There’s no denying that a trip to ‘tung on the Friendship Rose could be a rough experience – rough and HOT! Crossing the Bequia channel on a bad day was never fun ( least least not for ME), and neither was rushing around Kingstown in a mad dash to get chores done in a timely manner. Today there’s more than one ferry, with schedules that offer quite a few departure times from the mainland. This of course takes a lot of the stress out of traveling to ‘tung, but the sun is still hot as one hustles to the jetty lugging bags filled with purchases.
Picture of Friendship Rose courtesy of Jeff and Holly Ridgway
I will always remember seeing my first snow cone. I was perched on the side of the Friendship Rose watching the loading process, and noticed an old man pushing an odd-looking cart towards the boat. Several people immediately clustered around him, a sign that whatever the vendor was selling must be a treat! I left my perch to see what he was offering, if it was ice cream I wanted some! I watched with dismay as the man scooped crushed ice into a cup, poured some kind of bright syrup over it, then added copious amounts of sweetened condensed milk. Not being a fan of the sticky sweet milk I was sorely disappointed – it certainly wasn’t something I wanted to buy.
I watched as a young child was handed a snow cone. She grasped the cup of brightly-coloured ice carefully in both hands, and began to suck eagerly on the straw. There’s only one way to describe the look that crossed her face and that’s bliss, pure unadulterated bliss, and the adults with snow cones had that same contented look. The cold treat was obviously hitting the sweet spot, and I was a little jealous! However, I didn’t want to try one; the sweetened condensed milk turned me off, and I suffered in silence as my fellow passengers slurped to their hearts’ content.
There were no snow cone carts on Bequia, so Vanessa and Rachel considered the icy treats their reward for enduring a trip to ‘tung on the Rose. They rarely went to the mainland when
they were small, but whenever the occasion arose they for SURE had to have their plastic cup filled with crushed ice, topped with brightly coloured sweet syrup and the ubiquitous gooey milk. The snow cones were very inexpensive (although there WAS a charge for extra condensed milk), and they never failed to make my girls happy. They were THE ultimate treat.
Years have passed, and I have no idea what a snow cone costs in these modern times, or whether they are still sold on the Bequia wharf in Kingstown. I DO know that when Rihanna visits Barbados she has a snow cone “fix”, as do many of St. Vincent’s diaspora whenever they come home. I think this desire for what was surely a childhood treat has more to do with nostalgia than anything else, why else would a person from abroad want a snow cone?
I admit that I’ve never tried one, and at this point in life probably never WILL. However, I wouldn’t turn my nose up if someone offered me a scoop of crushed ice to which espresso and a dash of rum have been added, especially if it’s been topped with real cream! I’ll leave the coloured syrup and condensed milk toppings to those who love them, along with their sweet childhood memories of snow cones on a hot day in the tropics……