This morning, the Burnett’s guests were safely delivered into the hands of Mr. Wilson, Eleutheran taxi driver, and now Mel can finally blog as she floats just off a beach on Meeks Patch Cay and gazes at the beautiful…80 foot poweryacht named Pipe Dreams that just pulled up off the stern. Sigh. Better put your plumbing where your mouth is, 20-person-capacity Pipe Dreams, and close those seacocks while we are down-swell of you.
We all had a great time this last week exploring Eleuthera with our old Minnesotan friends Elana and Steven Sour. We learned that to enjoy cruising Eleuthera, you have to have flexible expectations. The availability of rental cars, good snorkeling, or winds from the right direction fluctuates daily. The tourism pamphlets advertise all possible activities and sights with equal gusto, and so patience and exploration is required to find your own list of favorites. For example, un-advertised, Exuma-Sound-side Annie’s Bight had far better snorkeling than either Rainbow Cay or Poponi Beach. Also, the Governor’s Harbor fish fry was fun but felt more like a party on a tourist-packed cruise ship than an authentic Bahamian cultural experience. We are talking “Gagnam Style” people, not junkanoo. Finally, we almost didn’t go to the Glass Window Bridge (it’s just a bridge) or the nearby Queen’s Baths (hot water when it’s hot out? No, thankyou!) but overall they were the most spectacular things we saw.
In the end, though, Eleuthera allowed us to pack a huge variety of fun activities into just a few days, including the essential Bahamas experience of relaxing while gazing at these beautiful turquoise waters. Steven made strides in getting more active after over a year of battling a life-threatening illness, and Mel learned from him that: 1. Saying “I can’t believe you are still alive” to a patient doesn’t go over as well as one might think and 2. She has been cooking food the wrong way her entire life. Elana got to see the little darlings she babysat years ago in Minnesota be all teenagery and complain about living on a boat with their parents, and she helped out greatly in the Great War with the Flies. Greg got to kill a lionfish in Annie’s Bight and get stung by jellyfish in Hatchet Bay, and Mel got to experience what it was like to have sea lice attack her butt. Our guests left with the expected sunburns in odd places, bottles of pink sand, $10 pina coladas in their bellies, and the 600 pictures Mel took on a USB drive. We hope they had as much fun as we did!
For those planning to cruise Eleuthera, gory boat details of our stops can be found by clicking on the “Eleuthera” tab here. Here is a small sample of pictures:
We arrive at Rcok Sound on a rainy day
Our Culligan Water filter cracked and leaked everywhere
We welcome our guests in our guest lounge
Happy to be in the Bahamas!
Like Westley’s eyes in The Princess Bride
We head out anyway
Approaching Pineapple Cays
Looking for pineapples…and a good place to anchor
Elana learns about anchoring
Vacation houses abound
Tippy’s beach bar
No food before 5:30 pm.
Poponi Beach, Eleuthera
Grass. Sea.
Pina Colada in paradise
Mel and Elana
The beach rocks make seaweed salad
Pretty contrasts here
We hike to find the pink sands
Someone’s been beachcombing! Probably at hospital now.
Another hut.
Tourist shot.
We make Steven flex his toes.
The lovely couple.
Allie plays in the pink sand
Allie evaluates the sand
Pink flecks!
Pretty colors as the sun sets on French Leave Beach
Coolest name for colonists ever
Never seen that one before
Old colonial vacation home
Cool door on gourmet store in the middle of nowhere
Abandoned resort. Not Club Med, but still sad.
More hurricane damage.
Call the gardener, darling!
A humble entrance.
Caribbean green.
The landscaping here has a big z axis.
More high-z landscaping
Oh, goody. This and a rental car is all we need.
Rooster at Advanced Learners Center. Smartest rooster IN THE WORLD.
Awaiting the party…
Fish market time at Governor’s Harbor.
Landscaping by the library, Governor’s Harbor, Eleuthera
Cute library, well-stocked
Watermelon. Yum.
Graveyard by the library. Gotta have something to do when you’re dead.
Old church.
Marvin and the only other boat in the harbor.
American police stations should look more like this.
Our guests have breakfast on the lanai.
A short snorkel stop off Rainbow Cay
Love that water!
What is Mel’s house doing here?
Rainbow Cay. Yep. That’s the whole thing.
Hatchet Bay, aka “Jellyfish Fields”
Vinegar on his arms, Greg books it out of Hatchet Bay
Great protection in Annie’s Bight
Heading into Gregory Town to find a taxi
Gregory Town fish market
Greg throws out a stern anchor to keep us off the rough concrete
Cute hotel.
The fishing nets camouflage against the concrete
Wooden fences aren’t the only fences that can be painted, you know
The “fish museum” is an ad for Captain Z
Cute gift shop, Gregory Town, Eleuthera, Bahamas
Yep. Those are the sites.
Marvin in Annie’s Bight
We discover Elana has been snorkeling!
Greg nabs a lionfish and stores it in our containment unit
We decide it is too small to eat
Steven helps us make gourmet pasta instead!
Pretty view from Annie’s Bight
We take a day trip to Glass Window Bridge
More great views from the boat
The bridge
The waters south of the bridge are lovely
Two sisters beach
Allie swam all the way here! (Not.)
Conifers. That’s new.
We find a tiny cave.
Cute sign.
Elana touches the sharp rock, ala Mel.
Like mud, except rock. Cool.
The Eleutheran Adventurers explore the moon.
The Queen’s Baths, Eleuthera
Prepare for lots of pictures of rocks
Elana is happy on her vacation!
Steven surveys the landscape
The kids pick out their favorite pools
Cool, calm water next to crashing seas
Clear reflections
Tiny sea urchins aren’t very welcoming
We look for a sea-urchin free area
Star Trek set.
Beautiful background texture
The sea fills the baths
Rock and minerals get colorful
Allie is determined to find a good spot to bathe!
Layers of limestone
Like a cool Zen desk toy…just 100 times bigger
This cool crab is dead.
Mel and her kids find a bath.
Marvin and Marvin’s dinghy
View from Glass Window Bridge, Eleuthera
Another shot of Marvin
Rock and sea
Ocean side of Glass Window Bridge
Elana and Steven
Some hikers view the ocean side
Last day of vacay! Oh no!
I think Tommy said something snarky here
Glass Window Bridge has been hit by hurricanes a lot
