We rented two chairs and a large umbrella for $15, and also received three coupons for free rum punches from the beach bar at Lobsters Alive.
And that's when it got interesting.
We both took turns using our float in the water. The sun was bright and the water gentle and warm, and it was a beautiful day. We each got one of the free rum punches and sat on the beach to drink them. Wow! These things were delicious and deadly. By the end of this first drink, I couldn't feel my lips. G wanted me to have the second drink, as he had brought a beer from the ship in a cooler. He took the float out and I got the second rum punch. I knew that I'd have to be able to walk back to the ship in a couple of hours, and didn't want to wait too long to drink it.
When I returned to my chair with the drink, I looked out at the water and didn't see G. Not overly concerned, I plugged in my ear buds and sat back. In a few minutes I looked out and saw him in the float, right next to a small boat, talking to the guys in the boat. Typical, I thought.
A few minutes later I looked up to see him being given a hand to climb up on the boat. Also typical, I thought.
Several minutes later, and part way through my second rum punch, one of the beach vendors walking by selling trinkets was trying to get my attention. I said my usual "no thank you" and kept listening to my audiobook, but he persisted. He tried again to get my attention and was pointing at the boat. G and the guys on board were waving at me to join them. I picked up my drink and waded out into the water and did.
Until they had some business (they offered snorkel trips and fishing trips), they offered to let us join them on the boat as it was anchored just offshore. It was fun to sit in the sun on the boat and talk about the economics of boat ownership and life on Barbados in general. These guys, Ryan, the boat's owner, Junior, the captain, and Bim, the social director were great, friendly guys, typical Bajans who had grown up on the island.
Eventually, a passenger from our ship who was on the beach wanted to do a snorkel trip to see the sea turtles. We offered to get off the boat, intending to return to our beach chairs, but the guys told us to go with them. We told them we had no money, but they said to go anyway, and then they'd take us by boat back to our ship.
It was the pirate boat all over again (that's another, similar story). You never know where you're going to end up when G is in charge of the plans.
We went back to the beach to gather up all of our belongings and walked through the water back to the boat. We went out to a part of the bay where the turtles gathered and Neil, the other passenger who was from London, jumped in. G and I, knowing our limits and that the rum punches had taken a toll, watched from the boat. The turtles were everywhere, huge ones who surrounded Neil as Bim threw out fish parts to entice them.
We've done this before on Barbados, several years ago, and I remember the turtles were big, but these were huge.
After awhile, Neil climbed back in the boat and we made our way back to the beach where we had been. On the way, Bim poured liberal shots (like half a cup) of Barbados' Mount Gay rum and splashed a little Coke on top. Oh my. Thank God they were taking us to a spot closer to our ship. We said goodbye to Neil, and they drove us back to the shallow draft marina near the cruise ships. They were a lot of fun and we had had a great afternoon.
We were starved (no lunch), we were tipsy and it was after 5pm. We immediately showered and went to dinner, where I scarfed down a serving of pasta before having salmon and vegetables. I still needed to send a business email, so I returned to the cabin while G went to a show in the Princess Theater (a comedy impressionist, who he said was okay, not great, so I didn't feel too bad missing it). I finished the email and we were both fast asleep by 10pm.
For two people who had had no real plans for the day, it was a great one!