We arrived at Marsh Harbor at 10 AM (just a one-hour flight from Ft.Lauderdale) and were not surprised to find the tiny little airport terminal had not changed at all from our visit five years ago. That visit, in 2002, was the first time we had flown into Marsh Harbor - having always arrived on our own boat. We spent a week on that visit scouting it out as a destination for my 60th birthday party celebration to be held the following year. For those of you not in attendance, I'll just say that it was the best birthday celebration ever! We had 45 friends and family staying in cottages and on boats and we partied all week.
But, back to our arrival this time. After quickly clearing Customs, claiming our luggage, and going thru immigration, we immediately caught a cab at 10:20 and made our way (there's no speeding in the islands) to catch the 10:30 Hope Town Ferry with a very relaxed two minutes to spare - for our 20 minute ride to Hope Town. There are no cars on Hope Town (and no airport) so the only way to arrive is by ferry and they're so accommodating to locals and tourists alike - more so than we could have immagined which we learned a few days later.
The feery captain called the Turtle Hill office that manages the cottages we had reserved so they would know to meet us at the dock and take us to our cottage.
This trip was initiated by Doug's daughter, Dawn, and originally was intended to be a "girls week" but there was additional space so Doug was invited to join us. (He was nicknamed "Daddy-O" by all the girls) There are nine of us, in two villas, with a pool between us and a bar/restaurant at the beach end. We're steps from the beach and can hear the roar of the surf and enjoy a wonderful sea breeze. There's an incredibly beautiful powdery, white sand beach with gentle waves and crystal clear turquoise water which is a perfect 75 degrees this time of year. We've been very fortunate to have warm sunny days with just a few showers at night.
We were the first to arrive, followed two hours later by our niece, Vicki, from Columbus, Ohio and her friend, Lynn. They informed us that their two friends, Cynthia and Heather, were still at the airport waiting for their luggage. We also learned that Dawn and her two friends Nancy and Tanya were also waiting for luggage and had gone off grocery shopping until the next flight came in. They finally gave up on the luggage and caught the ferry to Hope Town to start relaxing in this tropical paradise. Without going into all the grueling details, the luggage arrived in Marsh Harbor and was sent over to Hope Town Monday afternoon (I'm not sure why they didn't need to go back to the airport to clear their luggage thru customs, but we just accepted the way of the islands). Now the girls could start wearing their array of swimsuits and cute outfits, shoes and jewelry they had spent so much time choosing to bring. We were all relieved and happy to now fully relax and enjoy the week together.
It's a short walk into town but our villas also came with two golf carts which are fun to drive aroound the island.
No cars, or even golf carts, are allowed downtown so we park at the edge of town and walk to shops and restaurants. There are two grocery stores - "the Blue Store" and "Vernon's Grocery," which has daily fresh-baked bread and the best pies - we've tried the coconut custard and the key lime. There are four gift/boutiques, an ice cream shop, two restaurants (downtown), a post office, tiny fire department, small museum, two churches, two fish markets, and a liquor store. That's about it. For anything else, you take the ferry to Marsh Harbor. There's a hotel, Hope Town Harbor Lodge, near the "downtown" area and a few more restaurants a short golf cart ride south.
We tend to go out to eat half the time and eat in half. The first night, Doug and I served a Bahamian dinner of cracked conch, boiled red potatoes and salad, with coconut pie for dessert. In the island tradition,we've been consuming a variety of rum drinks at the bars and creatively prepared at home.
One of the highlights of the week was an all-day boat trip of snorkeling at Sandy Key, (a wonderful coral reef with lots of very colorful tropical fish) and a visit to Little Harbor. We visited a foundry where Pete Johnson and his trained artsists create beautiful bronze sculptures using the lost art of wax molds and sand casting. We lunched at Pete's Pub - a very rustic and colorful outdoor "restaurant" literally on the beach, and had time to explore the beautiful beach areas. On the boat trip back, we anchored in a shallow area with a white sand bottom where we could dive down and pick up sand dollars and sea biscuits from the bottom. There were also star fish (whicih are alive and cannot be taken) and we saw a nurse shark swimming nearby. It was a great day!
