Our next country was the second to last in North America. We head back to the Caribbean to learn about a tiny island country, the tiniest country in the America's in fact, Saint Kitts and Nevis (pronounced knee-vis, like the guy from Catfish!) Nevis is the smaller of the two, and you can circle the island in less than 2 hours. The two islands together make up just 101 square miles.
While it is the smallest country in the Western Hemisphere, it's the 8th smallest in the world.
Wednesday was also the day we did the Luge for the Olympics, and we made a trip to the Buddhist Temple for Laos, which we learned about later in the week (so, a busy day!)
I'm older than the country of Saint Kitts and Nevis. It didn't become independent from Britain until September of 1983. Though it still remains a soverign realm of Great Britain, and Queen Elizabeth remains head of state, the UK no longer governs the country. It's laws and rules no longer apply.
The guy who leaded the charge for independence, activist Robert Bradshaw, has posthumously been awarded the title of 'First National Hero' and is honored every year on his birthday, which is also known as 'National Heroes Day'.
But there is another famous guy from Nevis... Alexander Hamilton! You know the guy who helped form our country and promoted the Constitution. Or maybe you know him as the founder of our first financial system, or the Federalist Party, or the United States Coast Guard, or the New York Post newspaper. Or, maybe you know him because... Hamilton the musical!
But either way, he was born in Nevis and there you can find our landmark, the Hamilton House, with the bottom floor being dedicated to local history and the upper floor being specific to Hamilton.
It's not really a surprise this country's trademarks include snorkeling, fine beaches, and a laid-back island attitude. You'll find lots of beach bars all over the island for some fresh seafood and a cold drink.
But you might also try the most famous dish of goat water stew. The recipe is simple, just mix goat meat, breadfruit, green papaya and dumplings in chopped tomatoes. (We thought the seafood sounded more appealing, however, so that's what we went with).
The calypso culture is strong on the islands, and you can see it in the festivals and parades. They're so proud of their culture, one of their Festivals are called 'Culturama' where they celebrate the emancipation of slaves in the 1830s and crown a Calypso King and a Miss Culture Queen.
Once upon the island was known for everything sugar cane. It was the life-blood of the country, but that has given way to tourism. The old railways that used to transport sugar cane is now known as one of the most beautiful sight seeing trains rides in the world.
Beyond that, you could always go to Saint Kitts and Nevis for the monkeys. It's said they were introduced by pirates. They will eat right out of the hands of tourists, though locals find them to be more of the nuisance. (When I was telling the boys about this- I said, think seagulls at the beach and how annoyed we get when tourists feed them!)
The boys made their Saint Kitts and Nevis Postcards.
Calib's featured the flag, and a traditional stilt walker.
Peyton's postcard featured Columbus sighting the island. He first sailed to Saint Kitts, which was known as Liamuiga (or 'fertile land') on his second voyage.
Hayden focused on the colorful buildings, and Alexander Hamilton.
The boys got some pictures from the Home Office and worked on identifying them.
And I let them practice the Luge as well. I got one of those fun little roller boards on amazon, like the one's you always got to use in elementary school. They had to go around the track from speed skating that was still on the kitchen floor, on their back, 3 times. The fastest time would be the winner.
For dinner had a Caribbean Rum Cake, courtesy of my Aunt Patti who had gotten one recently for us on our cruise. (Also worth noting: She sent us postcards from lots of the little Caribbean countries, including Saint Kitts and Nevis.
And because I had forgotten about this can of Ambrosia in the pantry way back from the United Kingdom day, I decided to pull it out since Saint Kitts and Nevis still recognizes the Queen.
Along with all of that we had Grilled Curry-Mango Shrimp with extra Mango Chutney for dipping, Peas N Rice, Caribbean Salad with Sweet Orange Vinaigrette, watermelon and Christmas Coconut Bread.
This meal earned six very enthusiastic spoons up.
We love this part of the world. Almost every Caribbean country has been a hit. But this mango shrimp was up there with the Palau shrimp for me.
Everything was awesome. Hayden even liked the rice- or at least didn't, and Hayden hates rice. Mom cleared her plate. So, basically make all of this. And, if you don't want to make the mango chutney, the Publix has an awesome version of it in the International Section with the British food.
After dinner it was time for the Luge. Mom decided to sit this one out. Asa kept time, and I recorded the results and took pictures.
Our winner by just over 2 seconds was Peyton.
The medal ceremony for Luge.
We recorded our medals, noting all the one's the Netherlands are racking up for Hayden. And to think, they only have 33 athletes, so I was really worried about them contributing much of anything to Hayden's medal count.
We totaled up the points and displayed our leaders.
While most of our Caribbean countries are a total mess of dots there (I did not leave myself enough room), Saint Kitts and Nevis is the closest two dark purple dots to Hispaniola. It's about 250 miles from Puerto Rico. The boys think we ought to make Puerto Rico in blue down there so it doesn't get forgotten.
That's 189 countries down, only SEVEN to go!!!
Next Up: Our last North America Country, Dominican Republic
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