March 24 - It's so unfair! How can it already be over? I
have to pack again? Make my own bed? Face life? Good news is that I will
get to pick up the little fuzzy ones tomorrow morning, Guinness and
Lacey will be sprung from the "Mastiff Suite" at the vets.
When
we saw that Nassau was the last port on the trip, I opted out of all
shore excursions and thought it would be great to go over the Atlantis,
see the aquarium and find a nice restaurant with some great conch
chowder and maybe a fresh grouper sandwich.
We had a
quiet, if not late, morning and, after breakfast, began our test packing
- you need to test the suitcases to make sure they will carry
everything you have. Somehow, even though we really didn't buy too much
of anything, stuff grows. You know all of my packages are small, so it's
certainly not my fault!
We didn't arrive until noon,
berthed at what I would swear is a new pier - Carnival Fascination,
Norwegian Breakaway and the Allure of the Seas were all in port so Bay
Street will be wild!
It's been long enough since I've been here
that I think so much has been filled in, redone and spruced up! Last
time I was here, I was caught up in the middle of a fight between two
men on Bay Street that involved both grabbing liquor bottles off the
shelf of a liquor store and throwing them at one another! Such vivid
memories!
The Straw Market has been rebuilt and is now
housed in a nice modern building that looks as if they can pull down the
shutters and protect the building from hurricanes. The whole waterfront
has been redone with a new SeƱor Frogs overlooking the water. Bay
Street looked freshly painted with the duty free shops all vying for
attention and clients. With so many ships in port, the entire town is
buzzing.
We caught a cab over to Atlantis (Paradise
Island) with the expectation of a little walkabout and a nice lunch, and
zap...the hotel charges non-hotel guests $50.00 per person to visit the
hotel aquarium and beach facilities. We passed.
We
then got a recommendation for a good place for conch chowder, Anthony's,
a few hundred feet down the road. I wasn't sure when we first entered,
but a couple of ice cold Banks Beers got me onboard. Their conch chowder
was great! Oh, and the grilled grouper sandwiches with fries? Divine!
I
feel a bit guilty as there is so much to do in the Bahamas. Anything
you can imagine water related is at your fingertips. Snorkeling, scuba,
boating of any kind is all available. The water is a magnificent
turquoise blue, to blue green and so crystal clear you can spot your own
conch resting on the brilliant white sand at the bottom under 20 feet
of water.
Nassau is a cacophonous blur of bouncing
jitneys, horse drawn carriages, hustling cabbies, bargaining vendors,
trash talking pirates and elbow-knocking tourists.
Take your pick, jump right in and enjoy!
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