For a little bit of history: Hope Town is a quaint New England style 18th century village with pastel colored cottages dotting the eastern shore, reminiscent of colonial times. On the opposite side of the boat-filled harbor is the famous 120-foot tall candy-striped lighthouse which is a favorite subject of artists and photographers. The 101 step climb is worth the effort to enjoy a breathtaking view of Elbow Cay's sheltered harbor and the nearby Parrot Cays. The lighthouse was built in 1862 and is still operated by a kerosene light that slashes every 15 seconds. You can only get to the lighthouse by boat but the ferry captain will drop you off and pick you up an hour later.
There are just two streets in Hope Town,Front Street and Back Street, and no traffic lights. The speed limit is just 30 mph and no one seems to be in a hurry.
The museum is named for Wyannie Malone, a loyalist who arrived from Charleston, S.C. in 1785 with her four children. At that time sponging was one of the major exports from the Bahamas. Now the major crop here is tourism. A recent line of products, containing veem, is becoming quite popular. The seeds were brought here from India and the trees grow well in this climate. I bought some of the shampoo and body wash and it's quite nice.
Two of the women in our group - code names "Cyn" and "Boob" went snorkeling off the beach adjacent to the Hope Town Harbor Lodge where we were told there was a nice reef with lots of fish. They swam out to the reef and saw three or four baracuda. They weren't too startled because they were told there was a school of them out there. Well, Cyn was in the lead with Boob right behind, feeling a little nervous, when they saw a wall of hundreds of baracuda. Now they were all around them and much larger than they had expected - plus a very large mamma cuda was lurking just above them keep ing a watch on "the kids." Boob became scared and turned and started swimming as fast as she could to shore. But, halfway there she realixed she'd left Cyn behind. She looked back to see that Cyn had turned into a little motor boat of churning arms and legs swimming as fast as she could to get out of there. they arrived safely at shore and went back the next day and had a different experience but their original story was much better.
All in all, it was a very good trip. We all ended up with nicknames which originated from various stories and revelations. I'll list them here but won't attribute them to any one in particular: Flo, Ho, Pot, Quack, Wicky, Ticky, Cyn (or Sin), O and Boob. There was talk of having a reunion somewhere next year. We'll see.
It was good to spend a week, as Jimmy Buttet says, "wastin' away again in Margaritaville".
But, back to our arrival this time. After quickly clearing Customs, claiming our luggage, and going thru immigration, we immediately caught a cab at 10:20 and made our way (there's no speeding in the islands) to catch the 10:30 Hope Town Ferry with a very relaxed two minutes to spare - for our 20 minute ride to Hope Town. There are no cars on Hope Town (and no airport) so the only way to arrive is by ferry and they're so accommodating to locals and tourists alike - more so than we could have immagined which we learned a few days later.
The feery captain called the Turtle Hill office that manages the cottages we had reserved so they would know to meet us at the dock and take us to our cottage.
This trip was initiated by Doug's daughter, Dawn, and originally was intended to be a "girls week" but there was additional space so Doug was invited to join us. (He was nicknamed "Daddy-O" by all the girls) There are nine of us, in two villas, with a pool between us and a bar/restaurant at the beach end. We're steps from the beach and can hear the roar of the surf and enjoy a wonderful sea breeze. There's an incredibly beautiful powdery, white sand beach with gentle waves and crystal clear turquoise water which is a perfect 75 degrees this time of year. We've been very fortunate to have warm sunny days with just a few showers at night.
We were the first to arrive, followed two hours later by our niece, Vicki, from Columbus, Ohio and her friend, Lynn. They informed us that their two friends, Cynthia and Heather, were still at the airport waiting for their luggage. We also learned that Dawn and her two friends Nancy and Tanya were also waiting for luggage and had gone off grocery shopping until the next flight came in. They finally gave up on the luggage and caught the ferry to Hope Town to start relaxing in this tropical paradise. Without going into all the grueling details, the luggage arrived in Marsh Harbor and was sent over to Hope Town Monday afternoon (I'm not sure why they didn't need to go back to the airport to clear their luggage thru customs, but we just accepted the way of the islands). Now the girls could start wearing their array of swimsuits and cute outfits, shoes and jewelry they had spent so much time choosing to bring. We were all relieved and happy to now fully relax and enjoy the week together.
