Virginia Breeze

Here are some photos I took on our vacation that have been given the NextGen treatment.  You can click on them to see an enlargement if you wish.  We had a wonderful time and I saw some really wonderful natural scenes. The people were very friendly and the weather was good.  Still, it’s good to be home and have a chance to sleep in a comfortable bed and treat all the scrapes and dings you get on a trip like this.

For instance if I wanted to get on the dingy I would throw my right leg over the side and then Captain Jack would grab my arm and pull with all his strength in the opposite direction. Several scrapes and bruises later I would be in the bottom of the boat with my snorkel.  It’s a good thing my arm never came off or Captain Jack would have gone backward all the way to Nassau.

And then we would have had to figure out how to sail back there to find him with one less hand on deck.

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We managed to return home yesterday from the Bahamas after passing through Customs and enduring a very strange passenger on our flight from Nassau.   I had to take off my belt to get through the X-ray machine and my shorts nearly fell down.  But then this idiot on the plane was acting like a character who had just passed Terrorism 101 at his local community college out there in the desert.  So  I got ticked off because we went through three screenings barely managing to keep our dignity and this moron appears to be casing the airplane and doing some sort of checklist on his computer while the flight crew ignores him.

I sat behind him and was having fantasies about putting the belt I mentioned around his neck and seeing what he did but, of course, I did nothing.  I should have taken a photo of his laptop screen with my telephoto lens but it is unlikely anything would show up.  He spent over an hour looking at rows of figures.  Jill sat next to him and said she noticed that the first row included names of airlines.

Then he would walk around or stand next to his seat for a couple of minutes with a cup of coffee looking out the window.  He was taking a stroll down the aisle and started staring at two children who were sitting next to their father.  Dad got ticked and told him to take a hike.

Perhaps he was just trying to gauge the level of hostility by doing irritating stuff.  Jill said he let off three stink bombs while he was sitting there studying his data.   The kids were laughing at him.  What else could they do?  When the announcement came on to put away the electronic gear he simply ignored it and kept on going.  No doubt he was waiting to see how long it took to get a reaction.   And then his carry-on was about ten seats away in the overhead.

As we were getting ready to land he yelled something back to his “family” who were about ten rows in the opposite direction in French.   He looked to be about thirty years old with that intellectual air that places guys like him so very  far above the masses.

Of course he could have been just an obnoxious SOB.  He asked someone who was sitting next to the window if they would shut the shade early in the flight.  And he was sitting two seats away on the aisle.

When we were standing in line waiting to get on the airplane there were Bahamian Customs Officials milling about and checking our passports (again).   That’s the first time this has happened and I wonder if they knew something was up.

Everybody in our group thought this guy was up to something and I know one Dad who would have enjoyed helping me subdue him if he decided to come out and play.

But it’s probably all just one of my paranoid fantasies.  Right?

We returned to Nassau yesterday afternoon.  After a nice dinner everyone decided to wander over to Atlantis.  The group was planning to walk over the bridge but I knew that I would be ready to crash by the time we got there so I decided to take a cab.

And guess what?  I had a lot of company.  So we all arrived there after Captain Jack’s favorite cabby “Harry” turned up.   The younger ones went straight to the casino to donate their funds to the island and Captain Jack and his wife, Beth and I went to the aquarium to see the fish.

It’s a pretty amazing place but I have seen it before and am tiring of the crowds and the confusion.  Everything about it is very expensive as well.  I prefer the solitary beaches and the star lit canopy we slept under last night.  The generator broke yesterday and so it was hot below deck.  I slept under the stars.

Today we will catch a flight home.  As usual I am up and about while everyone else is still sleeping.  There is a convenience store across the street from the marina with WiFi and Bahamians streaming in and out.  They are either up very early or have not yet gone to bed.

We really did have a lot of luck this trip and barely saw any evidence of the hurricane.  Captain Jack did an excellent job of skirting it.  We heard stories of past storms however including Andrew which leveled so many homes like the one we were invited to for a barbecue a few nights ago.  People often take years to rebuild.  This home is still not completely rebuilt.  Bahamians don’t do things unless they have cash in hand.

We were supposed to go back to Spanish Wells yesterday afternoon for a barbecue of steak and lobster with some old friends of Captain Jack but the weather was too iffy.  So we stayed on Harbor Island instead and went down to the beach for a swim.  The water is so amazing here.  I can’t describe the color and it’s neither too warm nor too cold.  Beth went in first and the kids and I were not far behind.  There were probably less than twenty people on the whole beach.  It amazes me how sparsely populated this place is every time we are here.  No wonder certain people come here.   I don’t see any models working on their tans however.

Beth’s daughter Jill talked with a guy who has a couple of horses he lets visitors ride on the beach last time we were here.  But he is no where to be found although his two handmade horse stalls are still here.  Captain Jack talked with a couple of Haitians and found out where the guy lives out in the woods.  He actually went there and talked to the guy’s sister.  So hopefully this free spirit and his horses will show up in the morning and Jill can ride up and down the beach.
The weather turned out to be nice today although it was a bit cloudy.  I have no idea what the storm is doing except that it has been downgraded to a tropical storm.  When I went up to the Blue Bar this morning for breakfast they gave me a photocopied edition of the NYTimes.
There were a couple of interesting stories but if you asked me now to name them I would not have a clue.  They have little houses next to the bar with a view of this beautiful beach and a hot tub that you can rent for a mere sixteen hundred dollars per night.
Tomorrow we are definitely leaving here and going back to Spanish Wells for a feast and to spend the night.  Then it is off to the Berry Islands (I think that’s the correct spelling).  So the internet connection will be gone until we arrive home most likely.  Cell phone coverage has been very good, however, and we have called home every day without a problem.  Zachary, Sparky and Malarky are doing well although the latter two are moping around a bit.  The trash man has cut his visits from two to once per week.
Everyone has had their batteries charged in the past few days as we enjoyed this wonderful island.  We are ready to hit the ocean waves again and explore the islands and the coral reefs of the Bahamas.  Hopefully we will have a clear night where you can see millions of stars and amazing streaks of light that ignite the sky every few seconds.  Or the full moon may trump the celestial show.  I don’t know.

A night dive with some sea turtles would be very cool.  The younger boys and girls enjoy this sort of thing most of all.  Especially when there is a circle of barracuda looking in the curious way they have about them.

We shall see.  I hear someone above.  It’s time to go.