#1 Getting there and Spending the First Week
Fall is never my favourite time of year as I know what is coming next. The beauty of fall is like a trick to blind people of the coming storm of ice and snow. This Thanksgiving we headed to Thunder Bay to be with grandbaby Tehya who is there at university and shortly after on Sunday, October 23rd we headed to Toronto by car for day one of what was to be a three day trip to make it to Freeport, Grand Bahama Island.
We checked into the Delta Marriott on Dixie Road just after lunch and headed down stairs to get lunch. They have four restaurants. None were open. Pardon me? No where to have lunch??? I think we need to talk to the hotel manager. He appears all dolled up in his Amani suit to reinforce that there is no place for lunch. I'm smiling and feeling like killing when I say, "If this were my hotel, I'd be in the kitchen right now making peanut and jelly sandwiches for my guests to make sure that they are taken care of." He then says that he will take it up with his superiors. "Great idea. I'll do the same." "Um.....let me see what I can do." and then he sits us in an empty restaurant and the food suddenly starts appearing. First soup, followed by salad, ribs, couscous, vegetables and salmon and juice and water and fresh baked buns. As we are finished eating a fraction of what is in front of us he appears with his business card with his personal cell phone number and begging us to let him know if we need anything else while we are staying. Too funny!!!
The next morning the three of us, our grandbaby Kahia accompanied us, made our way to the airport and flew to Fort Lauderdale.
We got a taxi driver to give us a tour of the beach area as Kahia wanted to see it and then I asked him to take us to a seafood restaurant and we landed at The Coconut. Busy, yummy place to eat.
Bright and early the next morning we head to the port to get the Balearia which is so funny because in Mexico they call me Balaria. It was so nice to see the taxi driver pull in at 7 as arranged the night before when he drove us home from the Coconut Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale. Lovely when you meet these angels on your travels that make the journey so much smoother.....
The first time you do anything is life is always the hardest. We had to figure out how to check our luggage. How to get the boarding passes, where to sit on the ferry. Again, one of the staff asked me if I was ok and I replied that I wanted to sit by a window. "Follow me." And then I was sitting at a window!!! One more journey angel.
When I enter any building, I always check out the exits. Just in case.....
No different when I get on a boat, how do I get off. Oh, these barrels open up into rafts. I'm good to go now I know where they are located!!!
Once we pulled out into open sea it was riding horse back!!! Western riding that is. I couldn't leave my seat or I'd be sitting on someone else's!!! Time flew and then we were in Freeport. My friend Jerrisma was there to greet us, take us to lunch, grocery store, car rental and then finally to the house.
This is the ferry.
I'm one of those people who always wants to see the water. I don't want to be a block back from the water. I want to be on the water. It was hard to find a place on Grand Bahama but I did it. This house is owned by a fellow who lives in England. Three bedrooms all with their own bathroom. Large living/ dining room and kitchen. We have had some glitches and surprises but we are hanging on!!!
We can actually see amazing sunrises and sunsets daily. The water is clear and warm. Loving it.
Jerrisma has a store at Pirate's Cove where the zip line is. Don't even ask. I don't do ladders any more. Kahia hung out with Jerrisma's three grandsons and we people watched and bought stuff we didn't need to help the local economy. Good job!!!
Very sadly, Grand Bahama Island is still recouping from hurricane William and then closely followed by hurricane Dorian three years ago. You can see damaged buildings everywhere. There are very few tourists. I'm thinking real estate prices must be really good but it some how feels morally wrong to start looking....
After church at Eight Mile Rock on Sunday, where we were anointed with oil, can't remember the last time that happened, we headed to the West End of the island to have lunch with Jerrisma and family. It wasn't lunch. It was a feast!!!! She must have been cooking for days. It was very delicious and lots of fun.
If you ever travel to any Caribbean island and think to yourself that you would like to take a conch shell home, don't be buying one for $10 or more. If there is conch on the menu, somewhere on that island there are piles of conch shells like this that are simply there for the taking. They would like you to take as many as you like!!!
This is my precious friend Jerrisma. I love this woman!!!
This is Miss P. I don't know why that is her name but that is her name. We met her 10 years ago when she was 8. Now at 18 she is hoping to go into cosmetology and hair design. She grew her hair long. Cut it. Braided it and then made this amazing do. Just outstanding!!!
This is Shilo and yes, he is exactly the personality that matches this picture. He, along with his two brothers Steven and Tristen, helped us grocery shop when we first arrived. They were rushing around the grocery store finding everything that we thought we needed. Prices are high as almost everything is imported to the island. This is a great kid!!!
The twins have matching hair dos. Beautiful work. I keep hearing that I need some braids. Not sure if that is going to happen......
Mom has 6 children ranging from 28 to 5 year old twins. She says that if she had of had these two first, there wouldn't have been any more!!! That tells you all your imagination needs.
The water is so clear and warm. Just love spending time in it. Yesterday the humidity was 93%. I sat outside reading in the morning and got wet....
I know this is a bad picture but.....On Kahia's last night, I got a chef to prepare dinner for Ray and I, Kahia, Jerrisma and the three boy grand kids. That isn't quite what arrived. There ended up being 5 adults and 9 kids. Good grief!!!! Food was great. Jerrisma tried valiantly to control the crowd of kids on the porch!!! The boys disappeared for awhile and were disciplined island style...... Very interesting parenting norms. Strong women!!!
Thanks for reading the blog. Next week, maybe Wed., I'll try to rattle off what we have been up to. Please pass it along to others. God bless.
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