How does an island change its image, when it doesn’t have much of one to begin with? That’s the challenge facing tiny St. Kitts, which happens to be the smallest nation in the Western Hemisphere. Traditionally, it’s been known as a British-tinged Big Sugar island, where one lolls on...

I didn’t want to leave St. Kitts without visiting some of the venerable plantation inns and small guesthouses that have been the cornerstone of the island’s reputation. So yesterday, I hired a cab and went up to the Golden Lemon, an old-school Caribbean B&B that has garnered favorable...

My final USA Today story, on my trip to Grenada last month,  is out today. Read it here, or you can also buy it at your local newstand (doesn’t that sound quaint these days?)  You can also read my chattier trip report on the island here and my visit to a rum distillery here. I really enjoyed...

Let’s get the disclosure out of the way. I’m here in St. Kitts because Marriott’s public relations team paid for me to be here as part of a “9 bloggers in paradise” promotion. There’s a hashtag on Twitter where you can follow all of our tweets: #blogparadise. So there’s...

At long last, my report and photos from Grenada is up. I enjoyed Grenada and felt that it was a good island for people with diverse interests. You can be hiking in the rainforest in the morning and enjoying a beautiful beach in the afternoon. I was also impressed with the diversity of cuisine (although...

My trip report from our St. Vincent & the Grenadines vacation is up. As I’ve said in previous posts on Mustique and Tobago Cays, this was one of the most relaxing trips that Don and I have ever taken. It’s nice to slow down once in a while! And SVG is a great place to do that… Read...

Why are all the vans honking so much? That’s what I wondered, that first day in Grenada. With winding roads and roadside drainage ditches the depth of a  small canal, I had elected not to rent a car.  Buses into St. Georges from Grand Anse beach were plentiful, I read. But where were they?

The things I do for research… In October, I drank tequila in Tequila. And earlier this month, I had the opportunity to taste some serious rum during a tour of Grenada’s oldest distillery, River Antoine Estates. Before I get into the nitty-gritty, some background. Grenadans are crazy about...

Of all the getaways in the Caribbean, perhaps none conjures as much glamour as Mustique island.Sure, St. Barts attracts the rich and Turks &  Caicos draws the famous. But Mustique beats them all by serving as a second home getaway to the coolest kids in class - rock stars and royalty.

The perfect desert islands do exist! The Tobago Cays, in the Grenadines, are now my happy place, where I’m going to escape in my head whenever things get too stressful. Accessible from both Grenada and the Grenadines,  these uninhabited islands – five in all – served as the lonely...