A NEW PARTY IN BEQUIA

DR. GODWIN FRIDAY TAKES THE DAY

There’s a new prime minister in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG). After more than 2 decades a new government has been elected and the new PM, Dr. Godwin Friday, is part of the New Democratic Party (NDP) and he is from the island of Bequia.

The people of SVG are wildly elated and we waded into the celebrations yesterday as we tried to make the port and the Bequia Express ferry in Kingstown St Vincent. Our hired driver, Stefano, was getting a bit worried because traffic on the narrow streets was stopped for a time and people danced to blaring music and tooting yellow horns. The Bequia Express was scheduled to depart at 6:00 pm and we were up against it. It has been 20 years since we were last on Bequia, and we didn’t want to spend another day away.

Providence was with us though, and we managed to weave around the weaving revelers happy with the election results and made the ferry with plenty of time to spare. Luckily the ferry that brimmed with supporters wearing similar yellow t-shirts espousing the winning party’s phrase “Together We Win” was delayed with dancing and music at the port. It wasn’t until the pick-up truck with huge speakers blasting Soca rumbled onto the ferry’s vehicle transport area which thudded throughout the ship for the hour-long ride to Bequia.

It was tumultuous and fantastic and everywhere people are happy with the landslide election result.

One way on the Bequia Express was $10.00 USD cash only. A small price to pay to immerse oneself in the local culture.

Thanks for reading.

Love Janet and greg

© 2025 by Gregory Dunaj

ST VINCENT HERE WE COME

SLOUCHING OFF THANKSGIVING

As we are of a certain age and as we have shed our careers and our families have scattered across the universe our Thanksgiving holiday has been more of a chore to be avoided. For too many years she and I have struggled with the holiday. Too often we cooked an expansive meal for just ourselves. I even learned to efficiently carve a turkey, (info culled from a Youtube CIA video). Sadly, my culinary skills were never properly displayed.

We tried going out to restaurants on the holiday only to find this especially depressing with divorcees and their sad mommy-missing children or kitchen challenged hordes paying for overpriced meals.

ONLY YOU CAN MAKE YOU HAPPY

So, rather than continuing this downward trend we have opted to “get outta town” on Thanksgiving Day on our way to St. Vincent and Bequia. This has served a dual purpose. We have busied ourselves with the whys and wherefores of travel thus avoiding the holiday and with it the bustle of holiday travelers. We departed Philadelphia yesterday morning and got to Miami unbelievably early. We are always worried about our Miami flight connections, and we factored in a hotel stay near the airport, but we could have easily made it to the second leg of our travels to SVG.

We had a holiday meal of burgers and chicken wings and craft beers at a sports bar that is attached to the hotel. If they offered Turkey burgers on the menu we would have ordered that in our only deference to the holiday.

WORKING THE SYSTEM

Janet has Platinum status with American Airlines, so we are now hanging out at their “Admirals Club” area in Miami. As this is an international flight she is allowed one guest (ME) and I’m drinking something with rum after eating breakfast waiting for our flight to board. This is the best way to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday.

Hope you all survived it.

Love Janet and greg

© 2025 by Gregory Dunaj

 

HAVE QUILL WILL TRAVEL

NO MONEY STAY HOME

brother can you spare a dime?

Well, I hope all of you out there in blog land like to read this silly travel blog as much as I like to write it. VFH has been in “business” since 2009 and our travels near and far have been extensive and I’ve cobbled our experiences and given lots of free advice in VACATIONS FROM HOME. This is all simply for the thrill of travel. We receive no compensation from any places recommended in the blog. We are not moochers…er, influencers… Just a loving couple with a yen to see the world.  

Janet and I are retired. She is officially retired. For me, as a freelancer in the television industry for nearly 40 years, I will never “retire”, I just won’t answer the phone… not there’s a lot of calls for work coming in these days.

MISSING BY SIX NUMBERS

Our travels are supported through pensions, and we are smart and frugal when it comes to choices in destinations. That money though will only take us so far and even though we would really like to constantly be out there, somewhere, we simply don’t have the means to always to be elsewhere.

