Our day on Carlisle Bay beach

As we walked to Lobster Alive, brief showers passed over. At one point G admitted the day might be a bust, but we both wanted to get some exercise and at least walk to the beach. We arrived there by 10am- an early start- and the time, the fact we were the only cruise ship in port, and the weather combined to make us the first people at Lobster Alive. We were a bit surprised to see that they've raised the price of their chair and umbrella rental from $15 per day to $21 per day, but you still get three rum punches- and theirs are the best in Barbados, and their umbrellas are bigger and more durable than others on the beach. We decided to spend the day there...we saw a hint of blue sky and hoped it would spread.

The beach on Carlisle Bay is perfect: clear, blue water, soft, shell-less sand and a gentle, sloping entry to the water. I wasted no time getting in the water and playing. By 11:30am, the sun was out and the day turned mostly beautiful.

We each enjoyed a rum punch, and G had brought a beer from the ship. I was watching the clock; I knew that if we were going to walk back to the ship at 2.30pm (we had to be onboard by 3:30pm), I had to be done drinking rum punches by 1:30pm. Those things are deadly.

I went back out in the water with my float, and did exactly what I had predicted: listened to Caribbean tunes on my iPhone with its waterproof case and headphones. So far so good with this new case. While I was in the water, I was watching a Hobie cat catamaran criss crossing the bay. When it pulled up near us, I yelled for G to look...we both love Hobie cats. I then continued to listen to my music, but watched as G walked over to the sailboat. The next thing I knew, G was motioning me back to shore and pointing to the sailboat. He had hired it to take me around the bay for a 30 minute ride. Yay! I love sailboats, and quickly swam over to meet Captain Peter. I hopped on board and we set out, racing across the bay as I perched on the front of the canvas with my feet on a pontoon, holding on with one hand and videoing with my iPhone in the other. When he saw that I wasn't scared, Peter tightened the sail and we sailed faster.

I wished it would never end.

Eventually it did, of course, and Peter deposited me back on the beach in front of Lobster Alive. It was about 1:15pm, so I went up to the bar to get the final rum punch and forced half of it on G. I thought I was in good condition when G asked if I wanted to walk back to the ship or take a taxi, and said I wanted to walk.

Oh my. The combination of no lunch and 1 1/2 rum punches made walking over Bridgetown's broken sidewalks (and sometimes no sidewalks at all) an increasing challenge. I was quite happy to arrive back at the ship, and once in our cabin I was so hungry for carbs to soak up some of the alcohol that I devoured a banana, a pear and two kiwis out of the fruit bowl in our cabin in about 5 minutes. I felt better enough to join G in a hot tub, but the hot water didn't help my condition. I moved instead to a lounge chair near the hot tub and quickly fell asleep.

Such a party animal!

After the ship sailed at 4pm, we returned to our cabin to get cleaned up for the evening. Tonight was our Princess Captains Circle party where we were served still more alcohol. By the time we went to dinner at 6pm, I was ready for a good meal, and had a new entree, griddled corvina served over leeks and my nightly broccoli and spinach sautéed in olive oil and garlic.

There was no doubt that entertainment wasn't an option this evening. Luckily, the Princess Theater offering is a production show we don't particularly care for, What a Swell Party featuring the music of Cole Porter (we're at least a generation too young to recognize that music), so it wasn't too hard to pass.

It's now 9pm, and I've finished these posts before falling asleep. I'll email them to my blog and then succumb to the sleep that's been threatening me since I awoke from my afternoon nap.

Photo 1: the rain drenched boardwalk of the Carlisle Wharf area

Photo 2: a partly sunny beach

Photo 3: my Hobie cat transportation