As the packed school bus rumbled up a few tight turns, the walls of a stone cold precipice came into view. Grenada’s Fort Frederick was just ahead, and next to it, Fort Matthew.
As the contents of our bus scattered our of the bus with clicking cameras (like the group of tourists we were) the Significant Others president charmed a pleasant woman in purple.
Alice, as she was called, turned out to be a good person to make friends with. After collecting our entry fee, she hitched up her billowing skirt, hiked up to the top of the fort and gave us a tour.
She told us some wild stories, but best of all was her tale of Hurricane Ivan – the 2004 terror that decimated a nation.
On that fateful day, as the winds got wilder, Alice grabbed her five small children and a bag of sheets and headed for home. She was not about to lose her kids or the roof they slept under. As the winds shook the small house, Alice tied 10 sheets together into a rope. Then, climbing up to the rafters, she tied one sheet to the roof. The other end of her “rope” cinched her to her children, tying them into little knots then wrapping the whole bundle of kids around her waist.
Then, she held on for dear life.
The winds got wilder and began ripping the wood roof from the ramshackle home it covered. Alice felt herself and her bundle of children lifting off from the ground. So she grabbed a knife and began tearing at the sheets. Moments later a gust of 165 miles per hour tore the roof from the building – with Alice and her little ones huddling in a corner.
This story might sound a little fantastic, but after hearing others from Ivan, it’s likely Alice is telling the truth. I think she is still upset about losing her roof.
Alice then pointed to landmarks on the horizon and told us little stories about her county’s history. The large building just below her hand in this picture is the home of Grenada’s military. Goats, cows and pigs take up residence there too. Each soldier farms the communal land around the base, takes care of his animals and feeds himself entirely from the fruits of his own labors.
The little landmark has another story, one that redefined Grenada’s history. Listen closely.
You can read more about this event in my Blog Post Here.
Even through the tumult of the 1980s, Fort Frederick remained the one of the only strongholds in the world that never fired a shot in anger.
It was originally built by the French who had seized Grenada from the British in 1779. Over the next few hundred years, the two countries played tug of war with the little island. One year it belonged to the French. Don’t blink, because in the next moment it belonged to the British. Then it went back to the French. Each country took their turn standing watch atop Fort Frederick – and the many other forts that sprinkle the little island.
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From their vantage point, they could look down on their next door neighbors at the insane asylum. But that’s a story for tomorrow …
