Green Turtle Key, April 15, 2012

Why we came to the Bahamas.

So here we are, playing the waiting game at a popular and age old lodge/resort on Green Turtle Key. Our stay has been nice, staff is great and they run this more like a resort than a marina in a hurricane affected island. Irene and storms since the twenties have decimated the history and the natural beauty of the small settlement of New Plymouth, sister city to Key West. Thanks to those storms, everything is new and freshly painted or replaced, you would never know the club isn't new but decades old.

The resort offers a "dock and dine " program: deduct everything you eat and drink from your dockage fees. We should stay for free if we eat often enough. The fun part is we have meals with new dockmates, and once again, we learn a lot! Water is 20 cents here and we finally had to fill up. Laundry is $10 a load so I am washing on the boat; I did the math and it is cheaper.

The winds have howled so we have not really enjoyed the pool or beaches as much as you all think we are. We rented a golf cart to get around and today we went shelling for sand dollars. Our net was minimal but our views: priceless.

Rick will bonefish in the morning, I cut out a quilt to sew tomorrow, and we are excited for Tuesday's calm winds, then . . .

Our plan is to sail just twenty miles to the infamous "whale" on Wednesday. Winds look to be in the right direction for this narrow passage and we will have given the seas time to settle down. Once inside the Sea of Abaco there are several great places to visit but we are now on a short time frame so Hopetown Harbor is our destination. ' Can't think of returning yet, I feel we just got here after years of planning and 6 months of travel.

The view of New Plymouth at the top of the hill.

Crazy Love Bakery

Historic home of Nevels Chamberland,
unpopular Prime Minister before Winston Churchill,
now covered in a giant Philadenreon vine.

Shelling at the beach on the Atlantic side of the island.