Freeport, The Bahamas (2014)

Prolog

Last January we were planning a trip to the Bahamas, using RCI Time-Sharing.  We wanted to spend the Thanksgiving week there and called Sharone & Odie to ask them to let us have Ya’ara & Sole to spend the week with us.  To our delight, they both agreed.  We made the necessary reservations and waited impatiently to November.

Day 1 – November 21^st, 2014

Our flight was scheduled to leave around 1:25 AM.  We left the house at 9:45 and headed to LAX.  Sharone brought Ya’ara at around 11:00 and we boarded the American Airlines heading south to Miami.

Day 2 – November 22^nd, 2014

We landed in Miami at 8:45 in the morning and met with Odie, who arrived to Miami with Sole, a couple of days earlier.  Ya’ara and Sole were so excited to see each other.  Our flight to Freeport, Bahamas was scheduled to leave at 10:20 so we did not have too much time to spend with Odie and after he checked Sole in, we said goodbye and went through the security line and towards the gate.

 The flight was a short one and after 25 minutes we landed in Freeport.  The temperatures were in the mid 80’s and the humidity was low.  Such a perfect day!

Freeport is a city, district and free trade zone on the island of Grand Bahama . In 1955, Wallace Groves, a Virginian financier with lumber interests in Grand Bahama, was granted 50,000 acres of pine yard with substantial areas of swamp and scrub land by the Bahamian government with a mandate to economically develop the area. Freeport has grown to become the second most populous city in the Bahamas. The main airport serving the city is the Grand Bahama International Airport. The Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) operates the free trade zone, under the Hawksbill Creek Agreement signed in August 1955 whereby the Bahamian government agreed that businesses in the Freeport area would pay no taxes before 1980, later extended to 2054. The area of the land grants has been increased to 138,000 acres.

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We rented our car and drove about 4 miles to our home for the next seven days: Ocean Reef Yacht Club. 

We checked in and were told that our room will be ready in about 3 hours  We decided to have lunch and then go shopping for food.  Lunch was good.  We ordered 4 salads and the cost was enormous.  

We drove to the supermarket (named Solomon) and found out  that most “Fresh” vegetables on the island are imported.  For example, we bought 4 tomatoes and each one was $2.25 ($9 for 4 tomatoes).  There were no cucumbers and lettuce was about $5 per pound.

We returned to the hotel and received our room.  The service was absolutely great.  We noticed that on the island, people are extremely nice and willing to help.  What a great feeling for tourists!!

Our room included a bedroom, a living room, 2 bathrooms (one was full, with a Jacuzzi!), fully equipped kitchen, dining area and a huge balcony overlooking the marina, which had about a dozen boats, most from Canada.  The room was cozy and comfortable.

We rested in the afternoon.  The girls played with their electronic devices (Sole with her cell phone and Ya’ara with her IPAD) and we, the adults, took a nap.

We planned our dinner and the girls wanted Pizza, while Tova & I decided on roasted chicken.  I drove again to the shopping mall and bought the goodies.  Dinner was great!

We all went to sleep at 10:00 PM

Day 3 – November 23^rd, 2014

We woke up at 9:00 (!) and I made a delicious breakfast, which included Orange Juice, eggs, vegetables, cheeses, Jelly, toasts and of course coffee.

We drove to the West End district and at the tip of the island; we entered the Old Bahamas Bay Resort, which was stunning.  We strolled on the white sands and enjoyed the beautiful view and the calm sound of the ocean.  




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We met a lady who told us that she and her 2 friends live in the condo owned by John Travolta.  She invited us to visit the condo and we of course asked about the accident and the tragedy that happened here 5 years ago: John Travolta's son Jett died in that same condo, reportedly from a seizure and hitting his head on a bathtub. His seizures were frequent and as such he was rarely left alone. 

The family had just arrived in the Bahamas for a New Year's vacation with staff members.  They left the condo for a sailing adventure and left Jett with a nurse.  A few hours later the nurse managed to reach them on the radio and told John to hurry back.

The lady we had met showed us the infamous bathtub and also gave us a tour of the rest of the 4 bedrooms condo.  According to her, the cost is about $1000 a night.

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We drove to Paradise Cove but were turned away as the resort was closed due to high winds.  We decided to drive back to the area where our hotel was and dip in Coral Beach, but upon arriving; we discovered that we forgot the towels in Paradise Cove.  The cost of losing each towel was a whopping $25.  We returned to the hotel, giving up on the “dip in the ocean” part, and I called our hotel manager, Ray.  I explained to him that we forgot the towels in Paradise Cove.  He told me not to worry and that if someone found them, they will be returned to me. Later he called and told me that he gave them our room number and that I should call around 10:00 tomorrow to find out if they had found the towels.

