ANTIGUA 30, PATRIOTS 13, AND RAMS 3

MSC Divina /Antigua

Sunday

86F, sunny (a sprinkle at the beach, soon over)

We started the day with Lawrence of Antigua which inspired our Lawrence to say he was Lawrence of Wisconsin. Antigua Lawrence was a good tour guide and his Nissan bus easily held 18 passengers. The island is not volcanic so there are no high mountains as we drove along the English side of the road. Previous experiences on volcanic islands and the back of the bus to not feeling so well. It is not a large island and has a population of about 100,000. The main industry is tourism. In the 18^th and 19^th centuries, sugar cane factories were the economic advantage. We passed old sugar cane factories as we drove along. We stopped at several overlooks to see the beautiful harbor. In one area we could see both the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

Antigua is known for a regatta it holds in April

One of the many beautiful bays

Sunny!

A lady at one of these sites offered me a small fruit--at first I thought it was a kumquat, but she said it was "dums or dumz." It was sweet and apple-like, from a nearby tree. Very tasty! From the Internet: "Ziziphus jujuba, commonly called jujube; sometimes jujuba), red date, Chinese date,is a species of Ziziphus in the buckthorn family (Rhamnaceae)."  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jujube 

My favorite site was the many Anglican, Roman Catholic, Moravian, and Baptist churches, doors open because of the heat, and we could see the people all dressed in their Sunday best inside.

The Nelson Dockyard was interesting and we saw the ruins of a fortress, officers’ headquarters, a cemetery, and other buildings associated with ship building in the time of Lord Nelson.

Lord Nelson's Dock Yard

Buildings fromthe 18th century

For Brother Bill-sandstone near the Dock Yard on Antigua

I had never seen a century plant in bloom and we actually saw two. It is hard to imagine a plant that blooms once a century, then dies. The bus whizzed by so I got no photo. Red, yellow, and purple flowers were prevalent. Antigua only gets about 40-45 inches of rain a year yet there is a small rainforest on this island. A. Lawrence said that birds are not as common on this island because there have been so many hurricanes that destroyed their habitat, but mongoose are prevalent and have killed most of the snakes there.

Our final stop was Valley Church Beach.  The water was a perfect blue, white sand, lounge chairs and umbrellas readily available. Our chairs abutted the Caribbean, complemented by the sound of the waves, blue sky and sunshine. A sprinkle did come our way, but was soon over. Down the beach a little way two children, about 8 years old, were rolling on the sand with the waves—their enjoyment was so pure.  I spoke by phone to Son B and I hope he could hear the waves as we talked.

We watched the last of the Super Bowl in our room—no favorites here, but I went with Son Brian and the Rams. I support the SIXBURGH Steelers anyway.  By the way, today's  title reflects the Super Bowl score and the temperature in Antigua in Centrigrade! 

TK’s Takes: We were assigned a different dining table and it was like eating in a different place. This morning he told me he saw a beautiful rainbow all by itself, meaning it appeared from one rain cloud. Our tour bus had Wi-Fi.

JK’s Table Change explanation, sort of: Since I do not want to throw anyone under the bus, someone in our group (not me, not TK) mentioned to the hotel director that it might be a good idea to change our table. She (or he) received a handwritten note from the front desk inviting the four of us to dine at another table in another area tonight and for the rest of the cruise.