The Cisterns Are Full

June 30th, 2014 - The Cisterns Are Full

As Invest 91L spins its way southwest, and closer to Abaco, I am sitting inside watching a band of heavy rain fall outside our rental home. Unfortunately for us, the storm is hanging around for at least another 24-48 hours before turning north and paying our friends along the SC and NC coasts a visit. Watching this storm develop, basically right over our heads, gives me just a small taste of the raw power that these tropical storms possess as they stir and spin through these temperate waters. Other than being incredibly lazy and eating, two musts on the island in my book, we have not experienced much in the way of a window of opportunity to get out of the house. 

We did manage a couple of rain-free hours earlier in the day to meander around the settlement. When you visit Hope Town, please make time to walk the colorful and delightful streets of Hope Town. Sure, take the upper and lower roads to dine or shop as your heart so desires, but make it a priority to take a turn down a rustic and unpolished side street to explore. You never know who you might meet or what you might encounter. My wife and I like to walk around and discuss what house we might want to rent on our next visit, better yet, own if we ever strike it rich! Of course, the lighthouse is always in view so you always feel close to the heart of Hope Town. I personally enjoy the signs of Hope Town and Elbow Cay. Signs for restaurants, shops, etc. are colorful and worth stopping to admire and even take a picture or two. 

So, that's it for today. We are settled in and praying this tropical disturbance makes up his mind to leave Abaco alone. After all, as much as it has rained today, the cisterns are indeed full! 

Enjoy some pictures below:

Entrance to Hope Town Harbour

Vernon Working on Another Masterpiece

Too Wet To Play?

Wine Down Sip-Sip

Cholera Cemetery

Monument to Those Lost at Sea

Hope Town Fire and Rescue

Monument

Where Loyalists First Landed

Queen's Highway

Stormy Beach

Ebb Tide Has Moved. Now Located on Site With Museum.

Highway to Heaven

Straw Hut "Downtown" Hope Town

Ice Cream Anyone? 

St. James

Rainy Sunday

6/29/2014 - Rainy Sunday

We were able to sleep in this morning. We enjoyed some of my mom's biscuits with grape strawberry jelly for breakfast. The crew got dressed and headed to St. James Methodist Church for the 11:00 A.M. Sunday service. Vernon Malone was present and preached the sermon. If you have not had an opportunity to visit St. James on Elbow Cay, I would highly recommend attending a Sunday service (9:30 Family Service, 11:00 A.M. Traditional). The views from the pew out to the glorious blue waters of the Atlantic are majestic.

Moore ladies ready for church at St. James

As soon as the service concluded, we were met with boisterous thunder and an incoming storm. We ran to our golf cart parked at the post office dock and drove through the torrential rain to our house. By the time we arrived, we were already soaked through. Such is life on the island. And we don't mind!

As we understand it, there is a tropical disturbance to our north that caused the storms we encountered today. We napped all afternoon long. It was one of those great naps, nestled in bed with the thunder and rain playing in harmony outside our bedroom window. All was not lost.

As things began to dry up, we made a quick trip to North Beach. There, we went shelling up and down the beach. A friendly stingray, given the name Larry by my five year old, kept us company for quite a while. We have come to the conclusion that late afternoon/early evening is one of the most underrated times to experience the beach. Everything is calm, slow, peaceful.

We made supper back at the house. Brownie's for dessert. Now, it is lightning off in the distance as another tropical wave emerges. Looks like there is plenty of opportunity this evening for Phase 10 with the family. All is well as we hope for a break in the rain so we can get out and enjoy the beach tomorrow.

Fleeting thoughts...

• We have gone through margarine, coffee creamer, and bread like they are water and oxygen. We will head back to the store tomorrow to restock. 
• Speaking of grocery shopping on the island, it is widely known that many products are double in price compared to what you would pay in the states. Had to chuckle as I purchased a gallon of milk for $10.00 at LVA. 
• It's nice to have a house on the island with a washer and dryer. We don't pack many clothes with us so having washer/dryer is helpful. 

First Full Day

Saturday, June 28th - First Full Day

North Beach - Elbow Cay

Tahiti Beach

I knew we were all excited to wake up and experience our first full day on the island. I don't know if I was quite prepared for my wife to wake up at 6:15 A.M. and begin getting ready for the day. Let's just say she was a little excited about being in Abaco. Nonetheless, our group enjoyed some muffins and coffee for breakfast.

While mentioning food, it would be apropos to detail our plan of action about meals while vacationing in Abaco. We always bring a cooler packed with frozen meats (hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, spaghetti makings, etc.). This usually keeps quite nicely on the flight over. Doing this enables us to save some money by not eating out EVERY evening. We usually plan some of our "out to eat" experiences based on the calendar of events for various restaurants. For instance, On Da Beach does a whole rotisserie chicken and two sides on Tuesdays for a reasonable price and Capn' Jacks does trivia on Thursday nights.

After slathering on a gracious plenty of sunscreen, we loaded up the golf carts and headed out to our first destination: North Beach.  Now, we honestly don't know if this is the actual name of the beach we frequently visit, but it seems to work for us. North Beach is located just north of St. James Methodist Church on the Atlantic side near the settlement. This is our "go to" spot on the island. On this particular day, the beach was crowded; moreso than we have ever seen before. I counted over 25 people on the beach at one time. The reef directly offshore makes for great snorkeling and the ocean delivers excellent seaglass and shells if you are a treasure hunter.

Tip: Bring an inflatable raft or float and enjoy lazying around in the water.

