Nassau, Bahamas

After a two-year hiatus of international travel, we are ready to get back in action! This time we were headed to the gorgeous island of Nassau, Bahamas! Marshall’s parents had visited there last year and after showing us all their gorgeous pictures and videos, we were inspired to go check it out for ourselves.

Our trip started off a little bumpy with some flight delays, but we were just so excited to be in the Bahamas. When we checked in to our hotel that were staying at just for one night, we were nonchalantly told our room was downgraded from a one-bedroom suite with a fold out couch to a small studio room with two queens. I was super bummed because this was the only night that Marshall and I were going to have a room with some privacy on our trip. The lady said our room had a leak, but I’m sure she just gave our room away to some baller who slipped her some cash under the counter. To try to make us feel better about the situation, the lady walked over to the fridge and started handing us some free local beers, lol. I suppose that may have made me feel better if I actually liked beer.
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The boys couldn't wait to check out the waterslides, so we dropped off our bags in the room and went straight to the pool. They immediately ran up the stairs to the top of the slides. Marshall and I waited for a while wondering what was taking the boys so long to come down. Apparently, the slides were so old that the surface was no longer slick and the kids had to manually push themselves down at a snail’s pace, lol. The boys ended up using the slides more like a diving board so they still had plenty of fun. Then within ten minutes at the pool, lightning and thunder rolled in with a downpour of rain so we ran back to the room and got ready for dinner.

I had made reservations for a nearby restaurant called Poop Deck, and yes I only chose this place because of the name. I was really hoping the food didn’t live up to its name but my veggie fried rice unexpectedly came with chunks of various crab body parts. Alrighty then! I just covered up the crab pieces in my napkin so I couldn’t see it and was good to go. I was actually more excited for the trendy cocktail lounge next door to our hotel that Marshall and I had planned to chill at after dinner. We’ve been letting the leash out more with the boys and after testing them to use one of our phones to call us a few times we allowed them to play their iPads in the room while Marshall and I went downstairs to the coolest speakeasy style cocktail bar called Bon Vivants. The drinks were incredible and came in awesome cups like a gold horse and a pink pig!!

The next morning, we had a full day excursion planned to the nearby island of Exuma Cayes. We boarded a little 10-person plane along with two other couples and flew a quick 30-minute over to the island. Tyson was ecstatic that he got to be the co-pilot on the way there. Such a memorable experience! He was having fun checking out all buttons and holding onto the wheel pretending to fly. The views of all the little islands below was magical!

Upon arrival, we met our tour captain and hopped on a speed boat to go explore various exotic locations. Our first stop was an island inhabited by about 50 huge smelly pigs. As we pulled up to shore, the captain whistled loudly and the pigs came swimming over to the boat to get some snacks. The boys grabbed a loaf of bread and threw little chunks at their heads. We then hopped off the boat and hung out at the beach petting the pigs, dodging poop piles, and taking pics. There is one huge mama pig that is really aggressive so the guide said to stay away from her, but the rest were ok to pet. The boys were able to pick up the baby pigs which was super cute.

The next stop was swimming with sharks, the boys' favorite stop on the tour! On the ride there, Wesley pointed out into the ocean and said, “Look, it’s a great white shark”! Lol! We pulled into a marina where all the sharks were swimming around with the tourists. The tour guides gave the sharks lots of fish to keep them hanging around. The boys were a little apprehensive to get in the water at first but once they saw other people petting the sharks they were excited to jump in. They loved petting the friendly sharks and swimming around with them. They didn't want to get back in the boat when the captain said we were headed to the next spot!

​We continued our tour and stopped at a little sand bar to relax and swim around in the shallow turquoise blue water. The boys were less interested in relaxing and more interested in the box of free chip bags and doing cannon balls off the front of the boat into the water. These boys never run out of energy!
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As we continued on our journey, we stopped at a plane wreckage from 30 years ago. Marshall took the boys out snorkeling all around the plane. The boys had to learn quick how to use the big goggles and snorkel, but they did amazing. So cool to swim around a plane wreck the first time you snorkel. What a crazy site to see! I sat this one out and just laid out on the boat and worked on my tan.

The next stop was Iguana Island as the island is inhabited with iguanas freely roaming around. Obviously, you can’t feed or pet them (unless you’re ok with missing fingers), but we could get up close to them for pictures. Marshall did a sexy modeling shoot laying on the beach right next to the iguanas, lol. The boys mostly liked chasing them around.

