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 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 6, 2017

We got our last use of the kayak today and Noel picked us up for lunch. When we arrived at Max's Conch Bar, we finally had access to wifi. Our phones were blowing up from our friends. They were trying to reach us regarding Irma. The storm was quite large at this point and it was headed towards the Bahamas. At this point, I was trying to find a place for us to stay Thursday night. I called several hotels but there was no availability. I called the owner of the island, William Delancy, and he said that he does have a place for us to stay.

Sad. It was our last day on the island and our trip was cut short. When we got back to the island, we enjoyed the rest of the fish and as much beer as we could drink. We also got started on packing. The next morning was coming early because we had to be at the airport by 8am.

Hurricane Irma - September 5, 2017

Tuesday, September 5, 2017. The singers were up early, as usual. We were getting up and preparing the coffee. Before the coffee was ready, we received a call from Noel, the host of Little Deadman's Cay. The conversation went like this: "She's coming." Me, "ok?". "Yeah, the hurricane. I think she's coming. But I got you a place and you can drive my jeep." Me, "So, we need to leave the island." "Yeah, we need to get you off the Cay before she arrives." Shocking news at 7 am. Unexpected. 9 am. Mr. Delancy calls to check on us. I explained my brief conversation with Noel and Mr. Delancy agreed that was a good set up for us. 10 am. We attempt a quick kayak but get a call from Noel. The airline, Southern Airlines, was trying to reach us. Noel wasn't really sure what was going on but told me to call them. I call the airline and the representative breathes a sigh of relief. She explained the hurricane was coming and we were being evacuated on Thursday September 7th. After a heated discussion on what we should do, I call the airline back just to make sure. The representative gave a light laugh and said our plane tickets were good for a year but there was no guarantee of us getting out before the hurricane hit. So I said, "ok, see you on Thursday at 8 am." We made arrangements with Noel to take us to Max's Conch Bar for some lunch and research. To this point in the trip, we had been blissfully unaware of any hurricane coming our way. It was time to see what all the commotion was about.

Hurricane Irma - September 4, 2017

Monday, September 4, 2017. The moon was brilliant and vibrant. That day was spent kayaking, playing yahtzee and drinking beer. It was a good relaxing day, with no cares in the world. More photos to follow.

Hurricane Irma - September 3, 2017

The views from Little Deadmans Cay to Long Island are stunning when the sun is out. Today, we had a kayak on rent and it was delivered. We enjoyed a short kayak to hunt for shells on another island. At this point, we still didn't realize the hurricane was on its way.



Hurricane Irma - September 2, 2017

Our flight to Deadman's Cay, Long Island was originally scheduled for 7 am. We got to the airport and discovered that the flight was cancelled. The airline sent us an email to notify us but we didn't read the fine print. Sigh. It was so tiny and the picture looked like the original confirmation email. Fortunately, I still had the hotel room key. I weaseled $60 out of the representative and we taxied back to the hotel, leaving our checked bags.

We watched some tv and then went down to Fat Tuesday for a drink. Finally, it was time to leave for the airport and get to our island vacation. We always go to Max's Conch Bar for conch fritters (above), cracked conch, beer and wifi. This is our only place to connect to the internet. At this point, the hurricane started to turn towards the Bahamas. We were blissfully unaware.



After going to the food store, fisherman, and liquor store it was time to load up the boat and get to Little Deadman's Cay. These supplies should suffice for the week on the cay (pronounced key in Bahamian.) It was sunny and steamy hot.

The view of Long Island from Little Deadmans Cay. This is one of many beaches on the cay.

The sun sets over the back deck of the house and it is stunning!

I was trying to capture the full beauty of the sunset. Photos never do it justice.

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.

Sandals Barbados

This trip brought us to the silver sandals and the complimentary couples massage. The massage was amazing!

The food was also amazing! Everything was fresh and prepared well. There were tons of Brits at the resort and the island. Barbados is celebrating 50 years of independence this year but there are definitely strong ties to the UK. 

We did a snorkel dinner cruise with Cool Runnings II and they did a great job. 

I have so many photos and stories to share and I'm planning to do that on my blog this week. 

First though, I have a long list of people I want to thank for the wonderful and welcoming service they provided. 

Shonnell

Dario

Dale

DJ Shaqmed 

Marlon

Denis

Nicholas

Stephen

Nathaniel

Jamaine 

Joy-ann 

Mario

Gilbert

Markus 

Most of these people were bartenders but the entertainment team and loyalty desk did a fantastic job. 

Intagrams and disappointment

I have had disappointments at work and home. While I can mull over these events and wallow in misery, I prefer to focus on positive things. 

I ran Color Me Rad on Sunday. That was a blast!

I recently discovered Youversion's verse in a photo option. This is my photo and I don't know what I was trying to capture but it made a great background for this verse. It's helped me to read a verse a day because I keep making these photos.

I will be brewing another batch of beer. Yay! Beer!

Soon, I will be returning to paradise. Packing will commence this weekend. I hope to have it all done by Sunday so as to not be stressed out. The economy and more specifically the oil industry is enough stress. I don't need more.

This guy is loving and sweet. 

This guy needs drugs or his vocal chords removed.