Our last full day in Grenada started on the breakfast balcony at Ezulwini Cottage.

Day 6: February 15, 2017:

This was going to be a lazy last day. After a long slow breakfast on Marguerite's heavenly patio, we spent an hour or so just roaming around her yard. She must have about 10 acres on a steep hillside. It isn't easy to walk up and down her hillside, but between the fruit trees and flowers, it was worth the effort. Tropical plants are so different than our Wisconsin variety.

Coconut palms are ubiquitous. Several were at Ezulwini.

Sukun, also called breadfruit, grows everywhere in Grenada. It is used in a variety of recipes including baked, fried, and added to certain breads.

These flowers, blossoming in February, added to the island ‘s allure.

Just before noon, it was time to revisit two of our favorite beaches: La Sagasse and Grand Anse. Our last day will be a sunny beach day. We traded in the scooter for the collectivos. La Sagasse was the closest, so we started there.

The waves pounded and pulverized us. It was delightful, but it wore us out. It takes more effort to stay alive in heavy surf than one would think. To relax, we parked ourselves at the resort bar. They had a bottle of extra-extra potent 180-proof rum. My curiosity foolishly got the better of me and I bought a small glass of it straight. Yowza! I'll never do that again.

With my mouth on fire, we headed to Grand Anse Beach. The waves weren't as wild, but the water temperature was bathwater. We just soaked and soaked. Around 3:30 pm it was time for dinner. We returned to Ester's Fish Pot Restaurant and her son's bar next door. We ordered the BBQ pork with all the fixin's, including macaroni pie. Don't let the word 'pie' throw you. It isn't like a traditional fruit pie full of sweetness. Whatever it is, macaroni pie is a lot better than it sounds or even looks.

With my curiosity quenched, I returned to mixing the high-potency Grenada rum with punch. We topped off our dinner with a couple of rum punches.

Around 5:30 pm, it was time to work our way back to Ezulwini Cottage for the last time. We caught the collectivo and said goodbye to St. George's.

Ester at her restaurant.

BBQ pork with rice, macaroni pie, diced herb potatoes, and salad. It was scrumptious. The macaroni pie is a Grenada thing. I had never seen it before. I am a hot sauce aficionado. I found the sauces in Grenada to be very different from the hot sauces we get in the US. Ours are more vinegary. Theirs are creamier.

Ester's son running the bar next door.

In 2014, we went to Holland, Germany, and Austria with my sister. She, and her husband, have an RV. This 2-week long tour, designed by my sister, got us dreaming about traveling in our retirement days.

The Ozarks RV trip that we just took last Fall (2016) was the first long trip that we set up. We spent a month roaming the Ozark Mountains.

This trip to Grenada was the first international trip that we put together ourselves. We have to do these trips on a shoestring. Until my retirement income kicks in when I am 65, next year, and my social security income starts when I am 66, my income is limited. Wanda's retirement income will wait even longer. She is 18 months younger than I am.

But that 2014 RV trip must have damaged us in some way. We just refuse to wait until retirement to take retirement trips. Flying standby, finding Airbnb deals, and utilizing public transportation helps us stretch our dollars.

We do look forward to when we can travel for months at a time. Until then, we will enjoy these short travels. Grenada, being our first international trip was wildly successful. Marguerite was a terrific host. The weather, except for the one rain shower we had while snorkeling, was perfect. The beaches were delightful. The people of Grenada were pleasant and helpful. The food and drinks were delicious.

Now, let's see, where do we go next? My friend and fellow musician, Jeff, has been talking up Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Hmmmmm.......

VINTAGE VENTURES: The reason I write my travel journals is to be able to look back and remember our ventures. A secondary reason was to allow me to organize all my trip photos. I have thousands of photos. Organizing them into a travelogue made sense. The trick was to figure out how to organize all these photos and journals into a cohesive story. My early attempts failed miserably because I couldn't figure out how to meld photos and text into a structure that worked. It was when Wanda came across the Constant Contact format that allowed me to, not only develop a coherent story of our trips, but to be able to send them to friends, family, and anybody else that is interested.

It is my plan to take each of these early trips, which I call, Vintage Ventures, and collate them into Constant Contact. I hope you find some value in them, even though they are, well, vintage.

Dave and Wanda

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