January is always the harshest month of the year, with the cold and the dark, but we ended it on a high note. Jeannie and I took a quick getaway to the Bahamas her birthday. Three days of sunshine, beach and open bar. We made essentially the same trip five years ago, and had great time, and we couldn’t find an alternative to beat it. At the time we pledged to make a winter getaway every year, but you know how life can be. It took a few years to get back to it.
We stayed at the same hotel, Breezes, which is nice and cozy and has several pools, bars, and restaurants, with great food and open bar and is right up on the beach. It has a very friendly and relaxed vibe. The place is really a little gem.
This time around the vast majority of the guests were Canadian, and most of those from the Toronto area. So it felt a little like going home. And you know, those Cannucks are all so darn nice and friendly. Most of them seemed to assume I was Canadian too. At one point one said “Is there anyone in this hot tub who’s not Canadian?” Then she turned to me and said, “You know an awful lot about Canada for an American.” One evening we gathered ‘round and watched Hockey Night in Canada. (The Leafs lost, eh.)
The day we arrived the weather was great, sunny and warm, and we went straight to swim in the ocean. Towards evening it turned stormy. The next day it was overcast and windy, too rough to do anything out on the ocean. After breakfast I wandered into the piano bar, which was empty, and practiced for an hour or so. I did some of my originals, some covers, and Jeannie sang harmony on My Old School. I guess you could hear it from the next room cuz all day people were coming up to me saying I sounded good. So ’round midnight, after the main entertainment was finished upstairs, I went back and there was just the piano player there, and maybe a few people. He was playing a Monk song (Bud Walked In) when I walked in, so I requested ‘Round Midnight. He didn’t know it, and asked my if I knew it. So I hopped up on the piano again. I did 4 or 5 Steely Dan songs and some other things. This time I attracted a bit of a crowd. Since there were so many Canadians around I closed my set with Subdivisions, which was a big hit.
We also spent time exploring the island. Nassau is great, easy to get around, and everyone we met was really friendly. One afternoon we took the bus into town, but the bus got “hijacked” by an itinerant local tour guide, who took us to this place called The Caves, which was bunch of caves where pre-Colombian Bahamians lived over 1000 years ago. Really cool. We walked around Nassau and watched the cruise ships take off. We went to Fort Charlotte, build by the British in the 1700’s. BTW, there’s a giant monstrosity of a new hotel under construction just down the beach from Breezes. Apparently being built by Chinese labor with Chinese financing to the tune of $2 billion. Our guide had a lot to say on that topic and the political and economic implications for the island.
It was a great break from the winter and from everything going on, but it was over much to soon. Now we’re back and the main thing this week is the kids’ school musical coming up this weekend. Lizzy has one of the leads, Michelle is in the chorus, I’m playing in the band and my first rehearsal was yesterday, and Jeannie is acting as producer.
Coming soon: pictures!