Tom and Kirstin get a play-date.........

Salt Whistle Bay - Mayreau

 Mayreau is the smallest inhabited island in the Grenadines, with only 315 people. We met our first real Rasta there in 2007- Robert Righteous. He operates a restaurant with his wife, kids, and a variety of hangers-on.  Back in 2007, after we returned from the Grenadines, we sent him some "Obama stuff"which he used to decorate his place along with some school supplies for the children of Mayreau. Upon returning there on Friday, he remembered us...........and invited us to his birthday party which was Saturday night. Obama stuff was still in place all over his restaurant, as were pictures of us. Creepy.

Hmmm. A Rasta birthday party. I'm thinking this could be dangerous. We spent the whole day Saturday trying to talk ourselves out of going. The dinghy could get stolen.........we could get mugged...........someone could break into the boat while we're gone..........we might be the only non-family members there (i.e. we'd be the proverbial bastards at a family reunion).

Tom and some friends at Robert Righteous BDay Party

Curiousity ended up getting the better of us. As we approached the restaurant, a throbbing reggae beat and lots of smoke were coming out of the windows. Too late to turn around (we'd already been seen)......we went in. We were ushered into the "VIP Room" (I'm not kidding). Back there, we joined 4-5 really laid-back local guys and Robert Righteous...........they were chilling out, but sat up quickly when we walked in. By the looks on their faces, I'm guessing the Robert had forgotten to tell them that he invited white people to his party. Oops. After assuring them we weren't DEA or police, the chilled atmosphere returned.

Anyway, shortly thereafter pandemonium broke out...........Rasta babies running around everywhere......... baby mommas chasing them (their words, not mine)........Robert's friends piling in by the dozen.......music getting louder.........then, the Swedes, French, and Germans came as well (off of neighboring boats in the bay).  Robert and his friends did a drum trio with Rasta chanting. It was fun. Then it was time to go...........I have this regulator in the back of my brain; I think it's related to the fight or flee thing, but it tells me when it's time to leave a weird social situation. Beep-beep-beep-beep. Time to leave.......so we high-tailed it back to the boat. Glad we went, though. Once in a lifetime experience.