The lottery isn’t cooperating with our travel plans. We keep missing the whole megillah by six, sometimes seven, numbers. Nonetheless we toss a buck or two into those large drawings, because, hey you never know. That is the extent of our gambling.

WELL, WE CAN’T, WE WON’T AND WE DON’T STOP

Never fear dear sainted readers of this whimsy of a travel blog. We will continue to travel regardless of our fortunes, and we will continue to post entertaining drivel and anecdotes from the road, even as our belts tighten like tourniquets.  

Your readership is greatly appreciated, but if you’re so inclined you can help us here at VFH Central by throwing us some money. 

Soupy Sales

Now, this isn’t deceptive like the Soupy Sales bit when he asked kids to go into their parent’s wallets and purses to send him the green pieces of paper that had men with beards depicted on them. (He claims he received $80,000!) No, we're going to be more up front about the request.

SHOW ME THE MONEY

There are several ways to show your appreciation. You can always comment (favorably) on the blog, but of course that won’t buy us a beer.

One way is to buy something on the Vacations From Home official online store. We offer T-shirts, coffee mugs, etc. Everything is priced modestly, so I don’t make that much money on each item, but you will look cool. There’s a link on the website, but here it is as well:  VACATIONS FROM HOME STORE.

I also offer links to my two self-published novels on the website, but here they are:

HI, HOW ARE YOU? by GREGORY DUNAJ 

THE MUSIC MADE ME CRY by GREGORY DUNAJ

One is great for leveling out your wobbly kitchen table…although you may need to rip out a few pages to get it right.

The other one doubles as kindling for the fireplace.

You need to decide which is which.

For a limited time if you bring your Gregory Dunaj novel over to the local gin mill and buy me a beer, I will sign it for you at no extra charge. Heck, if you buy me a beer I'll sign any book.

PENNY NICKEL DIME QUARTER

Now, there’s yet another way to keep us moving. We have just recently established a Venmo account, and we are now accepting donations. Maybe you think the T-shirts are ugly, or your kitchen table is perfectly fine, but you still want to help us get out the door. Janet tells me everyone as a Venmo account. I just got mine. 

So, here’s the QR code to link you to my account. Any donation amount will be greatly appreciated, but even if you don’t feel the need to support your destitute dilettantes, we will still be somewhere and telling you about it.

Btw: if you don’t want to use Venmo or buy a book or T-shirt, write me @ greg.dunaj@yahoo.com and I’ll tell you where to send the check (cash is preferrable).

Remember, sharing is caring.

Love, Janet and greg

© 2025 by Gregory Dunaj

REVISITING THE GRENADINES

ST VINCENT AND BEQUIA 

sailing in the Grenadines

Though the credo of VFH Central is to never repeat travel destinations because, well, “it’s a big world out there and someone’s gotta see it”, I have always had a secret desire to revisit the island nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, or SVG.

We last visited the area nearly 20 years ago on what was our first vacation together when we sailed on the now defunct Windjammer Cruises. With just 36 or so people onboard the majestic three-masted Yankee Clipper we sailed from St. Lucia through the islands of the Grenadines. Along the way we stopped for a time at several previously unheard-of islands like Bequia, Canouan, Mayreau and Union Island, anchoring in Grenada overnight before sailing back to St. Lucia. 

The Yankee Clipper

It was quite a trip, and the beauty was unending.

It was in the Grenadines where I went scuba diving for the first time ever. I was shocked by the clarity of the water and the diversity of marine life beneath the surface. Although I did not dive again until we started traveling to the Sandals family of resorts, where diving is included in your stay, I have always harbored a desire to see this part of the world again.

KIDS? 

Technically we are not actually “repeating” a destination when we travel to the newest Sandals resort located on St. Vincent, for on that Windjammer “bucket-list” cruise long ago we never physically stopped at the island.

Originally, the Sandals company planned St Vincent to be a “Beaches” resort which is (shudder) a family resort also run by them, but for some reason Sandals decided to transition the property into a proper, adult couples only all-inclusive resort where you will never hear the word “no”, or for that matter, incessant prattling and whining as you would expect at a child-centric location. Ugh.

A Beaches resort will open on the island in 2027 according to an article in the St. Vincent Times. We will NOT be there….

