Sunday, I don't have to run day!

Sunday and no plans! Great. We were going to have a nice "down" day, this ended up being a good thing as our poor Kara woke up swollen! Unbeknownst to her, she had a reaction with one of her meds + the sun. We had to lay the smack down and make her stay inside with Benadryl. We spent our morning sitting or crouching in the sand looking for shells, finding lots of keepers! The water looked super choppy and come noon you can really feel the intense heat of the sun so we went in to cool down and Hope and I needed to address our bug bites. We settled into the two seater and watched a little boob tube, just chillin for a change - you have to keep reminding yourself you are on vAcA! We gathered everything we had brought in our "quart baggies" - we had some witch hazel, mouthwash and the local remedy of using a fresh lime??? I found a plastic fork which ended up being the perfect bite scratcher?!!?? We tried it all.........aaaaggghhhh! The bites were BAD and driving us nuts! Kara was having a nice Benadryl induced nap, so we meandered back out to explore the beach again and ended up in a square lava rock saltwater pool (the Kanucks had told us about it, we had spotted it when the tide was out before, so it was good timing- was super warm and felt great! We floated around in the water whilst the tide was coming in - was spa like:) We were sunburned again from just crouching in the morning, down one side only! OMG! Reapply!!! Hope and I explored the coastline - there is lots of lava like rock - so crocs or watershoes are a must! Kara joined us out on the beach feeling and looking Way better than she did earlier! More shelling - it never gets old!
Next? Yes, "holy time limited shower~n~all", get dressed and we're off to Sunset Inn for dinner. Large, airy & bright establishment, seating on the patio - kinda seat yourself as there only seemed to be one lady serving?!?? Think we got the Fried Conch appetizer, not keen, way too chewy and strong. Maybe if the conch was pounded and marinated a little longer in the lime it wouldn't be quite so chewy? Just my 2 cents worth! I ordered off the smaller "snack" portion meal ($13.00) and it was more than enough food! I had the fried grouper fingers, with chips and a small very basic salad. The grouper was in a nice light but crispy batter, not greasy and very juicy pieces of grouper cooked to perfection! There was a nice breeze out on the patio, the moon reflected on to the waves and the sound never gets tired! Would definitely return to the Sunset Inn. Made our way home and chilled - time flies when you are having fun! No laptops or cell phones......Oh glory be!
Perri Again...

Thursday........in Paradise

We slept well in our rustic surroundings, thanks in part to our imbibing the night before and our getting in and out of Ocean Hole a few times! Perhaps just a little wobbly in the morning but the weather and the view soon put the wind back in our sails! It was closer confines than Seabreeze (2 dbls and one loo) but after seeing our new view we knew we had made the right decision - and not a dog in sight - praise Jah! So for under $300 each person for seven nights (really six @ Lil Red) we were still doing good......there was a few OCD moments but they were easy to pass over due to our private and beautiful tropical surroundings! We vowed never to leave.....
We took our morning slowly - we had adapted to "Island Time". We sat on the deck and were in awe of our view. We finally got our showers in - um....yea long time for us Americans with no water 'cept salt water! We also were "green" when it came to being water conscious while we were there knowing conservation is crucial on Eleuthera! We then made a trip to the newer store in Palmetto. We got some supplies and groceries and then made our way back to the house. It was super sunny and hot (and I was feeling a wee bit hung over - mybad), so we decided to spend a little down time in the house, eat grilled cheese sandwiches, little nap (just cause we could!) and wait till later in the afternoon to go and explore our beach. We ventured out to our beach - we were relaxed and happy campers and there wasn't another soul on the beach! There was tons of cool shells to be found - they were everywhere, and if you bent down (which kills the back and knees) you could spy some real "keepers" - love shelling! We heard some music coming from the cliff - Ya know that "I'm getting my buzz on..let's see how loud I can crank this?!?!? - I'm thinking it was country, some little ditty you'd know the words too.....anyho, later to find out it was the house of an expat going by the name "Cowboy", is a bit of a character there in the middle of Eleuthera! We saw a group of people up above on their deck and we all holla'd "hey!". We were invited up for a drink. It was their last nite there! They were a delightful two couples from Canada. We had a good natter and that's the first time we noticed the "bugs".....noseeum's biting you every second - omg! We were getting eaten alive - the girlz then showed us ALL of their bites!! Worse than Survivor One....huge and blistery AND EVERYWHERE! Out of the four peeps only one guy had NO bites. This was a sign of "bites to come" SERiously!! We moseyed on home and decided to go back to Palmetto to the gas station/store to get a sandwich "to go" and some more Cadbury's. We sat on our little two person couch with one chair and settled in for - yep, you got it.....Survivor. There are some TV shows you just don't want to miss. Yes, I like TV wherever I go. I wouldn't have missed the Fish Fry for it, but for a night when you just want to relax it was perfect. We made our calls home with a calling card we bought - had to check in with the families and let them know where we were now! We watched the sunset on the Caribbean and it was picture perfect, sailboat off in the distance, balmy weather, palm tree......What lucky girlz we were:) Perri

