Our journey, Chapter 12: On the road again
Travel is always an adventure. We left home Monday afternoon early enough to give us time to stop at Grindhouse Killer Burgers at Atlanta’s Heartfield Jackson Airport before our 6:55 PM flight that evening to Miami, where we would spend the night before continuing to St. Kitts Tuesday morning. It was a good plan to ensure we didn’t miss our connecting flight in the event of a flight delay. Note, I said a “good” plan, not a “great” one.
Our flight to Miami was delayed. No problem. The extra time allowed me a second “Bold Fashioned”, a bacon infused specialty at Grindhouse, to go with my Cowboy Style burger - think cheddar chese, bacon, onion rings and bbq sauce. What could be better? Except our flight was again delayed, which meant another cocktail, fried pickles and an opportunity to try their black bean burger just for the heck of it. The next announced delay found me having a sudden hankering for a jalapeno and sauerkraut topped hot dog, but why have only one when they are two for only $7.50? My insatiable appetite may have had something to do with the cocktails… And, I wonder why I’m gaining weight.
Important note: Natalie had one burger and one cocktail before switching to wine. She has always been smarter than I am.
We finally arrived at our hotel in Miami at a few minutes before 4:00 AM, which gave us a full three hours to have a restful sleep before we needed to shower and head back to the airport for our flight to St. Kitts, which was delightfully uneventful.
Since St. Kitts is a key target in our search for the perfect island home, we had decided to do more exploring than we typically do here and booked a rental car. Yes, I said a rental car, despite the fact that this is a former British colony so they drive on the left and Natalie has a barely controlled fear of me driving on the left due to an unfortunate experience we had in Bermuda twenty-five years ago as a result of a faulty turn signal. (It’s a long story for another time.) However, she absolutely did not want to drive, making me the default chauffer. When we realized the car’s steering wheel was on the right, her fear increased exponentially, certain we would be maimed or killed.
Nevertheless, despite her trepidation, we successfully navigated to a grocery to stock up on crackers, and various other necessities, and finally found the villa we had rented. I do have to be honest, though. When the GPS took us off a paved road onto a terribly pitted dirt road, we were both convinced something was about to go terribly wrong, and were elated when we returned to pavement as we entered the neighborhood where the villa is located.
The pictures of the villa on VRBO were likely taken several years ago. It’s close to the ocean and bathed daily in salty sea breezes, which cause everything except people to age quickly. In addition, only the bedrooms in this villa are air conditioned. With all of the windows closed, the house was sweltering when we arrived. So, our initial reaction to our choice of villas for this first week in St. Kitts before we go to the Marriott was disappointment. That is, until we opened the doors to the porch, looked beyond the pool to the Caribbean and Nevis. It was the photo of this view that had sold us on this property, and it did not dissapoint. The view here is unbelievably beautiful and the house is perfectly situated to enjoy it.
We have ventured out on two other occassions for things we needed and Natalie is becoming slightly less worried about my driving. However, we won’t be going out onto the roads at any point after dark and/or cocktails.
The people being incredibly polite and friendly here on St. Kitts. It is truly a welcoming island. Oh, and we had a nice encounter with fifteen of the locals who came by just to say “Hi”. I couldn’t get all of them to pose together, but some of them did stop to let us get their picture.
Natalie is completely sold on St. Kitts. Now, if we can just find a place we like that we can afford. Robert Redford is rumored to live in a neighborhood called Sundance Ridge. Beautiful spot. Maybe we could bunk up with him.