Just Another Day in Paradise

Today, I ventured out for my first Bahamian jogging experience in about five years.  Yes, I've returned to jogging, if you can call it that.  I'm slow.  My form is certainly awkward looking.  I'm old.  I'm fat.  And I HATE running.  But, when it is over, I'm so proud of myself.  I LOVE that feeling more than the hatred.  

So, I suited up in my jogging gear and set out on the paved road towards the settlement and the north end of the island.  I'd only been to the north end one time, many years ago when my dad and I rented bikes to go have a look around.  

I should mention that Elbow Cay does have golf carts and some skinny trucks.  There's no "normal" size cars on this island.  Also, no vehicles are allowed in the settlement except for a few locals who have a key to the gate...mainly work trucks to shuttle supplies.

Therefore, if you live on the north end, you use your golf cart on the north end.  If you live south of the settlement, you use your golf cart down there.  If you live in the town, you walk.  If you live on the north end and want to go to the south, you keep a golf cart in both places.

I chose to stay on the west side - the Sea of Abaco side of the island.  (At its widest point, the island is not even a 1/2 mile wide.)   Since it was still late morning, the sun hadn't reached its high noon location and I needed to take advantage of the shade provided by the trees... lest I would surely not survive for long and it may be days before someone found my sunburned and dehydrated body!

I couldn't remember the north end of the island's roads.  This wasn't too much of an issue, it's a small enough island.  I figured I'd just go out for twenty minutes, see what I could see and then return.  If I made it to the end of the island, great.  If not, that's ok too.

I actually read the white part of the sign, thought about it, and then read the red section.  Ahahaha!

This sign post was at the end of one section of road.  I was already over my 20 minute time limit, and chose to turn back.  I didn't want to keep going to the left or right since I wasn't sure how far it still was to reach the end of the island.  And there was no calling Shawn to come pick me up.

Vero Beach (where my folks live) 223 miles.
Pawley's Island (where I vacationed as a kid) 492 miles.
Fresca (our house) ??? miles

On the way back, I dilly dallied and took time to take pictures of some of the things that I had seen on the way out.  I couldn't resist walking down this "less traveled" road.

Where could this path possibly lead?

To the ocean!

Hello!

Perfunctory selfie

Sweat was ROLLING down my arms!

Natal Plum!  Delicious fruit.  All other plant parts are poisonous.
(After consulting with some locals, I ate one once while on Green Turtle Cay.)

Driftwood heron...so cute!

BLAZING red Royal Poinciana!

Hope Town Lighthouse from Cook's Cove.

Hope Town Lighthouse from just north of the settlement.

When we were last here on this island, my dad would take the kids to the Sugar Shack after dinner.  They got ice cream and sweet treats.  The kids LOVED it.  We all loved it.  Having not been here for about eight years, we were surprised to hear that they had a fire and had closed.  But, even MORE surprising to me was when I saw that the Sugar Shack's burned location was in the settlement.

This is the Sugar Shack location that we used to frequent.  Clearly, there was no fire here. 

The original Sugar Shack was just to the south of On Da Beach.

After my jog, Summer wanted to go to the grocery to spend some of her Bahamian money that she had saved over the years.  The LVA is walking distance from our house but we love golf cart rides...even a very short distance.

Inside the LVA.

LVA Twice a Day is SO true!

Storms from the west were building and makin' a lot of racket!

At the LVA, I bought brownie mix.  We don't often make brownies at home (maybe 3 times per year).  But, when we're in Abaco, we make brownies several times over the course of our stay.

This handy apron came with the house.  I look like a real island girl here.

I called down to Nicholas to help me upstairs with "something".  He eeked out, "Sleeping."  Oh well, there's plenty of folk who were happy to help.  He slept through the whole thing!

We ate half the pan before Zack very kindly went down to let Nicholas know that I had made brownies.

Zack actually scared Nicholas half to death!  We all had a huge laugh.  Nicholas buried his face in the other half of the tray to hide his embarrassment.

I had leftovers for lunch.  Last night's leftover hamburger toppings:  lettuce, tomato, and onion.  I mixed it with leftover conch fritter sauce and some crumbled up leftover hamburger...it was delicious.

After lunch and the storm passed, the skies cleared a bit.  We decided to snorkel on the reef off Hope Town Harbor Lodge.

Still cloudy but a welcomed break from the sun.

Nicholas can't resist digging in the sand.

Bo Derek!  Summer Wolf.

To save some golf cart space and to burn off some more calories, I walked back home.  The soft sand of the high wrack line is a killer workout!

Oh, hello.

Hi, Mr. Crab! I'll bet you have a lot of work to do to repair your home after that storm.

One of the MANY tricks I force upon myself to make jogging more enjoyable is that I try to never say, "I'll just go until I get to that ---- (insert man-made object)."  What I find is that I focus on the garbage can, the car, the mailbox, the stop sign...etc.  I try to only allow myself to have as my marker something from nature (a better focal point):  a flower, a palm frond, a bush...etc.

I said to myself, "Just keep walking until you get to that coconut."

I made it home, showered, and fixed myself up for BROWN TIPS!  We first met him as he played the saw at the Jib Room.  They used to have rib night (maybe they still do).  He'd come and play, bring along extra maracas, and dazzle us with his rake-n-scrape music.  We've enjoyed seeing him on many different islands and he never disappointed.  (Plus, he's every easy on the eyes.)  Tonight, he was at Sea Spray!

Rake and scrape is where they play the saw.  Yes, a saw used for cutting wood.  You take a saw and an old kitchen knife or screwdriver, and literally rake and scrape the two together.  The saw can also be played with the handle side against your body and the blunt end in your hand.  When you bend the saw blade, it changes the pitch.

Brown Tips singing and rakin' -n- scrapin' in the background.  Eddie, working the crowd.

Shawn got in on the action.

A father/son duet.

The limbo man always comes with Brown Tips.  He's an older, very subdued looking man.  He sets up the limbo and everyone just follows him.  Until...he lights the pole on fire, places a cigarette in his mouth, and shimmies himself under with less than twelve inches between him and the flames.  At that point, he lights his cigarette.  Easy breezy.

Just another day in paradise!

Just in case Brown Tips only talks to girls who wear a sea glass crown and sparkles, I didn't want to miss the opportunity to make myself look inviting.