Cruise Day 3: Nassau, Bahamas

Behold: The Enchantment! In the Bahamas! It was so cool to wake up in the morning and see land out the window at breakfast. While we're talking about breakfast...I really liked eating it in the dining room. I got to order an omelette and hashbrowns, gluten free toast with jam, a bowl of grits with soymilk and honey (tastes like cream of wheat), and then I could get fruit and bacon and nuts and seeds at the small buffet. It was such a lovely meal every morning! We also didn't have assigned seating then, so we'd always meet and visit with someone new. I spoke German with a lady from Germany, and we met people from all over the country.

Anyways, that morning, I didn't feel at all different when we walked off the ship and onto land. It was just nice to have a day to go wherever we wanted! Me and my man.

I could not keep myself from taking pictures of everything! It was all so colorful and vibrant and authentic!

 As soon as we entered the little "town square" with all these booths and vendors, Bahamian people started bombarding us with tour offers. We talked to a few, and then picked one guy that seemed nice enough. We hopped in his van with another family from the UK, and the driver took us on a 3 hour tour of the whole island. It was only like $20 per person, whereas if we would have booked something on the ship like everyone else seemed to do, we would've paid at least twice as much. Good deal!

The first stop was Paradise Island, to visit the Atlantis Resort. (This isn't my picture, but I wanted to show that Bridge Suite in the middle. It costs $25,000 per night! People like Michael Jackson, Oprah, and Celine Dion have stayed there.)

It reminded us of Vegas. Cool glass sculptures to see inside the hotel.

 Giant chairs to lounge on

 And an awesome landscape. We walked around the back outside, and it was definitely a beautiful resort.

 They have a popular water park, and private beaches. It would be a fun family place to stay!

Our next stop was an old fort, which was conveniently supplied with a guy selling fresh young coconuts! This was the part I was really excited about, since I love coconut anything. The young coconuts I buy at Sprouts are always so sweet and delicious.

 These were not. But it was still worth the experience of watching him hack it open with a machete.

 Old cannons they used to protect the island back in the day. It looks like the palm tree is stuffed in the end of the cannon.

 Oh hey, there's our coconut, with its not so sweet warm coconut water!

 After we drank the water, he hacked the rest open so we could scoop out the meat. That part was tasty, and young coconuts have soft gel-like meat that's easy to scoop out with a spoon.

 As we continued on our journey in the ghetto little van on teeny skinny streets, barely clearing other cars and walls, our driver pointed out all the trees. Mango and avocado trees!

 I want some!!

 We stopped at a different fort, which had a great view of the whole island.

 Jake even got to put his shoulder to the wheel and push the cannon to aim for attack!

That was the fort guide on the end there. He sure knew a lot about it!

 Lookin good!

 View of the water tower from the top.

 I just loved these adorable steps and building as we passed it on our way to the next landmark.

 I don't remember why this is called The Queen's Staircase, but it was pretty cool!

That was the end of our tour, and we ended up back in the town square. From there, we went back to the ship for lunch in the dining room, since you can't beat that food. I had a really yummy chopped salad in the main dining room where I could pick whatever I wanted to put in it. Then we walked through the streets to get to the best part- the beach! This map on a store wall was a perfect photo op!

Met a pirate along the way...

 Why are their walls so much cooler than ours!

 Palm tree, palm tree, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

 Can you stand it?? I just can't.

 Bahamian policemen in front of the ice cream shop.

 Limo in passing.

 And then finally, we had arrived.

 Ohhhhhh yes.

 Lighthouse, sailboat, kayak, beach.

 I couldn't get over how crystal clear the water is! (And you can't go wrong with hot pink toe nails)

 Heck yeah. GORGEOUS.

 The water was fairly warm, and it didn't get too deep for a ways out. The sand was a little pebbly, however, so it kinda hurt my feet to walk on. But there were tons of schools of teeny silver fish swimming around, and shells and sea glass to look for.

Jake laid out on a towel on the beach, while I swam and looked for shells. It was hot and beautiful weather. After the beach, we walked into town again to try to facetime with our girls, but it never worked out with the internet and timing. Oh well, we got to see all the cute island school kids coming home from school with their uniforms and knee socks, stopping for a fast food treat along their way.

Pretty buildings and palm trees. I can't resist.

 We walked back to board the ship in time for dinner. Here it is in all its full length glory.

 And we got one last taste of Nassau.

That night on the ship, we enjoyed dinner in the dining room (called My Fair Lady, hence the statue and the pose)

 I had to take pictures of these fancy desserts that Jake ordered. Very artistic!

 We stood on the deck as the ship pulled away from Nassau in the dark.

 When we stopped back at our room for a minute, we found this gem hanging. Those housekeeping people are pretty good!

 The entertainment on the ship was really good. A singing and dancing performing group did 2 shows, with songs from movies and musicals.

 We also hit up the karaoke lounge a few nights, which was more often than not painful to listen to. But slightly entertaining nonetheless. On this night, there was a poolside dance party, where we stood on the deck above and just watched the dancing and entertainment.

Next stop: Coco Cay!