Island Hoppers

After a good night's sleep, we were up and read to explore the northern part of Eleuthera. Since we were not as liberal with the sunscreen as we should have been the day before, we stopped in Governors Harbour for some Aloe sunburn relief at the gift shop and then explored a church that was over 100 years old. There were some youngsters in there practicing for their easter service. It was nice to sit for a second and take in the beauty of my surroundings.

We set out for Rainbow Bay to find the lot that Perri's dad bought in the 60's...this was a MUST since that was the driving force behind our vaca in the first place! I'm pretty sure we found the correct place (or pretty darn close!). What a beautiful place that would be to build a home...ahhhh!

Another quick side road and we were on our way to find Surfers Beach. After telling Kara to just keep going down the road, we realized that it was becoming more and more sandy. We parked our lil red car and walked to a clearing that overlooked the most beautiful waves below. We took a few pictures and decided it was not in our best interest to continue in the car...our hilltop view of Surfers Beach would have to suffice!

Off again, this time with a stop in GregoryTown...home of Lenny Kravitz!! We stopped in a cute little gift shop with reasonable prices. We bought some souvenirs to take home, chatted with the girl that owns the shop and then we were off again.

Next stop...Glass Window Bridge. I have seen pictures of this online, but I was not prepared for the breathtaking beauty of this spot on the island. To the right is the deepest blue ocean you can imagine, crashing waves, whitecaps and all the fury of an untamed sea. But look to the left and you will see tranquil, turquoise-blue sea, smooth as glass as far as the eye can see. Under the bridge the two meet as if lovers seperated and desperate to reunite. AMAZING!!! The three of us just stood in awe, speechless (which is quite a task for the three of us chatty girlz!!).

Back in the car and headed north...we decided to go to Harbour Island. A little bit of discussion, some apprehension on my part and off we were! (We didn't bring much cash with us on this leg of the trip, not many gas stations around, etc....what can I say, sometimes I'm a pessimist). Anyhoo - I think it was $10 each round-trip for the boat ride to Harbour Island. We didn't get a golf cart since it was only about 5 min walk to the beach. What a beach it was!! The pinkest pink sand I've ever seen. We played in the water (it was a H O T day!!!) relaxed on the beach and then began our voyage back "home" to Lil Red.

Being accustomed to our quick shower, crank the tunes, drink a Kalik routine, we were soon dressed and ready to go to the South Palmetto Fish Fry. Many more locals than Governors Harbour, but still fun. We got there in the nick of time for food and ran into our friend Mike. Had a few drinks, enjoyed a good laugh and called it an early nite!! A wonderful ending to our exciting day! (Hope)

Day Trippers

Saturday! Great sleep. However, all that sunscreen I slathered on? Can you say...Ouch? I am burned on the backs of my legs and bum - not good. (Note To Self: more sunscreen) We decided to head out for a bit of a look-see towards the North. We stopped in Governor's Harbour and went in the Islands 1st church? The Episcopalian Church. It was very pretty inside and out, just imagine your service steps away from the ocean! Gift store and then Burrow's for our much needed Aloe and some snacks for the drive. Off again.....beautiful views, you can see the Caribbean in most places from the highway. Queen's Highway not too bad - could be worse, few nutters who want to whiz past - nothing new!
I really wanted to stop in Rainbow Bay and try and find Dad's lot/plot! We think we did, near as dammit. The area looked like a nice spot to stay in - something to keep in mind for next time!
We putzed along the highway and "happened" upon a little signage for Surfer's Manor and beach and made a quick right and careened our way down a bumpy and sandy road. Eventually we came to a turnaround and decided we should stop here as the road turned into a steep, sandy downward slope.....not too good in a Taurus! The view was AWEsome! It was quite a ways down to the beach, there were really nice sized waves (a little out of our element- reminded me of Hawaii) and a gorgeous stretch of beach. It was yet another sight to behold. There must be an easier way to get to Surfer's Beach through Gregory Town! One day.........
We headed into Gregory Town and stopped at a really cute little gift shop, chatted with the lovely girl who owned/operated it, she had actually lived in Virginia for awhile. Super nice gifts and reasonable prices! We got most of our souvenir's here! Almost out of cash, we decided to press on to find Harbour Island.

Next was Glass Window Bridge, whilst we pretty much new what to expect from pictures we had seen, it was totally different to walk there yourself! The bridge has been washed away a few times and rebuilt kinda on top of what was left...Lots of rebar and concrete. The most mezmerizing site and sound was the Atlantic crashing its' way into the Caribbean. Speechless (for once). Was quite the sight to behold. High, rocky cliff on the Atlantic side with waves crashing into the rocks and then rocks making their way down to the calm Caribbean on the other side.



On the road again, we ended up a bit too far to the NE, uncharted territory perhaps? Made a quick "U-Turn" and found the water taxi's for Harbour Island. Kara and I spent most of the cash we had on us in the gift shop so we ended up debating whether to spend $10 each for the return trip to Harbour Island.....think budget vAcA?!?! After a few minutes of indecision we decided it was best to go now as we probably wouldn't drive back up this way! We were all really hot so the water taxi ride was perfect with the nice breeze! When we got to Harbour Island we asked how far it was to the public beach and were told only 5 minutes! The golf carts were about $40.00 for the day - no hourly rates...so we hoofed it! Absolutely charming little island, very quaint and "Up Market", picket fences, lots of flowers and Inn's and people riding up and down the little lanes in golf carts. We made our way uphill (ugh!) passed lots of chickens and roosters and finally found the steps down to the beach. WOW! Just beautiful. The kind of beach you have in your dreams. Pristine pink sand, with aqua waves crashing down. Could not get in the water quick enough! The water was perfect, felt so good to finally cool down. The waves were a decent size and there was a fairly strong current, but we played in the water for awhile finally getting out and relaxing on the sand.
Luckily, the walk back to the dock was downhill! Waited no time for a water taxi back to our car! Bought a nice cold soda from a guy at the dock and hopped in the back for the ride home. I think it took us almost an hour to get from the dock to South Palmetto. The sun was slowly setting - another beautiful day in Eleuthera:)
Once back at Lil Red House we had an ice cold Kalik and started the "holy quick shower" rotation, which we pretty much had down to almost....the last bit of hot water.

Refreshed and starving we headed to South Palmetto Fish Fry. Lots of people again, mostly locals though and not too many tourists or other regulars from Governor's Harbour. It's kind of a settlement thing! We just made it for the tail end of the food, Thank God! Not quite the same atmosphere as Anchor Bay but food was still tasty and we ran into our buddy, Mike, who got us a table and sat with us while we chowed down! They had some live music and Karaoke but the night was slowing down - if there were alot of "night life" here I wouldn't make it - I was worn out and ready to hit the sack.....Perri