"Back from the Bahamas"

Never thought those words would be coming out of my mouth:-). For Ess Gee's 40th, his New Yorker dream from way back was to take a cruise to the Bahamas. This dream probably sprung from thirty odd years of freezing cold winters with hallucinations of clear blue waters and sun-deck tanning. So last week, we made the dream come true:-)...five nights, six days, out of Charleston, SC, to Freeport and Nassau Bahamas.

Observation, highlight, and surprise:

A cruise, at least in our case, seems to be less about the ports of your vacation, and more about cruising. We spent such a small amount of time in Freeport and in Nassau that we didn't really get to soak in the culture of the place. Sure, we took a glass bottom boat and ate conch fritters and walked along advertized beaches, but I thought we'd get more neighborhoods and favorite local spots and real time spent in these cities than we did. With that being said, since more time was spent on the ship, it caused for this splendid forced rest. We didn't HAVE TO DO anything if we didn't want to. We ate when we wanted to, left our room when we wanted to, worked out when we wanted to, etc.. There was kareoke, comedy shows, talent shows, some of which we attended, some of which we did not, but all at our disposal. Luxerious time.

We both would have preferred more time in Nassau, because what we did experience there was so, so wonderful. We walked to the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas...a refurbished old colonial style huge home, with some of the most favoritist art:-). Here is where I discovered Amos Ferguson. His paintings were so joyful, so playful, so bright, I told Ess Gee that sometime in my lifeline I'd love to own a piece of his work. It was only when we returned home and I read more about him that helped me understand just why something innate was attracted to his artistry (besides the fact that a lot of his work is taken from scriptures). Read more here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/arts/design/30ferguson.html?_r=1

Being on a 2000 person boat in the middle of the ocean is scary. It didn't hit me until our first night, when it was nothing, but black sky and black sea. OVERWHELMING. Really, it was. There is nothing but you and the ocean. I slept three hours our first night. I know you would think I should have thought about this prior to boarding, but I didn't. I was busily planning on what to do in our port cities with the help of Frommers and Lonely Planet. I wasn't thinking about the weight of darkness in the middle of the ocean. Ess Gee had to walk me through the model ship they had on board and show me why we'd be okay and safe. I did feel a little better after he did this for me, but I can't say I ever really slept soundly. Ess Gee said I was thinking too much about it:-).

We did relax our faces off, and our time away felt longer than the trip really was. Can't say we'd choose to go on a cruise again anytime soon, but we did feel spoiled and rested. Today we both went back to work. Back on freeways and into traffic. In some ways, that was a bugger, but in other ways, I was glad that it wasn't night and I wasn't in water:-).