Today we had a whole lot of fun, but first we had to get up to experience it. The question we asked ourselves this morning was why do the roosters find us on islands? We have about three roosters that decided an early wake up call was the way to go. Maybe they were summoning me to go for a short walk. Glad I listened to them, the views and the visitor were both lovely as the sun rose.
Breakfast was easy, just eggs and toast, keeping it simple this morning, didn’t want to be late to the farmer’s market.
We made sure this trip we were at the farmer’s market a little before 8 a.m. Last April we arrived a bit after 8 a.m. and all the greens were gone. We learned our lesson. We scored okra, kale, a Bahamian pumpkin and sweet potatoes, green onions, passionfruit, homemade jam and some bread.
The walk to the market had a holiday attraction to see and the view from the parking lot wasn’t bad either.
Once back at the cottage, we unloaded the small haul and headed out to finish the shopping for a few days. After our two “must do” stops were done, we headed off to have a whole afternoon of fun. First stop was Dean’s Blue Hole, the deepest blue hole in the world. We first visited here in April, but didn’t go in the water, because professional divers were practicing for the big contest that was approaching.
Two families were there, jumping in to the hole. We beached walked for a bit and then got into the water to swim over the hole. I was dismayed at all the garbage that littered the beach. Mike picked up some to see where it originated, seemed to be from Haiti.
I was so excited I was brave enough to swim over the deep hole and we will return with our snorkel gear to further explore this treasure. Advantage of coming in December over April, we don’t have to stand by and watch professionals train, we can get in the water!
Our next stop was one of our favorite watering holes, Max’s Conch Bar by the airport. We love to watch Gary orchestrate the making of his conch salad. This time we were smart enough to get a bowl to go! We prefer to sit at the bar with locals and listen to their banter (which we rarely can decipher the slang). Our lunch was fantastic, grouper fingers, peas and rice, crawfish quesadilla and johnny cake.
After lunch required an afternoon float, this time complete with Christmas music. Mike purchased a waterproof speaker to float with us, put the ipod in a waterproof bag and away we floated to Christmas tunes.
After we cleaned ourselves up it was food prep and download/edit a million pictures of the day. As the sun set, we decorated our Christmas tree. This is the first time in 16 Christmases away vacations we have brought items to decorate something. We still have to go beachcombing to get some shells to add to our little tree.
By the light of our little tree we watched the sun set, reflecting on all the fun we had today.
As dinner finished cooking, I went outside to stand among the money moths, hoping one would land on me. We had dozens fluttering about. Bahamian folklore says if one lands on you, you will come into money. I am standing outside every night, waiting.
The sun sank, the glow was serene, the tree twinkled and we reminisced on our day full of a “hole” lot of fun and then some.
CTHikergal Travels 
Wow! Thanks for sharing. Best Wishes for another fulfilling New Year in interesting locales.
Madeleine Scricca
Thank you for reading. Have a great new year!