Our boat is docked in the Bluff House Resort and Marina on White Sound in Green Turtle Cay (pronounced, by the way, “key“). After two days here, I have a few thoughts. First of all, the staff is outstanding. Everyone – from Andrew the dockhand, to Cynthia, the manager, to our waitresses, to the front desk people – are so kind and helpful. I have nothing but positives to say about the people here. We’ve had multiple offers by staff members to transport us in their own personal vehicles (i.e., golf carts), if we needed a ride. We’ve had two meals at the Jolly Roger restaurant, lunch yesterday and dinner today. The food has been fantastic. The private beach associated with the resort is also beautiful and inviting. The wifi, for the most part, has been good with a reasonable signal. We have been kicked off a couple of times, but usually all is needed is to sign back in.

The negatives probably have as much to do with the season, than with the resort, although the facility has recently undergone a change in management and appears to have been poorly managed for some time. I was unaware that this is the slow season here in the Bahamas. Old Bahama Bay, at West End, had very few guests, which was surprising to me. The resort here at Bluff House has no guests at this time, and their are only four sailboats in the marina. I guess that the busy season kicks in the week after Christmas. Many cruisers are not allowed by their insurance company to be as far south as Florida until after December 1, due to Hurricane threats. Things really heat up, I am told, around the first week of January, and then everyone is busy into July. So, the negatives: The pool here has no water in it. It is being serviced and they are waiting on a pump to be brought in from the states. Since it is so slow, this is the time for maintenance and repairs. The beach bar/restaurant wasn’t open. Laundry is outrageously expensive (probably a Bahamian problem and not a Bluff House problem). Overall, however, we are pleased, especially for $499/month!

Today, one of the helpful staff members took us over to Green Turtle Club where we rented a Golf Cart for the day. Golf carts are the preferred means of getting around on the island, which is only 3 miles long and 1/2 mile wide. Green Turtle Cay was founded in the 1700s by New England Settlers, loyalists (those who were loyal to the Crown during the American Revolution) who fled here after the colonies emerged victorious. They were granted land here by King George for their loyalty. Many of the homes in New Plymouth, the main town on the island, have a New England appearance. We took the golf cart into New Plymouth (the main town on the island, parked it and walked around town for a bit.

Our first stop was the almost 200 year-old Albert Lowe museum. Albert was a well-respected carver of model boats and his son, Alton, is a well-known Bahamian artist. The museum had several works of each man as well as information on the history of the island. The decor was 18th/early 19th century. After leaving the museum, we walked through the entire town (which didn’t take long), stopping at the grocery store for a snack, the local cemetery to satisfy my morbid curiosity, and, of course, at Miss Emily’s Blue Bee Bar, (on the recommendation of Capt. Roy Rogers), which was started by Miss Emily a year before my birth, 1957 . There we partook of the famous Goombay Smash, a delicious tropical concoction invented in this small little bar in the 1960s. Unfortunately, Miss Emily’s daughter, who now runs the place, would not divulge the recipe.

On the way back to Bluff House, we made several stops along the Atlantic side of the island, taking in the breathtaking beauty of the blue-green waters, soft sandy beaches, and majestic breaking waves. It truly was what one imagines when one thinks of a tropical paradise. After returning to Beatitude, we did a few odds and ends in preparation for our departure back to the U.S. the following day. We had a final delicious Bahamian dinner at the Jolly Roger and retired to the boat.