Day 283 - 286 March 30 - April 2, 2023

Day 283 Thursday, March 30, 2023

Marsh Harbour, Abaco Islands, Bahamas

Today we are adventuring to Hopetown via ferry.  There was a lot of passengers headed to work.  I guess it's no different than taking the train or subway to work.  There aren't many cars here and not everyone can have a boat.  There were construction workers carrying their tools (including chop saws and tool bags) and servers/cooks wearing shirts with restaurant logos.  Lorrie (Danny's high school classmate) joined us for the day as our tour guide.  Wind and waves were predicted to be quite rough but our ferry ride wasn't bad at all.

 

Elbow Cay Reef Light House -- aka Hopetown Light.  It is the last kerosene burning, hand cranked lighthouse in The Bahamas.  It is the only active and manned station in the world that hasn't been electrified.

  

 

  

Views of the harbor from the lighthouse.

We toured Hopetown via golf cart.  Lorrie was a great guide, showing us all the popular sights.   From the lighthouse we took the Hopetown Inn and Marina water taxi to pick up our golf carts.

 

  

Cars are not allowed in downtown Hopetown.  Lorrie, Susan and Danny lead the way in one cart while Grant, Jerry, Sharon and I were in the second one.  

We made it to Da Beach Bar (might be my favorite), Fireflies, Abaco Inn, Tahiti Beach and Captain Jack's before we took the ferry back to Marsh Harbor.  

   

   

 

 

 

Tahiti Beach.  Lorrie and Sharon walked to the sand bar.

 Island communication from ferry to ferry.

Such a full day we were all too tired and hot to walk the 30 minutes from the ferry dock to the marina, we taxied back.

Day 284 Friday, March 31, 2023

Marsh Harbour

Today we walked with Sharon and Grant to Maxwell's Grocery Store.  It was a real grocery store, with variety and fresh produce available.  It also sold home good items with a furniture store down the road.  We saw lots of evidence of hurricane damage. 

We visited at the pool and then had a nice dinner with Danny and Susan at Wally's restaurant across the street.\, joined by Lorrie and her husband Jack. We all gathered on Call Me Curly for a while before heading off to bed.  Discussion included a debate whether we should visit Great Guana Cay by ferry, head there on our own boats or just move on to Green Turtle Cay.  It is 121 miles from Green Turtle to West End, Grand Bahama Island to stage for our crossing back to Florida.

Day 285 Saturday, April 1, 2023

We still haven't found "downtown" in Marsh Harbour.  The six of us set out to find the retail "hub"'  We were told to walk to the stop light -- of course after about 20 minutes in the heat we realized we were going in the wrong direction!  We snagged a taxi and headed in the opposite direction; it was near Maxwell's.  Not much to see, it may be due to limited hurricane recovery.  There is still a lot of damage evident.  

     

The memorial is for those lost in during Hurricane Dorian.  The steps are to a home that was swept entirely off its foundation and out to sea.

 We found the famous "Colors" and "Snappas" on the way back and then went to the pool.  Dinner on the boat and then Wizards on Call Me Curly.  Danny won and took home the grand prize "Call Me Curly" hat.

 Colors

Snappas 

Day 286 Sunday, April 2, 2023

Ferry ride again, this time to Great Guana Cay to check out world famous "Nippers" and "Grabbbers".  I know, more bars, but it really is about the beaches and the experiences.  

 

 Lending Library

We had been told that "Sunday is Funday" at Nippers but it was pretty quiet when we got there.  The restaurant is open air with multiple levels, 2 pools, DJ's, and access to the beach.   The bar comes equipped with bug spray; the "nippers" can be awful.

  

     

  

Susan had a lot of fun dancing.  

Sunday did turn into Funday at Nippers!

Next stop was a short walk to Grabbers.  Another beach bar, this time right on the beach with games and music.  It was more family oriented and even quieter.  We ended up walking back to Nippers where it had gotten much busier and the music better.  We found out later that Justin Bieber and his wife were seated in a corner at Grabbers and we never even noticed.  

 

We took the 4:30 ferry back to the marina, ate dinner on the boat and played one round of Wizards on Sharon and Grant's boat. I was rewarded with a box of "KD" from them for my card play.  "KD" is Canadian slang for Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Dinner.  Sharon was in disbelief that Jerry and I have never had it before!

Tomorrow is a travel day.  Call Me Curly and Eric's Inheritance head to Green Turtle Cay while Phil-N-Wild head to Great Sale Cay (they can travel faster).  Everyone is headed west towards West End Bahamas watching the weather to get back to Florida.