#BAHAMAS2017

Ever since my IRONMAN journey, Bob and I have looked forward with great expectation and anticipation to our big Bahamas trip this year.  Life is so incredibly busy with 2 school age kids that the time practically flew by.  I kept telling myself, "Bethany, when you get to the Bahamas, promise to slow down.....to soak it all in.....to make the days last just a few more seconds."

The girls of course could not get to this trip fast enough.  There is so much to tell about their trip, but that is for another blog.  We left our home for our  day trip on June 5th and were all smiles at the airport.  

We connected with Matt and Tara and made it to Florida only to have major delays due to rain.  The girls were ecstatic to connect with Grandma and Grandpa and we all enjoyed some airport play time while we waited for our bags under the Tornado watch ramp closure.  Goodness the rain........I was amazed that anything can stay standing under that amount of constant rain.  After an hour or so we all got our bags (Poor Matt's bag looked to have been dunked in the pool), gave hugs and kisses to the kids and sent them off on their Disney adventure while the 4 of us took a deep breath and headed to our hotel for the quick sleep.  With only one flight from FL to the Bahamas a day it was hard to make the connection.  I didn't mind.  We had a great dinner together and enjoyed a rainy night in.

Unfortunately, the rain refused to let up so our flight to the Bahamas was delayed by about 3 hours.  Again, I really didn't mind.  I settled in with my book and had a wonderful relaxing time waiting.  By the time we could leave I was certainly ready to reach our destination.

The Bahamas is really a short hop from FL.  We were only in our airplane for about an hour to get to our island.  As the string of islands came into view Bob and I were mesmerized at how clear and beautiful the water was.  Gorgeous.

Bahamas is an international country so once we arrived I was able to get another stamp in my passport.  Customs was easy and we hustled to get our bags and get to the resort.

After an exciting taxi cab ride on the opposite side of the road, we arrived at the Melia.  This was the first time experiencing an all inclusive resort for all of us and we learned a lot about how to make the best of it.  The resort was nice and clean with a fantastic pool/cabana grounds, outdoor grille, and private beach.  

In true Longmire fashion, we couldn't leave the area unexplored by a run so that is just what we did.  Once we left the resort we were nervous to leave the sidewalks and weren't entirely sure we felt comfortable really exploring so we stayed pretty close to home.  We ran out to a little Bay and then back to the resort on the beach.

The ocean is amazing.  The Bahamas are basically sand bars.  Very different from lush and rocky volcanic islands like Hawaii.  There is little to no wave and the water is clear and mostly silent.  At first it was weird, but became very relaxing.  

One thing we learned about all inclusive in a foreign country is making sure to really budget excursions into your plans.  Thankfully we found some locals marketing on the beach who took us snorkeling of the coast of our island and then took us over to a private island for some fun.  We had a great time and then spent the afternoon drinking, sunning and napping.  Delightful.

Bob and I spent some time paddle boarding one morning.  It was a much easier time because there is very little wave, plus if you fell in you could quite literally just stand up.  

We spent a lot of our time snorkeling our little beach area.  It was amazing how many fish you could see just right off the beach.  We even saw starfish, sting rays, baracudas, turtles, and big flat plate fish ( I forget their technical name).

Bahamas is fascinating.  Besides Atlantis, there are a few other resorts, but many have had a very hard time staying in business.  Right next to our resort was a completely abandoned dead resort.  We are talking 25 stories tall, 2 buildings.....enormous resort that is a ghost house used to house workers.  Those workers helped build the multi billion dollar resort that sits on the other side of the ghost resort.  The Baha Mar is AMAZING.  An absolutely luxurious, high end brand new resort that boasts multiple pools, cabanas, a casino, a mall, and absolutely exquisite finishings.  Hard to describe, but when Bob and I walked over to explore the grounds one evening I felt completely out of place in my flip flops and short shorts!

One of the absolute highlights from the trip was our big snorkeling and swimming with sharks excursion.  We went with Stuarts Cove, a local dive company, and had an absolute BLAST.  We were on a big boat with about 20 other people.  The gave us a grand tour of several islands including this section of an island owned by a billionaire who built his own private Swiss family Robinson type amusement park.  It looks like a haunted set of a movie.  Crazy.

We snorkeled in 2 amazing spots.  Even a mile from the shore, the water was still only around 15 to 20 feet deep and you could see everywhere.  I am so glad that I am a swimmer because I was able to only wear my goggles and really explore the underwater world.  One of the guides brought fish food into the water and in 2 seconds we were surrounded by hundreds of colorful fish.  It was incredible and something I will not soon forget.

Plus jumping off the boat was pretty awesome too!

After we finished snorkeling, we headed over to the area to swim with sharks.  It is out in the middle of the ocean and its wild that it is still only about 40 feet down.  We got to the spot and then were given strict instructions to enter one at a time and then hold onto the rope that was extended out the back of the boat 20 feet or so.  The sharks love blood....and they love thrashing swimmers.  So we all entered and quickly looked down to see about 6 reef sharks doing their thing near the bottom.  It was exhilarating and fun and we felt very safe.  At one point one of the sharks got curious and came up towards us.  He got within about 10 feet from Tara and I before the guide with us interfered and redirected him.  It was a great experience and after we all got out, they threw some food in and all of the sharks came to the surface so we could see them up close.  Very cool.  

The most terrifying part to me came after when I learned that we were swimming on the edge of the reef and that about 20 feet behind us in the water was a literal drop off.........as in from 40 feet to 6450 feet.  WOW.  The ocean is just big......so so SO big.

On the Saturday before we left, the resort was packed with people.  Several weddings and several visitors due to the big pool party they threw in the afternoon.

Free booze and a bubble filled pool........yes please!

I, the short one, kept getting lost in the bubbles and my boyfriend thoroughly enjoyed finding me only to launch me back in.  We had so much fun and it reminded me so much of our dating days.  We should play in bubble filled pools more often!

We spent the last couple of days just soaking up the sun and enjoying the freedom having time gives you.  We ran and had our local buddies Eugene and Mikey give us a ride back to the private island for the morning.  We also rented jet skis one afternoon and I discovered that I LOVE them!!!!  I wish I could have gotten a picture of my jet ski face.  Apparently it was really good!

This trip came at the perfect time and I am grateful for it.  I am also so glad that we have great friends that we vacation well with.  We have fun together and I cannot wait for more adventures.

Here's to the next guys!