Barbados driving can be a challenge for a North American like me who’s not used to driving on the “wrong” side of the road. Add a gear shift and the uninitiated has got double-trouble.  And then there is the problem of road signs – or lack thereof – to help navigate.  And...

Barbados is a fabulous place to do absolutely nothing. I admire the guests in our Barbados vacation rentals on the beach in St Lawrence Gap who lie in the sun all day, breaking occasionally to cool down with a swim in the sea or pool, then going to dinner at night.  Such exquisite rest and leisure …....

R2D2 has escaped Star Wars and was seen rolling around a big green field of grass wielding a polo stick and hitting a ball. Oh, my apologies .. that’s not R2D2, it’s Segway polo! While I appreciate the difficulty of this sport as competition, I find it so .. well, I find it just adorable. Instead...

On Saturday I awaited the arrival of three gentlemen from England who rented an apartment from me in our building (St Lawrence Beach Condos). Like everyone who stays in one of our pretty holiday rentals, when the three guys arrived they dropped their luggage and rushed to the picture window and swooned over...

While my husband Greg and I were traveling in beautiful Canada (more about this down below) these past few weeks, life excitingly carried on in Barbados. While we were away, the Fireball competition heated up. My friend Hazel took this photo; ahh, what could beat this: warm water, beautiful sunny days,...

Barbados is host to the Fireball International, an exciting, high-speed competition of slick 16-foot dinghys with enormous sails designed to really move. The race begins today and runs for two weeks in Carlisle Bay at the Barbados Yacht Club. Seventy contestants from 15 countries from the US to Russia have...

On Sunday, the Anglican and Catholic churches of Barbados will be full of women dressed to the nines, men in suits, and children showing off their new shoes. It’s beautiful. I live next door to an Anglican church but witness Easter in Barbados as an outsider. Even as a child, raised with no religion,...

Wendy Kidd, soft-spoken doyenne and gracious hostess of Barbados’ Holders Season, scaled back her season of arts offerings beneath the stars this year. What’s not scaled back in the boutique arts festival are quality and the key to the magic of Holders: unexpected discoveries of amazing...

A 2 minutes’ walk from where we live in St Lawrence Gap in Barbados, right across from Little Bay, is Net Shack. It’s a new DVD rental store in the Gap, having recently moved from a shopping center on the South Coast Road. Barbados' Little Bay in St Lawrence Gap. Up the street from where we...

Barbados Jazz Festival at Farley Hill The Barbados Jazz Festival – the 17th annual – concluded yesterday at Farley Hill after three amazing days of terrific jazz in a beautiful Barbados setting overlooking the wild and free east coast. The thing about the Jazz Festival is that you can have a...

The sweet folks who exchanged homes with Greg and me over Christmas. While they wore swimsuits, we wore woolens in New York (it was wonderful for both...

This is a story about Jill Walker’s beautiful artwork disappearing from and then reappearing in my life. A thief with good taste: One of two Jill Walker framed prints that were taken from my Barbados rental apartment. The Heist Renting out the pretty apartment Greg and I own to folks who travel to...

September 1: Discovering life in Barbados' Carlisle Bay This photo is of my friend Sue and me holding a sea cucumber we met while snorkeling yesterday in Carlisle Bay. Such a love this sweet guy was: as soft as a super-plush toy and as gentle as one, too. In the clear, blue water we also encountered...

A souvenir and a pet: my hedgehog from Greenwich House Antiques in my home. When visitors ask me about where to shop in Barbados, my face (and mind) goes blank for a moment. Shopping? Umm … I wouldn’t call Barbados a shopping mecca exactly. The duty-free shops along Broad Street in Bridgetown...

History (and a bit of mischief): Tristan & Ethan having fun at Arlington House. Greg and I took a double dose of vitamins on Wednesday morning so we could keep up with his grandsons Ethan and Tristan for the day while we explored a bit of our island home of Barbados. We picked the boys up, swapped lots...

