5 Best Sights in Grenada

Definitely plan to visit St. George's Market Square, a block from the Cruise Ship Terminal and Esplanade Mall in downtown St. George's. This is the place to buy fresh spices, bottled sauces, and handcrafted gifts and souvenirs to take home. In addition to local spices and heaps of fresh produce, vendors sell baskets, brooms, clothing, knickknacks, coconut water, and more. The market is open every weekday morning but really comes alive on Saturday from 8 to noon. Market Square is also where parades begin and political rallies take place.

Housed in a building that once held a cotton gin (the second-oldest cotton ginnery in the world), and just one block from the waterfront, Carriacou's little museum has exhibitions of Amerindian, European, and African artifacts, a collection of watercolors by native folk artist Canute Caliste, and a small gift shop with local items. Founded in 1976, the museum is supported by the Carriacou Historical Society. Museum manager Clemencia Alexander, one of Caliste's daughters, has worked for the museum for more than 30 years and is happy to give a guided tour.

Just south of Gouyave, this historic plantation still grows and processes spices the old-fashioned way. You can see cocoa, nutmeg, mace, cloves, and other spices laid out on giant racks to dry in the sun. A worker will be glad to explain the process (and will appreciate a small donation). You can buy spices for about $5 a bag.

Pearls, the island's original airport just north of Grenville on the Atlantic coast, was replaced in 1984 by Maurice Bishop International Airport in Point Salines. Here at Pearls, deteriorating Cuban and Soviet planes sit at the end of the old runway. The planes were abandoned after the 1983 intervention, during which Cuban "advisers" helping to construct the airport at Point Salines were summarily removed from the island. Interestingly, three decades later, Cuban workers helped build the new Argyll International Airport in neighboring St. Vincent with no similar international reaction. At Pearls, there's a good view north to the Grenadines and a small beach nearby.

The small town of Windward is a boatbuilding community on the northeast coast of Carriacou. At certain times of year, primarily during school vacations, you may encounter a work in progress along the roadside.