January 14, 2008.

We both slept great again. I guess the pre trip excitement and the crossing itself took more of a toll on us than we realized. It’s almost like having jet lag.

Today we left the boat around 1130 and walked downtown Nassau. We’re at the extreme east end of the anchorage so it was a walk of a mile and a half to the center of town.

The people here are exceptionally polite and watching the drivers interact with each other was something to see. Somebody will pull out into traffic in an inappropriate fashion and traffic will stop and allow him to have his way and everybody just kinda deals with it. No horns, no screaming, no car chases or petty behind the wheel revenge. If you did something like that in the states there would be a road rage killing.

The bargain shoppers place to be fleeced is “The Straw Market”. It’s a huge tented building that has several aisles that are very long and ridiculously narrow. 2 people can’t pass each other without both people yielding. The air is stagnant, the humidity is high and the sales pressure was constant. The merchandise is piled 15 feet high and the attendant in every stall is asking “can I help you mon, love, mame, sweetie, missus” You try not to be rude but saying “no thank you” constantly gets to be a bit grating.

On the way back to the boat Jim had to stop in and chat with the people at the tourism board. We went on ahead planning to stop for lunch at a place we had seen on the way into town called “The Poop Deck”. So when the girls changed the plan to another place called “The Green Parrot” I sent them into the bar to get a drink while I waited outside to corral Jim as he went past.

After 15 minutes Jim came down the street, I informed him that the plans had changed and that the girls were inside. We went inside and found the girls seated at a beautiful outdoor bar. The only problem was that in 15 minutes they hadn’t been served. There was only one other patron at the bar, 4 people behind the bar and they couldn’t get a drink. WTF? Jim and I sat down and after another 3 minutes nobody was interested in taking a drink order. They’re all too busy standing around trying to look as disinterested as possible. Screw that we’re outta here. Island time my ass. I understand island time but ignorance pisses me off.

We ended up at the Poop Deck after all and lunch was great, the service timely and the view fabulous so it all worked out for the best. We ended up on Freedom for dinner and headed home as the promised wind started to build.