The Bahamas
Last week I promised to tell you a little about our vacation this week.
I’m not sure how much I should share…or how much you want to hear. We had a fabulous time with some overindulgence involved which happens to be the case sometimes when you’re vacationing.
Our group started as my sister, Jenny, and me, and our children, and their close friends, and it grew a little…18 of us in all with some Monticello connection sailed aboard the Fascination for four fun-filled days.
My truckload left early Thursday morning for Jacksonville. We made numerous stops. Jimmy and I get kidded a lot about our stops…but our bladders are not what they were when we were younger. And, I endured many a car ride with my father being unwilling to stop, and once I got old enough to control my stopping, I decided it wasn’t worth saving five minutes to be miserable. So, we stop.
And, we had a tire leaking air…another stop, well two. And some aggravation. But, I digress. Our paperwork encouraged us to arrive at the terminal between 12:30 and 2:30 for a 4 p.m. embarkation.
We arrived in that window. It was 12 degrees when we left Monticello and was still under 40 in Jacksonville. It was cold.
We didn’t linger in the parking lot, although a few in the party wanted a cheap beer before boarding the boat.
It’s o.k. We all had our own boarding passes, and we knew there was no way to keep 18 people together. That was the joy of the size of our group…it was too many to try to do stuff all together, but there was almost always a familiar face.
When we arrived in Freeport Friday, it was finally warm. Raining a bit, but warm. I, for one, had a blast. It started at Senor Frog’s where one of our party showed off his dance steps, and continued to a casino, where one in our party was very lucky, and then back to the boat for the nine of us who were together then, and Juan.
Juan was the taxi driver’s young son, who rode with us. It’s one of those you had to be there moments, but trust me, any of us nine will break out in laughs when we hear “and Juan.” And, Juan sounds a lot like one, as you may note, so there was nine of us plus Juan to make 10.
We all made it to the captain’s dinner, but we never managed to get us all together for one of their many professional photographers, or even for our own photography, except at dinner when my nephew Trevor took a photo at the end of each table.
It was the only meal everyone made it to together. There was some seasickness, but I took my medicine daily so I did not have a bout.
The next day we really went our separate ways in sunny Nassau.
We were all near Atlantis, or in Atlantis for some time, but some spent most of the day on the beach or in the water, and others were in the casino, aquarium, and the town around the casino admiring the yachts.
Then it was back on the boat for a “fun day at sea,” where we played even more trivia than we already had. We had some great challengers at trivia, explaining why we only came back with one ship on a stick and one medal.
Then it was back to Jacksonville early Monday morning and a return to reality (ugh). And, now, it’s a fun memory, and maybe a repeat next year…at least I’m ready for a repeat, and in cold January is a great time.