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| "The street that never sleeps" A 16 x 20 acrylic painting by Mark Phillips |
The Street that Never Sleeps
It has been 7 days since my last post.Where has the time gone?
I have been extremely busy and this painting is partially the reason why. I am preparing some pieces for an exhibition to be held at a local gallery later this year and this will most likely be one of the pieces. The theme of the exhibit is "Barbados", and I wanted to do something other than my usual sea and sun pieces.
In my opinion, you can't get more Barbados than this. I no longer frequent Baxter's Road like I did in the old days but it is still one of my favourite places for authentic Bajan food. I have been buying fish from Ann for over 20 years. Perfectly seasoned, and fried to order in a cast iron skillet over a traditional coalpot.
Many years ago Dereck, an acquaintance of mine, was visiting from the U.S.A. I took him done to Baxter's Road on a Friday night for some fish. He was protesting that he did not eat fish because it was bland and tasteless. Only after much coaxing and the promise to buy him all the beer he could drink if he didn't like it, did he consent to try it. We waited as Ann chose 2 lovely dolphin steaks and proceeded to work her magic with the coalpot. In less than 10 minutes, the fish was ready. Lightly dotted with ketchup, more liberally covered with Bajan pepper sauce and served with fried breadfruit and coleslaw. Needless to say, he loved it. He even bought another one to take home so that he could show his wife how fish should taste! Every time he returned to Barbados he always wanted to go and get some of that "Night Fish".
I remember when Baxter's Road was the place to eat no matter what time it was. Many a trip to the After Dark Nightclub in Christ Church ended with a trip to Baxter's Road at about 4 a.m. In the early 1980's, (before there was an Oistins Fish Fry), many a 4 a.m Sunday morning found me in "Colins Restaurant" eating a 1/4 chicken with rice and a portion of macoroni pie, or in "Pink Star" eating a fried chicken leg and chips.
You gentlemen out there will relate to this next story. The year 1990, my girlfriend was pregnant with my first daughter. She decided that she really, really wanted a "One Fifty". This was a small lightly sweetened loaf cut in half and stuffed full of cooked liver. This gem was sold only at Pink Star in Baxter's road for the princely sum of $1.50, hence the name. Now, I grew up hearing that when a pregnant woman is craving anything to eat they must have it or the child will be affected in some way. So, being the good partner and father to be, I drove the 10 miles or so from St. Philip where we were living to Baxter's Road. I got there, made a few circles to find a park just in front of the restaurant so that I could leave her safe in the car. I went inside. The place was packed. It took me about an hour. When I returned to the car, she gave me that look that I had learned to mean, "Mark, don't get mad." I turned to her and asked her, "What?" She gave me her cutest smile and said, "I don't want it anymore".
The powers that be need to take a serious look at returning Baxter Road to its former glory. No one that had experienced a Baxter's Road Mall of the early eighties would ever forget the experience. It was designed around the street fairs that were popular in many districts at the time and was easily the most popular fete of the Crop Over season. It was held every weekend during Crop Over, with the last one on the night of Kadooment. Stacks of speakers 12 feet high blaring out the latest reggae and calypso songs lined both sides of the road from Tudor Street to the Texaco Station that stood at the stop lights opposite the church in the painting. It took over 3 hours to manoeuvre from beginning to end through the tens of thousands of people the packed into the road.
The last one I remembered was 1983. I had just finished school and was enjoying my last bit of freedom before entering the Barbados Defence Force. Gabby's "Boots" and Grynner's (Mr. T) would forever be engraved onto my brain. 35 years later I can still sing every word to both songs! This was the only time of the year that the first bus at 6 a.m from the Fairchild Street bus stand, (not bus terminal, that came later) to Bayfield and I assume many other places, were packed to capacity. I am proud to say that I have seen many a sunrise over Baxter's Road.
I wish I could share all the memories of the night in Baxter's Road after Kadooment Day 1983. I was tempted to tell you the story about how I ditched my girlfriend at the stadium that Kadooment morning in order to spend the day with another girl only to caught by my girlfriend in the arms of the said girl leaning up by Johno's Shop in Baxter's Road that night. However, as both ladies in question probably read this blog, I will not share the details of the resulting altercation. What I will share is one fact that I learnt from that incident that had stood me in good stead over the years...
