Company

• John and Cathie came to visit us while we were in the Bahamas. Our friend Manard welcomed them and did Cathie in with his special Goombay Smash.
• Our first adventure was to take the boat to Elbow Cay, where we took a mooring for an overnight stay. Our adventure took them through Hope Town. It's fun to see the reaction of our friends to these little towns. There's the post office, police station and clinic all in the same building; a public dock and several restaurants. We had dinner at the Edge. We have learned to take on the Bahamian attitude. There's always tomorrow. Nothing needs to be done right away. It took us a while to slow down, if you want something done today, plan on having it completed by next week. The Bahamian people should be able to grow very old, they do not let any stress get to them. So we relaxed and just enjoyed a nice slow dinner.
• The next day we went for breakfast at Captain Jack's, this place always makes me think of Billy Joel, you know, "Capt. Jack will get you high tonight." I wonder if Billy was ever at this Capt. Jack's.
• We let the mooring go and are on our way to Tahiti Beach. The white sand and blue water are just picture perfect. We cleaned the bottom of the boat and then just enjoyed the quiet peacefulness of this island paradise.
• We took them to Mermaid Beach and did some snorkeling. John loved it; Cathie swallowed a little too much water and decided to just relax on the beach.
• St Patrick's Day was on Monday. We made corned beef and cabbage with boiled potatoes. We met about 100 people at the tent and enjoyed a traditional Irish feast.

Conch Contest

• Since we got to the Bahamas, Mike has been fascinated with the conch shell. You're only allowed to take dead shells, in other words nothing can be living in the shell. The search was on. No matter where we went on the water Mike would look for shells.
• Each shell he found was set aside for our grandchildren. He spent weeks making lamps and horns. They really came out nice.
• The club had a beach party. We were in charge of a game. We did the one where you had to put the golf ball almost up your butt, walk twenty-five feet and drop the ball into a bucket. I still remember Bill S. getting to the bucket, going to drop the ball and realizing he had already lost the ball. The next game was a play on the 1x6 board with the sneakers screwed to it. Five people had to be coordinated enough to walk together to the finish line.
• The most fun of the night for me was watching Mike enter the conch blowing contest. There were at least 20 people in it. They were judged on the beauty of their conch. How loud they could blow, what length of time you could blow and if you could play a tune. There were two prizes. One for the best and one for the person who needed more practice. Mike won, needing a lot more practice. Maybe next year.

Sock Hop

• When we were kids and dating, sock hops were held in the gym every other Friday night. The Bayview Avenue gym became a dance floor. You were not allowed to wear shoes on the gym floor, hence, sock hop. Now I feel old. We started dancing together back in 1959. Where did the years go, almost 50 years ago.
• The RMHYC had their sock hop in the big tent at boat harbour. Once again the decorating committee did a spectacular job. Most everyone was dressed in what we wore way back then. Poodle skirts and the guys in Tee shirts with the sleeves rolled up. I was a pink lady, just jeans with a pink shirt that said "pink lady." Of course I had a hicky on my neck and Mike's ring on a chain, we were going steady.
• The music did not stop. We danced until our feet hurt. We were picked to be in the twist contest, didn't win, but sure did try.

The airport

• Sitting in the airport waiting room reminded me of the TV show "Wings". The sitting area was shocking orange on the top, like the Home Depot color. The bottom was painted pink. The seats were folding chairs, like the old card table chairs, not made for comfort.
• The same person that sold you the ticket, took the ticket at the other end. She also cleared you for customs and home land security.
• There were 30 or more 10 year old children on a school trip. The public address system announced that their flight was to be delayed due to mechanical problems. They were very well behaved considering they were there for over 3 hours.
• We decided to have some breakfast. It was 8 A.M. so we ordered eggs with bacon or sausage and toast. The coffee was good. The reason I'm mentioning this is to point out what some people eat for breakfast. Pig's feet, steamed bologna, some kind of scary looking fish, chicken souse and grits.
• The plane is a two prop that looks like something the Flintstones would ride in. I still can't figure out how it got off the ground.
• We were back in boat harbour by 11:00 A.M. and in our bathing suits swimming in the pool and having lunch by noon. Hard to believe we were away for 18 days.

Win some lose some

• Because it was a holiday week, we had trouble getting a flight from Nassau to N.Y. The best we could do was Wednesday. We didn't want to stay in Atlantis, it was too expensive. We went to a hotel closer to the airport and in the heart of the action.
• On Monday night we decided to go to the casino for dinner and a little gambling. Mike had a very good night. As you know, there is no place to sit in a casino, I was so tired, sleeping at the slot joker-poker machine. I hated to ask him, but I had to go home. With a little pout, we left. The next day we spent at the pool and beach. At night we went back to the casino. I had tried to get a reservation at the steak restaurant, no go, all booked. We decided to ask if we had any comps from the night before. The hostess looked us up and said yes, she could give us $150. toward dinner. Wonderful, we would like to eat at the steak restaurant. She made all the arrangements. It was great, what could be better than a free steak dinner, wine and all.
• We flew to N.Y. wearing our shorts and sandals, no coats or shoes. It was around 30 degrees. I was so happy that John and Cathie N. brought coats for us when they picked us up.
• We saw lots and family and friends. It was not the way we would have liked to see them. Funerals are never fun.
• Mike and Sean took us to the airport on their way to work. When we got to Nassau we could not get a flight to Marsh Harbour until the next morning. Mike again asked the hostess at the hotel if we had any comps left. She did. Were we surprised when we saw our room. I was just happy staying in it. The oceanfront rooms, overlooking the pool, were from a James Bond movie... Just magnificent. It doesn't get much better than this. Mike played Texas Hold 'em from 6 at night to 4 in the morning. This time he just broke even. We were happy, the stay didn't cost us anything.