It's a short walk into town but our villas also came with two golf carts which are fun to drive aroound the island.
No cars, or even golf carts, are allowed downtown so we park at the edge of town and walk to shops and restaurants. There are two grocery stores - "the Blue Store" and "Vernon's Grocery," which has daily fresh-baked bread and the best pies - we've tried the coconut custard and the key lime. There are four gift/boutiques, an ice cream shop, two restaurants (downtown), a post office, tiny fire department, small museum, two churches, two fish markets, and a liquor store. That's about it. For anything else, you take the ferry to Marsh Harbor. There's a hotel, Hope Town Harbor Lodge, near the "downtown" area and a few more restaurants a short golf cart ride south.
We tend to go out to eat half the time and eat in half. The first night, Doug and I served a Bahamian dinner of cracked conch, boiled red potatoes and salad, with coconut pie for dessert. In the island tradition,we've been consuming a variety of rum drinks at the bars and creatively prepared at home.
One of the highlights of the week was an all-day boat trip of snorkeling at Sandy Key, (a wonderful coral reef with lots of very colorful tropical fish) and a visit to Little Harbor. We visited a foundry where Pete Johnson and his trained artsists create beautiful bronze sculptures using the lost art of wax molds and sand casting. We lunched at Pete's Pub - a very rustic and colorful outdoor "restaurant" literally on the beach, and had time to explore the beautiful beach areas. On the boat trip back, we anchored in a shallow area with a white sand bottom where we could dive down and pick up sand dollars and sea biscuits from the bottom. There were also star fish (whicih are alive and cannot be taken) and we saw a nurse shark swimming nearby. It was a great day!
For a little bit of history: Hope Town is a quaint New England style 18th century village with pastel colored cottages dotting the eastern shore, reminiscent of colonial times. On the opposite side of the boat-filled harbor is the famous 120-foot tall candy-striped lighthouse which is a favorite subject of artists and photographers. The 101 step climb is worth the effort to enjoy a breathtaking view of Elbow Cay's sheltered harbor and the nearby Parrot Cays. The lighthouse was built in 1862 and is still operated by a kerosene light that slashes every 15 seconds. You can only get to the lighthouse by boat but the ferry captain will drop you off and pick you up an hour later.
There are just two streets in Hope Town,Front Street and Back Street, and no traffic lights. The speed limit is just 30 mph and no one seems to be in a hurry.
The museum is named for Wyannie Malone, a loyalist who arrived from Charleston, S.C. in 1785 with her four children. At that time sponging was one of the major exports from the Bahamas. Now the major crop here is tourism. A recent line of products, containing veem, is becoming quite popular. The seeds were brought here from India and the trees grow well in this climate. I bought some of the shampoo and body wash and it's quite nice.
Two of the women in our group - code names "Cyn" and "Boob" went snorkeling off the beach adjacent to the Hope Town Harbor Lodge where we were told there was a nice reef with lots of fish. They swam out to the reef and saw three or four baracuda. They weren't too startled because they were told there was a school of them out there. Well, Cyn was in the lead with Boob right behind, feeling a little nervous, when they saw a wall of hundreds of baracuda. Now they were all around them and much larger than they had expected - plus a very large mamma cuda was lurking just above them keep ing a watch on "the kids." Boob became scared and turned and started swimming as fast as she could to shore. But, halfway there she realixed she'd left Cyn behind. She looked back to see that Cyn had turned into a little motor boat of churning arms and legs swimming as fast as she could to get out of there. they arrived safely at shore and went back the next day and had a different experience but their original story was much better.
All in all, it was a very good trip. We all ended up with nicknames which originated from various stories and revelations. I'll list them here but won't attribute them to any one in particular: Flo, Ho, Pot, Quack, Wicky, Ticky, Cyn (or Sin), O and Boob. There was talk of having a reunion somewhere next year. We'll see.
It was good to spend a week, as Jimmy Buttet says, "wastin' away again in Margaritaville".
