Thoughts and stories, by Pal

In this last entry about my Southern Caribbean cruise, I will show more pictures, and make a few comments.  I LOVED IT ! A few homes of many colors! Below is a lady at the Chocolate factory on Granada Island, and she was telling us how chocolate is made.  It first is in a large pod, probably 6 to 8 inches long, and when you crack it open, it has little white parts that taste a bit sweet.  I can't remember many details, but that part is dried, and then cooked, and then it goes dark brown.  I bought 1 chocolate bar, 60% pure chocolate!                        A group going into the ancient chocolate factory. On that same tour, we also went to a nutmeg factory.  The nutmeg is ground from what is inside the nuts.  The man below was our guide.  He explained the process of getting the inside of the nut to market, etc.  He told us that any of the la...

My Southern Caribbean Cruise, part 2: Barbados claims the dubious distinction of creating Rum!  The pirates loved it! The words on the sign are: This new world liquor popularized under the name of rum originated in Barbados.  The substance distilled from the molasses, a by product of sugar cane was originally known as kill devil. How the name came to be rum is shrouded in mystery.  But many believe it starts with the aged liquor stored in a barrel being sold in a tavern owned by Captain Rumball.  This unique liquor sought after by patrons took it s name from the owner and was called Rum.   I had seen Barbados on my family pedigree charts, and last night I found it again.  I had an ancestor, Alexander Skeen, born about 1690 in Scotland, who went to Barbados, married a lady there, Jemima Dewe, and his first 2 children were born there, and christened in the St. James Church, on Barbados.  (One in 1700, and the other a few years ...