First Nite & Next Very Long Day....Tarpum Bay

We had quite the journey down to Tarpum Bay, each time we stopped to take pictures, all I could think of was how badly I wanted to get into that crystal clear water! And it was HOT! The roads are rough and there are very few signs along the Queen's Highway. We "happened" thru Governor's Harbour and stopped at the Shell Station - only to find out that "everything" is pretty much on a "cash basis!" No Shell cards, no credit cards - just good old cash. Thought at the time the store wasn't that well stocked.....well actually it is! Large selection of canned and boxed food. On the HWY again....seemed like forever to get there, but Hope was doing a great job at driving on the left hand side of the road with a left hand car! We spotted the house and made the correct assumption (quite an easy process of elimination) and we drove on into Tarpum Bay and the lady at the little market let us use the phone so we could call the homeowner's sistah to meet us at the cottage. Had a peek around store, with the occasional cockaroach scurrying by and reminded myself "I am on a tropical island..." Finally met up at the house and all seemed just great! Brand new house! Gorgeous views - couldn't be more private. Whew! We made it! We got our cossies on and ventured out to the beach for a pre-sunset swim. I say swim loosely because the tide was way, way out. So we kinda floated in very warm, clear, knee deep water. It felt so good to let all your worries go and relax.
Next we ventured in to shower and go and seach for some food. Yeah, uh, sorry... no shower tonite. Good old hose rinse off outside, I always get sand in my pants. I think maybe Hope had her eye on me when I walked in the house to make sure my feet were sandless. OCD + SAND=bad mix:} She had already spied the broom. This is our first trip altogether and we all know I am not "known for neatness" so I wasn't too sure what I could get away with.....I didn't want Hope secretly wanting to swipe ME with the broom! We dressed and looked at some great notes & recommendations that had been left for us and we ventured into Tarpum Bay convinced we were all gonna love the fresh conch salad, well Hope and I did - Kara was smart and knew well enough to steer clear! After watching the local "conch maker" we decided against it. We went into the local "order your food to go" place (Sammy's?) and got our food to go. We asked where we could buy beer and we were directed to a little building a block down. Just a few older, local guys drinking beer, and we went and asked for a 12 pack of KALIK and when the guy told us $37 I almost fell over....Search around for cheapest beer - great liquor store in South Palmetto on the left driving North. Hope and Kara got the BBQue Chicken and I got the fried Red Snapper. Was good, prefer my fish guillotined though, and the rice & peas is good but more like brown rice and lentils (actually pigeon peas), and you get a thick chunk/block of mac-n-cheese. Hope put her PJ's on and we were all gonna relax and watch a little TV to wind down. But wait............Yes, that's Hope's ScReAm! Tada....Perri to the rescue. Who knew there were Scorpions on Eleuthera? Sorry, but we had to smush it in half....it had to go and not onto the porch either! Kara and I gorged our Cadbury's Picnic bar (yea! Cadbury's...luv'n it), while Hope nibbled hers and saved for later. ONCE AGAIN....tropical island=bugs! Hers was covered in the AM with minute sand flea thingys - not even rinsable. Needless to say we finally collapsed in bed and slept great.

New day, got up and wandered down to beach with tea in hand - Serenity Now! Was Nirvana! Per Hope, see about the dogs! I have never been so petrified in my life.....We were all in major panic stage - wondering what to do. If we got too deep in the water would they stay on the shoreline? Would they ever go away? They were right on our asses so it wasn't like you could stop to find a piece of coral/lava rock to what......... throw at 5 dogs? WTF?? I was so, so peesed off! I got out the phone book and called the Ministry of Tourism....Hope tells about our adventure where we pretty much got laughed right out of Tarpum Bay at the Police Station. We knew we were not going back on the beach so we decided it was still early enough to "find Ocean Hole" in Rock Sound. We gassed up and went searching. After asking directions, we were on our way again....Think small roads, very small settlements with lots of lefts and rights. We Found It! We were so hot and the water was so inviting we couldn't wait to jump in. Yea....easy to get in but how in the heck do you get out. We looked and talked and lo and behold here comes a group of teens from South Carolina visiting on a mission - all very sweet and polite. They were all lining up getting ready to jump in from the very top and we were asking them how they planned to get out! We couldn't wait for our turn. I jumped off a lower ledge - and managed to get out so we were confident we'd make it. Hope and I jumped from the very top and one of the kids got a great picture of her jumping. Kara came in at the lower ledge - it was a "BIG" jump and you either had to "run at it or jump really far out", at last we were all relaxing in the healing waters of Ocean Hole! What a thrill.