The next stop was an island cave where the James Bond movie Thunderball was filmed. We all swam over to the little opening where you enter into the cave. Once inside, the water reflecting onto the cave walls gives it a blue glow. Unfortunately, we didn’t get any pictures because we forgot to bring the SIM card for our new GO-Pro. Doh! The boys thought it was cool that there were bats hanging from the top of the cave and one was flying around above us. We snorkeled all around the cave and saw the most colorful exotic fish we’ve ever seen. It truly was a magical experience!

After all the amazing stops on our adventures, it was time for a late lunch at a local yacht club. The eight of us in our tour group sat together at a big round table and chatted about everyone’s various travel adventures. It’s always fun hearing where other folks have traveled to and get ideas on interesting future places to check out.

Once we wrapped up lunch, we all walked back over to the boat, except for Tyson who thought it would be more fun to swim to the boat. We headed back to the airport and boarded our plane back to Nassau. This time Wesley got to be the co-pilot. He thought it was so cool! About halfway back, our co-pilot fell asleep at the wheel, lol. Thank God we had a back up pilot on board!

After deboarding the plane, we taxied over to the magnificent Royal Atlantis hotel. This place is massive! There’s a huge waterpark, aquariums, dolphin lagoon, casino, arcade, and the list goes on. The boys immediately wanted to check out the Aquaventure waterpark. It’s a lush, tropical aquatic playground with several thrilling slides, 11 pools, and a mile-long rolling rapid river. This place is a blast for both kids and adults! We were only able to go down a couple slides before a lightning storm rolled in and the park closed. That’s ok, we still had three more days here so we went inside and explored the resort! 

The next morning Marshall took the boys out to grab some fancy donuts for breakfast while I joined a work call. Luckily this was the only call I had to join on our trip. By the time the boys came back from breakfast they were ready to hit up the waterpark. The first slide we all went down was a two-person tube slide that jets through a shark tank. So cool! Tyson wanted to go on all the thrilling slides first, but Wesley was a little apprehensive and wanted to just do the tamer slides to start. Throughout the day Marshall and I took turns going on slides with each of the boys.  Wesley eventually built up enough courage to go on one of the speed slides called ‘the challenger’ with Tyson where they raced side by side down super steep slides. They go so fast that they skid across the pool when they get to the bottom. He loved it and wanted to go on it over and over again. Tyson’s favorite slides were ‘abyss’ where you spiral down a slide in complete darkness and ‘leap of faith’ where you drop down a near vertical slide that shoots you through the shark tank.

That evening we walked along the marina in search of a fun dinner spot. The marina is a bustling place to hang out in the evenings. We heard some live local music playing at a vibrant colored restaurant that looked hoppin’. That was an obvious choice for dinner! It always adds a great vibe when you can jam out some great music while enjoying dinner on the town.

​The next morning, we were excited to check out downtown Nassau. It was a quick 10 minute water taxi ride from our hotel that drops you off right in front of a huge straw market that sells a lot of local knick knacks and souvenirs (aka junk). After about the third vendor, you quickly realize they all basically sell the same stuff. We were on a mission to find our Bahamas Christmas ornament, a family tradition we do on each trip to remember all the places we've been together. We also gave the boys each $10 to haggle with. Wesley found a shark stuffy and Tyson wanted to save his money for something later on the trip. 

After about an hour downtown the boys were ready to head back to the hotel to go to the water park. Surprise suprise! We went on the lazy river and a couple slides and then the boys wanted to try a fancy drink at Chocotini. It was a chocolate smoothie with whipped cream, sprinkles, chocolate chips, marshmallows and gummy candies on top. The boys shared one with two straws and were in chocolate heaven.
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We went on a few more slides and then headed back to the room to get ready for dinner. We walked over to the marina and decided on a restaurant called Carmine’s for dinner. It’s a family style Italian restaurant so the portions are huge. We ordered Parmesan chicken with angel hair pasta and a side of meatballs for us all to share. It was delicious but between the four of us we could only devour about half the meal. 

