OT - Travel to Barbados

**GreatWhiteNorthRaven** · 06-27-2017, 08:50 AM

MOD's - Completely OT, but I wanted to put it up after mini-camp and before training camp when there's a bit of a lull. I know some of our posters are seasons travelers and I wanted some advice on Barbados if any have been.

For my honeymoon we're going to Sandals Barbados in St Lawrence Gap (about 10 minutes from the airport and just outside of Bridgetown). We are plannign on getting off the resort and doing some tourist stuff.

Does anyone have any recommendations of some cool spots they've been in that area?

If no one has been and this just buries we can just delete it. Thought I'd try and see if anyones been. Thanks

**Ravenswintitle** · 06-27-2017, 08:54 AM

Rent a jeep and explore the island. You can stop at random shops in the back country, they'll be a few guys hanging around - go in and buy beer and come out and give them all one. Then chat with them a while - completely serious.

Never forget driving a stick shift jeep from the right side, shifting with left hand. One end of the island to the other is completely different

**BcRaven** · 06-27-2017, 09:27 AM

GWNR, here's my recommendation :

Trust me, and my stomach, that it goes down smooth and later hits you like the 9:05 from St. Louis

Actually many locals drink it straight. Enjoy... Bc

**GreatWhiteNorthRaven** · 06-27-2017, 11:33 AM

Originally Posted by Ravenswintitle

Rent a jeep and explore the island. You can stop at random shops in the back country, they'll be a few guys hanging around - go in and buy beer and come out and give them all one. Then chat with them a while - completely serious.

Never forget driving a stick shift jeep from the right side, shifting with left hand. One end of the island to the other is completely different

No safety concerns? I've heard Barbados is pretty good in those regards. This would be an AWESOME experiene and something I really want to do. Thanks RWT!

Originally Posted by BcRaven

GWNR, here's my recommendation :

Trust me, and my stomach, that it goes down smooth and later hits you like the 9:05 from St. Louis

Actually many locals drink it straight. Enjoy... Bc

As always, you the man, Bc.

I've heard the local beer is banks, which I can buy at the LCBO in Ontario, so I'm going to grab some of that too and apparently not Mount Gay Rum.

**Rxdoxx** · 06-27-2017, 11:40 AM

Been decades since I was there
But my memory that Bridgetown felt a lot like Baltimore
Now I know it has been 20 years, so hopefully not like the Baltimore of today but the way it was back then

St. Louis, whose 188 murders amounted to 59.3 homicides per 100,000 people and preserved that city’s status as America’s murder capital. Baltimore placed second, with a homicide rate of 51.2, followed by Detroit, New Orleans, and Cleveland.

It was a cruise, I took no tours, just headed downtown Bridgetown, and walked the streets, stopping in stores, talking to people, a nice conversation with a pharmacist down there .... the food was good, the language was English ... I liked the people I met. But I can't speak for resort aspects, just I liked the feel of the city/people

found a youtube vid someone posted from 2015, kind of mirrors my experience (actually was a little nostalgic watching it)

**GOTA** · 06-27-2017, 11:50 AM

I have an assistant here at work who is from Barbados. I will ask her and get back to you. She has been living there on and off for the past 40 years. I'll bring you the good stuff

**GreatWhiteNorthRaven** · 06-27-2017, 12:53 PM

Originally Posted by GOTA

I have an assistant here at work who is from Barbados. I will ask her and get back to you. She has been living there on and off for the past 40 years. I'll bring you the good stuff

You're the man!

One thing I have to do is go to Bert's Bar.

It's owned by the owner of the Ottawa Senators (Lives in Barbados in the offseason). The restaurant at the rink here in Ottawa is also called Bert's. So it would be cool from a Sens fan perspective to go there. It's about 5km from our resort

**JAB1985** · 06-27-2017, 01:50 PM

Say hi to Rhianna for me.

**Ravenswintitle** · 06-27-2017, 01:51 PM

Another thing I remember - it was HOT! Like oppressive. Can't remember what time of year it was. Monkeys running through trees, great snorkeling. Everyone I met was very friendly and we drove the entire island.

**GOTA** · 06-28-2017, 09:59 AM

I got a couple of things from my assistant Dara.

RWT is dead on about renting a car and driving around. She says the island is about the size of Manhattan. You can do the who thing in no time and there really are no safety concerns outside of the usual stuff that naive tourists encounter anywhere. It's a very safe island. She did say that the one place you don't want to drive into is Bridgetown. Parking is a nightmare. Take a cab. She said it's really very commercial and good for shopping but not much character. If you find you get sick of the beach and want to go shopping or bar hopping it's good.

The west side of the island except for Bridgetown are all really nice beaches. The north west is the wealthier part and there are some really nice houses. The east side is where it's rough. There is surfing and some cool rock formations. She said that Devil's Rock on Cattlewash beach is especially scenic and has a cool local legend.

In the south east there is a least 1 old plantation tour. She said if you want to see how old rich white guys ruled then it might be interesting but as someone descended from slaves she said it was not for her.

One cool thing she mentioned is a ship called the Jolly Roger. Its a fake pirate ship but really well done and it's a ton of fun to go out for a half day on the water with some boat drinks playing pirate.

You are probably not in a room with a kitchen since you are at a resort but she did say that you'll see the area the fishing boats come in near Bridgetown and you can buy fresh fish and shellfish right from the boats. She said it's not docks like we're used to but more of concrete pier thing.

This might be easier for you but for us New Yorkers we're used to everything right away. The people are much more laid back in Barbados. They might not check to see if you are ready for anther drink. The food might take a little longer to get to your table. That drives people in my area nuts and they have to realize that it's not bad service but a more relaxed attitude. I don't know if your part of Canada is as pushy and demanding as we are here, probably not because nowhere else that I've seen is. However this still might be very different than what you are used to. She said get used to Caribbean time and just go with it.

I'll pass on more stuff when I get it.

**GreatWhiteNorthRaven** · 06-28-2017, 10:04 AM

This is absolutely incredible GOTA, thank you!!!!

Going to copy and paste to by fiancee.

I will say I am very laid back about food and drink service. I just simply don't care that much, but my fiancee is the opposite. She really likes chop chop service (it's a thing she got from her dad, who is one of those people that no matter where you go he complains about something - it's truly something to watch, annoying as hell).

We will definitely be renting a jeep to go cruising. Definitely understand that you could be in any area of the world and there's always a risk.

Absolutely incredible write up! I also didn't know you were a New Yorker. NYC?

**GOTA** · 06-28-2017, 10:17 AM

Originally Posted by GreatWhiteNorthRaven

This is absolutely incredible GOTA, thank you!!!!

Going to copy and paste to by fiancee.

I will say I am very laid back about food and drink service. I just simply don't care that much, but my fiancee is the opposite. She really likes chop chop service (it's a thing she got from her dad, who is one of those people that no matter where you go he complains about something - it's truly something to watch, annoying as hell).

We will definitely be renting a jeep to go cruising. Definitely understand that you could be in any area of the world and there's always a risk.

Absolutely incredible write up! I also didn't know you were a New Yorker. NYC?

I was born in NYC and have been in the area my whole life. I moved to CT in my 20s and haven't left but this is really a suburb of NYC. A ton of people here commute into New York every day. Thankfully I'm not going all the way to NYC every day anymore but I do work in a smaller city outside of NYC.

New York is such a huge influence that the Giants and Yankees fans go all the way to Hartford, Connecticut which is actually closer to Boston. The Patriots have been gaining because of all the winning but 3/4 of Connecticut are still solidly Giants/Yankees/Knicks/Rangers fans