Final Full Day....sniff...

Eleuthera Journal 6-15-12

A deliberately lazy last full day here at Oceanaire.  I went early into town to check out “Da Perk” café and picked up a piece of ham/spinach quiche to go, then wound my way over to the bakery for some freshly baked cinnamon/sugar doughnuts. MMMMM…coffee was finished brewing by the time I got back home. Perfect.

Oceanaire comes with a tandem ocean kayak, and as the sea was calm today, we (I) rigged it out with paddles, seats, PFDs, and ice water, and we (we) carried it down the 47 steps to the beach – no small feat, given the steepness, roughness, and semi-irregularity of the stairs. Large ocean kayaks are heavy! There must be another method that the owners use, or they’re just tougher than we are.

We enjoyed a beautiful paddle down the coastline two miles or so each way to Twin Coves Beach (because, according to Kentucky Krista, an expert in gauging distances in the open water, and intimately in touch with her kayaking endurance, “It’s right there! We can see it. Come on, wimp!”),  ahem, enjoying seeing the island from the water as we noiselessly glided over patches of green and blue and coral reefs with hidden treasures of life.  We also briefly followed a surprisingly fast ray of some sort. Four miles of ocean kayaking is hard work, by the way, ahem, and we both collapsed in the water at the end, lying in the shallows and gentle waves until we had the strength to carry the kayak back up the stairs. A “clear out the fridge” lunch of jerk chicken, and leftover prosciutto, sausage, asiago, brie, and goat cheese from the meat and cheese plate at the Beach House last night awaited us. (By the way, the Beach House turns into an open-air night club on Thursdays. We rocked out to a great island band, and enjoyed more of Michelle’s elegant island hospitality.)

It wasn’t even 2:00 yet, but we were pretty wiped for the day.

Krista took up residence with her trashy novel on the steamer deck (her very favorite spot on this whole island), and I did some snorkeling around the coral reefs out front(‘cause every day I’m snorkelin’) and then went into town for last minute gifts and afternoon snacks to hold us over until the fish fry – rumored to be a hoppin’ community gathering of both locals and tourists that includes live music, food, and Rum Bubbas.  

We’ll make our final official blog post tomorrow from the Nassau airport, where we have a substantial layover. Tonight – the Sunset Inn for wi-fi and our final Eleutheran sunset, and then on to the social event of the week for the island.

(Side note – I’m fascinated with the popularity of Bob Marley. I’ve long loved his music, and the prophet-like power of his lyrics. I understand his frat-boy appeal,  and his iconic status both artistically and politically in his homeland of Jamaica, but he’s also EVERYWHERE here. It seems that every bar, local or tourist, has some Marley playing, one of Donald’s helpers was wearing a sweet retro 1975 concert T, and I just find it pretty profound how he has become part of the fabric of an entire region and island culture.)