Adventures On the Road

Another early morning wake up and another sunrise as we crept into port at Nassau, Bahamas.

We had big plans to frolic with the fish at Rainbow Reef off the coast of Athol Island at 9am.  Too bad the weather didn’t cooperate.  It was so windy and the current was so strong that our tour was cancelled and all of a sudden we were left to our own devices to entertain ourselves in Nassau.  Other people in the group decided to head to the mega Resort Atlantis on Paradise Island (you can see it in the distance behind the lighthouse), but since we’re not ones to follow the crowd (like when we walked into the ghetto of St. Thomas) we headed into town at 9am.

All the cruisers hadn’t flocked to the stores yet so the streets were deserted.  It was a little unnerving and I couldn’t help but feel like we really stood out as tourists as we navigated along the cracked sidewalks…or just walked on the streets, dodging traffic when the sidewalk just stopped.   We found ourselves at “The Queen’s Staircase”, and I’m now starting to realize that all of these islands seem to have a historical staircase to draw tourists.  Apparently this was supposed to be a 65 step staircase, but there was some error when they paved the road and now it’s only 64 steps.

Soon bored with the staircase, forts that never saw any battles, and dodging traffic we found ourselves heading towards Arawak Cay.  We stumbled upon a beach that looked so picturesque it’s now saved as desktop wallpaper, but only because you can’t tell how windy and cold it is or feel the blowing sand stinging your legs.

A little too cold to laze on the beach, but I found some fantastic shells!  Although, look at the photo that Nathan took below.  He handpicked shells for an artistic assortment, but did he bring back those handpicked shells?  No!  He left them there and every time I look at this photo I feel regret for those shells left behind!!

We also saw a washed up sea urchin.  This, I was not tempted to take back with us.

We finally made it to Arawak Cay, advertised as the place locals come for conch, and after asking for some recommendations we found ourselves at Goldie’s Conch House for some local Bahamian Kalik beer, conch fritters and fresh conch salad.

We really got into the relaxed, slow pace of the Bahamian culture and started chatting with the locals as we watched as the buses of tourists came through to check out the collection of conch shells in the back.  With the exception of our camera on the table, I kind of felt like a local.

We ended up getting a ride out to Paradise Island to check out the Atlantis Resort, before taking a water taxi back to the ship.  By the afternoon the weather was gorgeous and I couldn’t help but look at the busy beaches (the same one that was deserted when we were shell picking) and the turquoise water and feel like we should have been frolicking in the water with the fish.  But we did end up having a pretty interesting day, even without being stalked by barracudas.

And with our final port behind us (only a measly 45 minute flight from Miami), we came to realize that our 9 day escape was coming to an end and it was time to head back to reality.

It was almost painful dragging ourselves out of bed at sunrise to watch us dock at Philipsburg, the Dutch capital in St. Martin.  Don’t they know that the rum punch flows too easily in St. Thomas and we all need a day at sea to recover before getting into the next port?

Well we did it.  We woke up at sunrise, took some photos of our arrival and headed into town early.  I have to say though, I wasn’t that impressed…It could be because it was hazy out, or possibly because we were moving a little slower than normal.   Since this island has both a Dutch side and a French side, we made it our goal to experience both sides.

We bypassed the crowd heading to Orient Beach (the clothing optional beach on the French side – most people looked like they were spectators instead of participants) and headed to Marigot, the French capital.

First things first, we headed to a cafe for some croissants and chocolate eclairs.  And then I found a patisserie that sold all different flavours of french macaroons…..I love them and bought a box to take back to the ship with me (to my misfortune since I wasn’t allowed to bring them onto the ship and had to gobble them down in the security line).  We didn’t spend very much time in Marigot but long enough to realize that bread is very important.  Everyone was buying baguettes and I couldn’t help but think about the movie Ratatouille and the fact that you can tell good bread by the ‘ccccrrruuunnnnchhhhhhh’ sound it makes.

A quick walk around the old courthouse and the Boardwalk on the Dutch side and we headed back to the ship and settled in for the next two days at sea.

Early morning approaching St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands the storm clouds were abrewing but it paid off to be awake at 6:30am because we caught sight of some fleeting rainbows (not double rainbows but still nice).

Despite Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas being renowned for its shopping (every time you turn around someone’s trying to get you to buy cheap diamonds, alcohol, cigars, etc) we were more curious about the historical sights.  So we set off early to go see the historical 99 Steps.  We got out of the taxi and ended up walking in the wrong direction…ended up a little closer to the ghetto than we wanted to, but were pretty quickly turned around and found ourselves walking down main street, which looked so commercial that we knew we had to be in the right place (the place they directed all the cruise tourists to).

On our way to The 99 Steps and we hear someone calling to us from above and end up getting convinced to take a tour of Blackbeard’s Castle, the famous? Amber Waterfall and other historical houses.  Turns out we were within steps away from the 99 Steps, but oh well, it was a cool tour to take.

Our big excursion in St. Thomas was a Champagne Sail & Snorkel to St. John.   Since Main Street was busy with shoppers and traffic was backed up due to the government house inauguration we ended up taking the scenic tour through the mountains to the other side of the island.  It was a longer ride, but we ended up getting a scenic tour out of the deal (which would have been a separate excursion).  We boarded a 54′ catamaran and headed out to St. John for some snorkeling.

You’ll never guess?  A barracuda was stalking me in the water!  I’m serious.  At first I thought it was a trumpet fish and tried to get Nathan to take a photo, but when I looked back to find it…..it was GONE!  Which freaked me right out, since it had been hovering just below the surface beside me.  While I was swimming through seagrass trying to chase down some sea turtles I saw it again……so we headed back to the boat.

And that’s when we cracked open the champagne and rum punch!  Nathan took the helm.  (I probably should have taken a photo of that but I was too busy drinking champagne and chatting with my new best friends from Scotland).  After giving Nathan a hard time for backfilling the sails, another couple glasses of champagne and a rum punch ‘for the road‘, we headed back to the cruiseship.  The ride back was a little blurry but we had the whole bus laughing with us….or at us, one of the two.

We made it back to the ship in time to watch our sunset departure from the 17th deck Panoramic Lounge.

First Stop: Labadee, Haiti:

I woke up early to watch us approach Labadee and it felt like I was traveling on my own private ship – not many people up at 7am on New Years Day.  Labadee is a peninsula owned by the cruise line so it felt like a little beach oasis.  We spent the day lazing on a white sand beach, frolicking in the salty water and munching on jerk chicken.