Grocery shopping via bicycle

Kevin & Thomas with full carts at store

   Grocery shopping.  Most people don't give it much thought, as it  is easy to get in your car, drive to the store, shop and go home.  Rain? - no problem!  Hot? - got a/c!  Well, when you are cruising around by boat, grocery shopping can become interesting, to say the least.  On the rivers, many marinas had courtesy cars, so we would do it the easy way and stock up. Aside from that, most places you need to find a way to get to the store, AND be able to carry all the stuff you need home.  Having a couple children come in handy - more people to carry stuff!  So, yesterday, Kevin showed Thomas & I the safe roads to bicycle on to get to the Solomon's grocery store 1.5 miles away.  Kevin & his family all have bicycles, and he has rigged a cart to his.  Thomas rode our bike, which has a small basket on the back, while I rode Tara's bike.  Although the clouds were looking like it would rain soon, we made it there and back without getting wet.  Nice ride, mostly flat.   We are fairly stocked up right now, since we left USA only a few weeks ago, but there are always a few fresh things and such you run out of.

Bahamas food (yes, more food!)

David's treat of conch salad and Bahamian beer waiting when he returned from States

  As many of you know, we love good food and good drinks.  David has been enjoying the various local Bahama beers, and we both have been enjoying the cheap rum - from a variety of islands in the Caribbean.  One of our favorite foods here is conch.  It is prepared in many ways (conch fritters, cracked conch), but our favorite is conch salad.  Big Daddy Brown in Port Lucaya makes the best we've had.  He chops up fresh conch (caught that morning) with onions, green peppers, tomatoes and lime squirted over it. YUM!  Of course, seafood is fairly common here.  August 1 started lobster season, so we have been hoping to partake of this yummy delicacy.  Yesterday, the captain of a boat we have seen a few times cruising in our harbor came over to see us.  He goes out early in the morning and brings back fresh lobster tails.  So Tara & I decided we would try them - $40 for 12 tails; our families split the bag.  Last night, David seasoned then grilled the tails, and prepared Alfredo sauce with noodles as a side. Everyone agreed it was a very tasty dinner!

Our lobsters tails

Lobster on the grill 

Lobster tails are done! 

Bahamian lobster tails with egg noodles & Alfredo sauce

Cooking onboard

Fresh bread with breadmaker

   While we travel, people ask us if we cook much while on board.  (Do you cook at home? sometimes we get silly questions.)   So, I thought I would dedicate today's blog to some of the cooking we do in our home.  We have a 2 burner stove and a microwave/convection oven, as well as a wok & an indoor grill. (AND a coffeemaker - very important!)  Our special appliances are our Margarittaville Frozen Concoction maker (for yummy frozen drinks!) and a bread maker.  The bread maker is one of the newest addition, recommended by other cruising friends who know it is difficult to get fresh bread in the islands (and sometimes the store isn't close).  We have fallen in love with the breadmaker!  The kids won't let me buy store bought bread anymore (except rolls).  We are also enjoying our indoor grill, as we can use it to make steaks, burgers, quesidillas, paninis, etc.  Today, thanks to a wonderful recipe from my sister, I made yummy cinnamon rolls using the bread maker and oven.

   Eating out if fun when we get to new places, but not so good on our budget.  So we usually cook most meals onboard, and eat out for special times.

Homemade Cinnamon rolls

Frozen drinks are our specialty!!

Today's adventure: Public library by city bus

Children's area of the public library

   Tara & I decided we would check out the public library in Freeport today - Sir Charles Hayward Library.  To get to the library, we took the free resort shuttle into Port Lucaya, then the Public City Bus to the library.  We have used the City bus to get back to the marina from Port Lucaya before, so we knew what to expect.  Here are a  few things about the Public City Bus:  1. it is very cheap ($1-2/person)  2. they are usually older run-down vans (up to 13 persons)  3. they are not air conditioned  4. they have NO schedule or specific route. You simply find a Bus Stop shelter and stand there until a bus comes.  When it does, you tell them where you are going.  They take different routes depending on the passengers.  Essentially, you cannot be in a hurry to get anywhere when using the bus.  You simply sit back, relax, and enjoy the scenery.  The drivers, however, are very polite, and you feel safe riding the bus - many people ride them all around Freeport.   The Bahamians around here are very helpful and friendly. Taxis tend to be expensive, as is the price of fuel for cars, so we are enjoying the public bus system.

   We enjoyed the very air conditioned library, which had a lovely children's area (see above).  We both got library cards so Thomas & Donovan could check out books.  While the kids hung out in the library, Tara & I went to the fabric store to get a couple things.  After we picked the kids back up, we all decided an American lunch was in order, so we walked over to Wendy's. (cheap burger!)  Then we caught the bus (stop was in front of Wendy's) back to the resort.  What an adventure we had!  

Bus ride to library 

Bus ride from Wendy's

Fun in Port Lucaya & at the beach

Ice cream treat

   The past few days, we have been enjoying checking out a couple other beaches in the area.  Jill went with a guest she met over to Taino Beach for lunch & a swim - very pretty; yummy lunch.  Today, we went with Tara, Kevin & boys into Port Lucaya to the public beach (yuck - not impressed) and a picnic lunch, shopping, and ice cream in Port Lucaya marketplace.  Nice day.  Meanwhile, we do a couple chores each day, then a swim in the pool to cool off - it is still very hot (90's).  School starts very soon!!

Taino Beach restaurant

Big Daddy's Conch stand - BEST conch salad!

Port Lucaya public beach

Dinghy ride to the beach

Coral Beach, Freeport, Bahamas

   Today, with our neighbors, we took the dinghy out the channel and into the ocean briefly around the break wall to snorkel and swim in the ocean.  The weather has been SO hot, so it was nice to cool off.  We saw many small to medium size fish, especially near the jetty.  Then, we saw 4 squid swimming near shore.  They were so cool!  Thomas was a great driver, and our 10' Walker Bay dinghy with Torqeedo motor handled the waves and current beautifully.

Matthew riding in dinghy

Snorkeling in ocean (Silver Point Beach)

Our dinghy captain

Thomas & Mom scuba dive on wreck & with sharks!

Reef Tip Shark (Thomas & Jill on right)

   Yes!  We saw sharks!  Thomas & I took advantage of the Grand Bahama Scuba  being down the dock from us, and went on a 2-tank dive yesterday off the southern coast of Grand Bahama Island near Freeport.  The first dive was in an area the tour & dive boats go to see Reef Tip Sharks.  Some groups feed the sharks, so they hang around waiting to be feed.  They do not bother you unless you have food.  This day, 4-5 sharks swam around us for about 15 minutes.  Our depth was only about 35-45 feet.  The 2nd dive was at Papa Doc wreck (same depths).  It was a small boat with some growth.  Thomas swam into the bridge area and I waved at him!  During both dives, we saw a couple large sting rays resting on the bottom, lots of variety of fish, especially Parrotfish.

Divers and sharks

Sting Ray

Thomas diving Badger wreck

Parrot fish