Settling in and Stocking Up

Saturday, February 20, 2016
Bequia, Grenadines/St Vincent
Our first couple of days on the island we, as usual, had to do some shopping for groceries, beer, wine, etc. It seems that there is always something to shop for every day but the first couple of days we try get as many of our "staples" as possible. To get to town from our house, we walk along the lane below our house and a back road to the water and the end of the Belmont Walkway. As I mentioned, the Belmont Walkway is a unique feature of Bequia that runs from Port Elizabeth right along the water in front of lots of bars, restaurants and hotels and ends at the old Plantation House hotel, which is just down from our place. After being abandoned for years, new owners are bringing the Plantation House back to life and so far it looks like they are doing a great job. The Belmont Walkway itself had fallen into a very bad state of disrepair for a number of years and was unusable for large sections (you had to cut through restaurant and hotel grounds to get to the end) but it was rebuilt with the help of local charitable organizations and a campaign that raised money from regular visitors. Just last year, an extension was made to provide a trail (the "Princess Point Trail") around the headland between the small Plantation Beach and Princess Margaret Beach, a glorious strand that previously could only be reached by going up along the road (which can be very busy and always hot), and down an extremely steep hill, at least since someone built a house that blocked the old right of way over the headland. The solution, since they couldn't go over, was to go around (as the photos show), and people are really taking advantage of it! Last year, they also made improvements to an existing path that went from PM beach to Lower Bay, the other main beach on the leeward side of the island, so that people (including those coming off cruise ships, which do come here) can now walk from town to the 2 best beaches on the island without going up to the road. Anyway, all of this is to say that Bequia is a very walking-friendly island and we take advantage of it! Friday night we went for a great burger at Papa's Restaurant on the other side of the harbour and then continued around to Coco's for some music and dancing--a bunch of the "regular crowd" showed up. Then Saturday afternoon was our first beach time at PM beach. We didn't push our luck and I think we left before we fried at all! Then of course, since the Plantation House is open and is on our way back, we had to stop for a cocktail. Tonight, we'll stay in for dinner (chorizo & polenta). We try to do about half of our meals at home while we are here--there are lots of great restaurants but eating out every night is a bit much.

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