Did you every try and figure out how the airlines decide on flight costs? If you have, then I am sure you must have given up by now as I have in the case of flying from Knoxville to Grenada. American Airlines will take you from Knoxville to Grenada with a flight change in Miami. However, it’s not that simple because the flight from Miami to Grenada leaves at 7:40am so you have to fly from Knoxville to Miami the night before and spend the night in Miami. The cost for this is over $900. However, if you fly Allegiant from Knoxville to Ft. Lauderdale, Uber to Miami, spend the night and then take the same American Airlines flight to Grenada, the total cost is only $450 including the Uber ride. This is the preferred way that Renée and I have been doing it. I usually have Hilton Honors points so the hotel cost is taken care of.
The trip to Miami went as planned and was quite easy. Our friend Tim was traveling from Tallahassee and we would meet up at the hotel in Miami. When I left Tennessee it was only 36 degrees and by the time I arrived in Miami at 10:30 it was already 80 degrees. I am off to a good start.
The next mornings flight was delayed a short while due to some small issue with the intercom that was sorted out in less than an hour. We were on an aircraft that must have held 300 passengers and there was only 12 in the main cabin. Wow, that was weird. American said that starting in April they were cutting down flights to twice a week rather than their daily flights. Can’t blame them for that.
At the time of our arrival, Grenada has no active COVID cases and has only recorded 148 total with 1 death. They take the pandemic very seriously and most likely limited their exposure by shutting down its boarders when they have. Upon arrival, we were greeted by the Health Ministry, had the required temperature check and filled out paperwork as to why we were coming and where we will be staying. We also had to provide them with our RT-PCR test results taken in the USA within 72 hours of flight, Approval for Entry from from the Grenada Ministry, proof that we pre-paid to have another COVID test on day 5 of quarantine and proof as to where we would be staying for quarantine.
As we exited the airport we had to go directly to the airport shuttle area where we had to show the agent our reservations for quarantine. We chose the Bay Leaf Apartments which looked brand new and there may have been one other apartment occupied. These were built to house the college students but due to COVID the campus and surrounding apartments are virtually empty. The IGA (grocery store) has a website where you can select the groceries you want and they deliver them right to the apartment. Also, we had a variety of restaurants that were also set up for delivery. All-in-all, very convenient and our time there went by quickly. On the second day I was having some sensitivity with my teeth. Not knowing if it was the upper or lower teeth, I decided to find out by eating granola for breakfast. Well that did the trick when 1/3rd of my tooth broke off. Since we were not cleared from quarantine I was not able to get it fixed just yet. On day 5, two ladies from the Health Department came to test us both with the results coming in two more days. On the 7th day, we received eMails stating the test results were Negative and we were now able to move to our next location. I called the dentist around 10:15 and was able to get into the office around 11:15. The dentist was very good and took care of it without any issues.
We relocated to Sydney’s Apartments which is located about 1/2 mile from the boat yard where as Bay Leaf is over 3 miles away. This is way to far considering we are walking everywhere we go. Sydney’s is very nice with air conditioning in the bedrooms so it makes sleeping easy. Being located high on a hill, we get continuous breezes from the bay.
Since the dentist was located in downtown St. George’s, we decided to make a day of it. We visited the Chocolate Museum and walked to one of our favorite hangouts. There we ran into our friends Pam and John who are from the United Kingdom and keep their boat Kaimen here in Grenada. They have been trying to go through the Panama Canal but due to COVID, it is still too difficult at this time.
We then walked the 3.5 miles home through the woods and around the Mt. Hartman Dove Sanctuary. It is a pleasant walk and no traffic except for the occasional Goat.
This time 5KNOTS has sat on the hard for over 7 months. Wow time flies! Since she is out of the water we decided to do the bottom again and the variety of other things that need attention before being put back in the water.
We received an offer on 5KNOTS and are now awaiting a survey and sea trial. Upon completion of both, the prospective buyers will be given the report and they have 7 days to decide wether to go ahead with the purchase or not. If they decide to purchase her, Tim and I will make arrangements to fly back to the USA and if not, we will provision her for a month or two and set sail for Florida. In the meantime, I just check off each task as it gets completed.
Back in July 2020, while staying in an apartment and awaiting a chance for a flight back to the USA we made friends with the neighbors in the two adjacent apartments. I decided to take Sunday off and Tim and I took the two older boys to the beach on Hog Island. It is a couple of miles to walk and we spent a few hours playing in the water. We returned via the boat yard where we stopped for some pizza and drinks. I think we all had a great time.
“So all-in-all, I can confidently say that I GOT TO GO WHERE IT’S WARM”!
