Today we spent our final day packing, taking shell inventory, and visiting a few local shops before heading to the airport to catch our flight(s) home. We had a great time & learned so much about the Bahamas. We are excited to plan for next years Spring Break trip {Destination St. John, Virgin Islands}. William was on the hunt for the rare $3.00 Bahamian bill, no longer in circulation. His final stop (Iggy's Boutique) he befriended Miriam, a worker in the shop. He kindly asked if she had any $3.00 bills in the register & she told him no. However, she checked her personal handbag & handed one over to him. It was a great way to end our travels! Thank you Miriam.
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Before heading back to Marsh Harbor to begin packing up, we found ourselves upon Fowl Cay. We motored in & enjoyed an afternoon on the cay shelling & swimming off shore. The water temperature was near 80 degrees, however the air temperature was much cooler making for a chilly swim. After a few hours, we sailed back and anchored in Marsh Harbor where we spent our final evening.
We had a wonderful opportunity to sail with dolphins in the Abacos! The video was shot on the bow of the boat when the seas were swelling 4-6ft. I hope you don't get sea sick!
This small island is also known as Shell Island. It is literally the spoils of a dredging project some years ago, when a cruise ship line {ahem, Disney} used this area as a stop to enjoy the north end of Great Guana. They opted not to heed the warning of locals that the area would continue to fill in with sand, thus preventing the large ships from being able to safely navigate the waters. Spoil Cay is uninhabited and offers good shelling {lucky us}. We also discovered it has a little oceanic ecosystem with plenty of creatures & critters. Take a look! Benjamin holds an urchinWho knew? Nudibranch InkToday we visited Treasure Cay. We were on the constant look-out for sea turtles. They are extremely hard to spot, let alone photograph from the surface of the water. We were all lucky to spot them, but our camera was not as fortunate!
We awoke to a beautiful sunrise in Marsh Harbor. We left the anchorage late morning & headed towards Great Guana Cay, home of the famous Nippers Beach Bar {all of the locals recommended it & Martha Stewart visited a few years ago}. The northern winds were a bit cool, but they provided us with a great sail. Upon arriving at Great Guana Cay, we took the dinghy to shore. We walked to Nippers where the views were stunning. They boys had fun playing in the little pools made by old coral reefs. Here are a few more pictures from Nippers. The boys enjoyed swimming in the pool & I enjoyed browsing the sand-floor shop.
Today is the day! We left Orlando International Airport on what would be the first of 5 airplane rides this trip. We departed at 1:30 pm via Bahamasair and arrived in Nassua at 2:45 pm. The boys did well on their first plane ride. It was a bit turbulent, but nonetheless we made it! We quickly went to the domestic portion of the airport to await our second {much smaller airplane ride. We boarded the plane by walking across the tarmac. We were all seated in the same row, providing us a great view of the propellers! Yikes. We departed Nassua at 4:00 pm and arrived in Treasure Cay (pronounced Key) at 4:30 pm. We gathered a few more passengers and departed for Marsh Harbor (a quick ten minute flight). We arrived in Marsh Harbor around 5:30 pm. From the airplane windows, we saw Mom and David anxiously waiting for us to get off the plane! It was awesome having the kids run up to Mom-Mom and Grandpop! After a few hugs and tears of joy, we caught a taxi to the dock. The ten minute journey in the taxi (they drive on the other side of the road) was exciting to say the least. As a driver in the US, my insticts played tricks on me and made me wear quite a spot on my make believe brake pedal (or so I thought)! We arrived at Union Dock in Marsh Harbor where we boarded our dinghy. The boys went first; next was Steve and I with the rest of luggage. Speaking of luggage, we didn't check any bags. We each only traveled with one carry-on, making our airport shuffling much less chaotic. Today we continued on our journey to Orlando, Florida. This of course included a visit to South of the Border. Steve and I hadn’t been there since we were kids and it was funny to see some of the same statues that we fondly remembered {polka dot elephant anyone}? We arrived in Orlando around 6:00 pm after a long day in the car. We finished the day with a dip in the pool and a delicious late dinner at a
local restaurant called Fish on Fire. We left for Wilmington, NC today around 11:00 am and arrived around 7:30 in Wilmington. Rich and Cameron were kind enough to allow us to stay with them for two nights. It was a great visit, especially spending time with our niece Harbor, who we don’t get to see very often. I was nervous about the long stretches with the kids in the car since we opted to leave technology based games home. That is right; no DSi, no tablet, no ipod! We did have a portable DVD player, which is something they are not used to since we don’t have one in our car all the time. The boys and I visited the local library
and checked out several documentary films (Super Croc, Planet Earth, etc.). They were free to rent & we were allowed to keep them for 2 weeks! The boys also enjoyed The Sandlot (several times thanks to our friends The Kelly’s). Benjamin is especially fond of reciting this line from the character Squints: “and every summer there she is oiling and lotioning, lotioning and oiling... smiling. I can't take this no more!” It still cracks us up when he repeats it! I also created backseat organizers by using a cheap over the door shoe organizer, duct tape, and snaps. I stocked them chock full of snacks, wipes, a little trash bag, card games, pencils & crayons, etc. The boys each had 8 pockets. They worked out great and kept them busy. We also timed our stops just right; the boys didn’t ask for a single thing they entire way down. Amazing! Lastly, we wished my mother-in-law a Happy Birthday! xoxo |
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AuthorTraci, a wife, mother of two boys, Special Education teacher, and sole proprietor of Eco Alternatives LLC. Archives
September 2021
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