Day 9 – An Instagram Influencers Kind of Day

So it’s a known fact that we mock influencers. You know the ones that disregard their personal safety, the ones that don’t care about you enjoying a sight while they get THAT photo, the ones that wear the flowy dress with the oh so cute hat that has the other half of their partnership taking the photo from on top of the car or in a contorted position…them. Today, here was made for them, the lighting perfect, locations stunning, little bit of risk taking to get some shots and with the right outfit, WOW.

It began with the moon over the water early this morning.

Followed by a jaunt over to the ocean side to find flamingos, no flamingos but the sun rising over the pond, perfect.

Followed by a lovely breakfast of crepes filled with bananas overlooking the water.

Then a drive over to Harding Beach with a walk.

Which came before the beach walk at Salt Pond Beach.

That was followed by a mid morning exploration at Whelk Cay. We did a bit of snorkeling, which was not instagram influencer worthy, the reef was lifeless of coral and had only a few fish. Also the water was full of garbage and plastic bags. The current was so strong, I was actually motion sick, something that doesn’t happen to me.

After that adventure, we explored the rocks. I was walking above where Mike was, when he yelled “come down here, I found an instagram influencers dream location.” So down I went and yes he was correct it was pretty amazing under the arch. Sadly we didn’t have the “right” outfits, just our swim sun protection outfits on.

Arch photos were followed by exploration of the rocks, Mike figuring out how to safely get in the pool of water (it wasn’t safe, he didn’t) and then lunching out on the rocks.

It was a full morning that stretched into early afternoon that also included doing laundry between beach visits, but really who cares? We returned back to home base, to have that instagram shot of a beer and relaxation.

Dinner was amazing dish of a lentil pepper casserole thingy, but not really up to par with our lunch time view.

The finale of the day was sunset, any sunset here would make an influencers heart go pitter patter.

We are ok not being those influencers, I’ll stick with my coffee with a view influencing thank you very much!

July 17, 2019 0

Day 8 – Always good to say when we come back…

It is our last full day here on island. The time flew by perhaps because we were so busy and didn’t give ourselves a lot of down time to just sit on the porch and read. We repeatedly said when we come back we will do this and that. However this time we added well maybe we might spend a day sitting and reading next time, that was new to our sayings on the island.

We began with our last coffee at Dean’s. We’ve really come to enjoy sipping our first cup at Dean’s in the morning.

After Dean’s we went to the Souse Out put on by the Ladies of the Friendship Center to grab some souse for dinner. We picked up a mutton and chicken one.

We had to swing by the cottage to drop off the food and plan the day. While at the cottage we had a baby goat visitor, he stopped by, drank some water, cried a little and wandered home.

We mapped out our route, starting at Hardings Beach in Salt Pond to hike around and see the amphitheater of the sea. It was a great area to explore.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

We returned to the highway and cruised our way down to Millerton School Beach. We had a quarter-mile hike in to get the beach. The trail was lined with cactus and bromeliads. We ate our lunch here, dodging the sand bees that were flying all over.

Today’s adventures had tuckered us out, so we headed back to go for one last dip in at Dean’s Blue Hole. On our way back, we decided to follow the signs for J’annte Straw Creations. I am so happy we did, her work was extraordinary. Her plait work was beautiful, even standing around a dead hog in the shed while looking at her work didn’t faze us. I picked up a clutch, which I will never use as a clutch and two placemats.

We made it to Dean’s mid afternoon and the place was packed. We had about 15 people there, the most we have even seen on any Long Island Beach. The current was very strong so we only waded out a bit and didn’t collect any sand dollars.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

We didn’t stay long, headed home and started the painful task of packing. I had 17 sand dollars to take home, however we couldn’t fit all of them in a container, so I had to choose five to stay behind, that was a woeful task.

Our vacation has ended, tomorrow we head home to cold (why hasn’t spring stuck in New England?) but I will carry in my heart all the amazing memories we created and know there are more to create when we return.

April 14, 2018 0

The End to 2017

At 4 a.m. the moon woke me up to say goodbye to us and farewell to 2017.

We formally awoke at 5:30 to begin the process of leaving this little cottage by the bay. But first we needed coffee!

We finished the packing, last bits of cleanup and headed out around 7:15 a.m. for the airport. I said my goodbyes to this lovely place and the minnows that hung out in the little cove.

It was a bit chilly this morning, it did drop to 60 on our way to the airport. Though 60, 62 was nothing compared to what we returned home to.

We were the first to arrive at the airport. Our plane to return to Nassau was a bit bigger this trip (we took a 9 seater over held by duct tape), I think this was a 19 seater.

