There is no question that Grenada has the absolute coolest public transit system in the world.  It consists of a whole army of minivans that drive around set routes all day long, looking for you.  Some are privately owned and decked out with the latest in cool accessories.  The owners try to out-do each other with excessive amounts of chrome trim, decals, and of course, the ultimate sound system.  He who dies with the best sub-woofer wins.

During our day trip into St. George’s, we were attempting to walk part of the way when we were approached by one such vehicle.  You could hear them coming for miles with the throbbing bass lines of generic rap music shaking the vehicle right down to its frame.  The minivan had a “point man” who sat in the jump-seat beside the sliding door with his head and torso halfway out the open window, scanning the streets for potential customers.  I have yet to figure out how he knew when somebody wanted a ride – he just did.  He whistled, we nodded, they stopped.  We watched the whole process from inside during the ride.  When he spotted a customer, he invoked an inaudible signal for the driver to stop.  It was a show unto itself.

Our driver had to be the coolest looking dude that ever lived.  Sporting a close-cropped “flat-top” haircut and half of South Africa’s annual gold production hanging around his neck, this guy pushed the envelope of cool.  He was even cooler than “Cool Cool Dave”, a taxi driver in Negril Jamaica, who had to be the coolest simply because the word “Cool” appeared twice in his name.

The minivan had a sound system that would cause any heavy metal rock band to sit up and take notice.  With 60,000 watts of power coming from each of the twenty-eight speakers and a sub-woofer system genetically grafted into the vehicle’s chassis, this system could render passengers totally deaf at the flick of a switch.  You actually “felt” the throb of the rap music they played - it made you wonder what it must be like inside a microwave oven.  The sound system had an eight-inch liquid-crystal display built in the dashboard capable of  monitoring every aspect of the sound in full color 3-D graphics.   The space shuttle is the only other moving vehicle that uses such technology.

There was no question that, for $1.75 EC each, public transit was the best show in town.  We strongly considered a day just driving around with the dudes and being cool.  Heck, there was no way a day on the bus would cost us more than $20 EC each, possibly the cheapest day we could ever spend anywhere!

A Stroll Through the Streets of St. George’s

The bus dropped us off in the center of St. George’s.  Once our ears stopped ringing and we thawed out from overexposure to total cool, we were able to get our bearings and walk around.  The streets were bustling with every possible form of activity.   There was no question that this town had colonial roots, from the architecture to the infrastructure.   Built into the side of steep hills surrounding a beautiful harbor called the Carenage, the narrow streets snaked around, up, down, and all over. It was great just to walk around with no set agenda.

Fort George was at the top of the hill and well worth the hike up.  The Fort was being used as a Police Training Barracks, but they didn’t seem to mind us walking around. This was the spot where the rebels shot Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and his supporters back in 1983 during the coup.  The 360-degree view from here was nothing short of spectacular.

There is a tunnel built under the Fort that takes you from the Carenage side of town to the Esplanade.  The thing was carved out of the rock in 1894, not exactly designed with today's vehicular requirements in mind. It was rather interesting to walk through while vehicles zipped by, missing us, the ceiling, and the walls by mere inches.

We wandered around the Market in the center of town.  It was quite interesting and extremely busy; especially chaotic on Saturday mornings we were told.  After walking the streets for several hours, we popped into the Nutmeg Restaurant for refueling.  Located on the main road along the Carenage waterfront, it was a great place to hang out for a while and watch the world go by.  Their “World Famous” rum punch was indeed that - I insisted that they top it off with grated nutmeg “imported from Germany”.  They did not get the joke. 

The view of the Carenage from the large open windows on the second floor was exceptional.  Two monster cruise ships were in port at the time.  As we sipped our rum punch, people and vehicles bustled busily about below. 

After what seemed like days, we finished up and walked back through the tunnel to the Esplanade to catch another cool bus back to our boat.  All in all, it was just another great day in Paradise.