Bahamas - more photos

February 4 - February 7, 2009 - Florida

Let the marathon begin! Up we go to Orlando. Some old Disney tickets that Dale and I had bought when he was a student in Bagotville turned into a 'Park Hopper' pass that allowed us to do four (4) parks in two (2) days - not the other way around, which would have been the sane thing to do. And to add to the frenzy - they have something called a 'Fast Pass' that allows you to pre-book rides so that you are not standing in 20 or 30 minutes lines/queues. On the first day we started at Disney World - did the favourites - Space Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Buzz Lightyear, Stitches, Monsters Inc. - then off to Epcot to continue the marathon with - Mission Space, Test Track, Innoventions, Nemo, Soarin, with a few jugglers and acrobats thrown in for good measure. We did have a relaxing but rousing dinner at the Biergarten before capping it all off with the IllumiNations Laser Light Show and Fireworks. Exhausting but fun.

Day two had us starting at the Animal Kingdom for a Safari ride (closest I will get Judy!), Flights of Wonder (wonderful birds), It's Tough to be a Bug, and Dinosaur. I chickened out on the Expedition Everest when I saw the roller coaster hurtling down the side of the mountain - even though it was rated as the number one attraction. I'm quite comfortable being a wuss.

We then rushed over to Hollywood Studios (the old MGM) to catch the Extreme Stunt Show. This was definitely worth the rush, as was the Indiana Jones Stunt Show. We also managed to fit in the Muppet 3-D show, The Great Movie Ride, Star Tours, Journey into Narnia, and the Jedi Training Academy. Unfortunately/fortunately for us the Fantasmic theatre filled up for the 7pm show, and we didn't have the energy to hang around for the 8:15pm show, so we called it quits.

I am sure it was a very wise move, as we had an early morning planned to head back to West Palm Beach to meet up with Larry and Maureen before catching our flight to Philadelphia for Dale's course. We had a great visit with them and got to see their work in progress on their sailboat and park home. A huge undertaking that will be well worth the effort when they are all done. It was wonderful to catch up - we were so pleased they made the effort to see us, in spite of a medical glitch for Larry. All seems to be well now though, and will hopefully keep going in the right direction.

And now on to Philadelphia. More on this as it unfolds. . .

January 25 - February 4, 2009 - The Bahamas

Well actually, it took us three days to get to George and Johanne's in the Bahamas!  January 25th from Larnaca, Cyprus to Heathrow.  January 26th from Heathrow to Philadelphia, then on to Newark, then on to West Palm Beach.  January 27th from West Palm Beach to Treasure Cay, Bahamas.  But it was worth it in the end.  George and Johanne's new sailboat, a Hunter 44, is absolutely gorgeous.  We had the V-berth with our own head, and plenty of communal living space that made things very comfortable.  

When we arrived on Tuesday, we stopped in at the Coco Beach Club for some fresh Grouper then after a tour and a bit of a walk, Jo cooked up some delicious Chicken tsatske for supper.  You may find me using that delicious word a lot, since Jo is such a great cook, and half of our time there was spent eating.  As the weather was supposed to be good for the next couple of days, we struck off and did some great sailing.  We stopped in at Hopetown on Wednesday (where Dale and I hadn't been for 23 years) and had a walk around.  We then found a lovely bay to anchor and had the best Tuna for dinner that I have ever tasted.  Fresh and cooked to perfection!  Thursday we stopped at Guana for lunch at Nippers, which is apparently quite

 famous.  We had another superb dinner of pork chops before heading into the harbour at Treasure Cay for the nig

ht, as they were expecti

ng some weather shortly.  On Friday morning we tied up at the Marina, and Jo and I went shopping in Marsh Harbour with Jo's friend Sylvia, while Dale and George went golfing.  Afterwards we popped in to Gerry and Marvel's for drinks on our way to yet another fabulous dinner (prime rib and all the trimmings) and a great time that evening at George and Jo's friends George and Robin's.  

Saturday had us out visiting Bob's house (a resort in the making) and other friends Ed and Keats (who is a very talented painter - her mosaics looked real!).  That evening Noel and Sylvia took us all out to dinner at Spinnakers - which managed to keep up to the standards we were used to by now.  

Sunday, George and Jo had a golf tournament, so Dale and I took some time off to catch up on a couple of emails 

and just having some down time.  We were also resting up for the Super Bowl party at their friends Neil and Joanne's.  They had enough food for an army, which is good since there were 50+ people there.  We met many mor

e of George and Jo's friends, and had a great time cheering for the Cardinals (even though they lost - it was a very exciting game).  We even won one of the draws!

The weather was great for sailing again on Monday so George and Robin joined us.  After a superb lunch on the water, we went back to George and Robin's for tortellini and shrimp salad, and some wonderful Butternut Squash soup.  Are you beginning to get the idea that all we did was eat?  You would definitely be right in thinking that!  We rolled into their hot-tub after dinner and a couple of hours later, poured ourselves into bed.

On Tuesday, Dale and I joined George and Robin for some golf while George and Jo helped Sylvia prepare yet another feast for supper.  I loved the course, since there were few hazards and no lost balls.  The one thing they do have there are poisonwood trees, which make you not dig too deep if you do hook or slice into the woods.  Dinner that night was surf and turf which started off with stone crab claws, then on to the main course of lobster and some melt-in-your mouth filet mignons.  And Tiramisu for dessert.  It was a good thing we were leaving the next day or I would have had to go shopping for something that fit.  

We had a wonderful time, and it was really nice to finally have made it 

back to the Bahamas. We were also very pleased to have been able to see George and Jo's old house that they had fixed up and sold.  The new owners Tom and Kate gave us a lovely tour.  Its also a good thing we had such a relaxing time as things were about to change!

To be continued . . .