Once we landed in Nassau we had plenty of time to eat an early lunch and I had to purchase a long sleeve shirt, to wear under my lightweight hoody to have an extra layer on for when we landed in Boston.

The sunset as we flew was a vibrant color, followed by twinkling lights over cities.

We landed to a chilly 10 degrees in Boston and once we arrived home it was down to 4. Hopefully our memories will keep us warm over the remainder of winter. I think our favorite memories are all the new beaches we explored this trip.

Wishing everyone a happy and adventure filled 2018.

January 1, 2018 0

Explorers

Not the best title, because we do explore everyday it seems. However today we even explored below ground.

We started off the morning with a stroll and a hearty breakfast before heading off to the farmer’s market for some straw goods.

After the farmer’s market we decided to do some cave exploration, right in Salt Pond. We parked at Hillside Market and walked south to the path by Seaside Auto. We took the path down to the cave.

We grabbed the rope and in we went. We didn’t explore to far, but it was enough for us. Ok I was freaked when I heard the bats and they started flying. I called it done for me at that point. We brought a headlamp and a flashlight, plus wore hats and closed toe shoes.

After our adventures in caving, we headed back to the cottage to pack up for the next part of the day’s adventuring, new to us beaches. We did have one stop though, to meet the caretaker of the cottage we rent. She owns a really cute 4 unit guest quarters a bit down the road. Something to consider for rental if we return on an April break.

We headed up south again and our first beach today was in Morrisville. As we drove in you could see offshoots of roads that at one point someone had planned to build houses. There was a wreck offshore that the ospreys converted into their home. It was a beautiful beach and if it was just a bit calmer we would have snorkeled here.

Our next beach was Cabbage Point. At one time this was going to be a big resort, it appears. You could see the beginnings of a wall, guard houses and roadways in. Two locals were out fishing and this was the perfect shelling beach. I could have spent hours here searching for shells, but my Irish skin was calling it quits after 40 minutes out there.

After our walk it was time for lunch and we headed over to Max’s Conch bar for one last nibble. I had the best conch burger ever and Mike enjoyed wahoo with amazing johnny cake.

I wanted one last stop, a place we drive by every time we go up south, a small gift shop, Judee’s. I love the straw work of the island and wanted to see if there was anything we “needed”. I am so happy we stopped in. The woman told us this used to be the old Deadman’s Cay police station and she converted the holding cells into display rooms of Long Island History, it was awesome. I did pick up one more straw item and a seashell Christmas ornament.

We returned to our cottage for our last float of the vacation. Mike started the packing after we cleaned up and I started the picture uploads. We watched the sunset, had leftovers and did the last bit of cleaning up before we leave in the morning for home.

It was another great day of being explorers, discovering a cave, finding new beaches and supporting the local economy.

December 30, 2017 1

Carry a Spider Stick

We went adventuring today and remembered a little to late to always carry a spider stick when adventuring in the Bahamas. So if you are walking a path overgrown, carry a stick to clear the way of spider webs because some of those webs have very big owners! More on that later.

My morning started at 2 a.m. with a wake up call from the moon. He decided to shine on only my side of the bed and boy did I spring out of bed, not realizing at first what the bright light was. I got up and closed the shades, hoping to fall back asleep before Stu, the rooster woke us. Yes, we call him Stu, because I am threatening him to put him in a stew pot very soon.

Morning started with the stroll, coffee with the minnows and breakfast of eggs and potatoes.

Our first stop of the day was finding Adderley’s Plantation Ruins. In April we tried, but didn’t succeed. It helped this time because it was low tide, Easy to find the path into the ruins at the end of the beach at low tide.

We were impressed by the signage and the trail leading up to the ruins, but once at the ruins, it was very overgrown and this is where we realized we should have been carrying our spider stick, but more on that guy later. This is not a place for flip flops, had to have water/hiking shoes that handled the terrain. We then walked over to Adderley’s Dock and walked back to the car via the beach.

After our jaunt back to the car the next adventure had us finding the Old Millerton School Beach. We knew to stop at the old yellow school and go to the right of the school to find the hidden path. Well better directions would inform one to pull in at the Bunches/Millerton Settlement sign and go to the right of the dilly tree.

Once we found the path, first thing we did, was pick up a spider stick to lead the way, clearing the path of spider webs and their owners. The path was about a quarter of mile to the beach and it was filled with unflowering bromeliads.

Really the path starts here

here is what the path looks like

The beach and water were stunning, well worth the little walk to get to it. The best part was no one was there! We had lunch, went for a snorkel and walked the beach.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

We decided we had one more stop left in us, just decided to pick a road and go down it Atlantic side. We ended up at Kings Bay Resort.