Later that evening there was a cultural show with lots of music and dancing. A lady was doing an act where she was rubbing a fire stick on peoples hands in the audience. Tyson wanted to see what it felt like so he stuck his hand out and she ran the flame across his hand lighting it on fire and then quickly patted it out. He thought that was so cool! Meanwhile, I was freaking that he may have burned his hand, but luckily this was some kind of magic fire that doesn't burn your skin. Then the performer asked for volunteers to go on stage and learn some local dance moves. Tyson raised his hand and was brought on stage with 3 other adults. She grabbed Tyson first to perform a little dance routine. She put his hands up on her hips and when she dipped, he dipped, they dipped. Haha, actually they moved their hips in sync to the right, left, back and front over and over as they got faster each time. We all got a good laugh!

​The following morning, we filled our bellies with a big pancake breakfast and headed straight to the waterpark. As we were raging down the rapid river, black clouds rolled in and it started to downpour on us. Just wonderful! We all jumped out of the water and ran to the nearest cabana for shelter. To entertain ourselves while we waited out the rain, we played ‘would you rather’. The boys like to come up with the grossest things like “would you rather eat your own poop or drink someone else’s pee?” Lol! Gross...
 
That afternoon I took the boys on an adventure exploring areas of the hotel that we hadn’t yet seen. We strolled through their ginormous aquarium and saw lots of colorful fish as well as some rare saw-nosed sharks. We continued our exploration across a suspended rope bridge and over to Cove beach for a swim in the crystal blue water. 

That evening Marshall and I dropped the kids off at the kids club and we went on a date night. Woohoo! We had a lovely dinner out on the patio at Nobu restaurant with a great view of the ocean. Afterward, we moseyed over to the marina and stopped in a bar for a tasty espresso martini to end the evening. It was already almost 10pm and time to pick up the boys. We started heading back and stumbled upon some live music and dancing out in the courtyard so we obviously had to stop to do the Cuban Shuffle (which Marshall is a professional at and I'm out there just running into everyone). When we picked up the boys from the kids club they both had trophies in their hands for winning a talent contest. Apparently the boys chose to do a running race and Wesley came 2nd and Tyson came 3rd (not sure how that’s possible, but that’s cool). 

The next day was our last day in the Bahamas. We found a fun breakfast place at our hotel with fancy donuts. The boys picked out a yummy chocolate oreo donut. They were a chocolately mess afterwards but totally worth it! Luckily we were headed to the pool afterwards so they could wash off all their goobers. We only had time for a few slides before heading to lunch. We fame across a cool lagoon restaurant that is surrounded by sharks, stingrays, and tons of fish. The boys spent most of the time just watching the fish and taking a bite here and there.
 
We wanted to spend the last few hours relaxing at Cove beach. Conveniently located right next to the beach was a drink stand that sold fancy tropical cocktails in a pineapple. Obviously I had to get one! After soaking up the last bit of sun, we headed back to front desk to pick up our luggage.  We asked what time we should leave for the airport and they said we should have left a couple hours ago. Oh crap! We quickly grabbed a taxi and raced to the airport, arriving just barely an hour before our flight took off. We cut in line at security and customs and booked it to our gate. We arrived at the gate nearly dry heaving only find out our flight was delayed and had plenty of time after all. Of course!

 We flew an hour back to Orlando and stayed with Marshall’s parents for the weekend. We figured since we had a layover there we might as well stay a couple days and visit them. We spent a lot of the time at Cocoa Beach where the boys boogie boarded in the waves and collected shells along the beach. They also got a lot of pool time in grandma and grandpa and cousin CJ. While they were all enjoying the pool, Marshall and I went fishing off their dock and I caught at least 15 catfish. Oh yeah, I’m a master fisherwoman! On an unrelated note, Wesley randomly started calling everyone ‘bro’ while we were there, including his grandma. Oh, the phases kids go through!
 
We were supposed to only stay two days with them but ended up staying an extra day after our flight was cancelled. It was a little inconvenient but luckily we both brought our laptops to be able to work. Unfortunately though, we originally had a direct flight home but got rebooked with a layover in San Diego. When we got to the airport, there was a lightening storm so the flight was delayed. We ended up missing our connecting flight in San Diego and the next flight out wasn’t until the following afternoon. Great, now we stuck in San Diego for a full day! The airline tried to do us a favor and put us up in a ghetto two-star hotel that smelled like vomit and had a giant spider on the ceiling. I think I used half my bottle of nice perfume trying to cover up the smell. The only silver lining was that Marshall was able to take the boys to the San Diego Zoo while I worked in the hotel room waiting for our flight.
 
All in all, we made some great memories on this trip and the boys said the Bahamas was their favorite place they’ve ever been! They even said they want to take their kids there one day, haha.