Bahamas 2009!

I am just barely making the cut for my post-per-week challenge! Thankfully, I had decided to do one post per calendar week and not every 7 days...

Anywho, as promised, I updated my last post with pictures from the wedding and am back today to blog about my family's trip to the Bahamas. My mother, my Aunt Tina, my cousin Deandra, and I drove to Memphis EARLY in the morning on Monday, June 22, to begin our adventure. We got to the airport a little after 4 AM. We were SO tired. We changed planes in Miami, and then headed to Nassau. We had a fun taxi driver named Stanley on the way to the hotel. Unfortunately, his van was not so fun! It QUIT on the huge bridge between Nassau and Paradise Island! We were literally stuck at the top of the bridge. He finally called a friend to come help, but as soon as he hung up, the van cranked! We didn't have any more trouble with it, either! LOL. It was late afternoon by the time we arrived and got setup in the hotel, so we just kind of chilled that night. Mom went to bed way early, but Aunt Tina and Deandra and I went swimming. It was very relaxing after a long day of travel!

On Tuesday, we were up-and-at-'em fairly early. Our hotel (Comfort Suites on Paradise Island) had free breakfast. Yum! Also, the CS is the only hotel on the island that is partnered with the Atlantis resort. Basically, we saved $$$ but still got to use all of the private, resort-only amenities of the Atlantis. Awesome. Here is a little taste of the Atlantis resort:

On Wednesday, we spent more time at Atlantis's water park, Aquaventure, and the beach. Aunt Tina and Deandra have always wanted to swim/play with dolphins. Fortunately for them, the Atlantis offered it on site. I doubt many of you know this, but when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, the dolphins that were rescued from Gulfport, MS, went to live at the Atlantis. Michelle was the last dolphin rescued during the ordeal, and she was the one my aunt and cousin got to swim with! Mom and I tagged along as the camera crew, so here are some fun pics from their awesome experience!

We also went out to eat on this little vacation. My mother and I planned to split an appetizer sampler thing for our meal because it had several different things on it that we both liked, plus a Bahamian favorite, conch fritters. Now, this was my 3rd trip to the Bahamas, and I had successfully eaten fried conch during trip #2; however, I had never experienced the conch "fritter". Hmmm...

Basically, we had no idea which item on our plate was the conch fritter! I had tried fried conch once before, remember, so I just assumed the fritters were the fried items on my plate. Mom proceeds to try them. "This tastes like chicken," she says. "But chicken tenders weren't on this sampler," I reply. We argue back and forth about this for about 5 minutes until I ask the poor people at the table next to us if I can borrow their menu to check. I was right; no chicken tenders on this plate! It turns out they were just a bonus (I suppose), and the conch fritters were the small hush puppy-looking items on the plate. I blame all of this confusion on Mom's fruity drink!

Thursday morning we took a ferry boat to Nassau, so we could shop for souvenirs at the straw market and touristy places. Here's a nifty little collage of that side trip:

We went back to Paradise Island around 2:00 or 3:00 that afternoon, so we decided to go back to the Atlantis. Unfortunately, while we were there Aunt Tina had a wardrobe malfunction! The plastic clasp on the back of her bikini top broke! We searched high and low and asked all around for a safety pin, all to no avail. Finally, I played Mrs. MacGuyver and repaired it with a Tootsie Pop and the wristband from a waterproof camera. I must say I'm very proud of my handiwork; she was able to wear it the rest of the day and the next day! In fact, my wardrobe fix is still in place!

We spent Friday morning enjoying a few more hours at Atlantis, then we went back to the CS to shower and dress for the trip home. We had a really fun taxi driver who took us on the scenic route back to the airport. Everything was so beautiful. It began raining not long after we arrived at the airport, and our plane to Miami was delayed about 45 minutes due to weather. Once we got to Miami, we were further delayed due to maintenance problems with the plane. We arrived in Memphis around midnight, I think. Thankfully, my ever-energetic Aunt Tina volunteered to drive home! Mom and I finally made it to bed around 3 AM on Saturday!

All in all, we had a great trip, and I'm so thankful that I was able to go back to the Bahamas. It's definitely a trip worth saving up for!

This post took like 5 hours to do, so it might be a few days before the next one!!! ;)