Bahamas: Moon & Sunset

I thought I'd share just a few more photos. These were taken on the return trip to Port Everglades. I'm gearing up now for the Boston trip. I'm really far more excited about Boston because it's got a genealogical research component.

Bahamas: A Few of My Favorite Photos

This was made from the bus as we toured an upper class neighborhood.

One of the buildings in the International Bazaar. This one was still occupied.

This was along the channel to the glassbottom boat docks.

Parasailing. I didn't do it, but it made for a great picture!

Another picture along the channel where the glassbottom boats were docked.

Bahamas: Plant Life

Okay, I'll admit it. I'm terrible when it comes to identifying plants. I can definitely identify the coconuts in the second photo, but if you can help me identify some of these others, I'd be grateful. I suspect that tree in the last photo is some variety of a Christmas tree! (LOL) You do have to admit that it's an interesting shape though!

Coconuts

Bahamas: The Merchandise

Bahamian Animals

The first of many lizards.

The ham!

Through the glass bottom boat!

Over the side of the glass-bottom boat you can see many of the fish we fed! This photo does not show the barracuda that was after some of them. I do have one with the barracuda, but you can see the fish so much better in this shot!
A curly-tailed lizard.

Bahamas: A Cemetery

This was near the beach where the bonfire is held. We were told that it is a cemetery where only one person was buried. The tour guide did not tell us whose grave it was.

Bahamian Foods

Conch Fritters
Conch was on the menu everywhere. This was how we decided to try it. It was less threatening as an appetizer than if we'd really hated it and ordered it as a main course!

Guava Duff
This is a traditional Bahamian dessert.

Bahamas Goombay Punch.
It tastes like ginger ale with pineapple and coconut. It grows on you, but it's not something you'd probably go buy again!

Bahamas: The Water Is Lovely

This was taken from the ship as we reached the Bahamas!

The above two photographs were taken on the tour at a beach where the bonfire is held.

This is in the channel used for the glassbottom boat tours near the Island Seas Resort.

Xanadu Beach

Back from the Islands

Okay, I didn't tell you all where I was going before I went or even that I was headed out of town--much less that I was headed out of the country. I'm back from the Bahamas--Grand Bahama Island to be exact. I promise pictures later but I'm too tired to download well over 300 pictures at the moment. I won't be posting 300 photos here, but I will post a few of them.

My parents had "won" one of those trips where you register at the grocery store and everyone wins them. They get you because you have to pay upgrades on everything so that it is a half-way decent trip for you. When you upgrade, you end up paying all but about $10 of the room charge for the hotel to which you upgrade. Still you aren't in a really good one, but you are in a comfortable and clean one. You also have a lot of hidden and somewhat undisclosed costs associated with the trip that they conveniently don't tell you about upfront. By the time you get through, you wish you'd booked with your travel agent at AAA.

We sailed on the Discovery Sun to and from the island and stayed in a hotel on the island. Anything you've heard about great food on the cruise doesn't apply to this ship. It was "nothing to write home about." (I know that I ended the sentence with a preposition, but that's the idiomatic phrase, and I'm sticking to it.)

Anyway, my niece and I went in place of my parents. We weren't given an upgrade choice of one of the hotels in Port Lucaya. If I ever go back to Grand Bahama and actually stay on the island, I'll stay at one of the all-inclusive resorts in Port Lucaya like the Westin. While our hotel was nice, it was near the International Bazaar which is becoming like a ghost town. There were probably more hotel employees than guests the first day or two we were there. However, we saw a couple we'd met on the cruise ship while in Port Lucaya one day and discovered that we were glad we had upgraded. They had all sorts of problems with their "free" accommodations such as wires hanging out of the wall. In fact, they asked to be moved to another room which was apparently slightly better but still had problems. The people at our hotel were very nice and the rooms were clean. (I actually have more complaints about the hotel rooms in Fort Lauderdale the night before and after the trip.)

It was nice to get away for a few days. I decided that I needed a computer break too so I left the computer at home. I really didn't miss it.

Did I get a sunburn? Only a partial one. I just forgot to reapply sunscreen often enough. I was wearing 85 SPF from Neutrogena. My feet and neckline are the worst. I have two other tiny places on one leg, but those are mostly beginning to change to a tan and don't hurt at all.

I took 3 books with me and had finished all of them about 4 hours before we returned to Port Everglades (about 5 hours before we disembarked). I purchased another book in the airport at Fort Lauderdale to read in flight. I finished it at my niece's house last night before coming home.