Hurricane Irma - September 11, 2017

Today was our final day in the Bahamas and we were determined to have fun! Please note all the closed businesses behind me. This is next to where the cruise ships park but they weren't due to arrive for two more days.

Fortunately, John Watling's distillery was open. Felix was pouring us some wonderful drinks and we were feeling quite good. But we were also hungry and there's no food at the distillery.

Down the hill was the Hark Rock Café and thankfully were open. The place was quite empty but we didn't mind. I enjoyed my cheese burger with a Kalik.

After lunch, we wandered back to John Watlings because everyone was still closed. After enjoying a good time with our Bahamian friends, we found that Subway was open (finally!) and had a small dinner before heading to bed.

There's one final day to recap of the trip but the hurricane part was definitely over for us.

Hurricane Irma - September 10, 2017

Mr. Delancy agreed to pick us up and take us to the Hilton. He had been so helpful and accommodating the entire time. He was running late for church but he did let us take this photo really quickly. The first room we had was not agreeable. The window was too small and it was right next to the elevator. I talked my way to a much nicer room on the executive floor and an obstructed view of the ocean. Now that's a decent room!

We walk around looking for lunch and things to do but all the businesses are boarded up. It was Sunday and nobody was in a rush to get back to business. The cruise ships weren't going to come until later this week. We even tried Subway but they were closed. I brought some snacks from our hurricane food shopping trip but not lunch. We had sandwiches from the café at the hotel.

With a lot of facebooking, I found one bar open around us. We obviously had to go.

There were about 30 people there, which was probably all the tourists in the area as most had already evacuated.

These are $8 Guinness pints. Bahamian beer is modestly priced and we quickly switched. The rest of the night was more yahtzee and weather watching. Irma was hitting Florida this night and there were plenty of angles to watch the carnage.

The ocean was much calmer on this side of New Providence.

Hurricane Irma - September 8, 2017

The morning before the storm, the ocean was calm. We did some walking today. We forgot salsa and dish soap, which prompted us to walk to the nearest food store. Several people stopped to see if we needed a ride and in the store we needed help finding salsa. Bahamians don't love salsa like I do. Everyone was friendly and helpful. Once again, the store had plenty of supplies and the salsa was tucked away in a corner.

We found lots of coral and chatted with Mr. Delancy as he was making preparations for all of his properties. The talk was all about the storm. Hurricane Matthew hit this area around the same time in 2016. Thirty foot Austrian pines were pulled from the ground but there was no flooding. We thought that was odd because the property is right up to a canal and the ocean is just across the street. Mr. Delancy said there were no flooding concerns and being on the second floor was not nearly as safe. The storm could have hit at any time after 6pm. It wasn't until 1 am the following morning that the storm made landfall.

Hurricane Irma - September 7, 2017

This day was packed with activity! It was a very long day.

The hurricane was supposed to arrive the following day. Here we are at the airport and this is the host, Noel Turquist. It is 8am. I am spending lots of time on hold for American Airlines, trying to get out of the Bahamas. It was at least a 30 minute wait.

American Airlines had cancelled our flight on Sunday September 10th but there was no return flight scheduled. I couldn't get us out of Nassau this day with American. I had to abandon the hunt because our flight off Long Island arrived early. When we landed, I called Mr. Delancy and he came to pick us up. Once we settled into his other property, I was able to get us a flight with American for the following day, right before the hurricane was likely to arrive.  So, we agreed lunch was a good idea.

There was a little bar just down the road from us and they served decent burgers. While we were eating our lunch and watching the weather, the bartender told us that the airport would be closed tomorrow. I thought she was joking since American had us booked for that day. We decided to double check her facts when we got back to our room.

Oh yes, the airport was closed tomorrow. Everyone needed to get out today. I tried to get us a flight with Air Canada but it was also booked. Our hearts sank (and there was some mild cussing), as we realized our fate was to ride out the storm at this location. We didn't rent a car and now realized that we needed supplies to get us through the storm. I called us a taxi from the airport because that's how you get a taxi in the Bahamas.

The grocery store was definitely packed but the shelves weren't empty. We were able to purchase all the needed food for a relatively unknown period of time. We watched the weather and played yahtzee until bed time.

Hurricane Irma - September 1, 2017

We left Oklahoma City early in the morning and headed for Nassau, Bahamas. We had no issues with our flights and arrived on time. This was our first time checking in at the British Colonial Hilton and it did not disappoint. Right on ocean, next to where all the cruise ships park. We had Senor Frogs around the corner, Fat Tuesday down the street and John Watlings distillery up the hill. All within walking distance. There was no concern regarding hurricanes.

