Some Last Things About The Bahamas . . .

. . . and then it will be over, I promise.
But there are a couple more things that struck me about our resort.

SEAGULLS.

They were everywhere.



On the beach.




In the pool (seriously).





Divebombing you if they smelled bread scraps, as one of my companions discovered.





WIND & OVERCAST SKIES

I think I mentioned before that during most of our stay, it was blowing a steady 30 mph with overcast skies, sometimes showers.
These pictures were taken on one of the nicer days.



Did you notice that umbrella with the scarves hanging from it in the last picture?
Some local ladies would take turns at that umbrella and set up their wares to sell to the hotel guests.
I guess they figure they have a captive audience. And they do a pretty good business there.
That picture as taken during a rogue calm moment. Usually, the scarves looked like this:




BEACH VOLLEYBALL

What can I say - the scenery was, uh, terrific ;-)




2 last things:
this sign in a fitting room in a tourist store in downtown Nassau:


Makes me wonder what happened there to necessitate that warning.
Well, let me take that back, because obviously we know what happened.

And it seems some things, no matter what country you are in, never change.

Bahamas - Days 1-4

You might think that I should split up the days and do a separate post for each one.
After all, I did it for the Gesundheit trip. Well, I'm not gonna, for a couple reasons:

1) It was a laid back & relaxing vacation, so each post would be about 3 1/2 sentences long.
2) I don't want to work that hard.

First, the burning question on my mind all weekend - what makes the water this color?
Really, I want to know.
Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?



We went downtown to see Nassau and the Straw Market - the big covered market where local vendors sell handwoven straw baskets & handbags & hats, woodcarvings, beadwork, and, of course, t-shirts. Once you've seen the first aisle of stalls, you've seen it all since they all have the same stuff.


The downtown area was clean, quaint, and colorful.












This wee horsie was tired.



The slavery museum was heartbreaking.
I'll never understand how human beings could ever think it was okay to do this to other human beings.



What is this?! Quizno's, Burger King, McDonald's, KFC, and more! And look here - the Hard Rock Cafe is across the street from Subway. Sigh.


Nassau is also a mecca of high-end, very pricey, designer shopping.


Uh, I didn't even go in those stores.

At one point, we walked along the beach toward the big, beautiful Wyndham Hotel. The odd thing was, most everything between our hotel & the Wyndham was either torn down or abandoned. The one that was torn down used to be The Rock 'n Roll Cafe. We later asked about all this blight and were told that the properties were being bought up and will be remodeled or rebuilt. Good to know.






The Wyndham had a big shiny casino for one of my friends. I'd have a picture of that, but the casino security guard was most unhappy that I took a picture, so I had to delete it in front of her. That way, I didn't have to go to a Bahamian jail and sit in a dank cell for the rest of the trip. Whew!

I managed to ditch my companions one afternoon (who were content to stay around the hotel most of the time) and go exploring on my own. I climbed the hill to Fort Charlotte, 1 of 3 forts on the island (it was closed, so I could only get a few exterior shots). It was built in 1789 and operated for almost 100 years. It was disarmed in 1891, but activated again during WWI. It is in sad disrepair now. The story is that during the Civil War, the soldiers stationed there were so bored (the fort has never ever even fired a shot) that they carved graffiti everywhere, and most can still be seen.






. . . watched a cricket match,


. . . and walked along the "Fish Fry" - a group of restaurants (although in some cases, the term is used rather loosley) where you can feast on local cooking. It's a popular place for locals as well as tourists who are tired of the American food they have been fed at the hotels.








Next up, random stuff and my brush with death on the trip home.