A great time on a catamaran cruise in Barbados If there’s one activity I recommend to all who visit Barbados it’s a catamaran cruise.  How much do I love it?  Let me count the ways: 1.  You get to swim with our magnificent giant sea turtles.  Nothing beats communing up close & personal...

Live like a king: dine on the beach in Barbados (here, Dover Beach) A five-star setting for our simple, delish meal on Dover Beach last week One of the very best places to eat in Barbados is on the beach.  Too expensive, you say?  Mmm, not necessarily. A couple of ways to enjoy low-cost fine seaside...

If you’re not in Barbados, you’re missing the Mount Gay Regatta 2009, which began today.  I’ve been watching the sailboats sailing pass by all morning.  Here’s a photo of it I took for you: This morning I received an e-mail from a guest who’s coming from...

Every Sunday morning Greg and I walk Carlisle Bay beach, starting and ending at the Barbados Yacht Club.  It’s a highlight of my life to get to take in the stunning beauty of this stretch of planet earth.  We go early when it’s still cool.  So do a lot of locals; some bring their kids.  A...

You saw the progress (here, too) of my putting together Apartment #8 at St Lawrence Beach Condominiums.  This week’s been the final sprint before the first guests arrive:  the air-conditioning was put in, the flat-screen TV got cable hook-up, wireless Internet is working, and all appliances...

Yesterday morning 9 a.m., my husband Greg and I, cameras in hand (ahem, well, I had my camera; Greg came along for fun) met photographer Ronnie Carrington at Pelican Village for a day-long and most pleasurable photographic excursion through the lesser-known parts of Barbados.  Fifteen of us were on the van...

If I weren’t blessed to live in Barbados, I’d visit.  I’d visit in late March when I could attend the Holders arts season. This year’s season began March 14, 2009; it runs until April 4. Holders, known as “the West Indies’ premier performing arts event of the year,”...

Some art is useful, sophisticated yet accessible, and available to anyone who passes by.  The new outside wall at the (very yummy) Mexican restaurant Cafe Sol across the street from where I live in St Lawrence Gap in Barbados is an example of such art. I’ve been watching the progression of work on the...

An e-mail from photographer Keith Clarke arrived yesterday and I’m cheeky enough to use this as an excuse to post another of his beautiful photos of Barbados.  In return, he gets this plug.  Ah, I love the quid pro quo of the Internet world. Mr Clarke wrote to tell me where his gorgeous book,...

Thank you, Mr Marley Listen to Bob Marley’s “One Love” 2-09-shame-and-scandal Jamaican Bob Marley is the defacto ambassador of the Caribbean islands.  His image is ubiquitous on every island I’ve visited (t-shirts mostly, but other things as well), his music is played with joy and...

Many of the vendors on St Lawrence Gap have made street-selling their career.  Some have been selling their goods for a good decade or more.  I occasionally find an original and charmingly rough-hewn bauble I just can’t resist. Like Seth’s.  Seth is not only a street vendor. He’s also a...

2-09-shame-and-scandal2 Max Romeo sings “Shame & Scandal.”  If this doesn’t make you smile, then you need a holiday in...

My take-aways from Trinidad Carnival: First, the Trini people are as spirited a bunch as exist on this planet.  They’re also talented, friendly, and welcoming. Second, Carnival is primarily for the young – and not just because of the 24/7 adrenalin on tap.  More on this later. Trinidad...

Barbados: Dining Out Chichi I was so relieved that I wore my expensive designer sunglasses to lunch at The Lone Star yesterday because clearly the clientele there are the type who notice.  I’ve been hanging on the south coast too much where nobody notices or gives a hoot, so I forget sometimes that...

When I was 29 I moved from Washington, DC, to Albuquerque, New Mexico. I lived in Albuquerque for 13 years.  The best thing I can say about Albuquerque is that it’s easy to find a parking spot there. As a city, I didn’t love Albuquerque. But I learned something really important there:  You...