From the instant you set eyes on Castaway – A Grenadian Idyll, you can help but think “WOW”. Even with all the hustle and bustle of the flower show going on around, the exhibit has an amazing ability to transport you to a tranquil beach in the tropics.

Then the steel pans start up and the party began. Passersby, media and celebrities immediately flocked over to the exhibit, drawn in by the bright colours, music and the rum punch. Even other exhibitors abandoned their own stands and made a beeline over to us – Grenada stood out like a shining beacon and we all new we were headed for gold.

Awards are something Suzanne Gaywood is used to. As we speak she is down at Buckingham Palace rubbing elbows with the Royals to collect her well deserved MBE.  This is her 9th Chelsea Award, and I imagine they’ll be many more to come.

For more photos of the flower show, have a look at the album on our facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/calabashhotel

It should have finished on Tuesday the 11th of August with the glorious Pretty Mass Parade through town, but unfortunately a rainstorm meant that the Carnival Committee was forced to postpone the event until today (Sat 15th Aug). But even the torrential rain did very little to dampen the Carnival Spirit as Pretty Mass still continued unofficially on Tuesday afternoon.

This really was a testament to the passion and enthusiasm that Grenadians have for Carnival as it is a well known fact that Grenadian’s are afraid of rain! So that fact that so many people came out to celebrate on Tuesday was a big deal!

Prior to Pretty Mass, is J’Ouvert which starts before dawn on Monday morning. During J’Ouvert people cover themselves in oil and paint and parade through the street until just after sunrise (see pic below). J’Ouvert is a part of carnival typical for the Caribbean islands. It’s heritage goes back to the days of slavery. In those years the plantation owners used to celebrate carnival with fancy clothes and masquerades. The slaves who saw the exposure of such wealth started to make their own variant.

Following J’Ouvert is Monday Night Mas, which as you may expect is a night parade where people join particular bands which each have their own uniform comprising of glow sticks and t-shirts. This is a judged parade so each band does their best to outshine the competition.

While Grenada was featured for only 20 minutes or so, (nowhere near long enough in our opinion!) the footage did show some of the country, up in the hils, which a normal tourism documentary may not cover. In that segment Sir Trevor talked to Mott Green, founder and proprietor of The Grenada Chocolate Co, if you’re looking for more info on that then we’ve recently made a couple of blog posts about it, here and here. We’re very friendly with a UK stockist as well, Rococo Chocolates do online sales and delivery so they’re the place to buy Grenada Chocolate in the UK.

In the second part of the slot we saw some very important work going on up in the North of the island at Levera Beach with Ocean Spirits Leatherback Sea Turtle Research & Education Programme, Grenada. There are only around 125,000 Leatherback Turtles in existence, which makes them an incredibly endangered species. The programme researches, tags and protects the turtles to ensure their beach is secure. Volunteers from around the world take part in this programme and Sir Trevor was fortunate enough to see one of the turtles laying eggs on the beach that night.

You can volunteer for the Ocean Spirits Leatherback Turtle program, click here.

I first saw Margaret across a crowded room at a nightclass in 1958 and we started courting. In 1959 we got engaged but sadly it didn’t work out and in 1960 we split up .

Later we both got married to different partners and by 1984 both our marriages had ended. We met again briefly in 1984 but it was too soon for us to restart our relationship.

On 10th July 1988 Margaret telephoned my home out of the blue. I wasn’t in at the time but Margaret left a message for me to call her back. Later I called her back and we arranged to meet the following day and we have been together ever since.

In 1989 we went to the Cayman Islands on holiday, while we there I proposed to her and she accepted. Fast forward to June 15th 2009 and we were married at The Calabash Hotel in Grenada.

Margaret and John Bithell with Glenda and Sherlyn

The holiday at The Calabash was simply the best we have ever had and our special day and wedding went just like a dream. There were no hitches, everything went like clockwork and of course the sun was shining.

The success of June 15th would not have been possible had it not been for the help and friendliness of all the staff at the hotel who set out to make sure our wedding was a truly happy and memorable event. We cannot speak highly enough of the way the staff helped with the arrangements to ensure all went well.

Thanks to John for taking the time to write that, we appreciate it very much and again please accept our congratulations.

Fortunately we have a wonderful product to shout about and to help us do that we employ the services of four lovely ladies (or tarts as one of the owners of this blog affectionately calls them) at Essential Detail in London to help bring us to the attention of the UK travel market. Over the years their services have become invaluable to us and the other hotels they represent in the Caribbean and we just wanted to shout about them a bit. Take a look at their website.

Here’s to you Ladies!

Essential Detail Girls and Hoteliers at World Travel Market 2008