Every year one of my customers, a national restaurant chain, holds their annual convention in a fun and exotic location (hey, how else are they going to get folks to travel over a weekend to learn more about chicken?) Last year we met in Bermuda, and I went solo = no fun. So this year I had very little problems coaxing @ericsoon to tag along. The convention was held at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island.
Day 1
View from our room
We quickly learned if a real Bahamian experience was what we were after it'd require leaving the comfort of our overpriced resort island. We decided to cheerfully and willingly forgo the $40 hamburger for some local island cuisine.
Day 2
The bridge escaping Atlantis
The other side of that bridge
Look real close... which one of these things is not like the other one?
Freshly caught conch. This is the end of their road. They are lying there waiting to be "conked" out of their shell, chopped up and tossed into a salad.
Said salad is delicious. We made multiple trips to the other side of the tracks to enjoy the Bahamian Conch Salad:
- Conch meat
- onion
- green pepper
- celery
- cucumber
- tomatoes
- lime juice
- wine vinegar
- orange juice
- Worcestershire sauce
Full meal: Conch salad, fish (caught, fried & eaten in under 20 mins), coconut bread, Sky juice (not for the low of tolerance)
Conch graveyard
After our Anthony Bourdain dining experience we ventured out and about Nassau and headed downtown to check out the big cruise ships. Some of the more interesting finds along the way....
Upscale island shopping! For all your jew-ellery needs
An exclusive Chinese restaurant
Cruise ship parking lot
Oh Yes, we did. Out of fear of blending in too much with the locals we decided it was time to redeem our tourist status and rent one of those scooters. Unlike the US, which requires signing your life away and sacrificing your first born before anyone'll rent you a motorized vehicle, the good people of the Bahamas place amazing faith and trust into the hands of their renters. With a handshake and a crash course in Scooter-driving: "Don't crash it," we were off. After a shaky start and two near misses we tooled around town like a couple of pros. And like all good tourists our look was complete with safety helmets, camera, and no sense of direction. Oh, and Eric had on his running shoes.
Stopped at a local beach just to check it out
Sexy scooter-driver showing off his winter glow
The Dig
After surviving the scooter as well as contact with the outside world we headed back to our Safety Zone. We grudgingly spent five grand on dinner for two at one of the Atlantis restaurants then visited the casino to watch other people lose money.
Sidenote: those Atlantis folk are tricky. From the hotel room one must walk through the casino to get anywhere.
All efforts were made to avoid temptation of video poker. One of us was not successful. (hint: it wasn't me.)
We collected
our winnings and decided to do something at the resort that wouldn't require cashing in my 401K. So we walked around.
Not knowing it even existed, we stumbled upon the lost city of Atlantis. Or at least a replica of what someone thinks it might look like. The Dig is an aquarium underneath the lobby of the Royal Towers. This is the world's largest open air marine habitat and represents the lost city of Atlantis. We spent an hour enjoying hundreds of different fish and sea things.
From normal-looking fish....
to freaky-looking fish
to just plain cool...
And cute. Why, hello, little sea horse
See Eric? He's day dreaming of how many meals he could make off Goliath Grouper
Then we were Finding Nemos...
"Just imagine... you and your Prince.... together.... forever."
To cap off our evening we headed down to the beach. Not that we could see anything, but we did get a great view of Atlantis at night. See that little bridge connecting the two towers? That's the Bridge Suite, and at one time the most expensive hotel room in the world. Nightly rate is $25,000. We really enjoyed it. *wink*
Day 3
We decided to check out all the fun water activities in the resort. I HIGHLY recommend this place if your adventure leads you to the Bahamas. There is no shortage of things to do, and it truly is a great family destination.
Predator Lagoon - We counted over TEN sharks swimming around in this pool. And who wouldn't want to float through a tube that flows through the middle of shark-infested waters?
We hung up our camera and spent the remainder of our vacation poolside, beach-side and food-side.
