1. Saint Vincent
March 2026
Tucked into the southern Caribbean, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) is an island nation that happens to top the list of country names ranked by how much they sound like a Motown act. We flew into Argyle Airport on the island of Saint Vincent, the northernmost and most populated island in the country, and home to its capital Kingstown.
The Grenadines, the other half of the country’s moniker, is an archipelago with two different geographic and political definitions. “The Grenadines” refers to both a geographic chain of islands stretching toward Grenada and a political designation for the smaller isles that belong to SVG. The result is a cartographic oddity: some islands are Grenadine and Vincentian, others Grenadine and Grenadian.
We hopped in a cab to the Kingstown Ferry Terminal to catch the boat to Bequia, the largest of the SVG Grenadine islands. We spent five wonderful days in the Grenadines (set #2) before returning to Kingstown to explore Saint Vincent.
Compared to the Grenadines, Kingstown and its 13,000 inhabitants is a hustling and bustling metropolis. Centered around the port, downtown is home to several government buildings and restaurants. The overall vibe is gritty and unpolished, but not unsafe. Late night dining options are limited, as most places close by 5pm in contrast to other tropical cities where life begins at sunset. Saint Vincent serves more as a launching point to the Grenadines than a destination in itself, though that has never stopped us from enjoying a place.
We spent most of our time on Saint Vincent exploring the leeward side of the island by car. My left-hand traffic skills honed during our time in the UK were essential on the 1.5-lane, two-way roads with rock faces on one side and sheer cliffs on the other. We swam in the cool pools below Dark View Falls, hiked the verdant Vermont Nature Trail, explored the stark Richmond black sand beach, and drove past Belle Isle, which must be the most picturesque prison on earth.
The gem of Kingstown is Bully’s Bar on the far western edge in Bottomtown, where Bully still slings the island’s coldest Hairoun lagers in the same green-and-yellow shuttered tavern that he opened in the 1990s.
We arrived to find Bully sitting at one of the tables with a regular. As soon as we walked in, he greeted us with a massive smile and asked what we would like to drink. He introduced us to the locals, and within minutes we were trading stories with a room full of strangers who immediately felt like old friends. Topics included, of course, travel, drink, and romance. Bully joked that he had four kids with three women, which is why he’s still bartending. After several beers, he insisted we try Very Strong Rum (seriously, that’s the name). To make his case, he poured some on his (wooden!) bar and lit it on fire. How could we say no?
Perhaps of greatest personal import, he also regaled us with the details of the time he served Anthony Bourdain (No Reservations S6E14). He told us that Bourdain’s scout team visited a few days before, but that otherwise Anthony stopped in like a regular customer. The next day, his producer called Bully to let him know how much Bourdain enjoyed his visit to the bar.
At the end of our stay, one of the locals insisted that, per tradition, he would cover our tab. Doing some quick math based on the average price of a beer on the island, I slipped several bills under a bottle and told Bully to consider it a tip. All told, we spent three hours chatting with Bully and his friends, and having achieved a Bourdain Number of 2, walked away with the melancholic realization that one of the best travel experiences of our lives had just concluded.
On our last day, we explored the windward side of Saint Vincent, hitting several viewpoints and the Rawacou nature park on a meandering journey back to the airport.
At the airport itself, a plaque caught our attention: The government of Taiwan provided funds to support the building of the terminal (see Taiwan set #1). As a relatively small player on the global diplomatic stage compared to the mainland behemoth of China, exercising soft power like this is essential for the ROC’s projection of sovereignty.
A footnote on process: SVG runs on paperwork. Every nature site required permits with official stamps. Our rental car required a trip to the police station for a temporary driving permit. While filling the forms, I watched the clerk log each coworker's comings and goings in duplicate, once in a physical ledger and once in a computer. The final photo in this set is dedicated to that clerk and to the bureaucracy of a post-colonial democracy.
Saint Vincent rewarded our curiosity, from the labyrinthine politics of who owns which Grenadine island, to the vertiginous coastal roads of Saint Vincent, to an unforgettable evening with Bully and his regulars. SVG lacks the polish and tourist infrastructure of its Caribbean neighbors, and that is precisely its appeal. The crowds have not arrived yet, the locals are genuinely glad to see you, and the rum will literally catch fire. Go before they build a Sheraton.
Recipes: Candy Dream, Classic Cuban Negative, Vibrant Arizona.
Artistic Direction: My Wife.
Saint Vincent Photosets:
Saint Vincent
The Grenadines
