Location: Barbados
I started my morning off early with the 6:00 am to 7:00 am watch and some photos of the sunrise. Once everyone was up and mustered, we ate and cleaned up breakfast with a focus incomparable to any previous breakfast because IT’S SHORE DAY! Shore days are the few days sprinkled within the voyage where we get dumped on shore and told to do anything we want without breaking the law or drinking alcohol. Or renting cars & electric scooters. We have yet to get the story behind that from the staff. Presumably, some dumdum crashed and ruined it for the rest of us.
As skipper, I took it upon myself to try and organize a taxi van for most of us to get to our preferred destinations along the west coast of BarbadosKara, Maddie, Cessily, Darien, Benny, me, Sylver, and Kiki. Our taxi driver, Rock, was kind enough to give us tips and tricks for where we should go and even stopped to leave different mini groups in different locations.
The first to depart were Sylver, Kiki, and I in Holetown near the Massie superstore supermarket aka a warehouse full of foods, drinks, and snacks. Although we disembarked together, we immediately all split off on our own to mentally recharge with a full day away from the tight quarters and social corridors of the boat. After filling my backpack with as many snacks as it could fit and then filling an extra bag, I ordered a taxi from the Barbados-specific taxi app to take me down to Bridgetown. Once there, I went shopping in the duty-free store, explored streets full of vendors selling everything from dresses to baseball caps. To finish off my day, I decided to find a coffee shop to sit and rest my heavy bags while eating a treat. Unfortunately, after showing up at where Google Maps said there was a cafe only to find nothing, I saw a bookstore a block away on the map and decided to make a stop there. I definitely would not have realized this was a bookshop without the map, so with great hesitation, I stepped from the blindingly sunny street into the dark staircase up a few steps and emerged in a small school supply bookstore combo. I shopped around and picked out a set of paintbrushes for the water color set that I had foolishly forgotten to pack any brushes for, and a paperback, while relishing the smell of crisp paper and dust. Afterwards, I continued down the street and not two buildings later stumbled upon a vegan chocolate and ice cream store that donates its profits to buy kids lunches when they can’t afford them. As someone struggling with the recent development of lactose intolerance, this was a heartwarming find because it meant that I could buy a cup of ice cream on shore just like my peers.
The next to depart were Maddie and Kara, who were in Bridgetown for a day of shopping and exploring the biggest town on the island. They came back with more bikinis to model for ocean showers and the lightness of a day on solid land.
Third to depart were Cessily, Darien, and Benny down the coast past Bridgetown. They ate ice cream and pizza from a gas station, then went to a surfing lesson in a surf shop that the cast of Outer Banks had been to. Although they may all be sitting in circles picking sea urchin out of their feet like chimpanzees with fleas, they don’t regret a thing. I can imagine why when I think about cutting across the crystalline turquoise waters of Barbados.
Once we had all made it through major car delays due to a collision on the main highway and reconvened on Argo, we set sail into the sunset to our next destination.
p.s. Sorry this is so late! my entire blog post got deleted before it could get posted and I didn’t know! This new version is just as good as the original though.