Plenty to like in Barbados including the beachfront at The Crane
There is plenty to recommend about vacationing in Barbados. I spent a week there over Thanksgiving and loved it.
Do you like water that not only looks good but has a friendly temperature as well? If you do, you’ll love Barbados.
I was in Turks and Caicos last Thanksgiving. Both places are in the Caribbean but T&C is at 21 degrees north while Barbados is further south at 13 degrees north. I bring this up because the difference in water temperature was significant. It took “courage” to get into the ocean and freshwater pool at T&C. No hesitation before entering the water in Barbados.
How about a nice breeze? Either place offered that but in Barbados that cooling breeze never let up. With temps in the mid-80s that breeze provided air conditioning without electricity needed.
One caution about the Barbados breeze, however, is that it can make you think that the sun isn’t that hot. I saw many people with some pretty serious sunburns who just didn’t realize that they were getting cooked. I limited myself to an hour a day at the beach and came home with a tan.
Never-ending opportunities to body surf
I was on the southeastern side of Barbados, which is the “wave” side. There was surf from the minute I got there until the time I left. The only surfing I do is body surfing and it was available non-stop. There were some folks there who did some board surfing on small boards. I envisioned hospitalization if I attempted it!
Another nice thing about being in Barbados was that sunrise was at 6AM and sunset at 5:30PM. That gave me at least two extra hours of daylight.
Something that took getting used to was the lack of bugs. Good thing because none of the windows had screens. The windows were wide open except when it rained. Occasionally birds would fly into the place I was staying. Believe me…………that took some getting used to!
Food was not as big an issue for me as it was for other folks. The most important meal for me is breakfast and I like it large. My good fortune was that breakfast was the meal that the resort (The Crane) provided. It was served buffet style and there were plenty of wonderful choices. There were short-order cooks available to make omelets with the inclusions I wanted. All sorts of fruit was to be had. Oh yes, the breakfast place overlooked the beach.
Trying to find American food for the other meals was far less rewarding for those seeking it. I could bring food with me from the US so I had things such as tuna fish along which helped.
When I arrived, I got off the plane into a driving rain. The thing about the rain at Barbados was that it came quickly and left just as quickly. I had to react quickly with those open windows a few times because of the sudden showers.
The vegetation in Barbados is the big winner with the almost daily small doses of moisture as well as abundant sunshine.
The internet was available and I brought my computer with me. TV was definitely not high definition. I was very surprised to find CNN and MSNBC but no Fox available. Yes, I’m a conservative.
On the celebrity front, I learned that Attorney General Eric Holder’s father was born in Barbados in the area that The Crane is located – St. Phillips. The Attorney General visited Barbados a couple of months ago. Maybe he was looking for housing for the Gitmo terrorists?
Tiger Woods married Elin Nordegren in Barbados in October of 2004 and if she knew then what everyone seems to know now…………………
Tennis star Serena Williams was on the island performing in an exhibition match while I was there, the day after her $82,500 fine for losing her role-model status was made public
The T&C vacation provided a couple of airplane stories – not this time. I flew nonstop from NYC without any notable incident.
I hardly ventured away from The Crane because of the great conditions there. Maybe another time I’d bus or cab to Bridgetown, the capital.
The beach at The Crane was smooth and shell-less. More beach could be found if you climbed through some rocky spots at the end of the resort beach.
At the beach there were folks selling jewelry that had been hand-made. Things like bracelets and necklaces.
A view of the freshwater pools with the Caribbean beyond.
The Crane had many freshwater pools that I used after my daily hour in the ocean. They were shallow but very refreshing. There were also some shaded spots to lessen the burning possibilities.
McClelland Miscellanea 
