Day One in the Bahamas

After three flights over one day and one night we found ourselves in Nassau, Bahamas this morning. We'd been through the tiny Long Beach, California airport where temperatures were mild and the sky was cloudy. We'd been through Ft. Lauderdale, Florida too, where thunder and lighting were booming all around.

Ft. Lauderdale did have some of the most amazingly tall, ominous clouds ever though:

Even so, you can imagine our happiness to see these beautiful blue skies:

We met up with some travel companions (Ryan, Moonlynn and Ivanhoe) and headed to our rental apartment. We got settled in and took to the streets. We hopped on a Jitney bus full of Bahamian school children headed for downtown. The kids were lively and fun. One of them was very interested in Brian's hair. We walked around downtown and saw the cruise ship docks and a nice open air market. We wanted the beach but found out that it was another bus ride away. That is, until we noticed the hidden sliver of white sand and bobbing swimmers in front of the Hilton hotel. We walked through the lobby liked we owned the place and moseyed down to the beach. Of course, we were stopped by the beach attendant, "Are you hotel guests?" No, we're not, but good ole Ivanhoe sweet talked us in with no effort. So we enjoyed the private beach and crystal clear water for some time.

Then we got hungry and asked the concierge where to get authentic Bahamian food. He sent us to Twin Brothers Fish Fry and assured us it was about one block down the road. After a good lesson in Bahamian 'blocks' we finally arrived. And the food was worth the wait. The Bahama stable is Conch Shell meat. We enjoyed Conch in fritter, burger, and salad form. Brian and I also got the fried Snapper that came whole with the head still on and bones in! It was very exciting.