An angry woman is surprisingly strong! Enough said.
I just realized that I could probably continue this reminiscing for a while. However, I am not sure of the statue of limitations relating to some of the incidents that I can share that occurred on Baxter's Road back in the day. After over 30 years I will not impugn the integrity of some persons that are considered Barbados's most upstanding citizens today!
Soon, I will share with you the other pieces that I am working on for the Exhibition. I may even ask you to help me choose the final 3 pieces when I had identified the most likely 6.
As always, thank you for reading. I appreciate the comments and the kind words of encouragement. Until next time when I will share some more of my work and a little about what makes me tick, please leave a comment. And, I will really appreciate if you share this post with your friends. To make sure that you don't miss any future posts, Please enter your email address in the subscribe by email box on the right.
Mark Phillips
You gentlemen out there will relate to this next story. The year 1990, my girlfriend was pregnant with my first daughter. She decided that she really, really wanted a "One Fifty". This was a small lightly sweetened loaf cut in half and stuffed full of cooked liver. This gem was sold only at Pink Star in Baxter's road for the princely sum of $1.50, hence the name. Now, I grew up hearing that when a pregnant woman is craving anything to eat they must have it or the child will be affected in some way. So, being the good partner and father to be, I drove the 10 miles or so from St. Philip where we were living to Baxter's Road. I got there, made a few circles to find a park just in front of the restaurant so that I could leave her safe in the car. I went inside. The place was packed. It took me about an hour. When I returned to the car, she gave me that look that I had learned to mean, "Mark, don't get mad." I turned to her and asked her, "What?" She gave me her cutest smile and said, "I don't want it anymore".
The powers that be need to take a serious look at returning Baxter Road to its former glory. No one that had experienced a Baxter's Road Mall of the early eighties would ever forget the experience. It was designed around the street fairs that were popular in many districts at the time and was easily the most popular fete of the Crop Over season. It was held every weekend during Crop Over, with the last one on the night of Kadooment. Stacks of speakers 12 feet high blaring out the latest reggae and calypso songs lined both sides of the road from Tudor Street to the Texaco Station that stood at the stop lights opposite the church in the painting. It took over 3 hours to manoeuvre from beginning to end through the tens of thousands of people the packed into the road.
The last one I remembered was 1983. I had just finished school and was enjoying my last bit of freedom before entering the Barbados Defence Force. Gabby's "Boots" and Grynner's (Mr. T) would forever be engraved onto my brain. 35 years later I can still sing every word to both songs! This was the only time of the year that the first bus at 6 a.m from the Fairchild Street bus stand, (not bus terminal, that came later) to Bayfield and I assume many other places, were packed to capacity. I am proud to say that I have seen many a sunrise over Baxter's Road.
I wish I could share all the memories of the night in Baxter's Road after Kadooment Day 1983. I was tempted to tell you the story about how I ditched my girlfriend at the stadium that Kadooment morning in order to spend the day with another girl only to caught by my girlfriend in the arms of the said girl leaning up by Johno's Shop in Baxter's Road that night. However, as both ladies in question probably read this blog, I will not share the details of the resulting altercation. What I will share is one fact that I learnt from that incident that had stood me in good stead over the years...
An angry woman is surprisingly strong! Enough said.
I just realized that I could probably continue this reminiscing for a while. However, I am not sure of the statue of limitations relating to some of the incidents that I can share that occurred on Baxter's Road back in the day. After over 30 years I will not impugn the integrity of some persons that are considered Barbados's most upstanding citizens today!
"Nostalgia is a file that removes the rough edges from the good old days." Doug Larson
Soon, I will share with you the other pieces that I am working on for the Exhibition. I may even ask you to help me choose the final 3 pieces when I had identified the most likely 6.
As always, thank you for reading. I appreciate the comments and the kind words of encouragement. Until next time when I will share some more of my work and a little about what makes me tick, please leave a comment. And, I will really appreciate if you share this post with your friends. To make sure that you don't miss any future posts, Please enter your email address in the subscribe by email box on the right.
Mark Phillips
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