CLAIRE, KAY AND KENNY IN GEORGE TOWN; March 9 - 16:
We had a great time with OuR GuEsTs!! We spent the entire week anchored off of Sand Dollar Beach on Stocking Island (across Elizabeth Harbour from George Town). We had tentatively planned to sail to Cat Island after they got here and sail back to George Town at the end of the week. It was a tentative plan contingent on the weather. Well, the weather didn't work out for us to sail to Cat Island. The wind was strong with big ocean swells. That trip would have involved a sail through a cut to the deep ocean (Exuma Sound). We didn't want to risk sea sickness for our passengers and the chance of not being able to get back through the cut in good conditions. Mark and I were disappointed that we couldn't sail with them to Cat Island. Kenny really wanted to see The Hermitage there, and both he and Kay really enjoyed sailing last year. Oh well, we had plenty to do in George Town and Stocking Island, and just being together was a treat!
We got up bright and early our first morning for "Beach Church" on Volleyball Beach on Stocking Island. It was a nice service--the last of this sailing season. The girls got up just in time to go. In fact, we were all getting into the dinghy before Claire even got out of bed.
We were all glad that we went to the uplifting service--even Claire, the sleepy head!
After lunch, we hiked "Treasure Trail" from Sand Dollar Beach to the deep ocean side (Exuma Sound side).
The surf was big!
After some kindle reading in the cockpit, we had a dinner of lemon butter chicken, potato salad and Aunt Joanna's green beans (Claire calls this meal her birthday dinner since it is her request at that time every year) and watched the movie, "Argo". Kenny had brought it to add to Nancy Lu's movie library. We all enjoyed it! We enjoyed 2 other movies in the evenings over their stay--"Once" and "Shawshank Redemption". Unlike us, our guests aren't used to climbing into bed around 8:30 just before cruisers midnight--9:00!
On Monday morning, after listening to Chris Parker and "The Net", we had breakfast and hiked a different trail to "the sound" side. That day the surf was tremendous--a majestic sight!
I took lots of pictures with the camera in a waterproof clear plastic bag since there was so much spray. I couldn't turn off the flash so it effected the photos, but some of them turned out pretty cool.
Even the one with Mr. Creeper!
Back on the other side we did a little snorkeling, had a burger at "Chat and Chill", and the girls laid in the sun...and got burned!
Before we went back to Nancy Lu, we introduced Kenny and Kay to A.J.'s "pet" sting rays.
The next day, Mark proved himself to be the girl's hero by dinghying all the way to George Town across the choppy harbor to get them some aloe vera.
After applying lots of sunscreen, we were out hiking again.
The hike led us to another majestic view!!
After donning our extra sun protection suits, Claire, Kay and I set out to swim back to Nancy Lu from the shore; Kay and I made it! Don't worry, Mark and Kenny picked Claire up in the dinghy.
That night, we had a ball playing Pictionary with cards again as we did last year. We added a new game, "Spot It", this year! It's a blast!
On our last night, Kay won the "Spot It" tournament!
Wednesday, we packed a picnic and went over to George Town. While there, we made arrangements to volunteer at St. Andrew's Anglican School on Friday. We had planned to volunteer at the government school, but the principal was gone. Cleopatra, the owner of one of my favorite shops, "Topical Accents and Gifts" where we were browsing said we should go to the Anglican school. Off we went to talk to Mrs. Rolle, the wonderful and passionate principal there. She welcomed us with open arms!
We did more shopping at the "Straw Market" where local ladies sell their handiwork and then had lunch.
We got our foul weather gear on for the bumpy dinghy ride back to Nancy Lu! It's not cold, but it's unpleasant to get drenched on a choppy ride. I ALWAYS "suit up"!
The next day, we didn't leave the boat since the wind was blowing up to 25 knots.
We got our supplies ready to teach the kids how to knit bracelets and necklaces and played more "Spot It". Kenny was on fire!!
We got up early for our BIG day. We arranged for the water taxi to pick us up since the wind was still strong.
We had a wonderful time with the precious grade 4 and 5 kids at St. Andrews!!!
They were very polite and well behaved.
Ms. Smith, their teacher, was a gracious host to us!
We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!
After our time at the school, we ate lunch at Peace and Plenty, the first hotel on the island, and visited the Annual Music Festival. It was a lot of fun.
A few little girls showed up wearing the bracelets that they made!
We tasted local tea
and cuisine,
did a little dancing and listened to a very little bit of music during the sound check. The real music began after dark and we needed to get back before then.
Sadly, our company left on a water taxi the next morning. This began their 2 day odyssey back to Texas. Their flight from the Bahamas was delayed due to mechanical difficulty, which caused them to miss their connection in Miami. They would have missed it anyway because of the 1000s of people in a SLOW MOVING line at customs in Miami. From Kenny's description of this situation, the experience was torturous for all the people involved. Claire got a migraine sick headache. Kenny ended up spending all night in the airport. I called my cousin, Daniel and his wife, Roxane who live in Miami out of the blue at midnight. They were gracious enough to let the girls come sleep for a few hours in their home. Roxane had given us their numbers when we spent Thanksgiving with them at my cousin Chee-Chee's home in Charleston on our first Nancy Lu expedition. To make an even longer story a little shorter, Claire, Kenny and Kay made it back to Dallas on Sunday night after leaving Nancy Lu Saturday morning. It was quite an experience! In Claire's words, Dan and Roxane are THE BEST people!!
We're staying here a little longer, then most likely, sailing to Cat Island--sorry Kenny! Kay said that the trip last year was all about the peaceful beauty of The Bahamas, and this year was all about power. We experienced the power of the wind that kept us from sailing to Cat Island, but gave us the powerful waves that were so awesome to watch crashing into the shore and the power of the sun that gave Claire and Kay their painful sunburns. I'm going to add to the list the power of special relationships to bring such joy to our time on Nancy Lu!! I thank our mighty and loving God for the blessings of His creation both great like crashing waves and small like simple sand dollar. I especially thank Him for our family and friends--old and new!!
There are many more photos with captions in the photo gallery under the title "George Town"