Bahama Mama

It turns out that Diego has been "traveling" the world from the very beginning! Denis and I went "cruising" February 15, 2009 sailing to Key West, FL, then Freeport & Nassau, Bahamas. Little did we know we had a "stowaway" on board with us! And here I blamed seasickness for my trips to the cabin bathroom and infirmary. We had a great time despite my green complexion...

Key West was our first stop. We enjoyed the cute little shops, charismatic bars (whoops!), and a great little oyster bar (oops again, but, boy was it good!) before heading out for kayaking in mangroves and snorkeling with sting rays. I also ended up with probably the worst sunburn of my life...of course. :)

Denis enjoyed the local artwork......oysters soaked in lemon juice........and a great Key West sunset!

Next stop was Freeport, Bahamas, which turned out to be very industrial...yet had great beaches and a national park. We, again, kayaked in what seemed to be an endless stream of mangroves. Very peaceful!...until Denis steered us directly into the mangroves. Do you know how hard it is to get out of those things? I blamed a little bit of irritability on Denis' seemingly poor sense of direction. :) Looking back, raging hormones were probably the culprit. It all turned out well, however, and we ended up kayaking straight to a beautiful white beach, where we had lunch, waded in the ocean, and lounged in the sand. Later, we hiked to a cave in Lacaya (the name of the native people of the island) National Park--Ben's Cave (we even met the real Ben!)--and learned about native plants & animals.

Beach on Freeport..........................Ben's Cave.....................interesting pine trees in Lacaya Nat'l Park

Last stop--Nassau, home of Atlantis! We spent the day at this gi-normous hotel/resort. Just amazing! Turtle feedings, shark feedings, aquariums, beaches, bars, shops...this place has it all. I felt like we could have spent our week here and still not see it in it's entirety. I thought the aquariums were fantastic. It was a great day to spend on the beach and eat conch fritters--a local favorite, but not one of mine (or Diego's)...an acquired taste, I guess.

(The last picture should look familiar to Mary--Stacey (& Diego) at the Atlantis aquarium)

Our cruise (first "family" vacation?)...we truly had a great time! I had to hold Denis back from finding a job application for Carnival Cruises. We plan on doing it again someday, although, it will have to wait a bit...at least until I can wear a regular-sized swimsuit again.