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Post by Kathleen on Mar 1, 2019 1:26:41 GMT
Loving this report Cookie. Thanks again for writing.
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Post by Cookie on Mar 1, 2019 10:57:10 GMT
Thanks Kathleen 😃. The encouragement (you & Deb & Kathleen L) is keeping me going.
February 28, 2019. We went out to dinner at LaBouganvillea with friends. The restaurant was very busy on this Thursday night; glad we had reservations. Sand flies (?) were a nuisance outside so we ate inside. Even inside, I could feel the little buggers but a Deep Woods Off wipe took care of that distraction. Two of us had pizza and two had pasta dishes. The pizzas (5 cheese and margarita) were good, but nothing extraordinary in my opinion. The pasta bolognese and pasta with stone crab were reported to be excellent. Two bottles of red wine (the first served, um, chilled), 3 desserts (2 mango creme brûlée and 1 coconut cheesecake - the cheesecake was HEAVENLY and I forgot to ask how the mango creme brûlée was), 1 cappuccino and 2 espressos, plus the dinners, and the bill was around $250 (actually, it might have been $270 because I think Mr. Cookie slipped our waiter an extra $20 cash). So, not terribly pricey considering the wine and desserts and coffees. Not cheap certainly, but not outrageous.
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Post by Cookie on Mar 3, 2019 10:24:29 GMT
March 2, 2019. Friends from the US were to arrive at the Rock Sound Airport on the afternoon PineappleAir flight. A lengthly delay out of JFK caused them to narrowly miss the flight from Nassau over to RSD. Their options included staying in Nassau overnight (I'd guess at a cost of $250 minimum, plus losing a precious day of vacation), trying to get on the Bahamasair flight to RSD if it were delayed (don't know how this might have worked out), but what they ended up doing was a surprise to us... they got on the flight to North Eleuthera. We got the call when we were headed south to RSD, near the Tarpum Bay fire department/recycling center. Hit the brakes Cookie, we gotta turn around!
It took 1 hour and 33 minutes for us to drive from Tarpum Bay to ELH. Our friends chilled at Jimmy's while we drove down north. We are so glad that they can start today here, rather than waking up in Nassau and having a second travel day. And I was personally glad to experience Jimmy's. It really is *RIGHT* across the street from ELH and it was quite a busy spot yesterday afternoon.
We stopped at 1648 for dinner on the way home and they were able to accommodate us even though we had no reservation. 2 of us had the chicken pesto penne (OUTSTANDING), and the other 2 enjoyed their spicy conch pizza and surf & turf burger. The Rum Runners were playing, and that was a great way for our friends to ease into island life; they are first timers to Eleuthera.
So, Mr. Cookie and I have realized that if we narrowly miss our flight to RSD and IF we can make it on the flight to ELH, it might be worth the high cost of a taxi to get up south from down north. We're guessing in terms of money, it would be a wash (taxi vs. overnight in Nassau). We would be much happier to wake up here than Nassau. I'm going to try to remember to take a pic of the taxi fare schedule posted at the airport... I'll post it if I remember.
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Post by debc on Mar 4, 2019 18:59:11 GMT
Still following Cookie & loving hearing your reports. But, what happened to photo's, lol, just kidding. Really love your photo's though, hint, hint :-).
Food sounds amazing, how about some photo's of that too. I know, being way to needy! Glad you are having a great time with friends & that the flights worked out, whew.
I do love stopping at "Jimmy's" as a welcome back to "my heart home".
I will read every word even if I'm a day or two late, I promise, and truly appreciate you taking the time to post here.
Thank You so much!
Deb
Hi Mr. Cookie :-)
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Post by Cookie on Mar 5, 2019 10:39:24 GMT
Okay Deb, I'll try to post pics again! March 3, 2019. We took our friends to Double Bay beach for their first Eleuthera beach day. It was a beautiful, gorgeous day. When we went for a beach stroll we met the internet-famous personality BIZZY (made famous, I think, by Deb). Bizzy is a very handsome and well-behaved doggie. We also met one of his owners and had a brief, pleasant chat. March 4, 2019. Mr. Cookie and friend went spearfishing with a long-time winter resident. This was one of the first times Mr. Cookie went out on a boat to spearfish, and it was a first for our friend. The long-time winter resident is reported (by Mr. Cookie) to be a BEAST in the water and at spearfishing; he got several crawfish. Mr. Cookie and friend came away happy, exhausted but empty-handed... until the long-time winter resident pulled up to our cottage with some cleaned crawfish that he gifted to us! Darned generous, both in including us in the day and in the day's catch. Other friend and I went to Governor's Harbour to pick up a shipment we had sent from Florida. Although we've sent lots of stuff for the renovation of our house, I, personally, had never been to GH to go through the process of picking up. WOW. It's hard to put into words. First you go to the custom's broker with a pile of CASH, then to the custom's office (which is essentially a narrow 10 foot hallway with one customer service window on each side), along the way you are handed a fistful of paperwork, culminating in the RELEASE. You then take the RELEASE over to the white tent where the custom's official checks your paperwork and tells some guys to find your pallet. Of course your pallet was loaded first into the container, so you wait around while most of the 40-foot shipping container is unloaded so they can get to your pallet. While you wait, you can look at the pallets on the dock to see what people/businesses have brought in (but we didn't wander about because that seems like it could be dangerous, tempting though it was). Ladder, toilets, garbage can, dog food, snacks, cases of bottled water, fertilizer, cement block, construction materials. We met a couple of expats (I'm guessing) who seemed well experienced at this process. They loaded their stuff and congratulated themselves with a cold beer at the car. (Note to self: take cooler next time). I really enjoyed this educational experience even though it took 4 times as long as I expected... everyone was in pretty good humor despite the seeming (well-organized?) chaos. My girlfriend and I rewarded ourselves with lunch at Bacchus. Two glasses of wine, two salads (one caprese and one gorgonzola, pecan & strawberry, and one half of a baguette), $80. Delicious. Governor's Harbour March 4, 2019
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Post by debc on Mar 6, 2019 14:52:47 GMT
Another great instalment Cookie! So glad to hear you met Bizzy and that he is doing well, he is a very special fur baby thanks to his Mom & Dad. Ha, he really is a star being in the trailer of "Why Did I Get Married Too". Interesting about the shipment process taking so long but, you had a great reward at the end. Nice score from the winter resident too! Many Thanks for your reports!