When I grow up

• When I grow up, or in my next life, I want to be a dolphin trainer. We went to the dolphin pond and had a great experience playing with them. They actually have personalities. We had an eleven year old boy, Brewer. He entertained us for a good hour. They are like children, they just want to play. We got to pet Brewer, rub his belly, feed him a fish, hug and kiss him. Yes, I kissed him. He could hum a nursery rhyme. (Made me think of Cathy B. and blame it on the Bosanova, indistinct murmur). The instructor told us not to rub him in certain areas, he is a young male and will respond. Brewer danced for us, he jumped into the air and twisted and even walked on the water. I'll never forget this day.
• While on vacation with the kids, Mike's mom passed away. The children left all tan and healthy looking. We will go home in a few days.

Atlantis

• As I mentioned before, we didn't go home for Christmas, which meant we did not see our children since last September. Our whole crew is meeting us in Atlantis, Nassau, Bahamas.
• Our plan was to take the boat to Nassau. We made a reservation at the Atlantis Marina and found out it was $4.50 a foot and a minimum of 40 feet; we're only 33 feet. It's been very windy here and the ocean waves are well over 6 feet. We would have to travel 110 miles in the ocean. It would not be a comfortable ride. A few weeks before the trip we decided to fly over and get a room.
• We arrived 2 hours before the kids. We checked in and then checked the kids in. We had asked for rooms together. What a surprise, the rooms were all in a row.
• We had enough time to put on our bathing suits, get breakfast and check out the place. We were sitting in the lobby when their van pulled up. My God, seeing the children brought tears to my eyes. Mike's eyes looked watery also. We grabbed the grandchildren and took them to our room. Once, Karen H. told me you should always jump on the beds when you go to a hotel. So we all started to jump on the beds, singing "5 little monkeys jumping on a bed." We were having a ball until their parents arrived. The kids got the LOOK. My little angels, I hope I think of them as angels at the end of the week.
• We spent the day at the pool, relaxing and catching up with 6 months worth of stories.
• Every morning we would meet at breakfast. The sad thing was that you had to get a lounge chair early. You had to put some stuff on the chair to save it (books, towels or shirts). It was very annoying because people would save chairs and never use them. There should be a rule against saving seats for more than an hour.
• After the second day the kids were told to buddy up and they could go on some rides without us. After all, they knew their way around better than we did. They found the best stuff to do and were busy all the time.
• One slide took you right through the shark tank. You would be sitting in a tube and the speed of the water would push you through. You look up and the sharks are swimming around you. I think they said it was awesome.
• Another slide had you sit and when the light turned green you would push off. You entered a pipe that was dark, you would go about 2 feet and then you would just drop. It seemed like you were free-falling forever. All of a sudden you were in a cave, it would take a few seconds for you to realize that you should stand up. I heard loud screams on the way down and they were mine.
• In another ride you sat in a tube, actually you were laying down, you went through a narrow opening that you could see through. It was like a roller coaster with twists and turns that made you go up on the side of the walls or banks. I loved it and so did everyone else.
• The best was the lazy river. I believe it ran for a mile and took 45 minutes. On the river you would go through rapids that made you scream with delight. You would get hit with waves that made you go high in the air. The waterfalls came and you got soaked. They had a double tube that was great. We took turns taking the little ones in these tubes.

Black and White Dance

• Commodore's Ball...This year the members that organized the ball made it a black and white theme. You were asked to wear anything you wanted as long as it was black and white. Living on the boat, we do not have any dressy outfits (Mike loves it when I call his clothing "outfits"). Some women actually had gowns and the men tuxedos. Others, like us, wore white Capri pants and black shirts or black shorts and white shirts. We looked OK.
• The decorations committee did a wonderful job. They took twigs and sticks, spray painted them red and made them the center piece. They were surrounded by 3 white candles. The napkins were white with black bows as holders.
• A 3 course dinner was served. The DJ was great, we danced to a variety of music. We were one of the last to leave. We had a 7:30 flight in the morning. I was so worried about over-sleeping that I didn't sleep all night.

Dentist

• I had a loose filling and was worried about it falling out. Of course I had my tongue pushing on the filling all day long. I was like a seven year old playing with a loose tooth. This time I wouldn't get a quarter. Actually I think the tooth fairy now leaves a dollar to five dollars. This time I probably would get a toothache.
• I realized I would have to go to the dentist and have this fixed. To tell the truth, I was afraid. After all we are not in the states. I don't know why but I pictured sitting in the dentist chair, the dentist holding a pair of pliers, with his foot against my chest yanking the tooth out. I made an appointment and several times I was going to cancel it.
• To my surprise, she, the dentist had quite a practice. The office was much nicer than the one at home. Much more modern. She did a wonderful job. In fact it's cheaper to have your teeth cleaned in the Bahamas then it is to have a pedicure!