The Trip Part Two

4/25/2016

There were two things that I noticed while we were in Florida as well as at the resort: stucco on buildings and palm trees.  Coming from California, where almost every home has stucco on the outside, it felt a little bit like going home.  And palm trees, oh how I've missed them.  

I noticed during our flight to Marsh Harbor that about 16 miles from our destination, the water changed from dark blue to turquoise.  Looking at the water, it looked like someone had gotten out  the blue and green crayons and mixed them together.  For me, the change in the water color was a clear indication that we'd be landing soon.  Truthfully, I would like to own a necklace with all of those different blue hues.  And even though the flight was short compared to our flight on Wednesday, I was more than ready to get out of the plane.

We took a taxi to the resort and of course coming from the states, they drive on the wrong side of the road!  Our room at the resort wasn't ready, so we went to the restaurant and ordered lunch.  I had tuna salad on a croissant, which cost $14.00.  Clearly, we're not in Maryland or Kansas anymore.  In my mind, and I know I'm wrong, $14.00 should buy you the whole tuna.

Because we were in the Bahamas, we sat outside facing the sun and quickly turned red.  The color of my skin might look painful, but it wasn't.  Since we were on island time, after lunch, we went to our room and I managed to haul myself onto the bed for a nap.  It is amazing to me how tired a person can get just by being out in the sun.  

After our nap, we walked to the beach.  The sand was white and looked like it had been raked.  This is a far cry from the beaches on the East coast.  And, yes the water was blue and clear, but the first two feet or so was covered in rocks.  I dipped my toes in and the water temperature was delightful.  Not too hot, not too cold, just right.

While Jeff went in search of beach towels, I ventured into the water alone, steering well clear of the rocks.  I'm not very steady on my feet on solid ground and my feet got stuck in the sand, and while trying to move, fell down.  The only thing hurt was my pride!  There is a reason to be glad for some extra padding on the backside.

Jeff came back and pulled me to my feet.  We then walked over the rocks into the clear, and rock free water.  My body is currently my worst enemy, and even though Jeff was standing next to me, once my feet became "glued" into the sand, I began to sway back and forth like a drunk!  Okay, so wading around in the ocean obviously wasn't going to be something I could do easily.  Fact is, I never went into the ocean again.

Since we both had our bathing suits on, we walked to the swimming pool and the water temperature was perfect.  I don't swim, but I do like to walk around in the shallow end of a pool.  I know it might sound as if I didn't have much fun, but just being away from the house, but while on vacation I wasn't fixing any meals and I didn't have laundry to do.  Oh and another bonus the phone doesn't ring while I'm deeply involved in reading a book, with someone trying to sell me something or asking me to donate money!

We took a taxi into town and clearly riding through town the economy is very poor.  At the strip mall, if you can call it that, there wasn't much to look at in the stores so Jeff's money was safe.  We ate our lunch at KFC, because it looked like the only place to eat.  Talking to some of the locals, KFC is the only fast food on the island.  All of them would like to see a Burger King or Wendy's built there.  

On our ride back to the resort, we stopped at an ice cream place, because I have a love/hate relationship with ice cream.  I absolutely love ice cream - but, it doesn't do my body any good.  We also stopped at a roadside place so that Jeff could buy a conch salad.

While we sat on the beach in the morning, I was loving the way my arms had turned brown.  I kept my legs mostly in the shade.  While tanned legs look better than my winter-white and pasty legs, I don't wear shorts, so wasn't really worked up about tanning my legs.

Dinner was on the beach, and it was windy.  I wore my new maxi dress with a long sleeve t-shirt underneath.  Since the night was a bit cool, I was glad that I had thought to put on the shirt.  And, while it didn't and wouldn't make a fashion statement, I wore my tennies.  I did admire the women who wore such beautiful sandals, but from a practical point of view, I knew I'd be steadier on my feet in tennis shoes.

At dinner, we were each given two drink tickets.  I had sprite, but what I really wanted was just plain old ice water.  The water in the hotel is really terrible tasting, and unless you want to spring for bottled water, you try and drink as little water in your room as possible.  

Dinner was a buffet and we had muffins, rolls, red beans and rice, sauteed veggies, conch fritters, salad and chicken.  Dessert, my favorite part was bread pudding.  Yum!  Everybody received a beautiful sugar cookie in the shape of a plane with blue icing and the words "Bahamas 2016" in white icing.

We sat with very nice people, and I gave them our "calling" card so they could follow my blog if they choose.  We found several years ago, that if you have a business card printed with all of your pertinent information: tail number, name, phone number, email address and blog website, it is much easier than entering that information into a phone.

After dinner, Jeff left the table to mingle.  I know that Jeff has a better time when he's not having to watch out for me.  Since I realize this, I try to leave dinners, etc., early so that he can enjoy himself.  Besides, I was reading a really good book on my Kindle, and once back in the room, ate my cookie and started flipping electronic pages!

More later.

P