Breaking a Bone in Barbados

One could argue that every vacation you take with your spouse could be a honeymoon, as far as the flight attendant/front desk person/host is concerned. Why not drop that little nugget of info casually to see if it scores you a better seat on the plane/room at the hotel/table at the restaurant? This is all theoretically sound and ethically only slightly in a gray area, but g-dammit I cannot bring myself to lie about this ridiculous, trivial thing. Not even on a two-week Caribbean vacation that included a few days in Saint Lucia, the “#1 honeymoon destination in the world.”

Despite what you may think about PR people in the wake of the Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni drama, there are still good ones out there, and this here publicist is too honest for her own good. Not only would it have felt weird to lie, it would have been way too sad and depressing to have endured a string of calamities (delayed flights, broken bones, lost phones) on my honeymoon, no matter how fake the honeymoon was. And so we suffered through our Caribbean vacation as mere mortals just out here celebrating life (and not our recent nuptials) and dodging dilemmas.

Up first on our island-hopping Caribbean vacation was Barbados, the land of Rihanna and rum. After taxi-ing out to the runway in Boston on departure day, we sat and sat and sat for a few hours, until we headed back to the gate to switch out our faulty plane for a new one. Six hours later and we were on our way!

We landed a little after 11pm and after a quick pass through immigration and customs (sad to report: no passport stamp), we were in our rental car on our way to our Airbnb in Bridgetown.

West Indies Rum Distillery

The next morning, we had an early tour scheduled at the West Indies Rum Distillery where Planteray (formerly Plantation) is made. Generally speaking, I’m not a huge rum fan, but when you’re in the birthplace of rum, you drink the damn rum. After suiting up in hard hats and long pants, we headed out into the distillery, which sits beachside so that the rum can “mellow by the sea” as it ages. After checking out the stills that have stored the rum for 100+ years, we wrapped up with a tasting in the outdoor rickhouse amidst a maze of rum barrels stacked 100 feet in the air.

Long story short, I was a little overwhelmed with the heat and humidity and ended up fainting while trying to speed walk back to the air-conditioned lobby. Even longer story shorter, I broke my ankle during the fall, went to a clinic for an x-ray and walked out of said clinic several hours later with crutches and a walking boot and strict instructions to keep the boot on for 14 days. In other words, I injured myself on the first day of vacation and had to hobble around for the duration of the rest of that vacation. Joy.

After a few fleeting moments where I considered ending the vacation immediately and flying home to Boston, Bill rallied the troops (me) and we were full-steam ahead on making the most of it. Sure, we won’t be hiking the Pitons in Saint Lucia or exploring waterfalls in Dominica and Grenada as planned, but sitting on a beach in the Caribbean with a broken ankle beats sitting on a couch in Massachusetts in December.

With only one more night and half a day left in Barbados, we scrapped our previous, fully able-bodied plans (popping around to beach clubs in Speightstown and climbing down cliffs to the surf beaches of Bottom Bay, Shark Hole and Crane Beach on the east coast) for a more subdued itinerary of Friday night dinner at the Oistins Market and a lazy Saturday at Rockley Beach.

Friday Night Fish Fry at Oistins

Spending An Exciting Evening At Oistins Fish Fry In Barbados - Hand Luggage Only - Travel, Food And Photography Blog

Any travel mention of Barbados will likely include the Friday night fish fry at Oistins Market, an open-air market with different food stalls and bars, along with live music. We had grilled fish (I think it was barracuda?), rice & beans, plantains and a few bottles of Banks, the local beer. At this point, the reality (and pain) of my broken ankle was starting to set in and that, coupled with my arch enemy (live music), was enough to cut the night short after a quick dinner.

Rockley Beach

After a quick breakfast at Artsplash Cafe, we parked ourselves under an umbrella at Rockley Beach, until it was time to head to the airport for our flight to Grenada.

Tips & Tricks

If you can avoid it, I would not break your ankle in Barbados. I received wonderful medical care (5 stars to the FHM Clinic in Bridgetown), but having to wear a cast in a hot & humid climate is not for the faint of heart.

Currency: The Barbadian Dollar is the official currency of Barbados and is at a fixed rate of 2:1 to the American dollar. In other words, $2 BDS = $1 USD. The surrounding Caribbean countries all use the Eastern Caribbean Dollar (ECD).

Transportation: Renting a car is the move here.

In a bizarre twist of fate, I had actually purchased travel medical insurance for this trip, which is something I have *never* done. I’ve submitted the claim and receipts so time will tell if I get back any of the approximately $1100 I spent out of pocket.

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