Downtown Area

I think my Mom's had a great time, but one thing she's not getting to do is sleep in. People ask us all the time why we go to bed so early...because we know we'll be woken up by something long before we want to be. This happened to my father when he visited too - just at a different location. Here we get garbage trucks, backhoes, Coast Guard men running and "whooaing," busloads of children apparently bus-less screaming and stomping past, weedcutters, lawnmowers, alarms beeping, gardeners whistling or singing or yeehaaing (I don't know why), monkeys fighting, cats in heat screeching, the neighbor kids screaming for their deaf/untrained dog...peaceful this place is not. Plus everything echoes. It is warm though!

As a matter of fact it's dead calm again. Waters are flat, winds are non-existent. While you guys are shoveling snow, we're swatting flies and scratching mosquito bites.

Yesterday, we headed to the capital to do one final souvenir search and wander around a bit. First we had lunch at one of our favorite places, El Fredos (veggie roti for me, shrimp for Mom), then it was off to the bank, and then to Chippies for minutes for my cell phone. Stomachs full and work done, we were off to Island Hopper, a big store with lots of clothes and knicknacks. We found a fantastic t-shirt there showing the entire Strip - which anyone who visits St. Kitts becomes familiar with. I might buy Mike and me one as we spend so much time there. Jack was also a fan. We'll all be "Strippers"!



Then we wandered into the Cameron/Spencer Gallery and found that the glass shop that had closed mid-town had moved there. They had a lot of affordable stuff, which resulted in more gift buying.

The Gallery and lots of other old buildings surround Independence Park, which is where slaves used to be sold. Nice to see a fountain in the middle instead.

It was pretty hot downtown, so we took our sweaty selves over to Stone Walls which was technically closed, but they let us enjoy 2 beers anyway. We grabbed a taxi back for a reasonable $10US and called it a day. Michael made a great veggie soup, we watched Survivor, went to bed, and then got woken up 6am...

And here's why we rent.

Yep, that's sawdust and damage from termites in our downstairs bathroom cabinet. It was very nice just calling the office and having them call and pay for Terminix. Yes, we really love this renting thing.

Today is my Mom's last full day here - boo. She gets to decide where she wants to spend it and then I know we'll head to the Shiggidy Shack where she wanted to try their ribs. She's already given them a thumbs up for their jerk chicken (which she had on the sunset cruise) and the lobster. Can they go 3 for 3? KC-5 should be playing too, so it should be another fun evening on St. Kitts. We might get another great sunset (brace yourselves for yet more sunset pictures folks!) as Montserrat had a partial dome collapse yesterday and the air is full of...well...ash (pilots could see the ash column 40,000 feet up). Our eyes certainly are aware of the gritty air. Even the National Weather Service has issued an advisory as visibility in the area is down. The St. Kitts airport was actually diverting flights a couple of days ago, so won't that be ironic if Mom gets stuck here because of volcanic "snow"?