We took other towels from our room and went to the oversize pool in the resort, which also had a huge spa.  We met some people from all over the cold states and of course Canada.  Among them were Terry and Kevin, who actually live on their boat with their 2 kids.  They told me that they used to own a home in Victoria, British Columbia.  Kevin is a retired Navy, who was a mechanic during his service in the Canadian Army.  They decided to sell their home and with the money left, they bought their yacht in Maryland and are sailing the high seas.  They arrived to Freeport in June and will leave in January.  I asked Terry where their next port will be and her answer simple and shocking: “Wherever the wind takes us”.

They told us about a great restaurant not far from our location named Seris, where “the portions are enormous, the food is great and the prices are surprisingly low.  This is where the locals go”, Terry summarized.

We returned to our room, showered and dressed and went out to dinner.  Yes, you guessed it: I drove to Seris where we mingled with the locals, watching NFL football and drinking a lot.  We ordered some deep fried seafood (fish, shrimps, and the local favorite: conch – pronounced as conk), a huge chicken salad, and we shared the dishes.  It was GREAT!! And the price was unbelievably low. 

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We returned to our room, watched TV for a while and then went to sleep at midnight.

Day 4 – November 24^th, 2014

We woke up at 8:00 when our room’s phone rang.  On the other line was Mr. Smith, Paradise Cove’s manager: They found our towels.

            

   

Today we had a complimentary breakfast at the hotel and right afterword we drove again to Paradise Cove to retrieve our towels.  We then drove to Williams Town Beach.  Situated two and a half miles southeast of downtown Freeport, this beach is on the South West coast of Grand Bahamas Island. The beach offers just the right amount of privacy and atmosphere to attract beach goers, and as it turned out there were only six other people on the beach.  We had lots of fun for the next 3 hours.

We were back in the room at 4:00 and joined the rest of the guests to a pool party where we played games, met some nice people and enjoyed a great complimentary dinner & drinks.

 

     

    

Day 5 – November 25^th, 2014

We woke around 9:00 and after a great breakfast; we headed to Lucayan National Park.  There are three national parks on Grand Bahamas, and we were told that this is the definitive favorite. A 40-acre spread of mangrove, palm and pine trees and also contains lovely white sand beaches, and one of the longest underwater limestone caves in the world.

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 We spend about an hour to explore the two underwater caves — one of which is where the bones of Lucayan people were discovered in 1986.  We then walked through the park to the secluded Gold Rock Beach, which was as pretty as a postcard, with smooth white sands and clear blue waters.

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We spent 3 hours at the beach and started to walk back to our car when a man, accompanied by three other ladies, asked me: “What is your last name?”  When I answered he replied: “You are the man I am looking for.  What is your full first name?”  I answered and he said: “I was looking for you for the last 3 hours.  I have your wallet”.  I told him that this was impossible, as I have my wallet in my backpack.  “Check your backpack, then”, he replied.  I did and my wallet was gone.  He then handed me over my wallet.  I was speechless!  What turned out was that after I paid to enter the park, I put the wallet back in the backpack and forgot to zip back the pocket of the backpack.  The gentleman found it right next to our car and decided to find us, instead of turning it in to the guard.  He also left a note on the dashboard of the car to call him or his daughter once we return to our car.  I was speechless.

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We drove to East End and arrived to Pelican Point, a quaint village on the east end of the island.  Pelican Point is blessed with an abundance of marine life, pristine white sand beaches, and coconut trees.  Tova & the girls jumped into the ocean and we spent the next hour swimming. A man called us over when he found a conch inside the ocean.



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On our way to our resort, we stopped at Solomon to buy chicken and bread.  Dinner was prepared by Tova and was delicious.

Day 6 – November 26^th, 2014

We woke up and after breakfast in the room, we headed to the International Bazaar.  Until a few years ago, the International Bazaar was one of the island’s most visited attractions. Now in a lackluster state of disrepair, it's merely a theme-oriented mall that has seen better days.  We talked to one of the vendors who told us that because of Hurricane Sandy and politics, the place had been abandoned by the company who own it and that Taxi drivers are paid more when they bring the tourists to the Port Lucaya Market Place instead.  

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Most of the place was boarded up and closed down. The hurricane destroyed quite a lot and only a few shops reopened. I am sure it was nice once but a lot of work has to be done here before this can be called a tourist attraction again! This was actually the only place we did not feel 100% safe on the island. I think that this is a good place to record the next squeal of The Walking Dead…

  

 We bought a couple of shirts and headed to the Perfume Factory across the street.

