Post by Cookie on May 28, 2019 10:08:08 GMT
This trip has been a little different for us than other recent ones. The biggest difference was that our daughter (aged 23) and her boyfriend joined us for a week. This was her first vacation as a working stiff, post-college, having survived her first busy season as an auditor at a CPA firm. It was her 10th trip to Eleuthera, but only her second trip to our post-renovation cottage. We crammed a lot into this week because our daughter wanted to show off the island to her boyfriend. Here are some highlights:
Now Mr. Cookie and I are wrapping things up at the cottage, getting ready for an extended absence. Power surges (which started on Friday night, we think, but maybe earlier as the mini-split AC in our bedroom was behaving strangely for a couple of days before...) fried our main breaker yesterday (May 27). Our contractor came over as soon as we called, and most amazingly was able to put in a new main within a couple of hours. He will be adding 2 whole house suppressors in the next few days... really happy the house didn't burn. That's it for now... today will be a busy day of shutting down the cottage and packing and saying goodbye-for-now to friends.
- Mr. Cookie and I arrived on May 15, flying the usual Delta from ROC - ATL - NAS. Then Bahamasair from NAS to RSD. I honestly can't remember why we chose Bahamasair this trip. The flight over was almost on time.
Then we spent a couple of days getting ready for our guests. And it rained and rained and rained those first few days.
Then we spent a couple of days getting ready for our guests. And it rained and rained and rained those first few days.- Our daughter and her friend joined us on Saturday, May 18. Their PineappleAir flight from NAS to RSD on Saturday afternoon was cancelled. They were put on the flight to GHB, so off we went to retrieve them. A minor inconvenience, but annoying. Bahamasair is gaining credibility - to us - for the more reliable flights to/from RSD.
- May 19 - We paddle boarded Savannah Sound south of the bridge to Windermere. Going over was hard work but the ride home was easy and fun. We saw turtles but not a lot of other sea life. Then on to Double Bay for a gorgeous afternoon of beach sitting, swimming, beer drinking.
- Lighthouse Beach was beautiful on May 20. We set up camp on the Cuba side, played beach corn hole (yes, yikes, I don't love the name of that) with a travel set that our daughter and her boyfriend gifted to us, snorkeled the Cuba side reef, ate lunch, swam, drank cold beer. Bittersweet. It was a lovely day, but very possibly the last our daughter will have at Lighthouse. (Still no signs of the Rat, but recent news reports indicate that construction may get started before our daughter returns... there are many lovely beaches on Eleuthera, and Lighthouse has been a family favorite since our first trip here in 2008.). Dinner at Harbour Pointe at the Cape Eleuthera marina on the way home... OUR DAUGHTER BOUGHT!
- Winds started to pick up, blowing from the NNE, NE and ENE at 16+ mph, every day for the last 3 or 4 days of our guests' stay. This limited the east side beaches we could enjoy. Ten Bay provided a really nice beach afternoon of sitting, reading, napping, swimming, drinking cold beer. This was around May 21.
- May 22 (or thereabouts) - we headed north. 1st stop was Bahamas Hand Prints in GH. 2nd stop was Sky Beach where we sat by and in the pool, had a cocktail, and then ate lunch. 3rd stop was Sweetings Pond. We didn't see as many seahorses as we have previously, but the ones we saw were much larger. Maybe because it was a different month? 4th stop was Island Made in Gregory Town. 5th stop was Queen's Bath - it was crowded! There were about 10 other people there. Then of course across the Glass Window Bridge. And back home to Tarpum Bay.
- May 23 - paddle boarded the canal between Half Sound and Winding Bay. That's a nice, calm, usually easy paddle. Right up my alley. We saw turtles, a juvenile shark, barracuda, lots of little fish. In the afternoon, Mr. Cookie and guests went to Winding Bay. I stayed at home to recover from mild dehydration - that Gatorade is magic. Mr. Cookie snorkeled one of the Winding Bay reefs and saw the biggest fish he's ever seen - half the size of a paddle board. He thinks it might have been a snapper.
- May 24 - with winds persisting from the NE, we decided to try crescent beach in Rock Sound. It was too windy and rough for us, so we went on to the beach at the Cape Eleuthera marina. The beach was rockier than we spoilt people like, but it was a good place to get away from the wind. While walking around the marina, we saw a fella cleaning fish and a WHOLE LOTTA nurse sharks gathered to enjoy the fish guts & heads. There was a dad there with his 6 & 8 year olds, IN THE WATER WITH THE SHARKS. Yikes, no thanks. The dad assured us that this was no problem, that he spent his childhood at Jack's Bay and now keeps a boat at the Cape, and this is no big deal. Of course our daughter's boyfriend wanted to go in. I told him I wish he wouldn't. He went in, touched some sharks, and got nervous when 2 sting rays appeared so he got out of the water. Our daughter went in (again, against my wishes) and immediately wished she hadn't. They made it out of the water safely. If I'm ever presented with this situation again, I will more carefully (forcefully?) explain how very far away medical help is (in time and distance), in the event that things don't go as hoped. I feel sick to my stomach even just writing this, several days later.
- May 25 - our daughter and her boyfriend headed home on the early flight out. Flights mostly on time, PineappleAir from RSD to NAS, then American NAS to PHL to ROC.
Now Mr. Cookie and I are wrapping things up at the cottage, getting ready for an extended absence. Power surges (which started on Friday night, we think, but maybe earlier as the mini-split AC in our bedroom was behaving strangely for a couple of days before...) fried our main breaker yesterday (May 27). Our contractor came over as soon as we called, and most amazingly was able to put in a new main within a couple of hours. He will be adding 2 whole house suppressors in the next few days... really happy the house didn't burn. That's it for now... today will be a busy day of shutting down the cottage and packing and saying goodbye-for-now to friends.
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