Moonhole, a community on the island of Bequia (Bek-way)) in the Grenadines. Photo by Amilcar Fierro.

Let’s meet up in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Really.

Wouldn’t it be great to carve out a sweet little spot for ourselves. A place where time can stop for a while?

Mayreau Island by ACP

I love that, now that we’ve hit a cold snap here in Tulsa, our minds have been cruising through the “Saint” countries – all of which nestle cozy and warm in the balmy Caribbean seas. We’ve done two already and this week we continue to the 11-mile long, 6.8 miles wide “main island” called Saint Vincent and about a hundred scattered islands of the Grenadines.

Those 100 or so other islands? Apparently the whole shebang only adds up to 17 square miles.

Quaint. Neighborly. Exactly how you’d like it if you lived in the hurricane belt, which they do.

But, then, where there are storms there are rainbows.

Picture of Petit Martinique (part of Grenada) and Petite Saint Vincent (part of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) taken from Union Island looking South-South-East. Photo by Iain Grant (2007)

Even though the weather is warm there, the islands continue with much the same traditions found throughout the Caribbean. The holidays (and every day) can be celebrated with Rum, Black Cake [Recipe] (which is, essentially, rum soaked fruit bound with flour), fried plantains, and even a spot of coconut cream laced pumpkin soup [Recipe].

Hello. What? Or as many there might say “Bonjour, quoi?” (While English is the official language, much of the population also speaks French).

But of course, there’s coconut – this and sugar and bananas are some of the main produce grown on the islands.

Ponton de Saline Bay. Photo by Moiom.

There’s also dishes like Buljol, which is salt fish soaked, boiled off, then simmered with chopped tomatoes, hot peppers, sweet peppers, and onions. Then the whole thing is served with hard boiled eggs.

I could go on about where you could eat this dish – but you know it yourself: with your feet in the sunny warm sand. With your heart in the breeze.

Because life is too short not to take your shoes off once in a while.

Maps and flag courtesy of the CIA World Factbook.