When we shut down on the ramp in Grenada SG jumped out of the plane like a shot. The Caribbean is her favorite place in the world and she was just about jumping up and down with excitement. When we’d gotten stuck in Brazil for Christmas SG had proclaimed that Christmas was going to be postponed one day so she could celebrate it in whatever Caribbean island we ended up in. She’d shown extreme patience in Brazil that morning while the customs officers dithered around wasting time better spent on the beach but once we were on the ground she wanted to get the hell out of the airport! It was a beautiful warm sunny afternoon but it was already getting late and I knew that by the time we fueled up, cleared customs and immigration and then made it to an as yet unknown hotel SG’s beach time was going to be short. About this time a man in some sort of airport uniform came up to us and asked if we needed any help with our general declaration papers or clearing customs. I don’t usually need help from guys like that but they can speed up the process sometimes with their ability to cut to the head of lines because they share the tips you give them with the customs officers. With SG’s mad desire to hit the beach before the sun went down I accepted the help. While the fuel guy topped the Bonanza’s tanks off I filled out the paperwork on the wing and handed it off the our helper who scampered off to get the process started. We managed to clear the airport quickly enough and our airport helper hustled us into a taxi and told the driver what hotel to take us to that was supposed to be nice and gave good pilot discounts. A short ten minute ride later we pulled into a beautiful resort and were shortly enjoying a complementary rum punch while checking in. But the long shadows told the tail of the setting sun and SG’s face fell as she watched swim suit clad couples file past on their way back to their rooms after enjoying a day on the beach. With nothing else to do we changed clothes and met down at the beach bar where I treated her to a few fruity drinks and promised to get her some beach time the next day. I was pretty sure I could deliver on my promise, we were in the Caribbean after all. What could possibly go wrong?
