I can’t tell you what Christmas is like for everyone in Barbados, but I can tell you about our first Christmas in Barbados because I think ours probably wasn’t typical. On Christmas morning, Ben and I woke up to some good news: we were allowed out of quarantine. Quarantine doesn’t sound as bad as you might think, though.It meant being stuck in a really nice hotel for a few days. While room service and lounging at the pool was nice, we were excited to explore Barbados and start a new adventure. (You can read about our experience in quarantine here!)
When we got the good news, we mosied our way over to the hotel lobby to exchange our quarantine wristbands for some ‘all-access’ ones. These are the wristbands that mean you can do whatever you want and go wherever you want. Though our initial plan had been to make our way to our airbnb as soon as we made it out of quarantine, we decided it would be nice to spend one more day at the hotel where we could actually enjoy it. Plus, we were finally able to go down to the beach!
What’s Christmas Day Actually Like in Barbados?
Christmas was, well… not very Christmassy. I’m still not sure if it was because of being in the tropics or because of COVID. There were gospel singers at our all you can eat breakfast, which we ate with a beautiful view of the Caribbean sea wearing hardly any clothes. I mean, it was 85F (32C) after all. The day was filled with rum punches by the pool and being tumbled in the sea.
In short, we were in a tropical paradise miles away from the cute and Christmassy English countryside that Ben was used to and I had grown fond of. They were wildly different experiences.
How We Ended up Having Jam on Toast for Christmas Dinner
We never got a traditional big Christmas dinner, but we prepared for it. Word of advice for Bank holidays in Barbados: prepare your pantry like you would for an apocalypse because there won’t be a shop that is open.
Fortunately, our quarantine hotel had a tiny little shop where we could buy all the necessities in case we were out of luck for a day or so without a grocery store. We bought bread, butter, milk, and, as my husband is British, we obviously got a can of baked beans.
I remember exchanging ‘Merry Christmas’ with the cashier lady. Then as she was checking out our food, clearly in a cheery Christmas mood, she asked “I see a lot of people buying bread and beans together and I have to ask. Do you put the beans on the toast?”
We laughed and told her that, yes we do, and it’s good too – She should try it. So as a quick aside: to all my American counterparts out there – give it a try! Honestly, it is a lot better than you expect, and a lot less weird. Who knew that baked beans were for more than just camping? Anyways, back to Christmas day in Barbados.
Christmas Without COVID
The excitement of being out of quarantine and in a world that was COVID free was still upon us at the time. Everyone back at our respective homes were either in lockdown, panic or denial over the current rising cases. Meanwhile, we were on our merry way to freedom and relaxation on a tropical paradise.
By the time we made it to our Airbnb and had a chance to relax and settle in, it was nearing sunset. We would need to eat, and because it was Christmas and our first day out, we wanted to try to find a place out. Google Maps was the first place we looked, putting “food near me” into the search bar.
There were two places that came up nearby: Surfer’s Bay Beach Bar and Chicken Ritas.
Now, we heard amazing things about Chicken Ritas from some people at the hotel we stayed at. Basically, it is a small fried chicken shack (literally a shack) in the middle of nowhere. It’s decorated year round with Christmas lights (which we did not know at the time), it takes ages to get food (a common theme in Barbados, but Chicken Ritas has an exceptionally long wait), and some will tell you it is the best fried chicken you will ever have.
Surfers Bay Beach Bar, on the other hand, we knew nothing about other than what we could find online. There were some photos on Google, and they had a Facebook page as well. The photos looked nice enough, and quite frankly, we were just looking for anything other than something on toast.
On their Facebook page they posted earlier that day: “Open today and every day. Ho ho ho.”
A Lesson on Google Maps in Barbados
This seemed to be enough for us to be convinced! We downloaded our Google Maps directions and started our trek over. Google said it would only be a 20 minute walk, which sounded manageable, but we didn’t know that Google Maps Barbados is not to be trusted (we later found out that there was a short cut only 5 minutes away, but c’est la vie). The route seemed like a good one – it even looked like it passed near Chicken Rita’s on the way, so if it were open maybe we could stop in!
I think that’s how we first learned not to trust Google Maps in Barbados.
Google took us down some backgrounds and around the long way. At this point we had been so bubbly and excited from the prospect of being together and in a world without COVID that we neglected to research anything on safety in Barbados and walking at night. Stupidly, we trekked on. In the dark with no street lights.
To make matters worse, as it was Christmas night, there were lots of drunk people loitering on front porches and outside of houses. With Google Maps in hand, our pasty white skin, and the big eyes of confusion, we definitely stood out. As we walked past houses and crumbling shacks, people eyed us with a look that clearly asked what we were doing in this part of town at this time of day.
We passed a dilapidated wooden shack that was leaning to one side and had all broken windows. To make it look a bit spookier, the lights were on. It honestly looked like something out of a horror film where some old man was going to come outside and have some weird dead people hidden somewhere. I didn’t say anything to Ben. I just clung onto him and kept walking and checking the directions.
When we got about halfway, we looked down a narrow, unpaved street with no streetlights and saw rainbow Christmas lights on a small building at the end of it. According to Google Maps, it looks like that could be Chicken Rita’s.
But as it was Christmas, many places had Christmas lights on and leave them on all night. Even if it were Chicken Rita’s, why would we walk down this unlit street if it wasn’t even open and just left the Christmas lights on?
We trudged on a little longer until it felt like someone was following us. I know now that it was just my nerves, but at the time, that stumbling drunk man walking in the same direction as us was enough for us to want to turn around. Although Surfer’s Bay Bar was only enough 10 minutes away, if it were anything like the last 10 minutes, then it would be a lifetime. Plus, it only meant we had to walk back at a later hour.
Home Sweet Airbnb and Toast
We turned around and walked quickly home. Past the rainbow lights of Chicken Rita’s. Past the rickety old wooden house and all the drunks stumbling around. As we were walking, we realized how stupid we were to not have followed one of the #1 safety rules: look up where you’re at and see if it is safe.
When we finally made it home, we popped some toast into the toaster and ate it with butter and jam.We later found out that Chicken Rita’s was open.
If only we knew then that the rum shack had rainbow Christmas lights up year round, that there was yet another shortcut to our house, and that it was open, we would’ve had more than just jam on toast for dinner.
It was our first Christmas together as just the two of us, and it is a Christmas dinner we won’t forget. I, for one, will definitely not forget the ultra sweet and very tasteless baking jam (not for toast) we accidentally bought and ate on Christmas.
