By: Rhe-Ann Prescod

If you didn’t have at least two rum sours minimum, then you didn’t do Rum Route right!

On the Friday night of the Barbados Food and Rum Festival weekend, the bars and restaurants in St Lawrence Gap were taken over with food and drink specials all night long.

Bar Hopping

Selected bars and restaurants all offered a different experience and various house specials for patrons. However, one thing that remained common was the rum sours. Rum is a big part of the Festival and our Barbadian heritage, so it only made sense to indulge in a few rum cocktails, especially ones that included the festival's official rum sponsor Mount Gay Rum.

‘Catchin’ the Vibe

The kind of experience you wanted for the night, determined which bar and restaurant you selected.

If you wanted to simply mingle with friends, grab a rum sour, and have a few bar bites then Cocktail Kitchen was the bar for you. Many people seemed to prefer this vibe as the bar was packed with people taking advantage of the rum specials and the Breadfruit Nachos. Those that were lucky to get there at the right time enjoyed the soulful sounds of Ch’an.

People who just wanted to quietly mingle and catch up with friends ventured to Primo with live music by Mylon Clarke.

Now, if you went to the gap strictly for a live music session, then Crave Restaurant was the place to be. Sonnay Meraki had the patrons singing along to his nostalgic reggae and alternative set. Many took advantage of the ‘Rum Route’ food and Mount Gay Rum specials.

Tobagonian couple Aloysia and Leandre Weekes thoroughly enjoyed the Fish and Chips special and made room to also try the Rum and Coke Wings. Tourists and locals could also be seen with cups of Mount Gay Eclipse sours in hand.

The late birds who strolled through the gap after 11:30 pm came for two things only, rum sours and Edwin Yearwood so they found their way to Halo Ultra Lounge.

Edwin and Hypasounds gave the true partiers a little warm-up for the next event… Rise & Rum!