Atlantis, Bahamas!

My husband is a good man. He is a kind, selfless, good man. He let me go on a girls trip to the Bahamas! And leave the child with him! Eeek! 

Flying over Florida

I felt really guilty going without him, but honestly, we couldn't afford for both of us to go (really even one of us) but with my ticket being half paid for, I really couldn't decline either.

 It was glorious. 

(Except the part where I got the stomach bug for the first 24 hours and was bed ridden, in paradise. I felt so awful and missed my loving husband who would have taken care of me :(  )  Other than that, It was amazing. I had to really pack in the fun those remaining two days. 

We stayed at a 'sister hotel' of the Atlantis resort. Our hotel room door was about 50 yards from the front door of the resort. 

Very cute hotel. I think it was the Comfort Suites. Hardly anybody was in the pool at any given time. They had a bar and a good breakfast and great security. 

But the resort.......

Lawdy lawdy, it was beautiful! Breathtaking! Magnificent! Glorious! Enchanting! 

(That's all I got) 

The artwork was amazing. The sculptures and statues and fountains and ponds! Oh my!

Really, it was magical. I did not have enough time to venture into everything, but I'd love to know how much I walked in those two days. 

Did I mention the day I got over my stomach bug, my companion got sick? Yeah. Sucky. So, my second day was really all just exploring by myself........ 

Cue the song.....

It wasn't bad at all though. There really was so much to explore that I otherwise would not have seen. Like the aquarium! In the hotel. Ah-mazing! 

Remember the commercials? The guests riding down a water slide through a tunnel, inside a shark tank?!? 

 Yeah, I went down that! There are actually two tunnels here, one is a free fall and the other is a tube slide. The free fall scared the snot out of me. Seriously. My bathing suit was wedged up in places it shouldn't have been, and my stomach was in my throat. There was no looking at sharks in that one. When I went over the edge I briefly saw a beautiful view that was quickly thought to be my last. Then it was over. I definitely preferred the tube slide.  I feel old. 😞 However, the tube slide also allowed for pictures of the sharks and the ability to slow down and watch them swim past you. 

That tube behind the shark is the aforementioned slide of death. 

Here is a gorgeous panorama of the beach. This was a public beach in Nassau with zero people on it. It was gorgeous and quiet and peaceful. The resort beach was crowded and busy and had a steep slope to the water. It also had lots of people trying to sell stuff. Necklaces, jet ski rides, swimming with dolphins etc. I preferred this quiet little beach. An aquaintance  of my friends took us for a joyride around the east side of the island. There was some celebration and parade that kept us from touring all of it. We saw some of the nicer neighborhoods, politicians homes, along with the mayors, and also the jail. Lol 

A hermit crab a little boy found and stopped to show me.

I also got stung by a jelly fish. It was a tiny little thing and I can hardly say 'stung by it'. It definitely touched me and I got a little itchy rash from it. My friend said jellyfish here don't sting, but I am allergic to many strange flaura and fauna. 

I'm not much of a gambler, but as I was passing the casino I looked through a window and saw a slot machine that I had to play. It was a Dia De Los Muertos themed slot machine! I went inside and tracked it down only to find it was out of order, and the only one like it there. Argh!

I really can't wait for my son to be older and bring him and my husband back here. Incredible guilt, experiencing all of this and not being able to share it with them. It was a great place for families. 

You really would never have to leave the hotel if you didn't want to. Everything is there. 

On our last day we did leave the resort and went into downtown Nassau. We took a ferry across the channel and had a great little tour by a charming lottle old toothless man. We did a little shopping but the shopkeepers were pushy in trying to sell stuff I was not interested in. I really dislike that. We tried to hit up one of the markets (my favorite!) but they were closing up as we got there. A few ladies in Yates their booths and let us look around and I bought souvenirs from them. We then took a bus to the bridges that crossed the channel. Instead I've going over we walked underneath them to a little row of shacks. 

(Image from google) 

This was, apparently, some of the best food around. It was here I tried my first bite of conch. Just writing about it makes me crave it. It was delicious. 

I had fried conch and my friend had conch soup. The moon was full and amazing over the beautiful waters of Nassau. We chatted with locals and enjoyed a few beers before our long walk back to the hotel. (It was actually not that long, but walking up that bridge was close to torture. It was so steep!) 

(Another google image, it was too dark for any of my own pictures) 

Illness aside, this was an amazing trip. I wish I had more time, and can't wait to take my family back there. I highly recommend you go. (Did I mention there is a lazy river?!?)