Goofing Off in Nassau

Nassau celebrating the Queen of England

Disappointed in not being able to get to the USA, but making the best of being stuck in Nassau due to adverse weather, I grabbed the guidebooks and local tourist information, scouring them carefully for Where to Go and What to Do.   I know - some of you reading this blog must think we are crazy, complaining about being STUCK in the Bahamas and in the big tourist town of Nassau - a dream come true for many! 

More of the Queen of England

With Robin & Jim from the DeFever Adventures as playmates, off we went, map in hand, to see what we could see.   OMG we walked and walked for two days, just looking around, til the blisters got the best of some of us. Walking from our marina, we went up East Street, and all around the ‘interior’, not seeing much.  

Government Building

The second day, we walked for godzillion miles it seemed, from the marina down East Bay Street to West Bay Street all the way to the Historic Fish Fry section.  Many, many miles! 

We stopped at Potter’s Cay, a tiny slice of land under the Paradise Island Bridge.  


Ah, my kind of place....the locals hang here and work here.  The real deal, not the cruise ship crowds and crap.  Rag tag shanties, lined up side by side, are manned by locals peddling their wares to other locals.....fresh fish, cold beers, fruits, vegetables and stuff.  The mail boats come in here, tugs and trawlers hauling goods tie up here and workmen pound away making repairs to the work horse ships. 

Dried conch for sale- we passed on this

We stood for nearly an hour, in awe, as we watched men loading a huge engine onto one of the boats.

Trying to squeeze that boat in between these other two boats

Engine swinging over everyone's head!

They had to climb aboard a huge unoccupied barge, untying it partially and swinging it out into the harbor to make room for the boat that was to pick up the engine. 

Crane operator

THEN, the exciting part as they tried to pick up the engine with the cable and swing it over onto and into the boat. Scary stuff.  No OSCHA nor any work rules here...Note my photos of the cable - rusted and already partially broken through.  

Note the fraying steel cable, also rusty

Look - the pin is only partially through!

THEN, note the shackle holding it - note the pin is only partially through.  We feared for their lives should it snap.  We also stayed well out of the way!!!  

Market at Potters Cay

My favorite - the vegetable markets.  A darling little boy excitedly showed us his Mother or Grandmother’s vegetables and proudly displayed the land crabs for sale.  Of course, as we passed back through the area, we purchased from him.  He struggled mightily to get the math right, counting my bananas twice, while Mom or Grandma patiently helped him.  She made him make change for me.  I loved every moment of this experience and loved this child!  These are the experiences I will treasure forever.

Look at the face & eyes on this crab!

Limping a bit, we blew past the shops Built for the Cruise Ship Crowds  and the Straw Market loaded with trinkets and I swear, stuff Made in China, stopping finally for cokes at some restaurant overlooking the madness of the cruise ship crowds frantically trying to purchase Duty Free Stuff.  Amazing how one can salivate when one thinks they are getting ‘a deal’.  Makes me sick.  Every place that has a cruise ship coming in has the very same stores and the very same spiels --Come In Come In Very Good Deal...Yeah, one better know what one is shopping for and how much it really costs!!  

We can spot the cruise ship crowd easily ---- pasty white skins or lobster red over top of the pasty white.  No one tries to entice us into the stores anymore.  I think we are too tanned to be mistaken for a Cruise Ship Big Spender.  We are clearly Boaters On A Budget, tanned,  but with sun bleached hair that is too straggly long.  At least we don’t wear SOCKS with our sandals.

Andy, Sharon, Jim & Robin

Ending up at the Historic Fish Fry area, we enjoyed a great meal and especially relished the sitting down part.  Wishing for the famous PainKiller of the British Virgin Islands, we instead settled for beer and wine to numb our feet.  Taxi back to the marina!!!

Goofing off

NOT our idea of fun

Love it.  Robin and Jim are game for anything.  Day Three of Being Stuck in Nassau, we, now MUCH smarter, taking a taxi over to Paradise Island to the famous Atlantis Resort to check it out. 




Andy & I spent a number of days at this unbelievable resort, thanks to Novartis and sales award meetings, but the place never ceases to amaze!  Security is tight and one can't go many places without paying $40 - $125 or so for various tickets to get you in. 

The casino is open to everyone and so is the Marina Village, where we wandered for hours, checking out the mega yachts and grabbing a burger for lunch while the rains came.   We snuck around where we could without paying, gawking just like the cruise ship passengers.

Huge blue and white sphere

There are a number of fabulous blown glass fixtures throughout the resort done by Dale Chihuly.  If one has never seen his work, make it a mission.  Distinctive and ever so beautiful.  Funny, Robin and I both thought that all his works of art could use a little dusting......

Always my favorite

Wow and more Wow

View of some of the mega yachts at the marina 

Longer view into the Atlantis Marina

Jim and Andy on an ice cream bench - their favorite spot

This is why we ate a burger at Johnnie Rockets - $$$$ bad enough

The place is amazing - a Must See

Peeking between two mega yachts

Some have to work while owners play here.  He could get a job washing windows in NYC.

Over at the interior beach area - little bar and grill

Andy & Jim watching the crowds pass by

View of main building from the rear

Nice!!

Suitable for framing!  A wall hanging.

LOVE all the decor!! 

In the taxi/limo parking area.

Tired, we headed back to the boats to rest up for another day.  Weather is such that there is no way we can depart until this coming Tuesday, four days from now.