Well today we are coming home ~ right now we are in the airport in Freeport, Grand Bahama waiting for our flight to Ft. Lauderdale. The trip has been a great one. This morning we had one last breakfast at Zorba's on the patio, did a little shopping in the marketplace and then packed it up to head for the airport. As we reflect on the week, these are some of the highlights that made us smile or really laugh....and we hope all the pictures come out!!!
Starting out the trip, as we arrived in the Bahamas, we (Tony) were detained at the airport by Customs. 'Anthony Davis' is on the 'Stop List' in the Bahamas, so they had to clear him, in their own island time....of course he was cleared, but I couldn't help but think this could be one of those nightmare vacations where everything goes wrong!! But we were on our way within the hour.
Another weird occurrence was on Wednesday afternoon, when we returned to our room the key card did not work. So we went down to the front desk and were informed that our room was no longer our room and it had been rented to another guy!! According to the hotel computer, we were moved to another room that day and he was now in our room!! In the midst of her getting new keys and calling security to come escort us to 'our room', a guy came up who had just been robbed and needed to borrow the hotel phone to cancel his credit cards. They had already called the police and security - they had a first floor room and two guys came in the patio door, took what they could, and ran down the beach. Since that was obviously more important than our room key mixup, they let us go up with the new keys and all was well.
This is why we always lock all our doors and put anything of value in the safe in our room. You can't be too careful, especially traveling abroad. The resort has beach access so anyone can get on the property if they want to.
Our only real brush with the law/military (like we needed one at all) was on our way to Fish Fry on Wednesday night. Neka picked us up, Kelsey was already with her. As we were heading down the road toward the beach, there were all kinds of police standing in the street stopping all the cars!! Some kind of roadblock. They told Neka to pull over to the side, we had no idea why at the time. It got a little scary when they were shining flashlights into the windows and made everyone get out of the car!! Turns out that Neka did not have her front license plate mounted on the car. She had just gotten it renewed and not put on yet, which is against the law in the Bahamas. So they let her go with a warning, and then another cop make Kelsey open the glove box as he was getting back in the car.
So after getting past the roadblock, we were cruising the strip in Smith Point to find a parking spot and we pass a group of people, men and women, big and small, that are all dressed in black or camo and who all have machine guns!!! One big guy had his hanging around his neck!! They were drug enforcement officers who patrol out there during Fish Fry. Whoa - at that point we were hoping the night would not become dangerous.
Some of the BEST moments ...
Meeting and befriending Neka and Kelsey. They are really great people who showed us a great time. Kelsey is a young guy, working two jobs and going to culinary school. He's a little shy, but super nice. He has what he calls an 'iClone' because its a knockoff iPhone! All the apps are in Chinese! LOL
Robyn riding a scooter for the first time and making Tony very proud. After overcoming my fear, I really enjoyed it! The cool air rushing against you as you drive around a beautifully lush island discovering all sorts of special places!! Top speed was just over 60 kms which is about 37 mph. Not only a personal triumph, but the easy mobility allowed us to explore more of the area than we would have otherwise. And we took the map and found our own way, so we saw more than what any tour would show you. Like our little secret beach!!
Fish Fry was awesome - just drinking and dancing with everyone, locals and tourists, just having a good time. Neka has grown up here so she knows everyone and had a story to tell about anyone we asked about. The island is only so big, so everyone knows everyone!!
Robyn got called out by the emcee at the second bar/street/parking lot we made our way to. A white girl that can dance!! Yep, that gets attention down here - they see so many tourists that go crazy, but it's rare to see a white girl with rhythm!!!
We saw 'Michael Jackson' (a young, tall guy who really likes to dance) a few times. He was around in the square by Corner Bar in the marketplace on Tuesday night. Neka pointed him out and told us who he was. We also saw him a couple of times at Fish Fry. He was at the first bar and was down the street where we migrated later. The first bar was full of tourists and locals, the second was strictly locals (except for us) and it was a lot more fun, but not as much people watching. The first bar was entertainment, the second was the real party! So I got a picture with the emcee when he was walking around the crowd later. I also wanted to get a picture with 'MJ' so as Neka and I went to the area where he was dancing, I jumped down off the curb (about 12" - 18") and of course fell! In front on everyone, after they all knew I was the dancing white girl!!! Yep, can't have a vacation without one of my clumsy moments!! And this was a good one. As Tony and Kelsey looked on, I fell to my knees, scraping my right one pretty good and my left hand trying to catch myself...but the previously ingested alcohol allowed me to ignore the pain, pop up, and take the picture!! Hope that one comes out - I really worked for it!! LOL
