Years ago, I hoped to someday travel to St. Lucia, the land of my mother’s ancestors. Well, that was their land for a generation or two. They came to St. Lucia from St. Vincent, their neighboring island in the Caribbean.

But life got in the way. There was work and marriage and raising children then overseas posts many miles and time zones away from the Windward Islands. Our travels during our expatriate years took us in other directions.

Then there was more work, days of accumulation in anticipation of retirement. That retirement finally came. We had money and time to go, but no real gumption. It seemed that all the years of activity had consumed a lifetime of initiative, and so here we sat, in Northwest Arkansas, waiting for energy to overcome declining health and move us from our easy chairs to seats on a plane.

Finally, in June of this year, our son said, “Let’s go to St. Lucia,” giving us the needed push. Two other family members wanted to join us on the trip, but in the end were unable to.  In trying to accommodate the most people, we settled on Thanksgiving week just past. We had timeshare points to burn.

So, on Nov 24 we flew from NW Arkansas to Charlotte, NC, spent a night (as planned) there due to the difficult connection, and flew on to St. Lucia. We had seven wonderful nights there, flying back on Dec 1, able to do it all in one day due to an easier connection.

The trip was a mix of genealogy research, meeting people I’d met online in my preparation for the trip, meeting a relative there (2nd cousin once removed), seeing the house my family owned and lived in, and experiencing my family’s culture, though obviously far removed in time from when my grandmother emigrated to the USA in 1918.

One post will not be sufficient to tell of this trip. It was sort of magical. In terms of genealogical research, we accomplished more than I expected. We should soon receive information that will allow us to get back one more generation with confirmed documentation. I found my great-grandfather’s grave in a cemetery with no grid pattern, and where most of the stones were broken or badly weathered to the point of being unreadable. The family house was awesome to see, and we learned much more about its history.

Expect additional posts over the next few weeks, as time allows. I’m still waiting on photos from others, and am very busy buying one house, prepping this one for sale, and moving hopefully before two more months pass.

Meanwhile, many people have told me I have to write down everything I’ve learned about this side of the family. I actually started on that last Tuesday evening. The tentative title is Stories, Secrets, Legends, and Lie. As they say, stay tuned.