Hello, friends! I’m straying a bit from my usual inspirational-type blogs to do something a little more fun! As you may have already read in an earlier blog here, my husband and I recently returned from a trip to an all-inclusive resort, Sandals Royal Bahamian. I wanted to share a few more details about our experience – the good (most of it), the bad (well, a little), and the ugly (mainly just consisting of sunburn and sickness). Below is my report for Day 3.
You can see Day 1 here.
You can see Day 2 here.
DAY 3: Venturing outside the resort…
We had already decided that today would be a shopping day in downtown Nassau. We decided we would have a sit-and-be-served breakfast at Bacarrat, where we had such an enjoyable dinner earlier. The food itself was great, but service was a bit slow, and those same windows they sat us in front of for dinner a couple of nights earlier were brutal when the sun was pouring in from them in the morning. (Maybe they could add some shades for breakfast service?) We actually spent our indoor breakfast wearing sunglasses. Again, a sign that we should have eaten the buffet every day.
After breakfast, we headed out to the street in front of the resort to catch the #10 bus (NOT 10A, mind you) to downtown. It’s cheap transportation ($1.25 per person each way). We had to check out with security before we left, so they would let us back in and probably so they can make sure we get back and don’t get killed or anything. The plan was to shop primarily in the straw market. I guess my last two times in Nassau taught me nothing because I completely forgot that I despise the straw market with my very being, and it was even worse than I remembered. They really hound you to death to buy something and don’t really like it when you negotiate. We did buy a couple of things, but then I started getting claustrophobic and tired of the hassle. (Somebody needs to tell them that people like me are much more likely to buy something if we are given a chance to browse uninterrupted.)
We ended up going into several of the stores on the street and finding what we needed. Some of it was a little pricier than I would have anticipated, but at least we had air conditioning and personal space. We got souvenirs for ourselves and a few others back home (mainly our sweet boy), and then went to an ice cream parlor to get some refreshment. It was located in the upstairs of one of the stores and had a balcony overlooking town, so that was a nice break.
We caught another bus headed back, which turned out to be a bigger adventure that we had planned (or wanted). The guy didn’t stop at our resort or ask if anybody needed to stop so we rode an extra 15 minutes or so until he circled back around. It was more than a little frustrating because we were hot and hungry. When we finally made it back, we dropped off our newly bought items in the room, changed into swim suits and cover-ups and went down to get pizza at Bella Napoli near the beach for lunch. The service here was less than spectacular, but the pizza was amazing! Plus, we had a great view of the ocean while we ate. I highly recommend the Hawaiian pizza, while Scott had some sort of meat lovers pizza that he really enjoyed (can’t think of the name).
After lunch, we decided to take advantage of one of the included activities at the resort. (I mean, you can’t lay around and relax 24/7, can you? Scratch that…I could very well do that.) Anyway, we looked at the options and decided on the water trike. It was a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. I think it counted as “leg day.” It was pretty short, but enjoyable. I think we both ended up wishing we had done the catamaran ins
tead, but by this time we were pretty wiped out.
Of course after all that activity, we needed yet another nap (are you sensing a pattern here?). Then we got ready for the cocktail party and dinner being hosted by Scott’s superiors from work. We dressed a little nicer for this. It took place near the quiet/arctic pool and was quite nice once the sun went down. The steak dinner was great, and it was nice to hang out with everyone since we had seen them all sporadically here and there for the most part. Scott wanted to hang out at the piano bar with everyone again afterwards, but I still wasn’t well and was pretty much wiped out by then, so I stayed in the room while he went off to have more fun. I still had a great time in spite of my sickness, but it really did sort of put a damper on things.
I expected to go to sleep early that night, but then I started watching that dang NCAA basketball championship game with our neighbors to the north, the North Carolina Tarheels. The game got good so I was drawn in all the way up to the “One Shining Moment” montage at the end. I’m a sucker for a good ball game. Unless it’s soccer.
So anyway, that made for another late night, as Scott came in sometime after the game was over. We would accommodate for our late night the next morning, however.
She Who Has Believed 