Beach Day then Hanging with Sheldon and Ruthie at the Fish Fry

Nassau – 9 kilometres walked, 9 miles in dinghy

With the temperature headed upwards of 25 degrees, it was time for a beach day. We dinghy’d into the marina and did the long walk to Paradise Island and, despite our best efforts, were not able to sneak into Atlantis this time, so instead walked east to the public access for Cabbage Beach. The beach was just like I remembered it – expansive with powered sugar sand, vendors selling coconut and pineapple drinks, many locals and tourists, and treacherous, knee-twisting, sand exfoliating, salt-water swallowing waves. We went for our first dip and poor Anna got rolled by one and dragged through the sand. She was okay, but the sand invaded everywhere and she was reluctant to go back in the water for another beating so had to sit in it like a soiled diaper.

What made up for this minor inconvenience was the warm sun, refreshing breeze, large blanket, and umbrella shading us and providing a perfect place for a nap, which I believe all of us did.

Mid-afternoon we walked back to the Nassau side and returned to the boat for a clean, sand-free swim then a lunch/dinner of dry-rubbed pork tenderloin, pasta, and broccoli. This was to be our final evening for Nassau nightlife as tomorrow was provisioning day and the day after we would take the next leg of our journey to the Exumas. So what does one do on one’s last night in Nassau? Visit the Fish Fry, of course.

The Fish Fry on Arawak Cay is just west of downtown and is a strip of small restaurants with all the cool kids hanging out eating, drinking, doing wheelies on their motorcycles, jamming to great music, eyeing each other up. I had arranged for two of our Bahamian friends to meet us, both of whom had been my colleagues at Shell Bahamas. We decided to take the dinghy the whole way, but progress was slow, and the three-mile journey took nearly 40 minutes. We found a concrete wall and tied up the dinghy, after realizing I’d used up nearly all the gas in the tank, then wandered around the Fish Fry, noticing the massive improvements that had been made since we were last here 15 years ago.

Sheldon arrived first, and we learned he’d turned 60 recently, though you would never guess it from his young face and still-strapping body. Sheldon’s done such a great job of keeping touch with me over the years through emails and Facebook greetings and it was a pleasure to see him again and catch up on the news. We hung out at a picnic table and talked each others’ ears off, while Anna and Stella went for a walk to the nearby Christmas carnival to sightsee and go on some rides.

Ruth arrived later and came dancing in like she always does. She looked great and had barely changed since we’d last seen her. We talked non-stop until close to midnight, about our families, jobs, vacations, and various annoying middle-aged health ailments. For me, this was a moment that I’d hoped for on this trip – to reconnect with these old and dear friends.

The girls returned with conch fritters and a huge conch salad and seemed to be enjoying their first visit to the Fish Fry. They met Ruth and sat with us chatting until Sheldon had to leave, but he first gave me a lift to the gas station to fill up my jerry can (and my Bahamian Brothuh paid for it too, despite my protestations). Getting the can out of the dinghy was a bit tricky as we’d tied the boat too tight to the wall and the dropping tide had left it hanging in the air, suspended by the docking lines. Whoops.

We stayed for longer visiting with Ruthie, until most of the restaurants were closed, and only the hard core partiers remained. I gave her a big hug, said goodbye, then she gave the girls a ride back to the marina while I took the dinghy solo at warp speed and made it there in less than ten minutes.