Day 261 - 264 March 8 - 11, 2023

 Day 261 Wednesday, March 8, 2023

We woke to rain so we chilled around the boat.  Jerry walked the docks and saw a boat getting fuel.  He was at $16,000 and still counting.  That’s a big boat and a lot of fuel at $5.75/gallon!  Later we headed to the Straw Market with Sharon.  It has changed a lot since we were there last when we cruised Royal Caribbean.  Lots of the same stuff at each booth, not much that is hand crafted.  Since it's in the center of the cruise ship port it is very crowded. 

 Government building

Day 262 Thursday, March 9, 2023

Today is laundry day.  Each washer/dryer requires $3 worth of tokens that you purchase from the office.  This must be to discourage theft and locals from using the machines.  Everybody had the same idea so I had to wait for the washers to be free.  $18 later my 3 loads of laundry were done.  Jerry headed to Solomon’s Fresh Market in the shopping plaza across the street for milk.

Once the laundry was done we decided to do real grocery shopping and headed back to Solomon’s.  It was quite well stocked and not as expensive as I thought it would be.  We paid $7.19 for a gallon of milk, $1.49 for a lime, $6.89 for Dave's Bagels (only ones they had), Vlasic pickles for $5 and $7.49 for a 3 pack of romaine lettuce. 

The shopping plaza also had a Dairy Queen, Domino’s Pizza, NAPA, a boutique clothing store and Starbucks, among other stores.  I made a point to go into the store where they made clothing and bags from the materials that they screen print on site.   The fabric was primarily white background with a single vibrant color in a tropical type design.  They made it as both upholstery and lighter weight fabric.

 Silk screened fabric

Groceries put away we joined Sharon and Grant for dock tales.  

The marina is YERY rocky and rolly with all of the boat traffic going by.  We sat on the dock with Call Me Curly for dock tales in order to get off the boats.  There we met Peter the dock master.  Quite the character, he is Greek, 74 years old, a former pilot and has a lot of colorful history.  His wife's family owns the marina, the hotel, the shopping plaza across the street and a construction company.

 Some big boats in the marina.  This one is Lonestar.

We enjoy people watching on the docks and Peter shared a lot of info about the boats around us.  Most of the mega yachts are actually chartered.  Owners charter them out so that the boat will always be in "ship shape".  The boat doesn't sit dormant and is always ready to cruise when the owner is.  We watched the  crews provision  and scrub in anticipation of their next guests.  We spoke to a man who was on a diving charter.  He paid $1500 for a 4 day charter. It included 4 dives daily, 3 meals and snacks each day, and alcohol.  He was doing the trip with his son.  Peter told us the only draw back with that is the bunk beds.  "You don't know who is farting above you!"  

 Day 263 Friday, March 10, 2023

We are still considering when it would be best to leave.  We decided to do some sight seeing. We got a taxi (an expensive ride at $45) and headed to Jack Watling's Distillery.  Not at all what we expected, the free tour was only 10 minutes long and then an opportunity to purchase their rum and vodka products.  Of course they had a bar and teased us with a Pina Colada sample at the start of the tour. 

 

  

Cemeteries along our walk.  They are all above ground.

     

 

We walked the neighborhoods and found ourselves at Pirate's Republic Brewing, our next planned adventure.  Inside we found a bar/restaurant and no brewery.  So, I asked.  I was told that they had outgrown the space and had moved the brewery to near the airport, 20 minutes away.  The manager saw my disappointment and  realizing we had walked quite a way he offered the 4 of us a free drink.  That made it all better. 

  

We added a snack and all was good.  We wandered the town and shops some more and then headed back to the boat.  Tired of the heat and walking, we got another taxi -- somehow this one was much cheaper!

 Our boats in the marina.

Surprise!  Jennifer, Seth and family were at the pool.  They had spent 2 nights at the Nassau Atlantis Marina and Resort.  The resort includes aquariums, pools, marine habitat, exclusive shopping, a casino and more. After their big splurge and now were waiting out the weather before heading back north. They are home schooling their 2 teenagers while doing the Loop.

We opted for dinner at the marina restaurant, Latitudes.  Excellent choice.  Great view of the marina and harbor and really good food.  The menu offered sushi, seafood, steaks, gourmet pizzas and Italian.  Jerry had the Bolognese and I had the chicken parmesan.  We shared a Caprese salad and Bailey's cheesecake for dessert.  Everything was delicious.

 View from the restaurant of our boat and Call Me Curly

Day 264 Saturday, March 11, 2023 

We are still waiting on the weather and getting very tired of the rocking in the marina.  Antsy and ready to move on, Jerry and I decided to adventure on our own and started walking into town. We walked all the way to the Margaritaville Hotel!  We walked around the resort, like we belonged there.

  

 

 Glass chandelier of fish, bubbles, and floating jellyfish.

 View of the private beach, and attractions at Margaritaville

  Margaritaville balcony with infinity pool and hot tub.

Definitely a different atmosphere from the downtown streets and poverty that we had seen during our Nassau stay. 

We wandered and did some shopping (another T-shirt purchase) and then started walking balk.  We treated ourselves at about halfway back with another stop at The Green Parrot.  This time I had a Mango Daquiri; I highly recommend them. 

Back at the pool we visited with Call Me Curly and Witness.  Weather is always the discussion; we are leaving the dock tomorrow and headed south to the Exumas.  Witness may join us since travel northward isn't an option for over a week; they would rather explore another area instead of sitting in the same spot for a week.

Our original dinner option was closed so we chose Latitudes for dinner again. We introduced Sharon and Grant; this time I had chicken alfredo and Jerry had the lasagna rolls.  Leftovers for tomorrow.  The clocks change tonight!!