Hey there.....it's been 3 weeks since my last post and it's time to let you know what we have been up to.
On January 31st, my brother Mike and sister in law Sandra flew away from the frigid and snowy weather of Toronto. They stayed in a room here at the Hopetown Inn. The next morning they joined us on Miss Ellie for french toast and real Canadian Maple Syrup. Fantastic start to the day!
This is the Hopetown Inn
Renting a golf cart or bikes is how we get around this picturesque Elbow Cay island . Here we choose the cart....and head a few miles down the narrow road for some sightseeing and lunch.
The Abaco Inn is an icon that has been serving patron for many, many years. It is out of town a ways and requires a golf cart to get to it. If you call them, they will even come and pick you up for a meal and drop you back off in town. Just part of how they do business here.
Guy and Sandra looking and listening to the waves of the Atlantic just before lunch at the Abaco Inn.
After lunch, we piled into the golf cart and made our way to Tahiti beach a short distance away to walk off our lunch......at low tide....
it is at the South end of Elbow cay. There is a passage opening out to the Atlantic. So, there is great shelling here. The ridges in the sand at low tide reach far into the Atantic.
Next stop is a little bar called 'On Da Beach'. After all it's almost 4:00 pm by now and it is very hot......
This quaint friendly little place had every thing painted in a turquoise that matched the color of the ocean.
Inside the bar was this sign.....notice a spelling mistake?
Making our way back to Hopetown, we stopped to check out a few brave and talented kite surfers.
There are so many reefs along the shore that we assume they must have been locals...and knew what they were doing. Very strong winds and huge surf and reefs all around them!
On one of the nights we took Mike and Sandra, to the Firefly...our favorite restaurant in the Abacos so far. There we celebrated their 10th anniversary and our birthdays.
This is the view of the Firefly property as we arrived by golf cart.
We were asked if we wanted to sample some of their "moonshine"
So we did!
This is the guy that served us some of the 107 % alcohol...
I'm thinking that this stuff would cure a cold in a matter of seconds...It is brewed state side and brought to the Bahamas. It is the only place to buy it and a couple of drinks made with this stuff and you are ready for anything!!
A great sunset for our celebration....
The next morning we are off to the beach.....
Mike goes snorkeling....
We all enjoyed a good amount of time body surfing and laughing like little kids along the shore! We found a beautiful long sandy beach with a reef about 50 ft off shore. Mike wanted to see the fish on the reef. Luckily no sharks came to play with him.
The afternoon was spent by the pool playing backgammon, with a cold beverage and a few snacks
Guy and George provided the music
One evening, just before sunset, we walked over to the Elbow Cay Lighthouse. It is the most recognizable landmark on Abaco. This 89 foot high candy stripe edifice was built in 1863 and is one of two hand wound kerosene burning lighthouses still operational in the world. The lense is beautiful to see up close. It floats on 1200 lbs of mercury! (quick silver) The lense turns by having the lighthouse keeper turn a large crank every 2 hours. One of the last remaining in the world. There are supposed to be 3 lighthouse keepers. Each doing an 8 hour shift. But one died and one was injured so it was left up to one lighthouse keeper to do all the work every night! The poor buggar! He has another job during the day also. It is not uncommon to find the light not turning. He must have fallen asleep. Everyone understands.
The Fresnel lenses concentrate the mantle’s light into a beam directed straight towards the horizon. The lenses and burner equipment, weighing 8,000lbs, float in a circular lubricated tub. This reduces friction so that the 700lbs of weight, when wound up to the top of the tower by hand, smoothly rotates the 4-ton apparatus once every 15 seconds. The lighthouse keeper on duty must wind up the weights every 2 hours in order for the red and white candy-striped lighthouse to be seen from 17 miles away.
We climbed 100 plus steps to the top of the lighthouse.
This pic is of Sandra and I inside and Mike and Guy taking our picture from the outside...through a small window.
I finally braved going outside.....for an un-interrupted, spectacular view....Since the first mate is afraid of heights, it took a fair bit of coaxing to get me out on the narrow walkway at the top!
The sunset from the lighthouse
After a fun five days we vowed to do it again next year....
On Valentine's day, Drew and Janet arrived from Florida where they had a few days to thaw out after leaving the frigid cold of Ontario.
The first day, Drew rented a small boat to take us to a flea market on Man-O-War island (the next island from Hopetown)
Some of us were a bit sea sprayed after the bumpy ride....
After we browsed through the flea market, resisting any purchases...we set out to find the Atlantic side beach.
Who doesn't like to have their feet photographed? Do you believe the colour of that water!! I still find it amazing!
After the Man -O- War island lunch and fun, we returned to Miss Ellie for a cold beer.....and some laughs....
That night, we went to our favorite, The Firefly restaurant to celebrate Guy's Birthday!
The Birthday Boy! Not bad for 60!!! The hair is growing in nicely after the shaving a few months back.
The next day we loaded Drew and Janet in our little dingy and took them for a walk around the little town of Hopetown.
We walked along the carless (golf carts only) narrow streets looking at the many origional colorful homes and rental cottages. Picket fences are everywhere. The streets would be just big enough for a horse and carriage. No cars here!
A walk on the beach and a stop for a photograph
Day # 3...we are off to do some deep sea fishing for the afternoon.
Out of the harbor, into the Abaco sea and out to the ocean. We had been along this stretch of coastline earlier in the week and it was all just reefs. Yet our deep sea captain was a 'Local Boy'. Fishing and selling to the restaurants in Hope Town since he was 12! He cut through this reef at high speed like it was a highway. Scimming past huge coral heads to reach our fishing grounds. I would have been nervous in our dinghy but he said it was a channel his father had taught him many years ago. Amazing to see!
Guy trying out the fishing chair and eagerly anticipating a "bite or catch"
Here he is practicing the technique...LOL!
And look whose is proudly holding a "catch" of the day!
A 45 lb dolphin
This is Justin owner of Local Boy charters preparing to fillet the
catch for us....This fish was actually caught that morning on another charter. Justin felt so sorry that we did not have any luck in the 5 hours fishing that he let us take pics and gave us 6 generous mahi mahi fillets. He is still laughing about us taking pics of someone else's catch. Who can resist a "fish story"?
After such an exciting day on the high seas....and a nice dinner at the Inn, we return to Miss Ellie for a night cap , guitar playing and singing....
We will continue to reminisce our good time with family this February in Hopetown...Thrilled to share our life in paradise with them and will keep the drinks cold till they return.
