Goodbye Girlz

Packing sucks, but leaving the Island groove is harder! Flight wasn't too early but we got up and got it together in good time. The weather was a somewhat cloudy and it was as if the ocean was telling us to go, it was choppy and windy. After cleaning up at Spencer's and stripping the beds we did another quick check.....yep it's time to go. With a little time to burn we headed to the little gift shop in Cupid's Cay next to the docks. The tide was coming over the road in Governor's Harbour and there was even a poor guy trying to bail the water out of his rowboat, there was a storm a brewin! We went to Banks Road Deli where they had some really cute little souvenir's and fresh croissants etc...Got Mike a Kalik beer mug here - good price and was able to squeeze it into my case! After driving as slow as we could we finally arrived at the airport for our departure. We were all a bit nervous as the wind has really kicked up and knew we were in for a "bumpy" ride back to Nassau. DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE!!! Kara and I smoked as many ciggies as we could and boarded the plane with everyone else (including an old guy in a genuine Scottish Kilt! Holla!) The ride was a bit bumpy on the ole prop plane - but have experienced worse! Customs in Nassau was torture - and quite unpleasant actually. Kara ended up checking her bag as they wouldn't allow shells. I managed to make such a commotion that Hope was able to sneak her shells back in her bag. Customs in Nassau SUCKED! We had a very long 3 hour wait - no real food there to speak of - we made mental note to try and bypass or shorten our stay at this airport on the next trip. Felt like a long time to get home - and it was a long day. It's definitely worth trying to the most direct flight you can even for a few extra $$'s. Can't wait till next year's "The Girlz Do Eleuthera vAcA!!!"
Perri

Relax or Panic....that is the question

Wow!! Today is our last full day and night here...where did the time go? Do we panic 'cause our vacation is almost over?? No way! Being the adventurous girlz we are, we lounged around in the morning and then threw our snorkel gear in the car. We decided to head south and find somewhere on the Atlantic to snorkel. After all, there are beaches down just about every road in Eleuthera.

We ventured down a lonely road, as we have pretty much all week and came to a clearing where another car was parked. Having been the only ones on the beaches all week, this was somewhat of a surprise! A couple was coming up the hill from snorkeling and told us it was a good spot.

After being chased around by bees for a few minutes, we were able to secure our gear and hit the beach. We were just south of Windermere Island; there was a reef that was keeping the larger waves at bay, so the water was very calm.

We snorkeled for hours...even in the rain (very quick passing shower). We found conch, sea biscuits, sand dollars and shells. I got stung on the rump by a pesky horsefly and my ears got so sunburned...(note to self: next year apply sunscreen on the ears!!)

Since it was our last night we wanted to do it up "big" so we went to Tippy's for dinner. Now, I must say...I was not that impressed. Their food is so-so, service is not great and the prices are quite high (remember: budget vaca!). We had an appetizer, salad and meal (no alcohol) and our tab was $99 for the three of us. Not bad, but our meal at Sunset was much tastier and a better price.

Tippy's is on a beautiful stretch of beach on the Atlantic side of the island - quite windy (see BIG 80's hair in photo below) - but beautiful. This is a happenin' place with locals and tourists alike...I'm thinking the bar is probably the big attraction.

Back to Lil' Red for some preliminary packing, a Kalik on the deck and a good night's rest!

TGIFFF...

We were up pretty early so we could go to Island Farm. Before showering and heading out, we had to sit on the deck to enjoy our island paradise....I think we are still in awe of beautiful Eleuthera.

Every Friday they have warm, fresh bread available for sale as well as local jams/jelly's. They have lots of plants and vegetation at the farm as well. Perri (?) inquired about a mango coconut..."what's that?" The lovely gentleman pulled out his machete...(RUN PERRI RUN!!) Just kidding...but he did pull out a machete and carved away the outer layers to poke a hole in the coconutty thing...then he put a straw in it for the three of us to share. It was a different flavor; sweet, salty, fruity, pithy...hard to describe, but tasty nonetheless.

After we left the Island Farm, we drove down the highway and found ourselves at Unique Village. It's on the Atlantic side of the island and we got our first view of actual waves. The Atlantic side is such a stark contrast to the Carribbean side - deep blue ocean, crashing waves, pink sand and a constant breeze. The untainted beauty of Eleuthera is beyond words. Standing on the hill looking down at the waves, I felt such peace and tranquility. It's as if we stepped into the enchanted garden (where's Eve?) - From there, we drove around a bit and then headed back to our beloved Lil Red.

Of course we had to indulge in the yummy breads we purchased...and OH YEAH...that danish butter was soooo goood on the fresh bread. I made a grilled cheese, 'cause...I like to eat! Next we got on our suits, grabbed our snorkel gear and headed to the beach.

Getting in the water was a little challenging - it's not very easy to navigate over coral with flippers on! We didn't go out very far but we saw a stingray, sea fans, coral and various fish, but not as many as I thought we would. Our adventurous nature kicked in when we navigated around the bend to Palmetto Point Beach. On the way back the tide must have started coming in because it felt like we were swimming in one of those endless pools (against the current), and to top it off I realized we were all SURROUNDED by jellyfish. Now either they were too little or not of the stinging nature because we made it back unscathed, but it definitely freaked me out.

After getting back to Lil Red (my legs were tired from all that swimming!!) we jumped in the shower, cranked the tunes, cracked open the ice cold Kalik and got dressed to go to the Friday Fish Fry in Anchor Bay.

