Pictures of the Pirate Lady's trip to
 visit the Dread Pirate Goldrick in
Saint Lucia, BWI 

Left Miami at 10:30 am Saturday, May 13 on Air Jamaica
Flew over Cuba and landed in Montego Bay, Jamaica

Cuba
These are not good pics, cloudy, and the sunlight was in the window.  These were
made on the way home.  On the way out the view was fabulous, but I did not think to take pics!

South end of Cuba, the streak running from left lower corner up is the coastline

North end of Cuba, the streak running from  the left upward is the coastline.

Jamaica

Runway lights in the sea                                                    Flying over Jamaica

  I flew on the plane to St Lucia  with Patti LaBelle and band, Spyro Gyra, and Los Van Van
Sat next to P. LaBelle band member.  St. Lucia Jazz Festival was happening.

Landed at Hewanorra Airport on the south end of the island at Vieux Fort

Breezed through customs (whew!) and met Ed.  We took a taxi back to Marisule where Ed lives.
This is about a 2 hour drive, as the government apparently wants the highway to go by
every little shack!  Many twists and turns, a beautiful ride.  We went up the
Atlantic side, then cut across the island to the Caribbean side.  Driver was
James Berkman.  If you go to the island, ask for him.  He is very knowledgable about
the island history and culture.  Stopped at his cousin's store for drinks, ("the other
stores charge too much") and what do I hear on
the radio in the store?  The old country music song "The Race is On".  Not what
I really expected to hear on the island!

Castries
Castries is the capital of St. Lucia and the largest town.  These pictures were made on the
trip from the airport, at an overlook across the street from the Govenor's residence.

Point Seraphine, where the cruise ships dock is on the left, red roof buildings.


 Marisule
Where Ed has the apartment
View from the apartment balcony

Sunday we had brunch at the Hyatt with Jim and Sue Thompson.  Jim is the Director of Engineering
at the Hyatt.  I did not get pictures of the Hyatt...DUH!

Important Notice!!!
The Hyatt St. Lucia is no longer open.
No fault of Hyatt, but owners of the property incurred
a lot of bad debt.  Lots of nice places to stay, we recommend the Hilton,
or Sandals for all-inclusive.
 

Hyatt Beach

Now closed and up for sale

ROAD TRIP!
Wednesday we hired James for the day to take us around the island.
For ease of downloading, I have split this into 2 pages.
Click on the links below for:

St. Lucia Towns

Gardens, Waterfall and Volcano

If you go:

Airlines: Try to take Air Jamaica, much more user friendly than American Airlines.
Airbus all the way.  Free wine, beer and champagne in economy, and decent food. RT was $600.
You also get to see Cuba.   American is not allowed to fly over Cuba.  They fly you from Puerto
Rico on a puddle-jumper.  Ed did get to go to St. Thomas when weather
did not allow them to land in Puerto Rico.  But they would not let him off of the plane!

Conversion rate:  Eastern Caribbean dollar exchanges to .37 USD.  Makes the prices look
outrageous, but remember $100 EC is $37 USD.  Most places will take USD but give
your change back in EC.

Transportation:  Bus, An excellent bus system, vans that come along about every minute or so.
Bus fare is $1 EC, a bargain!  When you get near your stop, call out
"Driver, bus stop!"  That's the island way!
Taxi, Negotiate the price before you get in.  Not too difficult.  Try to get James Berkman.
 

Water:  Buy bottled water, tastes better that what comes out of the pipes.

Restaurants:  Snooty Agouti, very good, had the flying fish fillets, good selections of coffees,
but don't expect Starbucks.  Service is very attentive here.  Ed had the seafood casserole,
it was really good.  Price for the meal was around 100 EC or 37 USD.
Shamrocks: the Rodney Bay place to be, I suppose!  Ed calls it the 'seedy Brits bar'.
Karaoke on Thursday.  Lots of Brits, and locals.  We ran into a lot of
Ed's friends here.  I had some sort of fish, must have been good.
The Lime, a small outdoor restaurant bar, very popular with the locals.  I shared a
seafood roti with Ed.  A roti is like a pasty, meats and veggies wrapped in a type of bread,
in this case, sort of a tortilla.  Inexpensive, very tasty, filling!
Half Yellow Moon, we had steaks, very good, service is great, prices are what you would
expect in the US.  Great atmosphere!
Key Largo Pizza, had the seafood linguini, again very good, great atmosphere, open air,
terracotta floors, open wood shuttered  doors.  Prices were US average for a pasta restaurant.
Service was a bit slow, had to track down the waitress for the check.

Grocery stores:  No Publix here!  Shopping is like a scavenger hunt, trying to find
the items that you are used to getting back home.   Julians is good, and has a really
good meat market at the Gablewoods location.  Prices are on par with Publix.
Beef should be bought in the meat market, and not in the grocery store.
Diet Coke is rare, and if not available, have to ask when it is coming in.

Beers: available are Heineken, Miller, Red Stripe, and Piton - the local brew.  Piton
is quite good, and cheap. ($1.50 USD)  There is no Budweiser on the island.  There are
a few others, Guiness, Carib available in certain locations.

Wines:  Plentiful, only tried a white at Key Largo Pizza, good.
Champagne at Hyatt was very good.

Rums:  St. Lucia has its own rum distillery.  Bounty Rum, the least expensive
is a light mild rum.   Admiral Rodney's is the 'top shelf', excellent for sipping.

Cigarettes:  Marlboros, Marlboro Lights, Benson & Hedges, some British and local brands.
No Virginia Slims, to my dismay!  Silk Cut is a good substitute.  Did not see Djarums.
Cuban cigars are in abundance, but do not take them back to the US, a BIG no-no!
Considered black market, contraband, Customs will not like you!

Communicating:  The official language is English, but a patois called Kweyole is
spoken by most islanders.
Green figs are small bananas.
Apricot is a different fruit altogether!
Lambi is conch fritters.
Rolled napkins are paper towels.

The background is the Brig Unicorn coming into Sourfriere
Hope you have enjoyed this!  Don't forget to sign the guest book!
Ed & Anita
 

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Last Updated April 15, 2002
Property of Ed and Anita Pierce