Around South America in 80 Days

March 18, 2019

Bridgetown, Barbados

At 2:32 am I received the call from Pat that her grandchild had been born in Norway (where her son and daughter-in-law live). His name is William James and he weighed in at 8 lbs, 8.5 ounces. She was ecstatic!

After getting the information that half the ship had been waiting for, I went back to sleep and got up again a few minutes after 7 as we were just getting ready to dock.

The tour I took was called “Relaxing Barbados” and it was sponsored by my travel agency, Cruise Specialists. We were supposed to leave at 8:30 but HAL had set it up for 9:30. We had to wait awhile before the second bus arrived but were finally off just before 9:00.

Our guide, Mona, gave us lots of information about the island as we first traveled along the west side of the island and then across the higher area (1100 feet is the highest point) and then along the Atlantic coast. Prince Charles is visiting the island tomorrow since Barbados is part of the British Commonwealth even though it became independent in 1966.

Our first stop was at Bathsheba on the Atlantic known as the “Soup Bowl” to surfers. We had time to take pictures before getting back on the bus to go to St. John’s Church. The current church dates from 1836 but is the fifth one on this site.

The final stop was at Sunbury Plantation House. Sugar Cane has been an important part of the economy since the 1600s and this house was built around 1660. We had a nice light lunch before touring the house.

We returned to the port just before 2 pm. There are lots of stores in the terminal and I looked around and returned to the ship just before 3.

We had 15 out of 19 in afternoon trivia. We tied one other team for the win. About half of the questions were making an encore presentation.

1) In 1970, which woman won all four Grand Slam tennis tournaments?

2) Who played Cole Porter in the 1944 movie, “Night and Day “?

3) Brothers Sam, Jack, Harry, and Albert did what in 1923?

4) What came to an end in the U.S. in December 1933?

5) What are the names of Popeye’s four nephews?

At 5 pm I had an appointment to meet with Sheryll, the Future Cruise Consultant. I booked back to back cruises in late summer of 2020.

We only had three of our regular team for evening trivia (the rest were at the Cellar Master’s Dinner). Shiraj (arts and crafts instructor) played with us. We had 14 out of 19 while the winners had 16.

1) What Film Noire actress starred in movies such as “I Married A Witch”, “The Glass Key”, and “Sullivan’s Travels”?

2) Other than Abraham Lincoln which president or presidents on Mount Rushmore had facial hair?

3) Which animal has the longest lifespan in captivity?

4) What game is played on a lawn called a “crown green”?

5) How many crocus flowers does it take to make a pound of saffron?

Only four of us present for dinner. I had the chilled berry soup, crostini, prime rib, and a blueberry sundae for dessert.

I was planning on going to the show (comedian Martin Beaumont) but we finished before 9:30 and I was already tired and still needed to do the blog so I didn’t go.

From my deck