Bahama Mama

Last Wednesday the 13th my Mom flew down to visit us and spend a week on the boat.  Lesser travelers would not have fared as well but my mom is a trooper and lasted the whole week on the rocking, leaky Bright Eyes.

The first day we put her legs to work and walked the mile to the grocery store giving her a view of uptown Nassau and all our favorite spots.

Thursday we walked downtown and showed her all the cruise ship shops.  On the way we stopped and finally saw the Queens Stair Case.  It used to be a defensive fort and was hand built a long time ago.  We didn't make my mom climb it but we did and got pics from the top.

Most of our nights were spent playing board games with a cooler of beer.  We just found out that the Green Parrot sells a huge bag of ice for $3, gold!

 We played Monopoly, Backgammon, Thraxx, Parcheesy, Rummy, Gin Rummy, Rummicube, Sequence, and Dominoes.  We've seen Dominoes played by the locals at almost every island we visited. It must be the official national game.  So we finally got a set and learned how to play.

Nomy and Nala were glad to have a new friend.

Christine showed off her prowess in the kitchen and made many of our favorite dishes.

The Green Parrot was happy my mom was visiting because we actually spent a lot of money there ordering full meals.  We were glad to order the savory meals we had been skipping over the last month like the Works Burger and Blooming Onion.

My mom got to experience a cruisers sun-downer which is everyone's favorite.  The sunset is always amazing.

Friday we dinghied over to Atlantis in search of a beach.  We found a public one just outside the hotel.  It was swarmed with locals trying to sell you things but we still had a good time. After the 4th vendor tried to rent us an umbrella we finally agreed for $10.  The water felt great as it is our "shower".  We like the empty islands better though when we have the whole beach to ourselves.

Saturday we went back to Atlantis for some more fun.  We took mom to the aquarium now that we know you can just walk in for free sometimes. We saw the huge manta rays and sharks again.

Atlantis also has a free movie theater so we went and saw Rango.  At night we went to a comedy club.  The comics spent most of the time making fun of the audience and the headliner Mutsy was really funny.  We got off pretty easy with just a Marylanders have crabs joke.  

Sunday we relaxed around the boat and let mom have a small rest from her vacation.   Then we made a short walk to the straw markets again and had a final dinner at the Green Parrot.  We all sat around on the internet till the Parrot closed to show mom how we usually chill.

And more family game night! 

Monday, moms last day, we went to Atlantis in hopes to hang out at there beach.  We walked to their beach on Saturday so we thought we could spend the day there but they had staff guarding the beach this time so we got denied.  So instead we went to the Casino and hit the penny slots.  

Our goal was to get free drinks while making $15 last but we only got one round of drinks and then the waitress was nowhere to be found.  But it was our lucky day as we turned $15 into $55 in about 2 hours!  Most of it was my mom who turned her $5 into $45 at one point, that's one lucky mama.

On the way back to the boat across the harbor we got caught in a squall.  We have been watching Tropical Storm Brett hover above the Bahamas so we must we getting pieces of it as it was squally all week.

My mom finally got caught up in one of our mishaps and we arrived to the main ship soaking wet as lightening lit up the sky.

On Tuesday morning my mom caught a cab back to the airport.  She had a great time seeing us and experiencing the boat but we are sure she is glad to be back in the comforts of a real home.  

We are right behind her though as we plan to leave here asap.  There are a few storms brewing around the Caribbean and one potential hurricane that just left Africa.  So we are saying goodbye to Nassau and all of the Bahamas and will be taking off tomorrow, Thursday the 21st of July.

We will be sailing to Ft Lauderdale, without an engine, over the next two days, maybe straight through.  When we get close to Florida we will call Tow Boat to bring us into the harbor and put us in a slip.

Wish us luck for our final adventure!