The vacation was great! My parents were delayed on Bahamas Air, which was frustrating to them, but Brad and I were able to fly directly from Miami to Georgetown, pick up the rental car, get groceries, and scout out the house before we went back to pick them up. Unbeknownst to us, however, they had not made their flight from Nassau to Georgetown. We waited at the airport for four hours, waiting for the last flight in, in hopes they would be on it. We made friends with the airport workers who invited us to sit out front with them and enjoy beer and local food while they waited for the last flight as well - gotta love the Bahamas! When they weren't on the last flight, the locals we had befriended were able to track them down and let us know they would be on the morning flight. They even gave us their direct number to call in the morning and confirm my parents had boarded before driving all the way back to the airport again.
The next morning, after a call to our new friend, we headed to the airport to pick up my very tired parents, who were in surprisingly good spirits after their ordeal. Once we got in the car and started heading towards the house and they were able to see the surreal turquoise waters, they were in heaven!
The house was great and the weather was perfect. We stayed on Little Exuma in The Orange House on the Tropic of Cancer beach, purported to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the Bahamas, and swam, snorkeled and kayaked our days away. We were able to take them over, via water taxi, to Chat and Chill, a bar on the barrier island across from Great Exuma. They had a great time, except for when we accidentally sent them across a channel to snorkel and my mom almost got run over by a boat. Woops! We also toured around Little Exuma, as it is too far to reach as a cruiser unless you rent a car. We bought bread at a local bakery, shopped in some of the small stores and drove around searching out other perfect beaches or snorkel spots. We showed them the salt fields and they were able to climb up a little hill and look out at the beautiful water from an unobstructed view.
My sister and her boyfriend, David, were able to join us on Christmas Eve, and we spent Christmas day together on the beach. We swam the mile out to Turtle Rock and snorkeled around in hopes of finding some good coral. We were disappointed however and on the way back, I was exhausted and wishing I hadn't been so adventurous! When we got all the way back to the beach, Brad realized he had dropped our camera somewhere along the way. So.....back out we went. We snorkeled all the way back out to Turtle Rock and back again, where Brad promptly found the camera, sitting in 4 feet of water right off the beach where he had dropped it when we stood up the first time we came in. HA! At least we got our exercise for the day and were able to enjoy our delicious Christmas dinner.
We packed up our bags and left the house Friday morning and headed back into Georgetown to check in to a hotel in "downtown" Georgetown. The hotel was almost completely empty besides our family and the owners (who were in the process of fixing the place up) were delighted to have us! We inadvertently stumbled upon Junkanoo festivities that night, which we were excited to experience. Although they were not doing their typical parade celebration, there was a small gathering of locals drummers and some tourists who marched a few blocks down to the park across from our hotel. We watched them for a bit, danced along to the beat, had a few beers, then decided to turn in for the night. We all went to our separate rooms when we realized that the drums sounded louder, and were getting closer. We stepped outside and saw that the party had moved from the park to the little outside bar at our hotel.....and showed no signs of stopping. We all stood outside and watching for awhile before heading back to our rooms to try and get some sleep. The party wound down around 11 pm and we were all happy to hear the drums finally end their repetitive chorus.
My parents had to leave Saturday afternoon, so following breakfast together, Brad took them to the airport while Whitney, David and I took the water taxi over to Chat and Chill on Stocking Island. They were able to explore the island a bit and feed the stingrays. Brad, who joined us later, and I played volleyball with the cruisers and were able to catch up with a few old friend there on the beach. It made the desire to be back there on our boat even stronger!
The four of us had a nice dinner at Exuma Yacht Club and following breakfast the next morning, headed out on our flight back to Miami. My parents were delayed again on Bahamas Air (in case you aren't catching on....don't fly Bahamas Air!!) My dad insisted my sister switch off Bahamas Air and join us on our American direct flight to Miami. We rented a car and drove them up to Lauderdale so they could make their connecting flight to Charlotte and we could pick up our dog from our friend who watched him over the holiday.
We are finally safely back from the Bahamas and back on the boat, busily getting her ready for our big trip across the Gulf Stream. No window in sight yet, but we are determined not to miss the next one!
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