Happy Birthday
If Barry had 9 lives, he might choose to live them all here in the Berry Islands. Instead--he got to celebrate the 65th year of his one life here. And what a celebration! We rented a jeep and started the day eating a traditional Bahamian breakfast of fish stew at a 1-table cafe in town. There was even a Happy Birthday banner over the door--as if they were waiting for Barry's arrival!
From there, we drove to see the Sugar Caves on the north end of the island. Along the way, we passed numerous vacation homes brightly painted yellow, pink, or turquoise. These caves are cut-out coral that is extremely sharp--so we climbed up them like old people (Barry was feeling old on his 65th--it only lasted one day). The caves are a type of geological structure we have seen all over the Bahamas--it looks like a giant scoop of sugar has been removed from the coral.
Then we headed south to Shell Beach at low tide--hunting for sand dollars which were surprisingly absent. No matter--this is one of the most breath-taking beaches we've ever seen. White sand stretches for miles, with turquoise and sapphire water crashing upon it.
We ended the day with a spaghetti dinner at our marina. I made two pots of spaghetti for our 10+ guests--boaters on our dock and Meko--the dockhand who surprised us by decorating the tables with palm fronds and flowers! With tiki torches blazing, we all enjoyed spaghetti, a fresh green salad from Christelle (this is a precious commodity in the islands) and a chocolate/amaretto cake baked by Beverly. A happy day!
Meko
Pearl
Pearl, our live-aboard cat, used up one of her nine lives on Saturday night. She's not talking, but here's my guess--one of the local feral cats came to visit. At bedtime, I heard him scamper across the deck, so I got up to make sure all the hatches were secure so no stowaways could come aboard. Pearl was present and accounted for at that time--but she was certainly aware of the visitor. I woke up several times during the night and didn't find her in her usual place next to me--but she has other hiding places on the boat so at first I wasn't worried. Finally, at 5 a.m., I heard some mewing outside of the boat. I opened the hatch to gain access to the cockpit and there sat Pearl. Soaking wet with sticky salt water, her fur spiked out in all directions, she was not happy. We guess that at some point in the night, either out of fear or curiosity, she jumped or fell out of the small ventilation hatch over Barry's pillow. Since this is located at the stern of the boat, just picture Wile E. Coyote. I had read that cats can swim, but I bet she didn't enjoy it! We have no idea how she got back into the boat--but I'm elated that she is back. Another life gone...
Super Bowl Sunday
Lovely start to the day...a double rainbow over the creeks we were exploring in the dinghy. Good luck sign? No...
Even though we are not big football fans (sorry Dan), we like to watch the game and especially the commercials. We have no access to TV in this marina-so when word spread that an enterprising local resident had purchased and shipped a big screen TV and installed it in a shuttered restaurant nearby--we were excited! For $20 each, we could have appetizers and enjoy a cash bar while watching the game. Cool. Several of us met there at 5:45--the place was festooned with balloons and linens covered the tables that surrounded the main event--the big screen TV. Terrific! But we quickly realized that there was no pregame show on that screen...only a warning that the satellite signal was LOST. A couple of guys were hurriedly trying to plug in a new cable-nope, that didn't fix it. Now it's about 6:15--kick-off (somewhere). Barry and a friend tried to help align the satellite--no signal. So, we all decided this IS the Bahamas. Let's eat and have a drink and forget the game. So....
who won? what was the funniest commercial?
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