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Post by Cookie on Mar 9, 2019 10:34:23 GMT
March 6, 2019. We went to The Island School for a tour, arriving at noon and leaving at about 1:30. We'd made an appointment with Nikki, and she was ready when we arrived. We really enjoyed this tour, especially the Center for Sustainable Development. Our friends' nephew studied here recently for a semester, so they were especially interested to see the campus. I have some pics to post but have to save that for another time. Very cool!
We had a late lunch at the Harbour Pointe Restaurant at Cape Eleuthera. Everything was excellent and the portions were generous. Cracked conch with fries, crab cake with peas 'n rice, chicken club sandwich with fries, and chicken quesadilla with fries, 5 cocktails... $140. Not outrageous, plenty of food, and adequate service. The setting overlooks the marina... very nice. We will go there again.
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Post by Cookie on Mar 9, 2019 10:38:41 GMT
March 7, 2019. We took our first-timer friends/guests to Lighthouse Beach. It was a lovely day. Please see my post under the Tourist Attractions, lighthouse beach thread if you are interested in details.
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Post by Cookie on Mar 9, 2019 12:25:04 GMT
... back to March 6 tour of The Island School... Student housing (I think) (below) Looking toward where Cape Eleuthera Institute grad students and researchers are housed (below)
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Post by Cookie on Mar 9, 2019 12:43:13 GMT
... more of The Island School... This is where reveille happens at 6 AM, followed by a run-and-swim Building designed to stay cool without AC; it's where VIPs are sometimes housed (below)
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Post by Cookie on Mar 9, 2019 12:47:49 GMT
... more... Boat house Boat house again The Island School says Lionfish are an invasive species, and they are said to offer a bounty if you bring carcasses; Mr. Cookie thinks they make tasty fish tacos.
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Post by leicinaspecial on Mar 9, 2019 22:06:30 GMT
The abandoned house on the south end of Windermere is the Ellis House. It was designed by Brian Andrews for a family of 4, parents and 2 daughters. I believe construction halted in 2008 or 2010. It was largely constructed with local concrete block and poured concrete (for the support columns I think). It has been ransacked, but most of the windows are intact, and there does not appear to be water damage inside. The sliding doors are heavy and clearly very durable. Seems like it was ALMOST completed. Art and some furniture was shipped to the house, and some remains inside. I seem to remember that a divorce interrupted the project, but now I can't find that info, so maybe I'm misremembering. The house has a great view of both Savannah Sound and the darker Atlantic, especially from the top floor, where the bedrooms are. and the roof, which was to collect water and funnel it to a cistern and a garden. The south side is almost entirely glass, to maximize the views from every area. The master bathroom opens up to overlook the pool and ocean views with an outdoor shower. The almost brutalist architectural style is very unusual for Eleuthera, but the glass I thought would have made this very live-able, bright and much friendlier than the concrete suggests. The north side, which faces the rest of Windermere, has almost no windows except for a few small horizontal ones, creating a strong buffer for complete privacy. It's really a fascinating house. I fear that it would cost just as much to start anew than to resume now. I don't know how far you paddled north in the sound, but the very north end of Windermere has been divided into about 50 building lots. On the sound side there's a little beach, near where those (capsized?) boats float in the sound. Although the beach is narrow, it's attractive, and you can watch great sunsets from there.
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Post by Cookie on Mar 10, 2019 10:13:35 GMT
Leicina! Thanks for that post and the photo. Yes, that's the house we saw when paddle boarding on February 25. As you said, its architecture is *very* different from the typical Bahamian residence - kinda like Sky Beach only more so. Maybe if the project had received a finish coat of color other than GRAY it wouldn't look so severe. The views must be spectacular though, especially if you can see both the sound and the ocean. Thanks for the info and pic, and the intel on the north end of Windermere too.
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Post by leicinaspecial on Mar 10, 2019 19:45:31 GMT
Here's a picture of the view looking south from the Ellis house. Not the best shot perhaps, but it's what I have at the moment.
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Post by Cookie on Mar 11, 2019 21:17:24 GMT
What a view! Thanks again Leicina. March 11, 2019. We decided to do something new (to us). We checked with Bret's The Beach Map, and headed up to John Millers Beach (Atlantic). After sitting for a few minutes we walked south for about 45 minutes. High tide, not super great for walking, but not horrible. I imagine this would be a really good beach walk at low tide. John Millers Beach (Atlantic) looking north After that long walk we went for a swim, and then the flies were bugging us, so we decided to have another adventure and head to John Millers Beach (Sound). I'm not sure that is where we ended up. Here is a photo: John Millers Beach (Sound) looking north, featuring the dashing Mr. Cookie John Millers Beach (Sound) looking south, toward the cruise ship at Princess Cay Personally, I didn't love the beach at the sound, but I would return to the Atlantic one, especially at low tide.
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