BAHAMAS GETAWAY

On our second wedding anniversary my husband surprised me with a trip to Nassau, Bahamas. I was so excited as I had never left the state of North Carolina! I am about as country as you can get. There was so much to do and buy before you can even leave the country. I didn't even have a certified birth certificate. I was born at my Grandmother's house so the Doctor had forgot to register a proper birth certificate. It's amazing when you don't have a birth certificate, yet the bill collectors know where you live!

I had to go to my elementary school and my high school to get records of my school report cards. My mother even had to go before a clerk and notary to swear she was my mother. But finally I got a birth certificate and was able to get my passport to go on the trip.

My husband and I got to Florida two days early to get in some sightseeing. Then we went to Fort Lauderdale and boarded the ship. It was so big and breathtaking inside and out and lots of walking to get from one side of the ship to the other. There was so much to see on the ship and more food than we could eat in a year. No one had reason to go hungry as they served food on every deck.

Entertainment was blasting all over the ship. The evenings were full of entertainers and opportunities to dance and share with other passengers. My husband and I even won the twist contest and just happened to be the oldest ones on the floor. As we won our award, the cruise director said he couldn't understand why people from North Carolina always won the dance contests. Someone from the audience said that they were the only ones who knew how to dance! I don't know about that but we sure had fun.

Most of the journey was at night while everyone slept. For me it was hard due to the movement of the ship. Whenever I would get up I would have to hang on to something to keep my balance. I had always been unbalanced in just a small fishing boat but this was a lot worse. So thankful I didn't get seasick as that would have made my journey very unpleasant. As we all awoke the next morning, we were already at our destination.

That next day as our ship pulled into dock at Nassau, we left the ship to visit the island. Merchants were everywhere trying to sell their treasures. Sometimes we could talk the merchants into lowering their prices as everything was so expensive. Everything was been sold in a big tent and the aisles were so small that you had to squeeze through.

One of the big hotels on the island served us lunch. During lunch we had lots of seagull visitors that wanted us to share our lunch. After lunch we went shopping for souvenirs for everyone back home and even got to sit out on the beach and look at the beautiful aqua colored ocean before leaving the hotel.

We left there and got on a boat that had a glass bottom so we could see all the beautiful tropical fish. Someone asked if they could go fishing there. The tourist guide said yes, if you would like to spend some unpleasant time in their jail. That part of the ocean was protected from fishermen and poachers. The driver of the boat gave us some bread crumbs to throw out to the fish to attract them to us. One could almost reach out and touch them.

After that we went back to the ship and got entertained some more and ate more than we should. The only problem we had was being sunburned from sitting on that beautiful beach. We never realized how warm it was and how sore we would be the next day. We had lots of treasures, memories and fun on our trip. Pictures of our time together in Nassau, Bahamas is all over our house and we will never forget it.