NEW BEACHES RESORT ON ST VINCENT

SANDALS EFFECT

Tourism is growing on St. Vincent because of Sandals. Used to be there was only one flight daily (except for Tuesdays) on American Airlines, but because of the popularity of Sandals other airlines like JetBlue and soon, Delta, are adding flights from the United States. It once was difficult to get to SVG, but that is changing. Still, just be sure to plan far in advance as flights fill up. We (Janet) booked our flight a long time ago, using Aadvantage Miles.

St Vincent 
and the Grenadines

YOU CAN GET THERE FROM HERE

For further insurance against missing a connecting flight out of Miami (where American notoriously schedules very tight windows) we (Janet) chose to fly into Miami the night before our flight to St. Vincent. We (Janet) didn't want to risk missing any time in the Grenadines, because before our stay at Sandals St Vincent we are first traveling to Bequia, one of the islands we visited on that long ago Windjammer cruise, for a four-night stay. 

There is also a tight connection once we arrive at Argyle International Airport on St Vincent, for after we clear customs we then need to head to Kingstown a half hour drive away to catch a ferry to Bequia. 

To expedite matters we (Janet) arranged for a car to take us directly to the Bequia Express ferry for the hour-long passage to Bequia. At first the arrival time for the flight and the departure of the ferry didn’t jibe, but Bequia Express people shifted the departure time to accommodate a later arriving flight.  

(I cannot stress enough how valuable Janet is in this entire process. Without her doing all the necessary research and arranging we would not have made the ferry.)

BEQUIA EXPRESS FERRY

Bequia

BEQUIA (BEK-wee)

With this trip to St. Vincent we will have visited each of the islands that hosts a Sandals resort, Janet and I are really looking forward to returning to Bequia for this extended stay. It will be our vacation before our vacation as it were. We are staying at the Bequia Plantation Hotel before our Sandals visit on St Vincent.

The Yankee Clipper's captain was born on Bequia and on that Windjammer cruise we anchored overnight in Admiralty Bay and only got to see a little bit of the island. It was not enough. 

BEQUIA PLANTATION HOTEL

A HIDDEN GEM

A bit about the island. Just 7 square miles and with only 5,000 inhabitants, Bequia is large enough to offer plenty to do but still be intimate and peaceful.

Sugar was once the prime commerce, but that has faded, and now Bequia is known for her shipbuilding craftsmen and whaling. Many of the inhabitants can trace their heritage to Scottish immigrants so the local patois comes often with a Scottish brogue. Whaling is still allowed and up to four can be harvested each year, although years can pass without a catch. To read more about Bequia's history and whaling culture, click below for two great resources.

WHALING ON BEQUIA

BEQUIA HISTORY 

Whaleboner

WHALEBONER

There are several reasons to get excited over a visit to Bequia. One could explore her maritime history at the Boat Museum and take a tour of the island and visit Sample Cay where the whalers process the animal. 

Or, one could visit the Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary. The Yankee Clipper’s captain spoke of his time as a boy when the sea turtles were so plentiful that they could literally hitch rides on their backs. Their numbers have dwindled over the years, but at the sanctuary they are endeavoring to replenish the population.

OLD HEGG TURTLE SANCTUARY BEQUIA

Blackbeard the pirate had some business in Bequia in the the 1710s. Perhaps there may be some hidden booty somewhere on the island, but for us simply lolling about on any of the beautiful beaches is probably the extent of our exploration. You'll probably find us lounging at the Whaleboner Bar, sipping a local Hairoun beer. A mere 10-minute walk from our hotel, the entrance to the Whaleboner is decorated with two soaring whale rib bones and you can sit in chairs right on the water's edge, overlooking Admiralty Bay. We'll be there, happy that we have finally returned to this beautiful island.

 THE WHALEBONER BEQUIA

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS SVG?

Just in case you're unsure about where St. Vincent and the Grenadines is located... 

The island nation is south of St. Lucia, north of Grenada and west of Barbados. Bequia is 9 miles south of St. Vincent.   

Thanks for reading

Love Janet and greg

© 2025 by Gregory Dunaj