I love the John Watlings distillery. There's so much history and rum! Felix does the best job mixing up the drinks for us. After 3 years of visiting with Felix, each trip, we became Facebook friends.

We enjoyed a Sands and ate Mcdonalds for dinner. It was right across the street from the hotel. Talk about convenient!

The port is constantly full of cruise ships and it is the lifeblood of Nassau. The port can hold 5 ships and on some days, that's how many are there. This part of town is full of tourists and its a fun part of the Bahamas.

Running

Today was a #kickass #run and I didn't notice my #injuredankle! Note to self, the #brace helps a lot still. We ran #intervals and yes it was #slow. But I'm #thankful that I can still run and #walk. I also found @questnutrition bars at @uptowngroceryco! #yay! #thanks @runhers and @wanderingheartcoach for the #support! #runner #runnergirl #womenrunning #runnerproblems #injuredrunner #okc #ok #okwb #myoklahoma #runokc #runok #nike #nikerunner #run

Breakfast and lunch today. I'm off to practice the piano. I had a difficult conversation with the pastor about my lack of practice. I'm preparing for service that's at the end of the month. He told me no charts! Eek!

Running and making wine

@goldsgym for #halfmarathontraining and my #injuredankle is not cooperating. I'll be headed to #pt in a couple of weeks. #runner #runnergirl #womenrunning #runnerproblems #injuredrunner #okc #ok #okwb #myoklahoma #runokc #runok #nike #nikerunner #run 

Another day and another @thinkthinbars for #breakfast. They're really good and high protein and easy. #yum #esthereats #food #foodie #myfitnesspal #eatinghealthy #okc #ok #okwb #myoklahoma

The grapes are growing like crazy in our backyard! 

So are the hops! 

I joined 9 other people to purchase 3 wine kits and make the wine at the brew shop. Gail, the owner of the brew shop, gave us a discount but she's one of the 9 people!

It was really easy to do! 

We all took turns at various points in the process. The yeast is currently eating all the sugars and we will meet in a couple of weeks to move it to secondary. 

I did have a glass of wine, which I wasn't gonna do but I wasn't prepared to say no. Then I went to Iguana to give my friend her birthday present. I ate some chips and drank water. I also had a full dinner. So the scale was not kind to me. It said a two pound gain, which seems crazy! This time, I'm sucking at losing weight. 

Lunch was good though. 

Friday Five

I'm doing a little iPhone photo dump with captions. It's a fun exercise in what I take photos of. My guess, food is top. 

Lunch is a taco of buffalo chicken, spinach, and a laughing cow cheese on a whole wheat tortilla. It was awesome!

Today's workout was body pump at Gold's. I pumped it pretty hard, especially the biceps. 

Last night's dinner was Tuckers onion burgers but I had a mini turkey burger with no onions, no cheese, no bacon, no mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomatoe, and pickle on a lettuce bun with a mini fry. That was the last free weekday beer. August will be drinking only on Friday and Saturday. I better lose weight because that is a huge sacrifice!

Yesterday's lunch was the same as today minus the carrots. I ran out of those crunchy sweeties. 

I had a great time playing piano for my church! I had practiced and I was ready to jam! The set was almost perfect. I managed to slip in a few wrong notes. #oops 

And that's pretty much my normal week from Friday lunch back to Wednesday night. How does your iPhone photo dump look?

Rogue beer dinner at Republic Gastropub

We came prepared with our Rogue tshirts and I had my Rogue nation card too. (Just in case I was carded but it never happened.) We got a taster of Rogue Dead Guy Ale to start. 

The menu, which was family style. I don't like sharing, so that wasn't my favorite. But I guess, sharing is caring. 

Amuse was a pub style deviled egg. It was full of mayo, yolk, pickles and probably some mustard. I ate two, which was the allotted amount. 

Next was the Beard beer and SriachanStout. The Beard is a wild American ale and I just love the flavor!

Shrimp cocktail. 

Pigs in a blanket with Gouda sauce. I hair loved these appetizers and the cocktail sauce paired perfectly with the stout. 

Next was the Hazelnut Nectar Brown Ale and the 7 Hop IPA. 

Paired with the beef stroganoff...

...and meatloaf. It was a fabulous combination. 

Here's how I plated my dinner. Yum and not too much. 

Last was the Honey Kolsch and Cold Brew IPA. I love both but the Honey Kolsch has my taste buds. This was dessert, which we wisely split in half. 

We all cheered for a great dinner!

Then we home with bags of pint glasses. #awesomesauce

#esthereats #food #foodie #myfitnesspal #eatinghealthy #okc #ok #okwb #myoklahoma #craftbeer #instabeer #instadrink #esthereats #okc #ok #okwb #myoklahoma #drinkoklahoma