a chocolate milkshake. We actually got two tuna melts and they had to get the milkshake machine working (which took some time) before I could get my coconut mocha. (which was good)

We then went back into the grocery store and I bought some cheese and some bagel chips which turned out to be way too salty for me to eat.

We got gas - It took 4.7 Imperial gallons (half empty - Bob didn't set the trip odometer right away, but it was more than 130 miles or km - not sure which). That was $62.12 EC$ which is $22.50 US. They only took cash - no credit cards.

We went on to Grand Anse Cemetery which I found was not only right next to Blessed Sacrament RC Church

cemetery

cemetery

but was also right next to Grand Anse Beach and the Grand Anse Craft and Spice Market on a street called (according to Google maps) "The Lime". So we parked. The cemetery was just not accessible to the scooter so Bob went in and took photos and I looked at the church and took a few photos of the edge of the cemetery.

grave

Chicken crossing the road to Grand Anse Cemetery - Grenada

I didn't go in the church as they were having a service.

Then I took photos of the beach

Umbrellas on the beach - Grenada

Grand Anse Beach - Grenada

and went into the spice and craft market and talked to people.

Grenada dog

No domino playing sign

spice shop

I did buy something. They have all kinds of spices - saffron, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, peppers etc

entrance to craft and spice mall

Display of spices and crafts

Spice and craft mall courtyard

Just So Bar - next to Spice Mall

I called Bob out of the cemetery as I thought he was getting too hot. When we got home, his shirt was soaked through. He took about 140 photos.

Came home and he took a nap. Then (since we didn't have any lunch left over to bring home) we went out to dinner at the end of the street to a very fancy restaurant called The Beach House. They served from the right and took away from the left- very proper.

We were seated out on the deck.

The Beach

First they gave us roll with garlic butter. We watched a cruise ship leave across in St. George's. I had the starter of land crab cakes. They looked like whole wheat buns and really didn't taste much of crab. Spicy.

Then we had the fresh fish of the day. The waitress said it was swordfish which was the same as dolphin. Which of course it isn't. It was really swordfish. And it was good. Came with rice and vegetables.


It started to rain a little so they moved us inside. And Bob had creme brulee and I had a lime thing for dessert.

The whole dinner came to just under $100 US.

Note: In Grenada they use the Eastern Caribbean dollar

Eastern Caribbean Dollar