Day 3

Day 3 found me scrambling to get dressed in a hurry

so that we could run up on to an open deck

to watch us pull into the port at Nassau at 8 AM.

Entrance to the city

Souvenir shopping - we avoided shopping as much as possible,

but had to pick up gifts for our kids and parents. I collect magnets and postcards,

do that keeps my souvenirs at a minimum. I kind of wish I had

gotten myself something a little more significant from the islands, but

I guess that that's what my photographs are for. I thought that

I was going to be able to bring home a piece of coral I found on the beach,

which would have pleased me much more than shop merchandise,

but found out that stuff like that doesn't go through customs. :^(

Nassau was a center of pirate activity in the 18th century, and Brian really wanted to see the Pirate Museum.

It was a very nice wax museum and lots of creepy sound effects.

I'm pretty easily spooked and I was sure that one of those guys was going to turn out

to not be wax and was going to scare me to death.

The guy outside turned out to be the only resident pirate. But he more than made up for it.

The locals recommended The Fish Fry on our request for an authentic and "untouristy" restaurant. They also recommended trying conch. I had cracked conch (breaded strips) and Brian had grilled conch which came in a foil packet with peppers and onions. It was served with salad and french fries and we were stuffed! Oh, and a virgin strawberry daiquiri for me - perfect on a tropical humid day. :^) Conch is like a cross between clam strips and calamari. It was pretty good, but I was wishing for the marinara sauce.

We're sitting on the back balcony of the restaurant. Can you see our ship in the distance? click on the picture to enlarge it. It's the ship on the left.

We even got a lesson in how they "crack" conches and cut the meat out.

On the way to the fort, we had to pass these market booths, and Brian met his Bahama Mama. She stuck this coconut hat that she'd made on his head, and said, "Come get a picture with Big Mama." Then she wouldn't let us go until we'd bought coral necklaces and t-shirts from her.

Fort Charlotte

It was time to hit the beach, the buses take you most places for $1, and they stuff them full, but these buses had a unique feature. instead of standing in the middle holding on to a pole, they had little seats that flipped down from the side seats to fill the center aisle.

We went to Cable Beach, thinking we'd find an open stretch of beach. The bus driver, however stopped in front of a hotel casino and told us to go through the casino to the beach. We did, and found a lovely beach a the resort, but spent a little while wondering if we were really supposed to be enjoying the lounge chairs and tiki huts, then decided not to worry about it. And enjoy them (and that gorgeous blue water!) we did.

This is a view of the other two cruise ships from our ship.
The only time I really felt nervous on the ship was out on an open deck on the open sea, in the dark. When the only other mental images your mind has of a big ship cutting through dark water is Titanic, it's a bit unsettling. Hehe.

The guy spinning the plate was our head waiter, Martin. He was a hoot! And our maitre'd was a crazy man. Every night as we finished dessert the lights in the dining room would flash, and he'd whisper "showtime" into the microphone in his French-Canadian accent, and a hilarious five minute show would follow. One night it was Italian night which ended in the wait staff singing "O Solo Mio" in Italian in 16 different accents. Another night it was a congo line. The last night a hilarious farewell song.