We should have taken the hint when we asked a couple of locals "what time does the parade start?" They rolled their eyes and thought about it and answered "noon, one - two?" We picked the last parade on Tuesday to go to Carnival. George, our Secret Harbor taxi driver, dropped us off at a restaurant on the other side of town for lunch. He said to go left after lunch and we would see the bands preparing for the parade. We ended up in a cemetery and an empty stadium. A lady across the street said to go back to town. We walked back, through a tunnel, through the Carenage (lined with food and drink booths) and onto the Lagoon Road (renamed Kirani James Boulevard). Tired and hot, we stopped at the Grenada Yacht Club for a cold drink and a seat in the shade. 1:30 and they still hadn't started.

Finally, hearing music and seeing feathers moving in the distance, we walked along the road to see if the parade was starting. The brightly dressed participants were milling about but not going anywhere. We found the problem was a phone line that was knocked down by a truck and they were running another one along the road. Back to the Yacht Club for another cold drink and a seat in the shade. 3:30 and the first troup passed by the Yacht Club. Ann and I missed it as we were in the bathroom. OK, 4:00 and we saw one more troup. We decided to find a taxi back to Secret Harbor. We'd been in town for 5 hours and were ready to go back to Alaunt even if the parade was going on...without us.