John & Anne Wiley

Today we felt more settled. Woke late, made coffee in the room, organized stuff, oh and I went out on the balcony to get a better view shot for the Photo Page. Ever have that feeling someone is watching? Well I glanced up and the dove that has adopted us was peeking around the divider from the patio next door.

0860 Remember Me?

Anne pointed out that as it flew away yesterday after our encounter I told it to remember our room number. 🙂

0088 Muse

After a light breakfast in the room of cereal we’d brought and milk bought yesterday, I received another welcome visitor. Sometimes when I meet a new piano or other instrument, or am moved by something else impactful, music emerges. Today it was the sketch of a song I might work on. It’s probably been several years since the Muse has visited in this way.

0089 Walk The Line

Then down to the water at last with goggles to check out the legendary Caribbean snorkeling. We passed this small wedding party on the line between grass and sea forming a geometry with the sky somehow mingled in my mind with the lines of couples stretching before and after across time.

0092 Safe House

We saw many fish, some sort of purple sea fans, a large ray, a little derelict sunken jet boat hull sheltering a large variety of fish, and this conch shell. After bringing it to the beach for this photo op, I put it back wondering what had breached the safety of that thick shell. No matter how we feel about danger, it eventually finds us all whether we’re out looking for it, hiding in a shell, or sometime somewhere between.

0865 Before Sunset

One of the romantic movies we like is Before Sunset with all its encounter and philosophy, and that magical street poet. There was a quiet touch of that as we waited for the elevator silently looking deeply into the eyes of destiny.

0870 Welsh Choir

Over our affordable gourmet Italian dinner we talked about the diversity here. People from every imaginable corner of the planet seem to congregate here. I can understand those from cold climates enjoying a break here for Easter, but wondered what would bring those from the Southern Hemisphere and even Pacific Islanders (maybe the latter we’ve seen now live in the northeast and come here for a shorter trip to a breath of home?). After dinner we caught the end of this concert by a men’s choir from North Wales, singing to the diverse crowd that had gathered in the public square.

0875 Here & There

We seem to enjoy playing “Here and There.” Our first airline trip together was to Hawaii, and we liked to look down after takeoff and see where we’d been. After the trip, we’d see a jet contrail high in the blue and imagine ourselves up there, looking down. We like to visit a place on the ground and then fly over it, or discover something from Tripp and then go see it on the ground. Maybe there was some aspect of this in our enjoyment of finding our room in this tall wall of randomly lit cubicles. Each has a fascinating story, and ours seems enriched by glimpsing it from afar.

To ensure we had a place to sleep when we had little time for planning, we’d reserved a room at the Castaways. We knew it was near the Freeport city centre and thus a long walk from the water. But it was fun to wake this morning where many of the locals live and shop.

0825 Castaways View

We dragged all our stuff around the area, chancing upon what seemed to be the main Grand Bahama office of Tourism.

0828 Tourism Office

Along the way we met this spiral tail lizard, fat and happy in the sun. He posed so nicely for this shot!

0830 Spiral Lizard

We were helped immeasurably by Pauline in the Tourism Office, who went to extraordinary lengths to help us try to find accommodations on other islands. She has an especially good connection on San Salvador Island, which is the one I’d found most intriguing in my research before we left home. Looks like thanks to her we might be able to visit there. 🙂

0061 Patient Pauline

Anne was delighted to find this enchanting mailbox in the hotel lobby, where she posted those two cards. You know who you are. 😉

0058 Magic Mail

We lunched across the street at a nice restaurant that to me is misnamed The Office. So far from the sort of stresses I associate with that title. Beyond it the beer sign marks a handy liquor store, and the pink hotel across the street is our Castaways.

5618 Office View

We’d taken a reasonably priced taxi ride from there to Lucaya the night before, but today we discovered the Bahama Bus service. Basically a fleet of vans that roams an unmapped route punctuated by blue “Bus Stop” signs. It was great to save enough taxi money to buy a nice lunch and meet locals.

0062 Bahamian Bus

Locals like Greg here, who studied accounting in Paris and now works in the casino across from tonight’s hotel. He intrigued us with a saxophone case, and when he spotted my miniature guitar said we should jam tonight. The ride was far too short!

0063 Gregarious Greg

Tonight we decided to spring for a more upscale hotel, which sadly lacks the free internet we enjoyed at the Castaways. But it does have a great location on the canal just across the street from the beaches where tomorrow we hope to finally go snorkeling. For tonight, we’re enjoying some beauty.

0067 Pelican Bay Babe