Just Another Day in Nassau!

Our first port of call was Nassau, Bahamas. We were worried about this stop, wondering if we would be re-routed to another port because of Hurricane Irene. Irene hit Nassau pretty hard, and everywhere we went we saw clean up crews taking care of debris and aftermath.

As hard as it was to see, I was really encouraged by the spirit of the people of Nassau! They were friendly, and welcoming and we had a wonderful day!

I won’t even complain how HOT it was….but seriously. It was KILLER hot!

It was a short day, we had to be back on ship at 1:30pm. Because of this, I am ETERNALLY grateful to Lori for planning what we were going to do! She did all the research, and printed out a walking tour for us.

Of course, it helps to have the map right side up so you don’t end up on the other side of the Island, wondering WHERE the heck the Queen’s Staircase is!

In our introductory meet & greet aboard ship, Jim told us we should travel with “A Quilter’s Eye” and keep our eyes open for things that might inspire our quilting. What do you think of this CEILING?! This was where our meeting was held, and I saw it right off….would you have noticed it?

I spied THIS tile design when we left the ship and wandered our way through the port buildings and into Nassau:

Wouldn’t this make a cool border for a quilt? With our “Quilters Eyes” wide open, we headed out into Nassau to see what we could see!

I love these signs! But I learned on a previous cruise about 15 years ago that my scalp is too tender to do the braid thing! I did it once, and went snorkeling, and burned all that white skin in between the braid parts. Owie! No Bo Derek look for THIS girl!

Lori, in front of the statue of the businessman that founded Nassau. Isn’t it terrible? I don’t remember his name, but this was one of the spots on our walking tour.

Queen Victoria’s statue in front of some state/court buildings that are under rennovation. I can’t imagine living here in 1800 something. How would anyone survive this heat in long full gowns, corsets and stays? Hense, the need for the “fainting couch” I’m sure!

The colors of the buildings were beautiful! My favorite? The shell pink ones. With the white trim they looked so pretty against the blue blue Caribbean sky!

Horse & Buggy rides are a popular tourist attraction. We chose to walk, wanting to stave off accumulated poundage from all the ship-board ((And port side)) eats! I also made it a personal goal to use the stairs in the ship as much as possible instead of waiting around for elevators. Who needs a stairmaster?! Not me!

More pink buildings! And so glad we never rented a bike, scooter, or car! I so could NOT drive on the left side of the road!

Hurricane Irene did a number on this tree….see how the roots have lifted up?

The tree came to rest on top of this building. I’m sure the damage could have been worse!

There was lots of interesting iron work! This iron fence has a queen’s crown in it….again, that lovely shell pink!

This building is in need of great repair, but I was intrigued by the pattern of the all over shutters….Some buildings seemed to be uninhabited for YEARS, just sitting there. I wonder what history they have had in their past?

We eventually found our way to the bottom of the Queen’s Staircase. This limestone staircase was built by slaves to honor Queen Victoria's help in the abolition of slavery in the Bahamas. Huge limestone walls….and you can see the hurricane damage that is still in the clean up process. All of the vendor stalls that were on the sides of the pathway have been demolished.

I will say that it was at least 15 degrees cooler down here! Look at how large these palm fronds are compared to the tourist you see on the right side of the pic? They were HUGE!

More clean up. They were working so hard at it! By the time we reached the top of the staircase, a crane had come into the area to help them lift out the debris.

More limestone walls with vegitation. This was my favorite spot on our walking tour of Nassau.

Me, at the bottom of the 65 steps! ((Yeah, we started our tour at the bottom..having to walk UP, instead of being smart and starting at the top and walking DOWN!….burn calories, burn!!))

A bit of history of the staircase:

Nassau's most visited attraction is the Queen's Staircase. Climb the 65 steps, recently renovated, carved out of solid lime stone by slaves in the late 18th century, between 1793 and 1794.

This 102 foot staircase was named in honor of the 65 years of Queen's Victoria's reign. Construction of this monument is still regarded as remarkable.

Part II of Nassau to come!