Bahamas - Day 1 : Travel Day

Located just 56 miles off the shores of the United States is the island of Grand Bahama. It is the 4th largest of over 700 islands and 2400 cay's that make up the Bahamas. Its capital is Freeport and is the second largest city in the Bahamas.  It is also our destination for this years group trip and will serve as our playground for over a week.  While visiting, we selected the Island Seas Resort as a place to call home.

Our trip started early in the morning with a 6:00 AM departure out of Bradley International Airport in Hartford, Ct via Delta aboard a MD-88 Mexico Air partner plane. That meant we left the house at 3:45 AM in the morning. Barely awake and sleepy eyed we made it on the plane and settled in for the 2 hours and 25 minute flight. Being the longest leg of our trip we all took a short cat nap. We arrived in a rainy Atlanta at terminal B and took the Plane Train to the international terminal E. Having arrived 25 minutes early we had just a little extra time to grab a bite to eat before our next flight. 

After that short layover we boarded our next Delta flight aboard a CRJ900 for the just over of 1 hour flight to Freeport. As we got close the Grand Bahamas we hit some turbulence but on the whole it was a smooth flight.  We arrived at 12:45 PM. After clearing customs and getting the first stamp in my new passport we headed to Hertz to pickup our rental car. 

It was a painful process as it became very clear we were now on Island Time. Once the 45 minutes of paperwork was done we made our way to the car, a silver Nissan March. I had to google it too. We packed out bags in the tiny trunk and drove away heading for Island Seas Resort. Driving on the left side of the road, as is norm in the Bahamas, was a bit unnerving .  What struck us most was the obvious run down condition of most houses and buildings. Thankfully after passing through the gates of our resort we weren't disappointed. After a quick check in we settled into our room with a view for our weeks stay. 

 

Hot and sweaty from traveling we all decided to take a walk on the beach and perhaps a a dip in the pool. Once on the beach with our feet in the cool Caribbean waters we were all feeling refreshed. As we walked along the beach another resort guest began throwing bread in the water. It didn't take long to figure out why as tons of fish began circling around our feet. Having my Nikon AW110 with me it took its first dive in clear Caribbean waters to capture a picture of the translucent fish. 

I decided given the beautiful weather and the less then stellar forcast that I wasn't going to waste the opportunity to snorkel. While Chris relaxed on one of the many Beach chairs; Dan, Grace, and I grabbed our gear and mad our way into the waters in front of our resort. 

 

The water was clear and the bottom was a sandy with patches of sea grass providing homes to spiny sea urchins. We explored but saw few fish and decided maybe further down the beach near the rocky outcropping we might have more luck. As the three of us walked the beach we collected some sea shells, coral and natural sea sponges. With us all getting a bit pink we returned to our room to shower and relax before dinner. 

For dinner we headed down to the Port Lucayan Marketplace and picked Molly Malone's where we  enjoyed some frozen drinks and fish & chips. Afterwards we enjoyed ice cream at Santorini deli. I picked the coconut ice cream, Grace had espressos chip, while Dan and Chris had chocolate chip cookie dough. Having gotten up at 3:30 traveling 2 legs to get here and spent a few hours snorkeling. We were all tired and headed back to the resort and to bed to get some rest.