Getting out is very doable - just ungainly, as you can see! And Hope is getting a good chuckle watching me trying to pull my fat arse up! LOL! Then we kept driving looking for a beach and we got way off any beaten track - we were in the middle of knowhere! (Me thinks we were almost to Light House Beach?!?) Wisely decided to turn around and make our way back to the house hoping the issue with the city water had been solved! No water - come to find out there had been a problem with the new city water for quite awhile. Hhmm....doesn't sound good. Luckily after all that ensued we were able to find another place to go.......we got a full refund which had to be "gathered" but we waited patiently...and there was alot of luck involved because Spencer's Lil Red House was about the only rental in our little local booklet left on the counter other than a $500 per night resort! Hope and Kara went on a RE-packing frenzy while I sucked down my Kalik and called Spencer for the ThIrD time telling him we were on our way.............oh and how do we get there? It was a few Xanax and Kaliks later that we arrived (hot and sweaty - no less) at Mate & Jenny's in South Palmetto, ordered a drink and used the phone to call Spencer to "come get us" (we were to return to Mate & Jenny's pronto for a few more cocktails and some friend making). Not much business goes on after 7 or 8 at nite and Spencer was packing to go on a family cruise. He was super friendly and we followed him down a dark and VERY bumpy road to our new humble abode! We ended up closing Mate & Jenny's and making some new friends.........
By Perri

ps. Our new local buddies thought it was really funny that we wanted to jump in Ocean Hole! They don't! We are going to get them to jump in next time!

HOLLA 3

Perri, Kara and Hope

Washington National Airport

Eleuthera Bound!

View From our First Puddle Jumper......


Eight days on an island where none of us had traveled before seemed to be a bit of a pipe dream to say the least. None of us live lavishly. After all, we have mortgages, car payments, kids in college, school, sports......how could we afford it and yes, justify the time away from all of our responsibilities.....Yet, the more we dreamed, the more of a reality it became. Google searches began. Rentals were mused over. Perri and Hope, the masters of the internet, found countless homes to choose from - they had the (then) luxury (prob not best word to use when describing work) of working together and quite handily "worked" vacation home searches into their daily tasks :) Pictures of the beautiful beaches fueled our determination to make this vacation work....and it did! April 8 we were off - driven by our driver Fred (my dad) to National Airport. (I must say, my initial excitement was somewhat dampened when I realized there was no way to get to the island other than flying on a PUDDLE JUMPER. Perri and I even toyed, however so slightly, with going from Nassau to Eluethera on the mail boat!) Excitement won out though and off we went from Washington National to Florida (right off of one plane - straight to the one waiting! Couldn't have asked for that to be better timing), then to Nassau (after drinking Kaliks in the airport parking lot and waiting a grueling amount of time for that little plane) and finally got on board that little plane and off we flew to one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen...

HOLLA......2

I am so excited that we are finally getting this on a blog. We have wanted to share our adventure with everyone! If I ask one more person "have you seen my Eleuthera pics?", it'll be one too many:}
I was so excited when my life long dream to visit Eleuthera became a reality and to make it into an "annual girlz trip" has been ICING on the Cake! We couldn't have had a better "trio". Number two priority on our list was "how can we do this - cheap, cheap, cheap?" None of us are lottery winners....far from it. So we knew we were gonna have to make some compromises..... Lucky for us Hope and I are internet fReAkS! We spent countless hours looking at rentals, together, alone, together on the phone. It became an obsession that we loved. We would send Kara all of the links to what our options were - she got the good part.....veto or keeper! Next was the daily flight check! Ended with a great deal on Spirit Airlines to Nassau and Southern Air to Eleuthera. NOTE: Puddle Jumper in Hope's post! Not for those with "fear of flying" (unless of course you are armed with parachute and xanax.) Layover in Nassau needs to be as short as possible.....airport is hot, there is no locker/baggage options should you want to wander around and find "parking lot/tent" food! But if you want a beer - we highly recommend the Bahamas Beer - KALIK. You can brown bag it anywhere in the Bahamas - HOLLA!! You're on vAcA!! Nobody told us we could bring along one on de plane! Probably for the best though - no potty on puddle jumper... Lots of pics, ohs, ahs and boom you are there. What a beautiful sight flying over the outer islands and seeing all the beautiful colors - we swore we would be able to see a shark from a mile away. We landed at the tiny airport at Governor's Harbour -trekked outside where Kara and I frantically looked for that "hidden lighter" so we could have a much needed ciggie! Hope scouted out the luggage and Kara found our "car rental gal." We were off - wow. LEFT SIDE PLEASE, LEFT SIDE KARA!!

HOLLA....

This year three of us embarked on our first ever "solo" vaca; no kids, no hubbies, no internet, no cell phone...just peace & quiet for EIGHT days!

The idea for the trip started with Perri. Her dad owns a piece of property on the island and she always wanted to go there. Since all three of us love the beach and longed for a vacation...we said "let's just go!" After lots of hours on the internet we found a house and a great deal on a flight.

Our flight left DCA at 6:45 a.m and by 1 p.m. we were drinking a Kalik in sunny Nassau.


Since we were new to traveling to the outer islands, we spent 3 hours in Nassau waiting for our puddle jumper to Eleuthera...but three hours with great friends goes by quickly!!

We arrived in Eleuthera at 4:30 in the afternoon. Happy to feel the warm sun on our face and feel the tropical breeze in our hair. The next eight days will be an adventure that we will remember always.....

Coming in for a landing at Governors Harbour