After three good hours of beach time, we headed back to the house for some lunch. What is it about the beach that makes one have a voracious appetite? Our afternoon consisted of a trip to Tahiti Beach on the south end of Elbow Cay. We timed our trip perfectly with low tide so all the sand bar was exposed. The usual crowd of people anchored up to the western side of Tahiti were all making merry, while we explored the eastern side. Tahiti Beach offers much in the way of beach treasure collecting. In our short time we found a starfish, a sand dollar, sea biscuits, and a plethora of seaglass and shells. You can walk around for hours searching for that one extraordinary items to add to your home decor or simply walk around the shallows and admire the gorgeous views. While chilling in one of the many pools cut out by the tide, my wife nudged me on the shoulder and calmly asked me to look ahead 30 yards where a blacktip reef shark of 4-5 feet in length was splashing around close to some of the deeper pools closer to Tilloo Cut. We carefully and quickly started walking closer to the shoreline in case the shark wanted to explore our area. He did not and, in fact, headed the opposite direction. Still, this was a simple reminder that we are sharing the piece of heaven with many creatures. I could not help but chuckle as I thought of the countless posts on Abaco Forum about sharks in Abaco. Yes, people, sharks are here and all around us. Just show some respect and all will be well. 

Tip: Bring reef shoes. The sand/beach at Tahiti Beach contains rocks, shells, and critters.

It is interesting to note that thunderstorms could be heard off in the distance, but we had a steady dose of sunshine and warm weather all through the day. After our trip south, we stopped by A&E Liquors for a bottle of wine and made our way for "home" to get started on spaghetti evening meal. Of course, my parents had visited the settlement earlier in the day and brought back some of Vernon's bread so our meal included some of the best garlic bread I have ever tasted. We also enjoyed sitting out on the top deck of our TreEscape house. After some dessert and a quick game of Rummikub, it was time for bed. We are looking forward to attending the St. James service at 11 AM on Sunday. 

Quick Update: It is very likely that a tropical depression will develop off the southeastern coast of the US this week. It appears as though it will drift and then leave our area, but Abaco is definitely not for sissies!

Video Update: YouTube Video - North Beach, Elbow Cay

Video Update: YouTube Video - Tahiti Bech, Elbow Cay

Done Reach

June 27th, 2014 - Done Reach

I am typing this entry from the top floor deck of our house on Elbow Cay, TreEscape. We have a lovely view of the sea of Abaco including the Parrot Cays. The house does not have cable TV, but I am strangely content with this situation as there will now be plenty of time to truly enjoy Abaco and its incredible beauty (not to mention have some opportunity to finally provide a trip report for Abaco Forum).

On Time?

With Vernon Malone

On Time...Not Exactly

Time to Get Going

An Excited Traveler

Let's Hope This One Works

We arrived at the Hope Town Harbour Lodge dock yesterday evening after a fairly noneventful day of travel from West Palm Beach. For the first time since our travels to Elbow Cay began, back in 2005, our Bahamas Air flight was delayed. For some this comes as a surprise, but we have never had any bad luck using Bahamas Air. However, due to a "mechanical issue" with the plane, our flight was delayed several hours so they could find a working bird to fly over from Nassau. We were curious as to what the new airport in Marsh Harbour would look like and, better yet, if things were more efficient. As we deplaned, we could not help but take a nostalgic glance over at the location of the old airport facility. Honestly, we missed the "character" of that place. Still, the new facility was pretty and clean. Who can argue with plenty of room and working air conditioning after all? We breezed through customs and immigration and made our way to the claim our baggage. At this point and time, I decided it would be a novel idea to take a few pictures of the facility for my friends on the forum. After snapping a few photographs, I was asked by one of the airport personnel to take out my phone and delete all the pictures I had just taken in front of him. I did so with hesitation, but decided that I was the guest and did not want to make a scene.

New Airport Building

Dr. Sharon, the best cab driver we have ever met in Abaco, quickly carried us to the Albury Ferry dock. Instead of waiting for the 5:45 ferry to Hope Town, we decided to charter a ferry. Mr. Vernon Malone, whom we had bumped into at PBI in West Palm asked if he could join us. Of course, we did not mind so off we were to Elbow Cay!

Dad and Vernon Sharing Stories

One cannot describe the feeling I get when seeing the candy-striped lighthouse as it comes into view on the ride over. And, as the sign greeting you as you enter the harbor persuades you to do, we slowed down...we were in Hope Town!

The remainder of the first evening was somewhat of a blur strictly due to the tiredness having experienced a long day, with a five year old no less, and the relief of knowing we had reached "home away from home" once again. We gave a ride to Sea Spray a friendly group of travelers who were looking to connect with the rest of their group already on the island. Afterward, we unpacked our coolers and headed to On Da Beach for our first taste of island cuisine.Visiting the grill at On Da Beach has become somewhat of a tradition for our family when visiting Elbow Cay. I enjoyed a BBQ chicken burger while dad devoured his fish sandwich. While we were eating, a quick shower cooled things off. We have found this to be the norm on our little island, small and infrequent showers that do not inhibit us from enjoying our tropical summer fun.

On Da Beach 

After leaving On Da Beach, we made a quick stop at LVA (twice a day!) for some grocery items and headed for home. We completely unpacked and settled in as we made plans for the next day. A refreshing cup of coffee and a quick game of scrabble later and it was bedtime for all. Feels good to be layin' low in Abaco!

A few notes:

• Cab fare from the airport to the ferry dock was $17.00 for the first two people and $3.00 for each additional passenger (plus tip). 
• The island is more crowded/busier than I have ever seen it. This is a good "problem" for the locals, but I miss the days when Abaco was that hidden gem that very few had discovered. 
• We rented the last two golf carts on the island, literally. There are NONE left.