If you can’t tell by the above photo, it is abandoned, well sort of. After walking the beach, a car pulled up, the owner of the now defunct resort. He wanted to know if were investors and were looking to buy his property. We disappointed him by telling him no, we were just out exploring. We told him he had a beautiful spot, but hurricanes and mother nature claim it back so quickly. His place was destroyed in Hurricane Joaquin in 2015. He let us know the sea rose to the height of the palm trees, yikes.

After that encounter, we left, as we were on private property and not investors. Once home we did our usual, go for a float, clean up, download pictures and nap.

Sunset arrived and we admired our second to last one, till next year.

And if you are still wondering about the title, well this is a Golden Orb Spider we ran into at the Adderley’s Plantation Ruins. I almost walked right into him, Mike did catch a corner of his web. Luckily Mike was able to grab a stick and remove the part of web that he was entangled in, before it upset the spider. So remember when walking on a path, carry a spider stick!

December 30, 2017 0

Being Us

Today was us being us; explorers, awkward tourists, adventurers, and admirers of nature.

The day had our typical start, morning walk on the path way overlooking the ocean, a big breakfast and figuring out the day.

Our plan was to revisit the Columbus Monument down North, maybe get a snorkel in the bay by it and then just meander back. Last April when we visited here, the winds were blowing and there was no chance of getting a snorkel in. The two mile beach road in was just as bumpy and crazy as we remembered. Good thing our rental car has been seasoned with lots of Long Island scratches before we rented it, today we added a few more. The drive is worth the view.

After our walk about, we headed down to check out the water conditions. It was a little choppy, but we knew we didn’t want to make this drive again this trip, so into the water we went.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

After drying off, Mike and I decided to drive to the end of the road. Last time we didn’t because we hadn’t done our research, well Mike researches, I just say “sure”. He had looked on Google Maps for this trip and noticed that at the end of the road, you could park and walk over a busted bridge to a Newton Cay Beach.

What we didn’t expect was a bar at the end of the highway. The flaps were down when we stopped, but we decided after our adventure if the flaps were up we were stopping in.

We could see three men cleaning conch as they waved at us as we crossed the busted bridge to walk Newton Cay Beach.

We walked the bay and then Mike explored further on to the Atlantic side. The place was beautiful, minus the piles of trash that had washed ashore.

across the bridge and follow an unmarked path

Once we returned the flaps were up on the bar. Mustering up our courage, we went up to the bar and one of the men asked what we wanted, we of course knew only to reply “two Kaliks, please”.

yes we have the beer with a view

3 guys pounding conch

side of the bar

At this point, after drinking most of the beer, we became that awkward tourist, do we ask for food or not? People are eating plates of food, people are smiling at us, the kids running about are talking to me, one guy’s shirt reads” Busted Bridge Bar and Grill.” We do an internet search, but nothing comes up (yes we had 3G service). I muster up the courage and ask if food is available, I get a reply of a smile and a woman runs to get food of two plates. She plates up the rice, fish and coleslaw and apologetically says “island style”, to which I replied ” the only way and thank you.”

We were asked a few times if we enjoyed it and I think our smile conveyed we loved every bite of the fish, coleslaw and rice. When our plates were clean, minus the bones, one of the ladies approached and told us that the bar just serves drinks. This was a family picnic and would we like to try the conch salad. Well it became awkward for us, but if they offered us salad, I guess they liked us? It was the best conch salad we have ever had.

We thanked them many times over and asked for our bill, $10.00. They let us crash a family picnic, served us food, beer and it was 10.00? We couldn’t stop smiling for having this amazing experience and then we frowned for being that awkward tourist. We’ve read Long Island has the nicest people and today proved it.

Our plan was to find Adderly Plantation Ruins, but we were very tired from the walking, the snorkeling, the people watching, we skipped the ruins and instead drove around Stella Maris Resort Club, to see if any of the rental homes were appealing. And none were, there was no beach to walk on, so that knocked that place out of the running.

We thought we could handle one more short beach exploration walk and stopped at “Cruisers” beach. “Cruisers” beach is a beach we see every day from our screened in porch on the other side of Thompson Bay. The path to the beach is marked by buoys and there is even a fresh water well on the trail to the beach.

At home, we quickly unpacked the car and jumped into the water to cool off, after our five hour adventure. I had to have a nap after all that and Mike lounged about.

Sunset was subtle, dinner was leftovers and it was a quiet night in the cottage by the bay. The quietness allowed us to reflect on our explorations, adventures and experiences of being awkward tourists, us just being us.

December 28, 2017 1