We arrived to see a lovely mix of people, we even bumped into the lovely couple we met at the airport! We placed our order, had a beer and ate like we hadn't seen food in days!! We had worked up an appetite snorkeling.

The funny thing was you could get two Miller Lite's for $5.00...but the Kalik and Rum Bubbas were close to $5.00 each.

But if you are in Eleuthera you definetly need to put this on your list of things to do!!

Friday and the Fish Fry

Have made it to another day! Slept pretty good, little itchy. Hope - well, she didn't sleep so good. Seems her OCD got the better of her when she examined somethings a little too closely - noseeums and/or sand fleas...RotRow. Kara and I decided NOT to inspect anything too closely! We joined Hope on the deck to see the lovely pictures she had taken of the SunRise, fully aware of the fact that we would only be observing the Sunset:) Once again we had a nice little wake up marvelling at the colors of the Caribbean right in front of us! It certainly doesn't get old! We decided we would try and find the Island Farm and some of the homemade bread we kept hearing about. We drove our new way around past Dolce Vita and past what kinda resembles a white, deserted quarry of sorts. At times not really sure if it was a road or not....Made our way back to the Queen's Hwy. Found farm no prob...quite a few people milling around and purchasing fresh veg and fruit as well as lots of yummy bread and jam! Smallish loaf is about $6 and worth it. The kind gentleman who runs the farm, lots of local varieties of plants, flowering shrubs and trees gave us a fresh "mango coconut" - we shared, it was sweet and different. We moseyed around and enjoyed looking at everything and asking lots of questions about the names of the plants.

We hopped back in our Hoopty and headed for North Palmetto so we could see how accessible the Atlantic was. We happened upon Unique Village and had a peek around - didn't see a soul?!? Picturesque with incredible views, steps long way down to beach - beautiful contrast to the Caribbean side! We drove on, there were lots of "private driveways" along that stretch of road. We stopped at the "big tree" and I think one of us got a pic. Cruised the rest of the way back home and ate some more bread smothered in lovely Danish butter and jam!!

We all dug out our snorkel gear and slathered (we thought) on the sunscreen. I wore a tee because I already have some bad memories of snorkeling for hours with a bikini on (years ago) and getting fried. We headed out to our beach - navigating your way past the rock and/or spiny coral can be a bit tricky! Not too far and there was a ledge that dropped off quickly from knee/thigh deep to over 6 feet. It was great - water was perfect and calm and there was lots of coral - saw a stingray, few Trigger fish, schools of some small fish, Trumpet fish and lots and lots of very small clear jelly fish. Was a bit panicky when I looked at my girlz and saw they were surrounded - which obviously meant I was too...but either they were non-stinging variety or too small, wee bit of luck there. Lots of coral and sea fans but did not see as many fish as I thought I would. We didn't go too far out cause we are weenies and felt more comfortable staying near the rock, although we did go quite a long way around the bend to the next beach. We only realized when we started heading back that the water was a bit choppy now and the beach seemed a little further than we gauged! Our legs would certainly feel this the next day - and we knew we would sleep like the dead that night! We straggled back to the house, shells in hand, and had a beer and mused over our findings. Next was the "holy quick shower and shave" rotation, with IPOD tunes cranking to get ready for Anchor Bay Fish Fry in GH. Thank Goddess were are low maintenance girlz! We had our island groove on, our Kaliks nice and cold and we were off again (on the left, remember!)
I DO IN NO WAY CONDONE DRINKING AND DRIVING! ALWAYS FIND A SOBER DRIVER:)

Lots of cars already there, and music coming from huge speakers in the street. Lots of people mingling, tourists, expats, locals - great mix! Great vibe - a lovely couple we had met at the airport who are regulars on the island, gave us a shout out and told us how things worked - am sure her name sounded like a flower?? what was it? Bob and ??! Gotta get in the line to get your meal (after getting your drink - beers/rum bubbas pretty much US bar prices) write your name down on a styro box and tell them what you want (over the very loud music).
God only knows how they remember what everyone wants - mostly women getting all food containers ready and taking orders - they worked incredibly well together and were very friendly. I asked if I could just "try" one conch fritter as we weren't sure we would like them....and she was super nice and gave me one to try! Conch has quite a chewy consistency and is a little strong in flavor, in my opinion, but after trying others these were the best - they had a nice peppery bite to them. The meals were $10 each - great deal. You had your choice of fried red snapper, grilled pork chop or BBQ chicken and conch fritters with a side of coleslaw, potato salad, rice & peas or a block of dense mac-n-cheese. I had the chicken and coleslaw and it was fantastic - and I was starving after all that snorkeling. We stood in the sand at a wooden thingy and ate like we hadn't seen food in days- BBQ sauce EVERYwhere!! Yummy. Fully sated, we wandered back to the "tent" area for another Kalik and a port-a-potty break...(fyi- by evenings end, to some, the ocean was the port-a-potty- Uh....AWKWARD) Music was going full blast now, we mingled and chatted with lots of people and took lots of pics with people. Who saw the Steven Spielberg look-alike? Hope? Kara? dragged me over to take a picture with this nice stranger.....I'm like - you girlz - this is so Not Spielberg.....SMILE = click!! We were having fun! We gave a ride to a new buddy, Mike, who was going our way and just happened to be friends with the people we had met at Mate & Jenny's. Exhausted - we collapsed. Even Hope managed to "forget" about the bugs and go to sleep. Ready for another day!
By Perri