Behind the now nearly defunct International Bazaar, the quiet and elegant Perfume Factory occupies a replica 19th-century Bahamian mansion—the kind built by Loyalists who settled in the Bahamas after the American Revolution. The interior resembles a tasteful drawing room. This is the home of Fragrance of the Bahamas, a company that produces perfumes, colognes, and lotions using the scents of jasmine, cinnamon, gardenia, spice, and ginger. We took a free five-minute tour of the laboratory and got free samples.

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We drove our car to the Open Air Fruit & Vegetable Market.  Here we saw and tasted some local fruits of the island and even watched a conch salad - a delicacy of the Bahamas, being prepared right in front of our eyes.  We bought few vegetables and a home-made hot sauce.

A rain storm started as we left the area.

We headed to our next destination: Garden of the Groves, an idyllic botanical garden filled with lush plant life, native animal life, and plenty of photo opportunities. 

The 12-acre park was dedicated to Mr. and Mrs. Wallace Groves, the founders of Freeport in 1973, and since that time, it has been transformed into the Eden of the Bahamas: with over ten thousands plants and hundreds of birds, butterflies, lizards, colorful ducks and other animals.  After consuming our sandwiches, prepared earlier in the room, we strolled on the winding trails, visiting the cascading waterfalls, sparkling fountains, the Labyrinth, a picturesque chapel, smelling the many flowers, and follow the many birds and butterflies. We wore rain ponchos that we purchased at the gate.


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Our next stop was Taino Beach.  Another beautiful beach, but it was so windy and cold that we could not stay long.  We decided to return to our hotel room, get warm clothes and return to the beach for “Fry Fish” dinner.  At the resort we rented some snorkeling gear for tomorrow’s adventure.

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When we returned we stood in line at the Outriggers Beach Club and ordered fried fish, salads, macaroni and cheese and fried conch.  The food was great but way overpriced.  A bon fire took place on the beach and all the restaurant’s guests stood around it to get warm and to remember how it was when we were younger.

    

  

Day 7 – November 27^th, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We woke up early and after breakfast headed to Paradise Cove.  On our way we had a flat tire. I stopped at the side of the road and tried to replace the flatted tire with the spare.  However the car did not have all the necessary tools and as I was trying to improvise, a car stopped and two young locals offered their help.  They actually took over and we were on our way in about five minutes.  Once again I admired the spirit of the Bahamians.  Impressive!

  

  

We tried snorkeling and swimming to the cove but the high wind kept sweeping us to the south and it was pretty hard, especially for the girls, plus the visibility was bad.  We decided to give up the snorkeling and just stayed around the beach.  The girls built a castle on the beach and we actually had a great time there.

     

We spent the next 3 hours on the beach and then headed to an interesting place called Boiling Hole, which is called so because when tide flows out to the sea, the water rushing from the cave-like area beneath the roadway bubbles on the surface. It could also be referred to as The Whirlpool because (as you might guess), when the tide flows inward, the water rushing into the cavern system creates a whirlpool and is definitely a sight to see! This blue lagoon occurred naturally as the island itself was formed, and it is a testament to the cavernous geology of The Islands of The Bahamas. It is also one of the sites explored by Jacques Cousteau, who documented his findings. 

           

        

  

The girls (including Tova) jumped into the natural pool and had lots of fun.  We waited for the high tide and when it came, it was a great site to witness.

We returned to our resort around 6:00 and after a shower we dressed “nice” to celebrate the Holiday at Seris.  Our Thanksgiving dinner included fried seafood, fried potatoes and salad.

We returned to our room and played some games until midnight.

Day 8 – November 28^th, 2014

     

 

We woke up late and after breakfast headed to Coral Beach, right next to our resort.  The beach was clean and the white sand and the coconut trees made it looks like a post card.  Once again we spent about 3 hours at the beach.  The girls created a turtle and a mermaid from the sand. 

   

We returned to our resort to enjoy the warm pool and the hot spa.

Tova prepared a “Friday Night Dinner”, which was (as usual) delicious.  Ya’ara sang the prayers and sounded like a real cantor.  After dinner we drove to the island’s yogurt place where we had our deserts.

After returning to our room, we packed as today was the last day in what we got used to call: “Paradise”.

Day 9 – November 29^th, 2014

We woke up and after checking out we headed to the airport.

When we arrived to Miami International, Joy was waiting for us and we said our goodbyes to Sole.  After spending the week with our wonderful granddaughter it was a very hard thing to do.

A couple of hours later we boarded the American Airlines flight to LAX.

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