by Jane Shattuck Hoyos on March 5, 2010
Built of limestone and brick in 1658, St Nicholas Abbey is a national treasure in Barbados, having been built just 30 years after the British settled the island and standing as possibly the last remaining authentic plantation home built in the New World. The home is a fascinating tourist attraction, sells very fine rum in beautiful bottles, and – the subject of this post – is the site of an elegant evening out in Barbados.
Dinner and dancing beneath the full moon at Barbados’ gracious St Nicholas Abbey is fabulous on both counts. With giant chandeliers hanging from the branches of trees, candles in ornate candelabras sparkling throughout the multi-level terrace, everyone in beautiful dress, and soft live music wafting through the warmth of the evening beneath the heavy yellow moon, I thought I was happily trapped in a Luis Bunuel movie.
Moods sparkle along with the candles at St Nicholas Abbey's elegant dinners beneath the full moon.
The brainchild of architect and St Nicholas Abbey owner and restorer Larry Warren and his wife Anna, the dinners began last winter and take place, weather permitting, on the Saturday evening closest to the full moon during the dry months (that is, not summer).
Not widely publicized, and organized only when Larry and Anna themselves are able to play host, call to learn details of upcoming dinners (see below this post for more info). As only 80 diners can be accommodated, the dinners fill quickly. The price is $120Bds each ($60US) plus bar.
The one indoor table used for the dinner was this one, which seats 14 and sits amongst the rum barrels. St Nicholas Abbey makes its own boutique rum.
At the dinners so far, the menu has been a Planter’s Dinner, a feast centered around a suckling pig. Because the dinners are seeing so many repeat guests, Anna told me they’re thinking of playing with the menu and offering a dinner with roast beef and yorkshires and stuffed dolphin (what we Yanks call Mahi Mahi). I myself was delighted by the roasted curly tail of the pig – and was that pig ever delish!
The music is outstanding. Past dinners have featured steel pan, a harpist, and a tuk band; I personally adored the jazz musicians last Saturday, perfect for the elegant old-world feeling of the venue.
If you thought the paradise of Barbados was only about our turquoise sea and sugar-white beaches, think again. The beautiful full-moon dinners at St Nicholas Abbey add sparkle, warmth, and a fine good time for both permanent islanders and guests to “The Jewel of the Caribbean” that is Barbados. See you there!
Carolyn Beckles (Miss.)
Secretary
Larry Warren Ltd., Architect
St. Nicholas Abbey
Cherry Tree Hill
St. Peter, BB 26007
BARBADOS
Tel.: (246) 432-6392 (Ext. 221)
Fax: (246) 432-2976
E-mail: carolyn@stnicholasabbey.com
by Jane Shattuck Hoyos on February 24, 2010
Where’s the Love? Erosion in Barbados on Valentine’s Weekend
Instead of kanoodling, some Barbadians spent Valentine’s Day weekend battling ten-foot waves crashing against the shoreline of our small island. The normally calm Caribbean Sea bashed the shoreline of the usually idyllic Mullins Bay in St Peter parish for two days, offering a striking example of the effects of erosion caused by the sea as it encroaches on land. I stopped by on Monday February 15 to view the damage to Mullins Restaurant and take these photos.
Mullins Restaurant closed midday on Valentine’s. The next day it was open again but appeared to be holding onto its deck using police tape:
After the storm: Mullins Restaurant on February 15, 2010, after a weekend of enduring ten-foot waves from an angry sea.
When Mullins Restaurant (to the right) was built some 20 years ago, the beach was so large that it was difficult to imagine there would ever be a problem with the sea's encroachment.
This photo and the next show the whittling away of the restaurant by the sea. Neither are $20+ million villas on Mullins Bay immune to the ravages of the sea.
As it swirls beneath the foundation, the sea really doesn't give a care whether Mullins Restaurant's stairway touches the sand. (It doesn't.)
The beach at Mullins Restaurant in years past; photo from www.Jencot.net
There’s Only So Much 300 Tons of Rocks Can Do…
In May of last year, 300 tons of boulders were placed along the shoreline of Mullins Bay by marine construction company Marenco. Marenco was hired by management of the beautiful private villa called The Great House, which last year had lost 8 feet of its seaside property to erosion.
Seawater threatens the foundation of all buildings and steps along Mullins Bay. (By the way, these rocks are coral, the very stuff Barbados is made of.)
The sea has scooped out the sand, exposing the roots of the Casuarina trees that have been there long before the restaurant was built 20 years ago. The restaurant was reinforced two years ago after the sea showed its might. It's a continual battle.
Beach Erosion: Are Groynes to Blame?
Owners of homes along Mullins Bay are watching their beloved homes slip into the sea bit by bit. The cause? That’s a very good question and a point of much contention.
Of course, erosion is a natural act of nature. Some say erosion is exacerbated by climate change. Others blame the groynes in the area (specifically the groynes near the St Peter’s Bay development). A groyne is a perpendicular structure – in Barbados made of rock piles – extending from the shore into the sea.
The Idea Behind Groynes
According to Wikipedia, groynes build a beach by interrupting water flow and limiting the movement of sand. Ironically, even while they’re designed to build beaches, groynes can also cause the erosion of what they call downdrift beaches … in other words, with a little help from humans, nature gives — but she taketh away, too.
Photo I took from a plane using my iPhone showing groynes on the south coast of Barbados.
So, while the praises of groynes are being sung (as they are here on the blog of the Ocean Two development), they are being roundly criticized (here, for instance, on the citizens blog for Mullins Bay).
Questions
What are the causes – definitively – of the erosion of our beaches? Once we know, what can we do to save the beautiful sugar-white beaches in Barbados? And when oh when will we start doing those things?
P.S. Would you dine on this cantilevered patio??
Perhaps a rum punch alters one's perspective of precariousness.
