Today and tomorrow give us unexpected sea days, allowing some time to bring these notes up to the present.  Originally scheduled to spend one day each in St Lucia and Domenica, we have instead sailed east into the Atlantic Ocean and then north on our way to landfall in Bermuda on Friday, 12 July.  Two hurricanes, the deadly Beryl, and the somewhat less dangerous, Chris, are moving far to the west of our route.  Because we are sailing in the Atlantic we will experience somewhat more rough seas than are usually felt in the Caribbean (when there are no hurricanes on the move).  But this is part of the price you pay when you choose the cheaper cruise fares of the summer.

Before getting on with our visits to Grenada and Trinidad, I want to apologize for all the sloppy typos in the past two blogs.  In my efforts to upload photos and publish quickly I have not been a careful editor and proofreader.  You will also notice that the photos from downtown Oranjestad in Aruba are not arranged correctly (thus the captions don't make sense).  But I will try harder from now on. 

7 July 2018
St George's, Grenada

Old Military Fort Overlooking the City and Harbor

Cruise Passengers, Tour Guide, and Will are impressed by the
Views from the Fort

We easily sail into St George's harbor, the largest in Grenada, but the sea swell and windy conditions make the captain decide to leave Insignia anchored off shore, while passengers are tendered into port.  The tender ride is a bit bumpy, but the trip is short (about 10 minutes each way).  Once on shore 12 of us enter the air-conditioned van that will take us up the narrow hill-hugging road to Sunnyside Gardens, a privately-owned facility, still run by the family that built the house and garden more than 70 years ago.

Sunnyside Gardens:

Flower-Constructed Walls
(above and below)

Local Turtles

View of Harbor from Sunnyside Garden

We spend about 2.5 hours at the garden; it is still morning but heat and humidity have already risen quite high (at least compared to Tucson).  The return ride to St George's takes us around the other side of the bay and we approach the city from the east, opposite to how we began this morning.  There isn't much to see in Grenada, that isn't up a steep climb, so after a short walk in the area around the port, we decide to re-board the ship for a restful afternoon.

Central St George's:

For those of us who need a reminder of the involvement of US military forces in Grenada, here is a brief outline:

• Grenada's independence from Britain was granted in February 1974, under the leadership of Eric Gairy, who became the first Prime Minister of Grenada.
• In March 1979, the Marxist–Leninist New Jewel Movement overthrew Gairy's government in a coup d'état and established the People's Revolutionary Government (PRG), headed by Maurice Bishop as Prime Minister. 
• On 19 October 1983, hard-line Deputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard and his wife, Phyllis, backed by the Grenadian Army, led a coup against the government of Maurice Bishop and placed Bishop under house arrest. Bishop was later freed by popular demonstration and attempted to resume power, but he was captured and executed by soldiers. 
• On 25 October 1983, citing the threat posed to American nationals by the nation's pro-Marxist regime, President Reagan ordered US forces to invade the island and to secure its safety.  In little more than one week, Grenada's Marxist government was overthrown.
• Forces from the United States and the Barbados-based Regional Security System (RSS) invaded Grenada in a U.S.-led operation code-named Operation Urgent Fury. The invasion was highly criticized by the governments of Britain, Trinidad and Tobago, and Canada, along with the United Nations General Assembly. Elections were held in December 1984 and were won by the Grenada National Party under Herbert Blaize, who served as Prime Minister until his death in December 1989.

This period of history was not mentioned by the tour guide and there were few visible clues to remind us of those misguided days.