New Year's in Nassau

It took less than a minute to return the rental car at the Tampa airport. Then we took a quick trip to Miami, where we boarded a much smaller plane for the short hop across the water to Nassau. Upon our arrival we discovered that Craig's luggage was missing in action. Fortunately, we were second in a long line up of people with a similar problem. After a twenty minute delay, we exited the arrivals area and were welcomed by the smiling faces of Kathy and Glenn.

Our destination was the beautiful community of Sandyport, a gated community of Bahamian colonial homes on a meandering canal system. Warm weather, swimming pools, tennis courts, kayaking off the dock and Starbucks down the road. What more could a vacationer want? Oh yes, boats of all sizes (sorry Craig).

Nassau itself is nothing remarkable. Clearly, it caters to the cruise ship crowd. Off the boat in the morning, back on the boat in the afternoon. There are, however, some very colourful characters living there. We spent eight delightful days eating, drinking, people watching, playing cards and catching up with our friends. Craig managed to make friends with one of the neighbours who invited him out on his boat for a morning of ocean fishing. Kathy and Lynda trekked over to Paradise Island and visited the aquariums at Atlantis. And thanks to Glenn, we spent a lazy, hot afternoon on the beach at his resort.

This was truly two weeks of vacation. We actually felt rested when we got home. Many thanks to all of our friends and family for hosting us. We have no plans for Spring break this year, but another big trip is planned for the summer of 2013.

Christmas in Florida

After several Christmas' at home, we decided to join Lynda's family and extended family at the Royal Coachman Resort in Nokomis, Florida. It would be our first experience at an RV resort and our first trip to Florida.

It was a bit stressful getting organized and ready to leave the day after school ended, but as soon as we boarded our Air Canada flight to Tampa (via Toronto) and took our seats in Business class (Merry Christmas, Craig), vacation mode began. The flights and the service were both excellent and we arrived in Tampa on schedule. After picking up our luggage, we headed over to Budget to pick up a car. Unfortunately, we were there much longer than we would have liked due to a very aggressive sales representative who tried to upsell us on everything. "Wouldn't we prefer to have a much bigger and faster Ford Mustang? Wouldn't we prefer to buy the extra insurance since 90% of drivers in Florida are uninsured?" It was a seriously annoying encounter after 12 hours of travelling, but that is what they count on, isn't it?

How we actually managed to find the Royal Coachman is a bit of a miracle. The GPS directed us to an empty field on the side of the freeway, and Lynda's cell phone died in mid conversation with Jim as we tried to sort ourselves out. We were about to turn around and go back to a gas station when the sign magically appeared on the side of the road. When we arrived at the gate some sympathetic resident gave us the code and directions to our destination. We had finally arrived.

Most of our party was already there...Lynda's sister in law, Lara, with her two kids, Nana Irene, Lara's parents and her sister. We were only awaiting the arrival of Lynda's brother and the husky dogs who were in the midst of a Transatlantic journey. They did not arrive until 5pm on Christmas Day after a 22 hour hour drive from Toronto.

We enjoyed six relaxing and entertaining days in Nokomis. It was so nice to be away for Christmas and not succumb to the commercialism of the holiday. We ate, we drank, we swam, we shopped and we ate some more. The atmosphere at the Royal Coachman was friendly and festive. Many of the residents decorated their houses. On Christmas Eve there was a parade, and after dark the streets were lined with thousands of luminaries. Irene, Lou and Lynda even attended a candlelight church service. On Christmas Day we drove down to the beach and looked for shark's teeth and shells. Even though it wasn't the warmest weather, the sun was shining and we knew it was much colder in Vancouver.

Friday arrived and we said our goodbyes. The rest of the group was staying, but we were on our way back to Tampa to start the second part of our vacation....New Year's in Nassau, the Bahamas.