A sumptuous dinner with the Mammina’s in their St. John, IN
home started our getaway. Smoked ribs by
Ben, and asparagus & Caesar Salad sides by Rose. Possibly one of the best dinners we will
have!!
Saturday found us on a short flight from O’Hare to
Nassau. The cab driver was interesting,
giving us some history and his testimony!
He mentioned that the Lord had blessed him, so we asked how he knew
Jesus – love when we meet people of another culture who we will see in
heaven! We walked 2 miles to his
recommended eating spot, the Fish Fry; which is an area with several restaurant
choices on Junkanoo Beach—all authentic Bahamian. We ordered boiled grouper—cooked in foil with
carrots, potatoes, pepper, onions and a little spice. Also came with mashed potatoes, rice &
peas, and cabbage w/ carrots. It was so
delicious—and glad that we smartly ordered one to share! A wonderful start to our trip.
Sunday:
After staying in Towne Hotel for the night (needs some TLC,
but very authentic!), we headed out exploring the city. Straw Market reminded us of the Cancun
vendors who are so quick to “suck you in”.
Each vendor has their own spot in this open-air building and one grabbed
my arm to show me her “wares”—I was able to purchase a lovely Bahamas beach
bag, originally at $25—sold for a hard, cold $10 bill – such a deal? Yikes, I am so not good at turning down these
very persuasive people!! On to the historic Queens Stairs, in honor of
Queen Victoria who freed the slaves here on the islands during her reign. A fascinating history lesson from a local,
provided us with yet another view of the way the church made some horrific
choices in the past, in regards to choosing profit over caring for human
lives. A highlight was stepping into 2
very different Bahaman church services:
one Anglican with a beautiful singing of the Doxology; another, Zion
Baptist where we thoroughly enjoyed the movement, passionate singing and being one
of 6 whites in a group of 300 worshipers.
Again, a glimpse of heaven.
Hallelujah! We crossed the bridge to Paradise Island, checked into
Harborside Resort and then checked out some eating spots which run anywhere
from $ to $$$$$ -- we will be careful!
Split a burger at the American burger spot, a quick walk-through the
aquarium, coffee at Starbucks and finished the day watching a free movie at the
Atlantis Theatre, Hacksaw Ridge. Very
FULL day – clocked over 6 miles with 14K steps!
Monday:
Awoke after a restful sleep to hit the fitness center for 25
minutes of biking; then fixed egg wraps in our kitchen. Headed to our “speel” at the timeshare sales
office, hoping to find out some details on our ownership; however there was not
much help with that. Dominique spent the
first 40 minutes conversing with us about the islands, his Anglican background,
finding Jesus, gratefulness, and the racial issues in America. Enlightening and enjoyable! We were able to resist the pressure to buy
more vacation pleasures for our family –and walked away with a $100 voucher to
enjoy an upscale dinner at one of the $$ restaurants!! Later that day I read Ann Voscamp’s “Lent to
Repent” – where her prayer for the day was for us to repent from “wanting more
and keeping up with the Jones”. So
grateful that God has given us contentment, and re-affirmed the decision we
made earlier. It also challenged us to
keep our hearts open to His nudges to make life better for some Bahamans by
giving out of our abundance rather than hoarding it for ourselves. Since it was another extremely windy day, we
chose to do more walking; checking out the beach area, browsing in the library,
finding the Lazy River, eating nachos at Anthony’s and landing in our room
early to recuperate.
Tuesday:
Headed out early to Viola’s, a little open air restaurant on
the far side near Atlantis. Western
Omelets and great coffee!
Back to our
resort by 11:30 and spent the next several hours at our pool and hot tub. Excellent salads at the poolside grill. Great day of relaxing, a little too much sun
for Bill who chose not to put on sunscreen….Enjoyed baked potatoes w/ broccoli
and cheese in our room; then leisurely walked to the Marina Village for coffee
and a wonderful pina colada cake dessert.
Bill has been off sugar for over 2 weeks and even refused a taste of
this—I’m so proud of him. We sat for an
hour enjoying the free entertainment, a one man show with 3 drums, playing a
mix of music with various folks stopping to dance. A lovely, romantic evening!
Wednesday:
Coffee & breakfast in while praying for Maynard’s three
bypass surgery. After hearing his good
report, we headed to the AquaAdventure Park at the Atlantis Complex, where we
jumped on the Lazy River, the Crazy River and a short water slide --where Bill
jammed his knee/hip as he hit the waterpool at the end.
Thankful he will see the orthopedic dr. on
Monday, hoping for shots in both knees.
Split a reuben sandwich at Murray’s Deli, lounged by one of the 10 pools
available to us, and caught the shuttle back.
Being the frugals that we are, we made a delicious pasta supper with
leftover onions-feta-balsamic from a previous day’s lunch, adding
chicken-mushrooms-bacon from a Quiznos sandwich along with the can of petite
tomatoes. Outstanding!! Finished off the day watching a 9 pm Junkanoo
Parade, festive island dress w/masks, cow bells, brass instruments; then to the
Atlantis theatre for a 9:45 showing of The Accountant.
Thursday:
Leisurely morning, breakfast on the deck. On to the resort pool to read & people
watch. Tried a pina colada drink, which
was as tasty as the Bahama Mama, except a little too much rum made me a bit
woozy!! I am definitely a
light-weight. Lunch at the poolside
restaurant, The Point, looking out at the Marina—tried the conch fritters,
delicious! Dinner in, then wandered over
near the Marina and found a “Margaritaville” for key lime pie. A special fireworks exhibit from our deck
was a surprise ending!
Friday:
An excellent ending to our sojourn in Paradise Island, a
leisurely walk on Cove Beach. We entered
the beach unobtrusively since only Cove guests were allowed on this beach---but
so glad we did!! The most beautiful beach we have ever enjoyed. Not only the many hues of green-blue in the
water, but the sandy shoreline was unlittered by seaweed/bark/dirt. Frolicking
in the clear water, conversing with a Texan yoga learner, and watching the
cruise ships enter the harbor all made for a terrific stroll.
Re-entering the “legal” area to rest at a
pool, we purchased carry out chicken tenders & headed home through the
elaborate Marina maze---suddenly discovering that our ever-ready Bahama bag was
missing!!!! Yikes. A quick race back to the Deli, sending up
instant prayers all the way-- –the lonely bag still sitting in an outdoor chair
where we had stopped to take a photo. As
the very kind security guard said—“it’s Paradise, mon”; nothing stolen, all
credit cards and cash intact!! I love
the Bahamans! Thank you, Lord. While Bill napped (we did clock 15,000 steps
& almost 7 miles!), I walked back to the Coral Towers to return library
materials (a book which I finished and a Yahtze game which went untouched—HA);
then we took time to get ready for “Date Night”. The highly touted “Carmine’s” (of New York) was
our destination, where they served family shared portions –way too much food
for us—we needed our kids with us! We
behaved ourselves and did not order the pasta specialty, but loved the Caesar
salad, the special breads and my third drink of the week, a peach schnaps Beach
Cooler! The shrimp scampi and broccoli
were also very good. A very expensive
dinner, compliments of our Vistana voucher.
A delightful day with my special man, a wonderful ending to our romantic
getaway in Paradise. Praise God from
whom all blessings flow. Grateful for rest, refreshment, recreation.
No comments:
Post a Comment